London Food Edition

When we got into London we went to our BnB to check in and we were so tired from traveling we just wanted something quick and British to eat...So I foodspotted and found the Calthorpe Arms Pub just down the street

Wela had the Sausages, beans, and chips

I had Scampi and chips with peas (Basically breaded and fried shrimp)

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The Anchor Pub and Restaurant 
Located along the River Thames near Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

It was recommended by the guide on the river cruise we went on early in the day...He said, "Try the Chicken & Mushroom Pie...it's the best" So we went and tried it and others...

Our friend Jeannine told us to try Pimms and Lemonade if we saw it...and they had it at The Anchor!!!

It was delightful even though it was freezing out, which calls for warm drinks

Wela had a tea to warm up

Bangers and Mash with a Sweet Onion Chutney

Mini Pie and Pasty Platter: Steak&Ale pie, Steak&Kidney pie (not my favorite...kind of stringy), Chicken&\Mushroom pie, Cornish minced meat pasty (like in Harry Potter), Mushy peas, and Mash with a jug of gravy...Getting the sampler was smart because we got to try all of these things at once!

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A little further down the Thames is Borough Market...I was so full from Lunch that I didn't get to try any food (which I regret in hindsight...next time) but we did get some Hot mulled wine...Just like spiced cider but wine...I could drink wine like this all the time

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This meal was after the Les Miserables show when we meandered into Chinatown for a quick bite before heading back to the flat...We stopped into 
Gerrard's Chinese Restaurant

Prawn Crackers (Shrimp chips in Hawaii)...I miss these!

It was cold out so we both got soup...I had BBQ roast pork ramen with choi sum

Wela had wonton soup with choi sum

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The Clarence Pub 

Near Great Scotland Yard (Wela's Ron Weasley Photo) and on the way to Trafalgar Square.  We had really horrible timing in London eating lunch later than normal so we were starving!

Wela had an express lunch of Fish cakes and chips...The fish cakes were very fluffy and not as condense as we are used to but I think I may be partial to the fluffy version.

I ordered the Smoked Pork Belly with lentils and caramelized apples...If you can tell from these pictures it should look just as delicious as it was! The pork was tender and fatty and the lentils were perfect and cooked in the pork broth which made them even better.  I'm salivating just thinking about it!

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TESCO time! 

A UK store that has everything you might want...We decided to buy things for our train ride to Paris, as well as, snacks just in case we woke up late or got back to the flat and were hungry.  They have interesting crisp flavors, I got Prawn cocktail which tasted like Shrimp cocktail sauce.  They also have a lot of ready made sandwiches and pasta for take away.

As you can see TESCO has a lot of stuff to try that we may have went a little crazy with curiosity.  Wela got some Egg and watercress salad sandwiches and Salmon Cucumber while I went more traditional with chicken and bacon.  We also found delicious Prawn crackers for 82 pence and the type of tea everyone serves in London (a huge box of 160 bags) so we'll have English tea for a while!

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BOBA JAM!!!

(Boba and Karaoke)

Wela practically pushed me out of the double-decker bus when we were stopped in front of the place on our way to watch The Phantom of the Opera.  We had to get some but we also only had 20 min. before the show so my pictures are horrible since I had the fisheye lens on.  Let me just say that this was some good boba for two reasons: 1) It was really cold so we got our boba tea HOT and 2) The tapioca pearls were cooked perfectly.

Wela got his favorite Taro flavor

And I tried a different type of milk tea: Hokkaido Milk tea which is a Caramel milk tea...It was such a good choice! I wish I had more right now!

That concludes our London Food Edition post...Next post: Paris Oh La La!

Europe or Bust!: London, England

We finally made it to London on February 1st after a very long commute.  We flew into London Heathrow from Dublin and decided that the easiest and least expensive way to get from the airport to our Airbnb flat was on the London underground so we caught the Piccadilly line from Heathrow to Russell Square and made a 8 min. walk to the London Borough of Camden to Gray's Inn Road.  

Our host, Gareth (a very British name), was at his flat to meet us and show us around.  His two room flat with kitchen, one bathroom, and living room was quaint and inviting.  While we got settled in, Gareth made us delicious English tea and bought us biscuits (cookies in America).  After we settled in, we moseyed our way to a pub called, Calthorpe Arms a block from the flat for some dinner (Food pictures coming soon).  After dinner we planned our first real day in London.

We caught the London Tube at Heathrow to our Airbnb flat

Here is a picture of the tube

Here was our cozy bedroom in our flat! It was perfect for two or us!

Our awesome host Gareth made us tea and bought us biscuits while we got settled

He also made us both banana milkshakes when we got back from dinner

We had an early morning walking to the River Thames for our London Eye river cruise reservation.  On the way there I was busy snapping pictures of every little thing.  I took pictures of a million double-decker buses and telephone booths because to me these things are very "London"  

There were a lot of these Barclay bike rental stations throughout London.  It was a bit to cold to ride and traffic is a little too crazy in London for the helmet-less.

We tried to make it to Belgravia's Cabman Shelter for a Bacon Butty (Bacon sandwich) but we never made it...These "fast food" cafes around London had British Bacon Buttie's and I took a picture because the word buttie makes me laugh...still.

FISHEYE LENS FTW!!! 

Ground view of the London Eye

We bought a ticket package for admission onto the London Eye and for the London Eye river cruise.  The river cruise was deathly cold sitting on the top of the boat but worth it because we got to see everything on the River Thames...Big Ben, Parliament, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Tower of London etc.  

Here's a fisheye picture inside our London Eye pod on our way back down...A complete rotation of the wheel is 30 min. long...essentially a very slow ferris wheel!

Although, I'm afraid of heights I felt relatively safe close to Wela but that meant I followed him around the pod.

The Millenium bridge from the Tate Modern...This is the bridge the death eaters collapse on Harry Potter: Half Blood Prince

This is the alleyway to the Borough Market... There is a light show in here

Borough Market! I bought a sweet burlap bag and a cup of hot mulled wine (delicious...like hot spiced cider but wine) ...I'm a sucker for markets :)

I'm enjoying a nice warm cup of mulled wine on these sweet benches along the River Thames

Tower of London bridge at Sunset

Sunset on the River

Piccadilly Circus underground stop...On our way to see Les Miserables

Piccadilly Circus! Circus = Intersection of many streets...a mini times square

Les Miserables at the Queens theatre in London's West End!!!

Classic Palatial theatre of London...the amazing view from our seats!

Our seats in the Dress Circle along Stage right...We couldn't see part of the stage but we were so close you could see the spit coming out of the performers mouths :)

***Side note: Les Miserables was AMAZING!!! I would recommend it to everyone! Even though Ramin Karimloo wasn't playing Jean Valjean like he was supposed to :(

London's Chinatown right across from the Theatre

Our first day came to an excellent close and we were definitely exhausted from all that walking but it was so worth it...No pain, no gain!


Stay tuned for Day 2 and a London Food Edition post!


Cheerio!