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...
Departing Venice We began the day with an early (6:30am) walk through a deserted Venice. After coffee and cannoli at the only open caffè we could find, we returned to finish packing, then had a more robust breakfast at our hotel. We finished just in time for the water taxi that we booked the night before (with the help of the front desk). They picked us up on the...
Teatro La Fenice We started the day with a fantastic self-guided audio tour of Teatro La Fenice (The Phoenix), a very famous opera house in Venice. It rose to fame in the 19th century when it became the site of many famous operatic premieres at which the works of several of the four major bel canto era composers – Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi – were performed...
Early Start to the Day We were up very early, before our hotel breakfast started, so we took a walk and found a caffè that was open early. The best part about getting up early is the empty streets. So peaceful! By the time we got back, it was almost time for the hotel breakfast, so we went back to the room for a bit before enjoying second breakfast. Libreria Acqua...