We started day 4 doing the obligatory tourist stuff (Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, etc…) We weren’t particularly interested in most of this aside from the architecture. We didn’t tour the insides of anything in this area, and altogether it was a small part of the day. That said, there were some good reasons to brave the most...
Vintage + Vinyl We spent all afternoon in Shoreditch (mostly Brick Lane, part of the greater Shoreditch neighborhood), which is a very Bohemian neighborhood filled with street art, vintage shops, and vinyl. And when I say vintage shops, I don’t mean Goodwill style junk. These are serious. Stuff people would actually want to wear. And there are a TON of them...
Duck & Waffle We began the day with a late (10:00am) breakfast at Duck & Waffle, which was amazing. The views from the 40th floor are amazing, and the food was incredible. I, of course, had the duck & waffle, and Teresa had the eggs Florentine (served on a waffle). We split a dessert waffle: the lemon meringue. It was divine. Be sure to make a...
Given my GenX childhood, I was very interested in music related sites around London, and the West End has no shortage of spots. Most of these are not interesting aside from “hey, cool stuff happened here”, but others are worth a visit if 1960’s through early 1980’s music history is your thing. Regent Sounds Studio We’ll start at 4...
We pre-booked afternoon tea at the Sanderson Hotel. It was a Mad Hatter/Alice In Wonderland themed tea, and it was amazing. The tea was the best either of us had ever had (5 different types), the Champagne was fantastic, and the food was divine. A word of warning, though: although they will leave behind the teapot after pouring each variety, DO NOT go for seconds (or...
Day 2 was all in the West End of Central London, and the dogs were barking! 23,000 steps, but worth it. I’m breaking day 2 up into a few posts. One will be all about music, one about afternoon tea, and this one about everything else from day 2. The day started with a stroll through Richmond, included a performance of the longest running play in the world...
Trip Overview Taking advantage of our winter breaks (we both work for schools), we planned a trip to London leaving the day after Christmas, and returning just before we both had to be back at work. What a fantastic trip! Big shout out to Love + London for their awesome guides and YouTube videos that helped in our planning. We purchased their 5-day guide, which...
We caught an early train from Genoa to Milan. Our hotel in Milan was a 6 minute cab ride from the train station. We couldn’t check in until 2:00pm, so we dropped off our luggage and found a caffè to get some breakfast. After breakfast we bought hop-on-hop-off bus tickets and used those to explore the city a bit. (We were originally supposed to fly out of Milan...
One of the reasons we decided to visit Genoa, aside from the fact my family came from Genoa, is the town of Cervo is a short distance up the coast. We’ve recently learned, after hiring genealogists in Genoa to research our family, that my great-great grandfather (who came to America via Genoa) was an orphan. It’s unclear if he at some point was taken in...
Santa Margherita Ligure We began our first full day in Genoa by leaving town. We took the train from Genoa to Santa Margherita Ligure where we were meeting a guide to take us to Portofino, which is a 15-minute ferry ride from Santa Margherita Ligure. It was just us and 2 other couples in the group. Breakfast at the hotel before we left, and although there were many...