day trip from London

A day trip: Brighton

12:05 PM

Again, too many pictures but I have to post before days or weeks go by!

Taylor's associate went out of town on business so we took advantage and headed south to the sea! A quick 50-minute train ride from the London Victoria station down to the seaside town of Brighton. 13-09-14

I was thrilled just by the idea of getting to see this historic town that I have read about in Jane Austen novels. When Taylor found out there was an amusement park on the pier, he got onboard with my day trip idea. 

We arrived at 9:30am which is about 2 hours before everyone is out and about! The pier doesn't open until 10 and the rides start at 11. 

The Brighton Wheel
At £11 a pop, we decided not to ride it because we got some pretty great views from the rides on the pier. 

We got an unlimited pass for the rides for £15 each. Extremely worth it since we made up the cost of the pass with 3 rides. We rode almost all of them (too much spinning in one day is not good...to be explained) 
Also, I don't know if it's like this always, but we had to wait in ONE line the 3 hours we went there. And the line was about 4 minutes long so... 

A gorgeous day. 

Our very first 'ride' was this surprisingly fun slide. Probably meant to appease young children in a place where they can't ride very many rides but we loved it!  Probably because of the view you get at the top. 

From the window of the slide (pictured above) 

The view at the top of the slide. I made a video of the ride (the whole 12 seconds) and it's on my Instagram 

The Horror House. Taylor closed his eyes the whole time. His whimpering made me giggle except for the brief moment we were genuinely terrified by something falling on our heads in the dark. Otherwise a very lame scary ride. 

We didn't ride this. Mostly disinterest but I'm also secretly afraid of these. Not such a secret anymore. 

Can't get over how beautiful it is! 

We only went on this once. See how it turns you upside down? Yeah it keeps flipping you around and around and then switches direction mid turn which is sickening even on an empty stomach. Little kids who spend a lot of time upside down on monkey bars will be just fine. We were not. 

Shortest log flume ever probably. It was right up my alley though because Taylor would have ridden alone if that was an steeper/longer. 

Favourite ride of the day. We rode it three times! Most rides like this are terribly jerky and uncomfortable but this kept us laughing so hard, we cried! So entertaining and can't complain about the view we got at the top of the climb! 

Looking over the rides to the west. 

Looking east. 

Don't let the blue sky fool you. It was so windy at very short intervals that the sun would be covered one minute, casting a gloomy gray day, and the next minute it would look like this again. Hot, cold, hot cold. 

Worst. Ride. Ever. It had a promising loop-de-loop and some good drops but it  was so incredibly bouncy that we were shaken so hard it hurt. Painful to the point of drawing blood! Since we went upside down on the ride, it had that restraint that goes over your shoulders and in front of you. You know the kind? So I'm short and my ears sit where other people's shoulders might be. Therefore, when getting jostled HARD, instead of hitting my shoulder, my ears and earrings got shoved against the restraints. The dull back of my earrings hit the tender skin hard enough to cut me. 
Might be easy to conclude that one ride was enough for us on the terrible, terrible ride. 

We read about The Lanes and wanted to go check it out. Wouldn't you know that everything we went to Brighton to see was all in the same general area, right along the coast? 

Bakeries, boutiques, jewelry and more can be found all squashed together in The Lanes. Pen shops, dress shops, joke shops for window shopping at its best. 
Best of all was FatFace. My new favourite shop where I will be buying all my clothes. It's a UK brand for which everything is fabricated right here in Britain. That and Joules. I'm obsessed. 



I was taking a picture of the menu (classic British banger and mash) only to step back and get this shot of all the loveliness of the outside of Druids Head :)
 
After wandering so much, we ended right back at the pier. Got a tasty milkshake from Moo Moos and laid down on the rocky beach for a rest. 

Our first experience of having to pay to use the toilet! I knew this would eventually be part of the package of travelling around Europe but still, a first is a first. 
It was very fitting considering the day before we had been talking about how there are so many shows we want to see here (if you don't know Taylor, you should know that my husband is a huge theatre buff. Even took the stage as the lead role in a few high school productions. Had he not changed his mind, I'm sure his name would have graced the lights on Broadway.) Anywho, we happened to be in Central London for dinner Friday having this discussion about shows right in front of the theatre where Urinetown is playing. Taylor told me the premise of the show and we laughed about it. How silly would that be, we thought. To pay to pee?....

20 pence later, I have to say it was the cleanest and best smelling bathroom we used all day. 

Getting on the train heading home. Word to the wise: unless you plan to see a show at the Theatre Royal or catch a late dinner, you don't need to stay in Brighton past 7. Everything worth exploring closes down at 6:30ish. The Lanes were all packing up and the museum and Royal Pavilion were closed long before the sun went down. We had return tickets for 9:15pm....we watched a movie on my phone in the passenger lounge at the train station :) thank goodness for free wifi! 

First day trip and we learned a lot! 
Check out-- www.365tickets.co.uk --for some great deals or just to save a pound or two when booking tickets to attractions. Usually you have to print out the voucher in advance so be prepared. We didn't use it this time but next time we'll know better where to research. 

Let's talk about the food--7 September 2014

9:54 PM

A quick (or not so quick) post about the food. 


Pret-A-Manger. They are everywhere. Turn around any corner and you're likely to walk right into another one. The sandwiches are great! The British bacon is tasty! The chicken cesear sandwich on a baguette is pretty great, too!

Repeat pic but still my favourite sandwich EVER. It has a name that escapes me now. Trio something. But it's the Edam cheese that I love, tomato (remember to say tom-ah-toe), and avocado. Oh and butter haha. Yum! 

All sizes of milk but the little one kills me! Too cute! 

Packaged sleeves of Oreos. Takes me back to Argentina. They also taste like Argentine Oreos, not quite the same as home. We had to try them all though :)

Let me break this pic down for you: I love a good pint of Ben & Jerry's as much as the next girl BUT I refuse to pay this much for it. 
When the exchange rate is normal, this pint cost $4 on sale. Fine. But regular price is over $8!!! Not ok. Thus begins the boycott of this ice cream. 

In case you didn't know, Taylor has quite a sweet tooth (as do I) but his weaknesses are ice cream and milkshakes. We tried a place called Garfunkel's. The food was pretty blah but the milkshakes were disgraceful! Literally a swirl of syrup and almost cold milk.  Terrible. 

Taylor wanted to try the 'thick shake' advertised by Wafflemeister. Also a disappointment but tastier than Garfunkel's. 

We had a celebratory milkshake at the great Westfield Mall (absolutely massive and incredible). Not great either. But it was made from gelato so still ok. 

This guy takes the cake for best milkshake so far! We went to Ed's 50's Diner. Mine was Oreo and Taylor got peanut butter. Winners!

Ed's Diner is very 'American'. We liked this place and will go again to try out the food. 

I had to laugh at the huge sign. I don't think I've ever seen such a large reminder/plea for people to 'PLEASE CHEW WITH YOUR MOUTH CLOSED!'

Ok ok. There's this place we love for a quick lunch called Gregg's. I spotted this faux Cronut and had to try. Not bad! Now I really do have to try the real thing in New York someday. For comparison's sake. 

We went to subway after a long visit to IKEA. The sandwich artist on duty didn't take his job as seriously as one looking for a good sandwich would hope. Lame but I felt kinda bad for the guy. 
 
Shake shack London!!! We were so excited to try this, we made it our goal to eat here after we got into our flat. I was really looking forward to it. I wished I could have eaten a Shack burger for every meal in New York because I love it. Thankfully, the difference in taste here was enough to keep me from journeying across town to get some of this stuff. 
The burger is cooked to well instead of medium like in NYC, the meat is a slightly different flavour and the cheese is not the same. And not enough of the shack's special sauce. 
Haha harsh review but I hold NYC Shake Shack on a pedestal of the perfect burger. 

Best chocolate but guess what? Available in the states :) thanks IKEA!

We had the meatballs and chips at IKEA on one of our trips. It's alright but I suggest you get the smaller plate. It was way too much. 

We went to dinner with the Pace's. They are from Taylor's home ward back in Connecticut and they are London experts having spent quite a long time living in Europe. They took us to a delightful French restaurant and to, in their opinion, the best gelato place in London. 
Had to get the stracciatella. Nom nom. 

Some legit Japanese food in South Kensington.  

We love eel. Delightful. 

I have NEVER heard of Banana Nesquick and I'm not tempted to try. However, we determined the Nesquick here is better than the altered form that they peddle in the states. 

I read a book recently, can't remember which exactly, that talked about the characters drinking Horlicks and now I can't wait to try! A hot malted drink. 

There is a lot that is different but enough is familiar that we are doing just fine. Mostly things are just a little more bland than we're used to so there's always some onion salt on hand. We'll get used to it soon enough. 

Here's to more food adventure!


Larson's in London

The touristy thing we do: London

9:50 PM

I've posted many of these photos to my Instagram account but there is so much more to share! 

Still the cutest library I've seen but that could change when I finally go to the British Library :)

From the Waterloo Bridge on the north side of the Thames looking east. The Tower Bridge is down that way. At our backs were the London Eye, Big Ben and other sights. The photos I got were not share-worthy. Sorry! Blame the cloudy day. 

I am obsessed with the telephone boxes. Just when I am feeling like everything is normal, a sight of one of these jolts me back to reality: I live in London, England. 

The Monument. I stepped out of the tube station (to find the agency where I had my first job interview) to see this. A monument to a terrible fire that burned this part of the city many years ago. 

The Shard and the London Bridge. 

Tower Bridge 

Tower of London 

An art installment at the Tower of London based off of a poem, Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red by Paul Cummins features thousands of ceramic poppies pouring out of the tower flowing into the moat and was officially unveiled on August 5.

The final poppy will be planted on November 11. There will be a total of 888,246 poppies planted, with each flower representing a British military fatality from WWI. 

The installment is awe-inspiring as a reminder of the sacrifices made by brave souls. 

Just walking around means walking through incredible history. I thought this building was gorgeous. Trinity Square beauty. 

More of the red telephone boxes down the street from our flat :) I adore them. 

We checked out the National Museum of History. Wicked busy and wicked hot so we didn't stay long. As lovely as it is to have free access, it means busy, busy, busy all the time. 

Outside the Natural History Museum. This is Taylor's face when I drag him to museums :) haha


Gates to Hyde Park

This place is wonderful. A little bit of Hyde Park

This is the Princess Diana memorial fountain. 

We got Barclay's bikes to ride around Hyde Park and to get back home. £2 for 24 hours. It gets complicated because you have to dock the bikes every 30 minutes. Other than that, we had fun!

The gates at Hyde Park corner

More Hyde Park corner


We didn't go in but I know where it is. And it will be explored. When shall be determined at a later date. 

Tourist shops are great. This trickery reminds me that we live in a country with royalty. Can't wait to meet the Queen ;)

This magnificent structure is one of the top five hotels in London. 

I can't believe people really shop here. Taylor and I played a game we called 'Price Check'. We would make the other person guess the price on an item we picked up. I lost horribly when I guessed that a small blue bag was in the $500 region...it was $15,000. Whaaaa?
This is not real life. 

Telephone box in front of the Victoria and Albert museum. 

We went to find the only Citi bank in Central London. To my great surprise, it was in the shadow of St Paul's Cathedral. 


We made our way to the 'world famous' Portobello Market in Notting Hill. Saturdays are the biggest day for the market, drawing the most vendors, stands, and people. The masses weren't even that bad and all the goods were amazing to see! We are going back another weekend when we have more time to dedicate to browsing. I don't think we even walked through half of it this time. 
I love this area. The buildings are so colourful and bright!

After dropping off the bags full of our Saturday errands, we went to check out a mall that we'd ridden by in an über cab. Westfield mall. It. Is. Massive. 
There are dozens of stores and 3 huge department stores. A movie theatre with 20 screens and the most high tech ticket booth I've ever seen. The tickets are expensive!!! So watching the latest flicks will be a special treat around here ;)

This isn't touristy but definitely one of Taylor's favourite places in any big mall. Haha

We are loving being able to explore. Our time to see things together is now limited to Saturdays IF he's not working. Precious time in our life to be together and living in a new country. We are loving it!

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