Larson's In London: 2015

Winter Wonderland 2015!

11:52 PM

Taylor has been talking to anyone who would listen about Winter Wonderland since we went last Christmas.

And it's definitely bigger and better than last year!

It's free to get in and open from 10-10 but we definitely went at a good time. 2pm on a Saturday and stayed until 5:30 when the masses really started rolling in.

We made a beeline direct to our favourite ride from last year. WILDE MAUS

Tokens are steep but worth it.

The smell of German bratwurst is everywhere. We grabbed some sweet potato fries and watched a long line of men try their hands at one of those impossible carnival games: 'Hang on a bar for 2 minutes to win £20.' It was so entertaining to watch the big, burly men try to hang on and the crowd groaning with them when they fell short of the 2 minute mark.

Every kind of Haribo! Extremely fitting in a German market and sure made Taylor a happy guy.

Bratwurst served with soooo much sauerkraut. But smells oh so good.

Creepy, creepy man in Bavaria Town.

Walking away from the park toward the Knightsbridge underground station. London is such a gloriously beautiful place.

Harrods Christmas Lights.

London Black Cabs.

Tourists clogging up the sidewalk.

(I added to the chaos by taking some photos myself and I don't feel that badly about it)

We ended the night with some hot chocolate at Le Pain Quotidien.

I've written about our favourite hot chocolates around London but here's the quick recap: steamed bowl of milk and a small jug of Belgian chocolate to stir in for your chocolatey delight.

I love Christmas in London.

Borough market

Because I'm obsessed with Borough Market

9:00 PM

We read the weekly TimeOut magazine for news of the week's activities.

We've found some pretty great stuff to do and new food places to try in those pages.

a list of the best toasted cheese sandwiches aka Grilled Cheese? YES, PLEASE

But first, a walk through the produce...

My eyes have been opened. I had NO idea that this is how brussel sprouts grow!

The prettiest tomatoes

I adore eggplant but they call it AUBERGINE here. Which just makes me love it more :)

I am clueless if these are good quality/price but it's an impressive sight!

This is toasted sandwich we tried, Kappacasein!
The grill-guy there I now know to be raclette! Melted, hot cheese that was then scraped off to top some chips. Didn't get that this time around but I am salivating just thinking about it.

A 4-cheese mix that was perfectly tasty, though Taylor isn't super convinced it is worth the price, £6 per sandwich....pricey to be sure.

Don't be fooled by the night-time shot. This was probably 4:00pm... Borough Market is only open morning/afternoon. Not an evening market. We love to go for lunch on the weekend.

A London Thanksgiving

7:38 PM

This Thanksgiving was different from all the rest. I don't actively remember that we live in a foreign country until things like this happen. The holidays don't match up sometimes and we worked right on through Thanksgiving. Just a normal day.

All I wanted to connect with some of our holiday traditions was mashed potatoes, corn and pumpkin pie. So I made pumpkin pie and corn :) Still working on the mashed potatoes.

Remembering Thanksgivings of old....

Our wedding anniversary lands sometime around Thanksgiving so in 2014 we celebrated in Greece.

Thanksgiving 2013 on our honeymoon in San Diego

Europe

Taking in the London View

3:16 PM

We moved into a new flat a few months back. The major highlight for me (besides massive amounts of light which is a MUST for me) is the view from the balcony!

I snap a picture nearly every day because there some really stunning moments right outside our window. Rainbows after the rain, sunsets, sunrises, and foggy days!

The big tower that is seen in most of the pictures is the BT Tower.

It has an interesting history, as so many London icons do. The tower just turned 50 about a week ago, opening in 1965. It was the tallest building in Britain at the time and was designed to support telecommunications aerials, which was handled by the General Post Office back then. During its first year the tower was open to the public and was visited by nearly one million visitors, 105,000 of them dined in the revolving restaurant.

MOST INTERESTING BIT: Upon completion, the Post Office Tower was designated an OFFICIAL SECRET and did not appear on Ordinance Survey maps until after it was 'officially revealed' under parliamentary privilege in 1993!

Despite being 177 metres, seen from most of London and open to the public for about 15 years, the telecommunications mast was label CLASSIFIED by the Government who may have had to use its technology in the even of a nuclear attack.

In some photos you can see the Shard very clearly, even the silhouettes of the Gherkin (30 St Mary Axe) and other Central London buildings. On the foggy day, you can't even see the BT Tower.

Come visit us and see the views for yourselves ;)

Cambridge

Cambridge MBA Experience day

3:38 PM

The future is a fickle thing. It can be exciting, terrifying and as hard to see as the trees are through this fog...

(taken from the train from London Kings Cross headed north to Cambridge, UK)

While we figure out where we go from here, we get to investigate the options.

This day of adventure took us to Cambridge University!
Taylor found information about an MBA experience day at the Cambridge Judge Business School and he asked if I would like to go with him.
I love spending time with my husband and, hello? Hang out in Cambridge as a prospective student? Yes, please!

Cambridge in the fall...

Cambridge Judge Business School

Does this remind anyone else of Harry Potter?

We spent the morning in information sessions with professors and alumni of CJBS. It's an accelerated program so the MBA is done in one year. To be perfectly honest, they did a great job selling their program. They even had ME considering the MBA program.

We wandered just around the corner after a lovely lunch of sandwiches and cakes. The sign by the door reads, "Charles Darwin lived here 1836-7"

Fall colours look goooood on these old buildings.

Last time we didn't go into the Peterhouse College area. There is a small chapel (as most colleges do), a lovely square and housing and common rooms toward the back.