Florence - September 2015

In September we spent a week in Italy with Brett’s parents plus two other couples that are close family friends. 

We flew into Florence, spent the day eating gelato, drinking a lot of wine and having the biggest meal of our life at Il Latini.

Dinner at Il Latini.

With one day in Florence, we had a light lunch at our favorite sandwich shop - I had the goat cheese and spicy chorizo sandwich and Brett had mortadella with eggplant tapenade.

Belgium - Ghent/ Brussles

Back in the states my typical work travel consisted of middle of January trips to South Bend, Indiana, and frequent trips to small towns in Illinois where the best lunch spot was McDonald's and the best hotel was a motel, where the entrance to the rooms was on the outside of the building. Built more for hourly service, than that of the comforts required by a traveling business-woman.

Our jobs here in England, however, have afforded us a great opportunity to take impromptu visits to various countries. In January, after a work visit to Paris and Dusseldorf, Brett met me for a weekend in Belgium, where we spent the weekend exploring the medieval town of Ghent, drinking delicious Belgium beers, eating Belgium waffles, and experiencing our first Jenever (flavored Dutch gin) bar.  I guess the weekend was a bit glutenous, but what holiday isn't!


Ghent is also home to the famous Ghent alterpiece, a super old artwork that was stolen during the Nazi occupation of Belgium, and thankfully safely returned post-war. This artwork was featured in the movie Monuments Men.


We spent Sunday night in Brussels so that we could hop on the first Eurostar train back to London, in order to be back for work on Monday morning. While in Brussels, we expanded on our bar crawl, by opening it up to a bar crawl and frites (french fries) crawl.

Frites is a way of life in Belgium, where the best frite places often include adjectives such as handcut, double fried, and duck fat, with more sauce options than one can count- our favorite being the spicy sauce, a combination of mayonnaise and hot sauce. Ketchup, on the other hand, is for amateurs.

There are annual rankings of the best frites in Brussels, and we were fortunate enough to try two of the best places. Our first stop could easily be described as the point in time upon which all future time is measured against, Fritland. The place was packed with college aged travel abroad students, looking for a cheap meal, regardless of the impact on the waistline. And the other place we went was Friterie Tabora. I think the final verdict was a tie.

If you like beer, do yourself a favor and visit Belgium!

2015 travels

Our 2015 travel season has finally started and I am so excited about all the new countries and cities we get to visit this year.

Quick shout out to the brains behind our travels -Brett, without you, none of this would be possible. Although I coast along in this fairytale life here in Europe, it takes a lot of financial planning, and organisation in order to sustain this level of travels.

The organisation or flights, hotels, where to stay, where to go, is all Brett. I however, can't keep all our travels straight, and most often cram the week before a trip, studying up on what to buy and where to eat. Thanks for all you do- wouldn't want to be on this rollercoaster with anyone else.

So far this year we have visited Ghent and Brussels, skied the French Alps in Val d'Isere, and toured the old stopping grounds of Constantine, Istanbul.

Here is a list of our upcoming trips in 2015:
Marrakesh, Moracco
Rome
Prague, Budapest, Vienna
Ireland, Paris
Valencia, Spain
Italian wine country, Lake Como
Marseilles, France; Barcelona
And to end the year... Thailand for Christmas!

Here's hoping that I can keep up the blog with all these wonderful trips!

We went to Paris

Last week was our one year anniversary of moving to London, and this weekend is our 2 year anniversary of being married!! It's hard to comprehend the life that we have built over these last two two years: getting married, moving abroad, traveling to 10 different countries in our second year of marriage, LOVE... It's everything I've ever wanted and more.

With our anniversary approaching, I thought it would be appropriate to tell you how we spent our first anniversary. Our first of many trips to Paris.  We have a guest host for today's post... Brett has had many cameos on the blog, but this is his first post! Take it away Brett....

Actual Date of Event: October 25-27, 2014

One of the best things about being an expat in a city like London is the entire continent of Europe being at your finger tips. At a moment’s notice you can book a weekend getaway to places that would take months to plan (much less afford!) if we were still living in the States. Our first experience doing just this was the second week after the move when we went for a short week to Paris for our one year anniversary.

After work I met Mary at St Pancras train station for our 6 o’clock Eurostar train under the Channel to Paris. After a short wait in the queue and security check for the Eurostar we were seated on the train, bottle of wine and homemade sandwiches at the ready and on our way to Paris! 

I had been to Paris while on a study abroad trip in college but this was to be Mary’s first time so we actually had quite a busy weekend planned trying to get to most of the main sites. We stayed at the Westin Vendome in a beautiful room with views over the Tuileries gardens all the way out to the Eiffel tower.

After dropping our bags we headed out for an evening stroll towards the Latin Quarter where I spent most of my nights while in college and even came across the doner kebab shop I so badly missed. After ordering one kebab (Mary “thought” she was going to share mine) we grabbed a beer and walked back towards the hotel, passing through the Louvre’s impressive courtyard and fighting over the next bite of kebab the whole way back.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed off through the gardens to tour the Louvre. For anyone that’s been to the Louvre they know it can be VERY exhausting. This experience was no different. However for everyone that says “meh” to the Mona Lisa due to the crowds, there is still something awe-inspiring and majestic about being able to see a painting first hand that has memorised us for 500 years.

Upon leaving the Louvre we were in desperate need of fuel; both alcohol and food. We meandered over to the St Germain area and grabbed an outdoor table at a café just off the Blvd St Germain, where we proceeded to spend the next 2.5 hours drinking, eating, people watching, and trying our best to be Parisans. The rest of the day we spent walking through the Latin quarter and checking out Notre Dame Cathedral.

Sunday was all about checking out the Eiffel tower and again, relaxing in cafes. We did however have a pit stop to make! After breakfast we began the 3ish mile walk along the Seine to the Eiffel tower however it being our anniversary Mary had a surprise up her sleeve. She had brought a lock with her and wanted to add our lock to the infamous Ponte des Arts. After scavenging the bridge for an open spot we locked the lock to the fence and tossed the key in the river. We even re-located the lock seven months later when we visited Paris with my parents!

We spent the afternoon taking in the Eiffel tower and even took a small nap in the park around the base.

After our little afternoon and siesta we pulled ourselves together for a lunch and walk back to the hotel to get ready for our anniversary dinner at Les Ombres. This was a beautiful restaurant on the roof of the Quai Branly Museum at the base of the Eiffel tower and offered incredible views of the tower lit up at night. Although, to be honest, the food was not very good but the company more than made up for it!

After a romantic evening we awoke bright and early Monday morning in time for the 7 am train and arrived back in London by 8; just in time for me to get to the office like we had been in the city the whole time!

It is trips like this that make me really appreciate living in London. And while we haven’t don’t enough of them we have both made it our goal to do more weekend trips in year two!

Cheers!

Brett

Monaco, France: The lives of the rich and famous

Monaco, France

Actual Date of event: Early June

On our second day in Nice, we took a train to visit the city of Monaco. A city know for the rich and famous, the city is most well known for their world famous F1 race- the Grand Prix, their ultra fab casino- the Monte Carlo, and their banks- known to harbour foreign money. 

We visited Monaco, the day after the Grand Prix, while the stands and the track infrastructure were still in place.  



We started off the day by walking along the track and then up to the palace where Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene live. This was quite a view to be had as on either side of the palace was a beautiful vantage point for pictures of the city, landscape and the harbour.

Through Brett and my travels this year, we are a firm believer is always maintaining the proper level of food to alcohol to sightseeing ratio. If we sightsee for too long… endless museums, too much walking…. The day quickly turns from “this is the most amazing place I have ever been” to hunger, irritation and general tiredness.

After our hike to the top of the palace, we headed down to enjoy a refreshing drink and some food to prod us along. After a much needed refuelling, we visited the outside of the Monte Carlo. Entrance to the casino costs 10 euros and there is a requirement to have a jacket to enter. As we were just casual travellers, we forewent going inside.

Front of the Monte Carlo

Back of the Monte Carlo

Total days required to see Monaco: 1 Day

After a quick lunch, we jumped back on the train and headed back to Nice where we were staying for one more day.  Everything in Monaco is expensive, so I don’t think we would stay here again, but it was a really beautiful city to visit as a day trip.

Until next time-

Mary

Nice is nice

Location: Nice, France
Actual date of event: Late May

A costal town along the Mediterranean Sea, Nice is a beautiful city where hiking to the top of a vantage point or sharing a bottle of house wine are the only items on the itinerary. With the picturesque buildings all in a different shade of orange or pink, it is a dream to an expat with a DSLR.

Our first day in Nice, we walked along the boardwalk and took in the scenery. We enjoyed a casual lunch, along the cobblestone streets of the old town, with house wine and Napoli-style pizza.

One of my favourite parts of visiting cities in Europe is their old town areas which include, narrow cobblestone streets, quaint 10 table restaurants and more cafes than one can count. Where drinking a glass of wine at 11am is normal and the pace of life seems to move much slower. Like for example in Nice, one morning we were enjoying our morning pastry and café and the gentleman next to us was drinking a glass of red wine while reading the paper and wearing a dinner jacket. To which we then said "When in Nice..." and shortly thereafter got ourselves a glass of wine as well.  

There are a few staples that we look for when visiting a new city- the local deli and cheese shop, the local bakery for freshly baked bread and pastries and the local wine shop. Although it is easy to think that a city like Nice is only inhabited by tourists, there most often is a very lively local community that depends on those shops. Another perk is that these shops are not very often frequented by the tourists. Our first day in Nice, we found a cheese shop and a wine shop where the house bottle of wine cost 3.25 euros. We enjoyed cheese and wine while we cleaned up and got ready for dinner.

We went to dinner that night at a small restaurant called Papayou, where we dined on pate, homemade mushroom ravioli, seafood pasta and lots of wine. There is some saying where dinner is about the people and that the food can only complement the company and conversations being had. So the company was perfect (Brett’s parents), the atmosphere was perfect (Nice is nice) and the wine and food were perfect, hence a perfect evening in the south of France.

Wine shop: Caves Caprioclio 

Pastry Shop: La Fougasserie

Dinner first night: Papayou

Dinner second night: Bistro de Antoine

Until next time-

Mary

Bombers in London

Shoreditch is a neighbourhood in London, that is known for their eclectic variety of anything- be it street art, food or vintage clothing. Typically I rock a solid Taylor Swift wardrobe... classic and contemporary, but every time we head to this neighbourhood I channel the Brooklyn stylings of my best friend to find a pairing in my closet that would be deemed appropriate for that neighbourhood.

One weekend a while back, Brett and I were browsing the markets when we stumbled upon a starter jacket from Brett's high school in Cincinnati.

I could say it was unbelievable that we found this jacket, hanging so perfectly perched in the corner of the market, but honestly so many weird moments like this have happened to us, that our initial reaction now is "sure... standard". I can't tell you how often I run into people from Ohio while traveling- Most recently- Clifs of Moher, Ireland; Clifs of Dover, England.

One customer I had at the butcher shop grew up not 10 miles from me in my home town outside of Cincinnati. And when we first moved to Clapham, we bought a second hand coffee pot off craigslist from someone who graduated from our Alma Mater, without even knowing that they were American beforehand.

Just goes to show you how small the world is! Too bad, it takes forever to see it all.

Just a short post today, but it was a really special memory for us, that I wanted to document. Go Bombers!

Cheers- Mary