Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category
Our last morning in London began with a very friendly, talkative man who drove us back to Heathrow Airport. He was from Holland. It’s too bad we didn’t meet him earlier in the trip, because he was an excellent tour guide!
Once we checked in and found our gate, it was time to find something for lunch.
After wandering a bit, we decided to try Wagamama.
Son got their duck ramen, and I picked at their teriyaki chicken bento. (I wasn’t feeling too hot, so I didn’t want to try anything too wild.)
I know a lot of people seem to really like Wagamama, and I know I usually try to post about places I think you should go try out… but to be honest, we were kind of meh about it.
Maybe it’s because we’re Asian, or because we can get excellent Asian food anytime we want, living in Southern California. But whatever the reason, we found it to be bland and disappointing.
Regardless, it wasn’t long before we were off to Paris – the land of excellent food!
On our last evening in London, we stayed a little closer to home base. Instead of hopping on a train again, we took a walk to see the sights nearer to our hotel.
North of The Ampersand is the National History Museum (we would have loved to go, but it was closed at the time), and then a number of consulates.
From there, we made our way through the gorgeous Imperial College London.
At the college, they were setting up for filming of “Pan”, which was fascinating to see.
(It almost made me wonder if we’re really in London, or if we’re at Universal Studios.)
Across the street from the college are the Kensington Gardens.
That is one heck of a statue.
In the Kensington Gardens, they were also setting things up to film.
I’m pretty sure that poofy thing means somebody’s going to fly.
After leaving the film sets behind (and getting lost a couple of times), we sat a while in the Italian Gardens.
After that, it was a quick jaunt on the Central Line, from Lancaster Gate station (which has so many stairs!) to Marble Arch station, and a short walk to our dinner destination.
Roti Chai!
This is the kind of restaurant with a lot of little dishes, so we went a little crazy and tried as much as we could.
We’re not really alcohol people, but luckily for us they have an awesome non-alcoholic drink list. We got the Kovalam Beach – a non-alcoholic blend of lychee, coconut, guava, and ginger ale. It was fantastic. I really wish I could figure out how to replicate it.
For food, first we tried several dishes from the “STREET” portion of the menu.
The Papri Chaat consisted of crunchy wheat crisps, potato, chickpeas, yogurt, and hot & sweet chutney. It was very delicious.
Next we tried the Parsi Chicken Farsha, which had a light masala marinade and came with with curried ketchup. It was tasty, but has the kind of heat that creeps up on you from behind.
The Imli Wings were addictive but messy, with their sticky tamarind glaze.
I’m a sucker for anything bread, so of course I loved their Roti.
After that we had their Maher Jhol from the “ROAD & RAIL” portion of their menu – traditional Bengali fish curry with kasundi mustard, served with rice. I only had one bite of this one, because it was OHMYGOD SO SPICY, but Son enjoyed it.
Lastly for the savory portion of our meal, was the Bun Kebab – a mini Indian-inspired lamb burger. Flavorful and delicious.
It was such an amazing meal of fantastic Indian food. We were both very happily stuffed.
But wait… can’t forget dessert! We tried the Almond and Saffron Phirni – “a delicately flavored ground rice and milk dessert”. It sounds like maybe not the most amazing thing ever, but it really was the perfect ending to a fantastic dinner.
Thank you, Roti Chai, for the best meal we had in London!
Next… we’re off to Paris!
After visiting Chelsea Stadium, we took the District Line to Notting Hill Gate, then the Central Line to Marble Arch station.
From there, we walked a few streets, in search of a restaurant Son had found online.
After a bit of, “wait, it should be here…,” we finally found The Golden Hind.
Because you can’t go to London and NOT try fish and chips at least once!
Son got the steamed cod and chips.
Whereas I went for the classic fried haddock and chips.
(And look, it’s the jacket! So cozy.)
For dessert, we had treacle and syrup with custard, which was SO good, but so sweet.
After that, it was back to the hotel for a nap (yeah, we’re totally still jet-lagged), before heading out again for dinner – the best Indian food ever!
On our second morning in London, we woke up to a chilly – but not raining! – morning.
After noshing on our leftovers from our midnight Pret a Manger snack for breakfast, we headed out to South Kensington Station again.
This time, we took the District line to Fulsom Road station.
And stopped at Krispy Kreme!
Okay, Krispy Kreme wasn’t really why we were there. But we weren’t about to say no to a doughnut opportunity!
Our real destination was Chelsea Stadium.
Son’s a huge soccer (ahem, football) fan, so this is one of the few places he really wanted to make sure we visited while we were in London.
It was also REALLY COLD AND WINDY there. I attempted to take shelter behind a statue. It didn’t work very well.
We didn’t have time to go on a stadium tour (although I’m sure we would have if we were in London for more than two days).
Instead we just ate our peanut butter chocolate Krispy Kreme (SO GOOD)…
…and did some shopping.
It might surprise you to find that between the two of us, Son is the one who always wants to go souvenir shopping.
I can’t stand shopping.
Yeah, I’m weird like that.
However, I can’t complain too much, because Son ended up buying a very nice jacket that I got to wear the rest of the day. IT WAS SO WARM.
Come back Friday to see it!
After our smaller-than-expected-but-still-tasty dinner at St. John’s Restaurant and Bar, off we wandered again.
This telephone booth was an interesting find.
If you watch Sherlock, you might be familiar with this ambulance station…
(I watched that episode on the plane on our way back home, a couple weeks later, and was like WAIT A MINUTE I WAS TOTALLY JUST THERE.)
Our favorite part about London was the architecture. There are so many interesting buildings here!
We found the Blackfriar…
Who was right next to our intended destination: Blackfriar Station
From there, we took the District line to Westminster station. The moment we stepped out of the station, we looked up and realized we had found Big Ben!
He was looking quite dashing on this stormy night.
And right across the way, you could see the London Eye.
We headed across the river to get a better look.
… I kind of feel like we just upskirted the London Eye.
After seeing the sights, we headed back to the hotel, and stopped by a Pret a Manger to pick up food.
Pret a Manger is a food-to-go type of place, with lots of pre-made dishes to try.
We got a Vietnamese salad, crawfish sandwich, and a bottle of mandarin lychee juice, and took them back to our hotel to eat.
Soon after, it was off to bed.
Next, we’ll be off to Chelsea Stadium!
