Archive for the ‘Travels’ Category

London: Last Day Plans

Posted in London, Travels, United Kingdom, tagged , , , , , , , , on Monday, 31 March, 2014| 3 Comments »

The weather in Northern Virginia has been foggy (yesterday) and rainy (today). It’s a great time to write about London and our last day in the UK.  With all I’m planning, we’ll have no time for sleeping! We can always sleep on the way home (well, at least John can ~ I’m a stay awake on the plane kind of person).

One thing I’d love to do but will have little no chance convincing John and Logan to join me: the Mad Hatter Tea at the Sanderlin. It’s a whimsical Alice in Wonderland inspired afternoon tea which sounds fabulous. This will stay on the to-do list for when I’m on a solo trip to London.

On to what we’ll do…

When we lived in London, I went on numerous London Walks tours which I thoroughly enjoyed. On a couple of the walks they would point out the Gentlemen’s Clubs of years past. Having been teased about those clubs, I’m very intrigued with Mark Rowland London Ramblings tour “The Gentlemen’s clubs of St James’s: Victorian London’s LinkedIn ” and I’ll definitely be booking the walk as soon as his July schedule comes out. Then we’ll head over to Regents Park for lunch with friends.

Regents Park Picnic

We had a picnic in the Regents Park on the day before we flew back to the states. We grabbed a couple of sandwiches from Pret a Manger and met up with friends in the park on what was one of the nicest weather days we’d had all year. We were witness to a proposal while we had our lunch ~ very romantic of them.

London Leaving Regents Park

Leaving Regents Park

Carina feeding the birds in Regents Park

Feeding Time in Regents Park

Close up of Water Fountain Regents Park

Regents Park Fountain Cover

Fountain in Regents Park

Spring in Regents Park

Flowers in Regents Park

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People Watching in Regents Park

We still have the “last” evening in London ~ the vote from the rest of the family is to spend the rest of the day in Covent Gardens for dinner and a West End show.  Now to decide which show and which restaurant. Any recommendations for a vegetarian friendly but will still appeal to a meat-eater kind of restaurant?

 

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London: Shakespeare’s Globe, Borough Market, The Rake and More (Day 4)

Posted in London, Photography, Travel, Travels, tagged , , , , , , , on Thursday, 27 March, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Last summer, I attended The Taming of the Shrew  at Shakespeare’s Globe theater. The all-women cast did an excellent job, but the storyline is not my favorite of the Shakespeare plays. I would love to see Much Ado About Nothing but it’s not playing until April 2014. In any case, I was thrilled to see a play with fantastic actors at the iconic Globe theater.

Shakespeare’s Globe is a fabulous building with an interesting history. It’s located a few hundred yards from its original site. The building itself is as true to the original as they could surmise since there was next to nothing left of the original. The rebuilding of the Globe came about through the  efforts of  the American actor and director Sam Wanamaker. He founded the Shakespeare’s Globe Trust which reconstructed the theater. The foundation is also responsible for the education center and permanent exhibition. Thanks to Sam Wanamaker, there’s a beautiful and historic theater in a fabulous location (Bankside) in London.

Globe Theater

Globe theater and Millenium bridge
Globe Theater and the Millennium bridgeGlobe Theater II
Audience at the Globe TheaterGlobe Theater
Even if you don’t get a chance to see a play there, go for a tour. 

Borough Market is about a 5-minute walk from the Globe Theater. Borough Market has become so popular and hectic at peak times (weekends/lunch). But if you go early, it’ll be less of a crush. It’s recommended in all the travel guidebooks and there’s a reason for that ~ it’s a fantastic market.

Smell Me Truffles London

Market Mushrooms
Variety of Mushrooms

Market Peppers
Bright colorful peppers for sale

Market Fish
Fish at the Market

Market Cheese
Cheesemonger

Flower Shop London
Gorgeous flowers for sale year-round

Blooming Flowers London
Flowers in the Market

Monmouth London
Coffee Lover’s Favorite place in the market

The Market Porter London

The Market Porter pub always looked so inviting when I went by it but then one day a group of us decided to go in and the stench of urine was overwhelming. We just looked at each other and walked out. I was so disappointed. I still love the look of it from the outside.

The Rake Bar

The Rake Pub is a pub I’ve walked past many, many times and every time I would read the extensive beer selection on the sign outside. I seem to always say “next time”  but we ended up leaving London before I made good on next time.  The Rake is known as the smallest pub in London and, because it’s in busy Borough Market, I won’t be going on a Friday or Saturday night when it will be bustling with way too many people. Best to check it out in the afternoon while sitting outdoors watching the market-goers go by. They have 130 beers available ~ the Flying Dog K9 Cruiser looks like the one for me.

The Rake London

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London: Travel Plans Change, Go With The Flow

Posted in Food, London, Photography, Travels, United Kingdom, tagged , , , , , on Tuesday, 25 March, 2014| 1 Comment »

One of my previous jobs required I prepare itineraries for visiting VIPs. One thing I learned is to always be flexible ~ it’s not a matter of IF things change, but WHEN things change. Only a week into planning our UK trip and the schedule has already been turned around. Due to John’s work constraints, we’ve decided to go to Scotland first then to London.

Day One in London will now be John’s graduation event so we’ve only got the morning to ourselves. Sounds like a good day to sleep-in, do laundry (from our week in Scotland) and then enjoy lunch at Maguro, our favorite Japanese restaurant. It’s located in Maida Vale.

Majuro Sushi London

My friend, Leslie introduced me to Maguro early on and we returned frequently throughout the year. I went once for dinner but I prefer their lunch. I always opted for the Tofu Teriyaki and it was consistently delicious. So yummy that my mouth is watering as I write this…

Bento Box, Maguros, London

Maguros, London Maida Vale

Tofu Teriyaki Bento Box

Maguro is located at 5 LANARK PLACE, LONDON W9 1BT, TEL 020 7289 4353 Take the Tube to Warwick Avenue Station (Bakerloo Line) then it’s a short five-minute walk to the restaurant.  The restaurant is tiny (!) and I would highly recommended making reservations. Great food, wonderful service and intimate atmosphere ~ you won’t be disappointed.

After lunch, we’ll head to John’s graduation ceremony and then the evening reception which hopefully will be followed with a last round with friends at a local pub. I better make day two a late start as well!!

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London: British Museum and Royal Albert Hall

Posted in London, Photography, Travel, Travels, United Kingdom, tagged , , , , , , , , on Thursday, 20 March, 2014| 4 Comments »

In planning my trip to London,  Day Three has to start with a visit to one of my favorite breakfast places in Marylebone, La Formagerie.

London Marylebone La Fromagerie

Located at 2-6 Moxon Street (W1), it has an extensive, glass-enclosed cheese room. For those non-cheese aficionados, the staff always seemed happy to help with my selections ~ I would tell them what kind of event/other food & wine/number of people and they made excellent recommendations. La Formagerie also serves lunch and dinner (excellent wine list). It’ll be a great way to start our second day. If you decide to go when you’re in London, click here for more details.

I’m planning to re-visit several museums and attend a play/concert during our stay. Logan didn’t get a chance to see the British Museum which she reminds me frequently ~ it just so happened she was unavailable every time I went.  I’m happy to return if just to look at the Rosetta Stone ~ which is near the entrance and the most visited object in the museum. Languages fascinate me and the Rosetta Stone was instrumental in deciphering of hieroglyphs. Think of it as the Google translate of the early 1800s.

British Museum Entrance London

And there’s so much more to see…

British Musem London small figurines

“No-Body with drinking glass and with a pipe” These are figurines from 1680-1700 from the publication “No-Body and Some-Body”

Brisith Museum London V

British Museum Glove II London

British Museum London II

British Museum III London

Hindu Goddess Gajalakshmi

Entrance to the museum is free so you can go in, see the Rosetta Stone, roam around at your leisure. It would take weeks to see everything so my advice is to check out the museum map and pick a section that interests you. When we go I’m going to take the “Around The World in 90 Minutes” tour. The guides are so informative.

For the afternoon, we’ll wander over to Knightsbridge which has lots of restaurants, parks, and shopping. At night, I’m hoping to attend an event at the Royal Albert Hall. Last year, I was blown away by the 9th annual Symphonic Rock concert we attended at the Royal Albert Hall.  The orchestra started with “Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve which was spectacular and the rest of the concert got better and better. I remember looking around at intermission in awe that I was actually at the famous Albert Hall ~ it must be so surreal for the musicians who get to PERFORM there.  The Symphonic Rock is scheduled for May 2014 so we’ll miss it and I’m waiting for the “what’s on” calendar to update for the end of July. I have no doubt whatever we go to will be entertaining.

London Royal Albert Hall

The audience at the Royal Albert Hall

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London: “So, What Didn’t You Like?”

Posted in London, Photography, Travel, Travels, United Kingdom, tagged , , , , , , on Monday, 17 March, 2014| 11 Comments »

When people find out we were lucky enough to spend a year in London, they usually ask “how did you like it?”  My answer is always “We loved it and still miss living there.”  The follow-up question is usually “So, what didn’t you like about it?”  That’s easy ~ doing the laundry. That may sound trivial (and it is) but doing laundry in a washer/dryer combo machine that doesn’t vent is frustrating. Clothes wouldn’t dry for days. Yesterday, while attending a cocktail party, a woman asked me the usual question “how did you like living in London?” but she got a shocked look when I said how much we loved living there and she followed up with “What exactly did you like about it?”  Hmmmmm….let’s see…”EVERYTHING”  

It got me thinking about our upcoming trip back to the UK in July. We’ll only have a week in London and a week in Scotland. There are so many places we want to re-visit. As much as I like to travel by the seat of my pants, I know we’ll regret not going back to see our favorite places and restaurants. A prioritized to-do list is necessary.

DAY TWO: 

Since we’ll be staying in our neighborhood, Marylebone, we’ll want to visit our old haunts. It’ll be easy to spend the whole day in Marylebone. It’s such a vibrant and beautiful part of London.

London: Marylebone High Street

Marylebone High Street ~ so many restaurants and shops all leading to either Regents Park or to Oxford Street

London:Daunt Books Marylebone

Best book store EVER ~ Daunt Books. Loved their author visits (wine served)

London St James Church Marylebone

The beautiful and Gothic St James Catholic Church ~ our “home” church while in London

London St James at night

…and it’s even more stunning at night

Wallace Collection at Night

The Wallace Collection is my favorite museum in London. It’s so cozy and intimate. I can imagine what it must have been like to be invited over as a friend of the owners to see the marvelous collection back in the mid to late 1800s. I visited so many times when we lived there (it was only a few blocks from our flat) and every time I left, I was already figuring out when I could get back to see more of the collection.

London Church alleyway

London Grotto Passage, W1

Lots of alleyways in Marylebone (and all around London). I love walking through them especially at night.

London Friday night at the pub

Local pub just off the High Street

London Royal Academy of Music

I knew two people who attended the Royal Academy of Music and I walked by it nearly everyday but never went to a concert there. Hopefully we can see a performance there.

London Thank goodness they have these as reminders

…and hopefully the directional signs on the road will help keep me from getting run over by aggressive cab drivers.

London Primrose Hill.jpg

A walk up to Primrose Hill in Regents Park to see the great views of London and of course to people-watch. Lots of buff athletes or the occasional one with his pants too low. I was photo-bombed.

London, Regents Park Station Underground

London US Ambassador's residence in Regents Park

Would love to spend a few hours walking around Regents Park

The pressing question is: Do we go back to our favorite restaurants or do we try new ones? Hopefully we can do both. One we’ll go back to is on Marylebone High Street close to Daunt Books ~ Topkapi. YUM! Lots of vegetarian options, meat eaters were happy and it has a lovely wine selection.

London Marylebone Topkapi

Day two will have us venturing out of Marylebone…

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Texas: Bluebonnet Sightings

Posted in Travels, tagged , , , , , on Saturday, 1 March, 2014| 4 Comments »

As spring approaches, the Texas bluebonnets will be blooming and many Texans will be searching for them.

Click here for a great website appropriately titled Texas Bluebonnet Sightings which allows readers to post the latest sightings.

Here in Northern Virginia, we eagerly await the blooming Cherry Blossoms!
DC Cherry Blossoms 2011

Unfortunately, another winter storm is approaching this weekend…

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Turkey: Ankara

Posted in Travels, Turkey, tagged , , , , , , , , on Monday, 24 February, 2014| 4 Comments »

NOTE: I didn’t get a chance to visit Turkey but my husband, John did and he agreed to share some of his photos of Old Ankara. Turkey is definitely on my list to visit…

Ankara, Turkey’s capital, rises on a steep incline from the banks of the Enguri Su. It’s a modern European metropolis but has a few reminders of its history.  John spent most of his time in Old Ankara.  It’s the most traditional part of Ankara with families living within the walls of The Citadel.
Turkey V

Walking in Old Ankara

Turkey The Citadel

The Citadel originally dates from the 7th century during The Byzantine Empire and the markets below

Turkey small shop

Night stroll through Old Ankara

Turkey Roman ruins turned into a park bench

Park bench made from Roman ruins ~ the ultimate in repurposing

Turkey Miniet

The Citadel Mosque which dates from the 12th century ~ but has been rebuilt though out the years.

Turkey markets at the bottom of the Citadel

The Citadel and Turkish Market in Old Ankara ~ view from tea shop

Turkey market

Dried fruits and nuts in Old Ankara Market. Pistachios are delicious…

Turkey IV

Shops on a winding road in Old Ankara

Turkey III

Near a wool shop in Old Ankara ~ bag of wool next to the table

Turkey Carpet Shop

Carpet shop with photo of Ataturk

Turkey Carpet Shop I

Beautiful carpets in Old Ankara Shop

Turkey Ankara

View of Ankara

Turkish Cafe

Delicious (and strong) Turkish coffee and a piece of Turkish delight ~ good way to start or end the day in Ankara

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Mount Vernon Estates: Free Admission on Presidents Day

Posted in Photography, Travels, Virginia, tagged , , , , , , , on Monday, 17 February, 2014| 6 Comments »

Mount Vernon Estates is offering free admission to the estate today, Presidents Day 2014 and to celebrate George Washington’s 282nd birthday. It’ll be an all-day birthday salute with the gates opening at 8 am. No doubt the grounds will look especially beautiful with the recent blanketing of snow. My past visits have been when the weather was a little warmer…

Mount Vernon Estate

The Beautiful Home of George Washington

Mount Vernon Camel

During the Holidays, Mount Vernon brings in a Camel which is what George Washington did when he lived there.

Mount Vernon Grounds

16-sided Barn

Mount Vernon with Geroge and Martha Washington

There won’t be any wine today but the twice yearly wine festival is always a lot of fun

IMG_4828

Walking along the trail at Mount Vernon. Dogs are welcome on the grounds

IMG_4843

Heading to the water/dock on the Mount Vernon grounds

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Blooms in Winter

Posted in Travels, tagged , , on Friday, 14 February, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Blooms in Winter

The daffodils are popping through the snow…a sure sign spring is near!

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Flashback Friday – Beaune, France 2005

Posted in Beaune, Flashback Fridays, France, Travels, tagged , , , , , , on Thursday, 13 February, 2014| 7 Comments »

It’s not quite Friday but I dug out this “Flashback Friday” from a few years ago. The recent snowfall in Virginia made me remember a magical snowy day in France many years ago…

Beaune and the Hotel Le Cep definitely rank as one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever spent Thanksgiving:

Beaune, Thanksgiving dinner

As we drove from Germany towards the Burgundy region in France,  it started to snow and by the time we arrived in Beaune, it was blanketed with a fresh dusting of snow ~ it looked magical. We splurged and stayed at the Hotel Le Cep which the Lonely Planet guidebook referred to as “Quite simply, this is one of France’s very finest hotels.”  How could we pass up staying there after that kind of recommendation!?! We weren’t disappointed ~ the hotel was fabulous and the staff wonderful.

Originally, we were suppose to visit in early November but the riots were happening all over France and we didn’t want to take a chance since we were traveling with our young daughter. When I called to reschedule our reservations, the hotel was so accommodating and understanding about why we were changing our dates. Upon our arrival, we found they had upgraded us to one of their largest suites. It’s a great joy for me when I find I’ve been upgraded at a hotel.

Beaune, Logan at Hostel Dieu

Beaune, hostel-dien

One of the most interesting sights in Beaune is the Gothic Hotel-Dieu which was founded in 1443 and was considered a “celebrity rated” charity hospital. For its time, I’m sure it was state of the art but those blood letting instruments and the closeness of the hospital beds made me a little queasy.  There was also an 18th century pharmacy with flasks once filled with things such as vomit-nut powder.

Beaune, Wine Caves

Beaune in the caves

After touring the hospital, we made our way to the Marché aux Vins wine cellars and went underground to the dusty wine-bottle lined caves. We had a personal tour guide and, after a history lesson on the winery and about the region, we were given a flat, metal, shiny cup to taste the wines we encountered as we self-toured the caves. Marché aux Vins, established in 1239, is one of the larger wine cellars in Beaune and the caves are lined with thousands of wine  bottles.  As we navigated through the cave, we stopped at each of the 13 candle-lit wine barrels to taste the wine which was a open bottle ~ we could’ve drank the entire bottle if we wanted.  I love the whole French attitude towards wine, food and living life in beauty.

Beaune logan on carousel
Enjoying the carousel

Beaune Saturday market
Saturday Market

Beaune walking around
Walking around Beaune

Beaune, Logan guidebook
Our guide

Beaune Fireplace

Enjoying the cozy, warm fireplace which was so welcomed after our cold walks around town.

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