Homesick? No problem!

Who would have thought we would stumble upon some finger-lickin’ good BBQ here in London?  Whenever Grant and I are feeling a bit homesick, we cruise on over to good old King’s Road to indulge in some delicious BBQ ribs at The Big Easy!  Monday’s are all you can eat ribs and chicken, plus you get a free beer…our kind of place!  We’ve since introduced some of our fellow expats to The Big Easy, and I think we’re all in agreement (and shock) that they do a pretty good job at making us all feel at home!

Lady of Leisure March Overview…

Ultimate Lady of Leisure Day

Well, March 1 could only be summed up as the ultimate lady of leisure day!  Kelly (my American friend whom I met through Claire), Kaila (my American friend whom I met by attending a few American Women’s Club activities) and I thought we all deserved a day of pampering in the city :)

Thanks to Kelly’s Mom, we discovered a great deal for a manicure at The Chelsea Day Spa.  I hadn’t had my nails done since relocating to London, so I was in heaven!  Having pretty nails just makes you feel so much better!

It was such a beautiful, sunny day, that after our nail appointment, we strolled along King’s Road in Chelsea, through Hyde Park, and then down Park Lane to enjoy an award winning afternoon tea at the luxurious Athenaeum Hotel – absolutely gorgeous!  This was my first true afternoon tea experience here in London, and I’m not quite sure if it could ever be topped!  We all ordered the Athenaeum morning tea blend (very traditional), and had unlimited finger sandwiches (of which all were delicious!), scones and biscuits, and of course, dessert!  It was a lovely time, and I look forward to hopefully doing it again with some visitors!

After our relaxing afternoon, we thought, what better way to end the day by attending Thirsty Thursday at Whole Foods?!  Now you are getting why I just love this lifestlye, huh?  Haha  So, the Whole Foods on High Street Kensington is amazing, and HUGE (largest one in London).  Every Thursday evening you can pay 5 pounds to pick up a wine glass at the front of the store, and make your way around to 5 different stations they have set up throughout the store.  At each station is a wine paired with a dish that they have created.  It is so much fun, and filling! 

Borough Street Market

I’ve been dying to get over to London Bridge to experience London’s most renowned food market, Borough Street Market!  Kelly was sweet enough to invite me to tag along with her and her husband, Mike, for lunch one day.  It was so amazing!!!!!!  The market is filled with street food stations (making it nearly impossible to pick just 1 thing to enjoy for lunch), and then a number of stalls filled with fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese, meat,  and freshly baked bread and pastries.  You could probably eat lunch for free, considering the amount of free samples they’re literally forcing upon you!

Notting Hill

Notting Hill is exactly how you picture it…large Victorian townhouses painted the beautiful pastel color of your choice!  One of the main attractions, spreading across the heart of Notting Hill, is the infamous Portobello Market.  Two miles of discoveries…from antiques to fresh fruits and vegetables, and fashion accessories to wall art…it’s guaranteed that no one will leave empty handed!

Deena B’s

Grant and I finally made it over to Deena B’s for dinner (the BYOB restaurant just two doors down from us).  It was mouth-watering delicious :)  We’ve gotten to know Henry and Deena (owners) very well now, and enjoy stopping in for a quick hello every once in a while.  The place is so cute…fresh flowers and candles on the tables every day, and it's always decorated if there is a holiday (right now there are some pretty cute Easter decorations on the tables!).

Dinner Party

Our neighbor friend, Alicia, and her husband, Hilario, invited us over to our first dinner party here in London!  They also invited another American couple over who live right down the street, originally from Chicago, and we all had a blast!  You can’t go wrong with delicious food (mussels & sea bass…yea, wasn’t kidding about the delicious food!), good wine, and great conversation.  We even had some entertainment, as Julie and Michael brought along their adorable Shih Tzu, Peaches, to play with Alicia and Hilario’s Shih Tzu, Oscar.  The only thing that could have made this evening even better is if Snowman could have joined in on the fun!  Oh how we miss that little guy…

First visit to the local Fishmonger

So, after the delicious seafood at Alicia and Hilario’s, I was motivated to finally step foot in our local Fishmonger shop (we have a great market down the street...just about a 5 minute walk)!  With so many people packed into the stinky shop, and whole fish lying all around you, I’ve always been very intimidated!  Well, for 2 sea bass at only 2 pounds a pop, I couldn’t pass it by, yet again.  Intently listening to the way customers placed their order, I was feeling pretty good about everything.  “Yes, I’ll take 2 sea bass, cleaned please (surely that means they will clean it, and only give the filet to me, since that is how everyone else is placing their order)”.  No, Kristin, cleaned CLEARLY only means that they clean the fish.  Oops!  Yea, so I call my Mom in panic mode as I stared my sea bass in the face (literally) having no idea what to do with it!  I decided not to take Grant’s advice of throwing them out the window, and figure this out all by myself!  Well, let’s just say good thing I wasn’t throwing a dinner party that night…it wasn’t the best presentation, but I did not give up, and made out with a pretty delicious dinner.  Despite almost losing my lunch a few times during the process, I can proudly say that I filleted my first fish (and never plan on doing it again) :) Don’t worry, I’ll spare you the pictures...

Chihuly Exhibit

After seeing a beautiful Chihuly piece in the middle of an intersection on Park Lane, Kelly and I decided to make an appearance at the Chihuly Exhibit, taking place at the gorgeous Halcyon Gallery.  Here is one of my favorites…’Gardens of Glass’.  I’m sure we stood out like a sore thumb, seeing as everything in the gallery was for sale…early Christmas present perhaps??

Lupita

Good news…we discovered a Mexican (not Tex-Mex) restaurant here in London, that isn’t too shabby!  It definitely satisfies when I’m having one of my many Tex-Mex withdrawals.

Burnt Orange/Gordon’s Wine Bar

With March Madness, I finally had a reason to wear my Texas burnt orange over here (even if it was for only one game :( )!  Grant and I met up with a few fellow UT alums to watch the oh-so-close Texas versus Cincinatti game.  After the disappointing loss, we made our way over to Gordon’s Wine Bar (my new favorite place!).  It’s the oldest wine bar in London…established in 1890!  We recently found ourselves at Gordon’s for Sunday Funday, and it was absolutely delightful :)

Now onto April…wow, it’s already been 3 months!

The Hanus’ and Hills also take London!

Back to London, and warmth!  The first few days back in our new home were filled with my parents generously helping us to turn this flat into more of a home.  Then, it was time for me to start showing them around this great new city of ours!

We started our tour over at Westminster Abbey, then made our way over to Parliament in order to sit in on a debate within the House of Lords.  I think my Dad could have stayed there for hours!  Then we made the long haul over to Canary Wharf to meet Grant for lunch, and ended our day walking down Whitehall to find ourselves in Trafalgar Square to enjoy an afternoon brew at The Chandos Opera Bar.

The next day we started out at Buckingham Palace to catch the changing of the guard, strolled around Harrod's, and then spent hours at the Tower of London.  The Crown Jewels are absolutely beautiful!  I couldn’t get over the over 500 carat diamond that sits on top of one of the Sceptres…stunning!  After oohing and awing at the Crown Jewels, we had a picnic within the tower, and then decided to take a tour of the fortress with one of the beefeaters, who happened to be the only female beefeater, which was pretty cool!

Unfortunately no bags in hand :(

Such a Salesman!

Our big night out on the town consisted of going to see the spectacular Wicked!!!!!  We all LOVED the show, and can’t wait to go to our next one!  Afterwards, we found ourselves at Hide Bar sipping on some delicious drinks…it’s known for making whatever kind of drink you fancy (just tell the bartender what you like, and he’ll create it for you).  It was fitting that I ended up with the “American in London” drink.

We ended the weekend (and their visit…tear) by a day trip out to Greenwich on Saturday, and a proper Sunday Roast at The Engineer on Sunday in Camden Town, and a visit to Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park.  Camden Town is a fantastic area known for its alternative culture.  As you exit the tube station, you find yourself on the high street which is filled with alternative shops (Austin on steroids)…then you make your way down to the canal, where a lock system is in place (we had a great time watching a house boat make its way down the canal…slowly), and then the bustling market, that you literally have to fight your way through!  It’s such a cute town, and we recently discovered Primrose Hill (yes, another park!), with another fabulous view of London! 

All in all, it was a wonderful visit!  I can’t wait for their next visit!!

The Hanus’ & Hills take Paris!

A couple weeks after settling (aka calling our “lovely” Landlord, Eileen, SEVERAL times to get Mick, our handyman, over to fix everything before the parents arrived!) into our new flat, Kim and Scott touched down at Heathrow! After a quick pit stop to drop off all 5 of their bags (3 of them were mine…as you know, I do not travel lightly, so you can imagine the number of bags needed to make this leap across the pond), we walked over to The Pembroke for lunch.  My Dad had a hard time holding back his excitement for some true British Fish & Chips and, of course, a beer…finally!

After lunch, we made a mad dash to King’s Cross to catch the EuroStar to Paris! Our cottage in Paris was amazing (thank you Marriott Disneyland Paris!).  Although we were a little ways outside of Paris, the accommodations made up for it!  I think we all enjoyed “the space”, as we were about to come face to face with the challenge of sleeping 4 to a 1 bedroom flat in London…

On Friday, my parents and I made our way into the city for a day of sightseeing!  Before heading out to Versailles, we emerged from the subway only to find ourselves a mere 25 yards from Notre Dame…the perfect backdrop for a delicious crepe lunch in Paris!  We then made our way over to Versailles and spent hours roaming around the magnificent palace.

Grant wasn’t able to join us until Friday evening, so we made our way back to Paris in order to meet up with him before my birthday dinner!  On our way over to the Rue Cler neighborhood, we strolled by the Eiffel Tower, and escaped the cold by popping in the first café we could find for a pre-dinner drink (more importantly, an escape from the cold!)

Thank goodness we stopped for that pre-dinner drink because our walk over to the restaurant for dinner was “challenging”. As we were loyally following the “blue dot” on my Dad’s google map, in the hopes that it would lead us directly from point A to B…we were unfortunately led astray.  Remember now…it was FREEZING!  We were determined NOT to give up though, so hailing a cab was NOT an option!  We walked up and down the same street about 3 times, until we finally gave in, hailed a cab, only to be laughed at by the driver as he pointed to a restaurant 10 feet away.  Well Mr. Cab driver, that was NOT the restaurant!  So, we continued our walk and FINALLY set our eyes on Le Florimond (2 hours later…).  Those Paris streets can be tricky :)

It was all worth it though, as Le Florimond was the perfect birthday dinner…a true Parisian restaurant!  The waiter kindly (and patiently) read through the entire menu for us, as it was all in French (a good sign that thankfully, you have not found yourself at a tourist trap), and we all found our dishes to be absolutely exquisite!  The entire restaurant even joined in on the singing of Happy Birthday…I felt very special!

Saturday was full of museums and the many sights that Paris has to offer!  Our day started out at Notre Dame (where they happened to be holding mass), then hit the Louvre, followed by the d’Orsay, and ended the day on top of the Arc de Triomphe (spectacular view of the city from there!).  For dinner, we traveled up to Montmartre, where we discovered a fabulous fondue restaurant – La Poutre!  It was the perfect ending to my 27^th birthday weekend celebration!

Climbing to the top of the Arc de Triomphe!

Montmartre at night

Delicious raclette fondue at La Poutre

Squatters

Sometimes in life, you and 15 of your closest friends, just have to find a boarded up nightclub, break in, then move-in and live there on a permanent basis without any of your neighbors knowing.  Yes, there was a large group of squatters living 100 yards from our front door in complete secrecy.  That is, until they got drunk and one of them fell off the roof onto the sidewalk, we think possibly assisted by another angry squatter.

Kristin and I were walking home a few Saturday nights ago around 11:30 after a lovely Italian dinner just East on Old Brompton, when what to our wondering eyes would appear but six police cars and three ambulances with lights a blazing very near.  The medics were working on a young man in a stretcher rather diligently and detectives from the New Scotland Yard were quizzing the crowd, which consisted primarily of hippie dreadlocks and hemp necklaces, about what they had seen.  We couldn’t procure any real Intel from the scene but Kristin hypothesized we were in the company of squatters and that a rooftop accident was likely in the cards.

The next morning, we ran into a police officer guarding the door of the club, and two hippie girls sleeping on the sidewalk right next to him.  Oh that’s pretty cool, I thought sarcastically, happy that this was not occurring while my in-laws were in town.  The police officer wouldn’t divulge any information, owing to the fact that he was “guarding a crime scene and could not speak about it,” which he then followed up with “but you live on this street? Ya you have nothing to worry about.”  Oh that’s pretty cool, again I thought, unimpressed with the overall conversation and the hippie girls taking repeated slugs of some sort of alcohol wrapped in bags throughout my questioning.  As the self-appointed leader of the Earl’s Court flat renters association, I deserved better treatment damnit!!

It was only the following day, when we found out from a wily locksmith on our street that apparently somebody had been pushed off the roof of the building.  Hey, just another day in London.

Let’s fast-forward a month now…as we’re getting home from dinner one evening while Debbie and George were in town, again, the corner of our street was the talk of Earl’s Court, as a number of police cars (and the SWAT team!) broke into the club to kick out a NEW group of squatters!  Grant and I are both looking forward to the day that they FINALLY turn the abandoned eye sore into flats (as our estate agent had ensured us, the day we agreed to rent out our flat).

One of our favorite spots!

Greenwich, the summer home to various British queens of the past, lies just south of the river underneath the ultra modern Canary Wharf.  Exiting the tube just north of the Thames (still on the Canary Wharf side), there is a footpath under the mighty river you can take to pass into Greenwich.  This is a magical walk that takes only ten minutes but transports you between different centuries.  Entering the tunnel on the north side, you leave behind glass behemoths reaching to the sky, filled with financial factory workers churning out spreadsheets on laptops and iPads and firing off emails from blackberries and iPhones.  Ten minutes later, you exit the cool of the subterranean tunnel and emerge into the sunny skies of Baroque England in all its majesty.

The beautiful Queen’s House and imperial Old Royal Navy College collectively comprise the base of a gigantic, lush park that slopes up a hill to the Royal Observatory.  Londoners, who generally have very little space in the city, make public parks like these their personal backyards on sunny weekends, playing soccer, chasing dogs, chasing kids!, reading, eating, smoking, drinking all to the slow roll of the misty sun tracking across London.

The Royal Observatory houses the official prime meridian line (zero longitude), which, Greenwich residents claim, makes them the first stop in the world.  It is quite a testament to the power and reach of the former British Empire that the prime meridian could be established in Greenwich without impunity, thus effectively signaling this little hamlet of London to be the center of the world. 

The view from the Royal Observatory is my favorite in all of London.  Staring north from the top of the hill you see the massive and regal park anchored by the classical architecture of the Queen’s House and the Old Royal Navy College, while ultra modern skyscrapers from Canary Wharf serve as the backdrop to all of this just across the river.  What a juxtaposition?!

Greenwich Market serves loads of mostly delicious street food from all corners of the globe.  Wasting a few pounds on cod cakes from Portugal and fried rice balls from Italy is part of the experience for adventurous eaters and heavily outweighed by the rewarding paella and beef & cheddar sandwiches you will eventually find!

Snow in London?

Yes, it snowed here, believe it or not!  Before moving here I just assumed that the cobblestone sidewalks were covered in snow throughout the winter season.  Much to my surprise, London is similar to Dallas…lucky to see snow maybe two or three times during the year.  Growing up in Texas though, you’re always excited at the sight of falling snowflakes.  As we all know, no matter what age you are, we all become 8 years old again, organizing snow football games, building corn cob piped temporary friends and making snow angels as soon as the lightest of layers covers the earth.

So Grant and I braved the cold…walked over to our favorite neighborhood pub, The Pembroke, for an aperitif, then over to our local Thai spot, Mangosteen, before ending our evening two doors down from our flat, at Deena B’s, for cappuccinos and dessert!  We thought we would finish off the evening watching the snowfall from the comfort of our couch, while sipping on some red and watching a movie…I was definitely a big fan of the London snowstorm of 2012 :)