London Calling

As mentioned before, we celebrated Christmas in London this year. We began planning this trip in November and looked at many hotel options before reserving a room at the Millennium’s Hotel Bailey, across the street from the Gloucester tube stop. We chose this because it is in a lively, yet peaceful area and the hotel has its own restaurant. Through the hotel website, we reserved our room at a rate under £100/night, including breakfast for both of us. I checked and this rate seems to still be available. For Valentine’s Day weekend, for example, you could arrive Friday and leave Sunday for £229.20 (about 250 Euros).

We arrived and took the Underground to our Tube stop and settled in. It was Christmas Day when we woke up the next morning. The hotel lobby was beautifully decorated and breakfast awaited us. After that, we bundled up and took a taxi to Trafalgar Square where we joined a London Walks Charles Dickens’s Christmas Day London Tour. It was £7 per person and lasted two hours. There was quite a crowd for the walk and though we are not avid fans of Charles Dickens, we are avid readers and enjoyed walking around London with someone who knew where he was going. Our London Walks guide was an American gentleman who made the stories come alive with humor and detail.

We learned a few things about London, a few of which…
* TKTS in Leicester Square is the place to go for half price theatre tickets. Accept no imitations. 
* Big Ben is the nickname for the bell, not the clock or the tower.
* Free Museums are abundant and include: The British Museum, Sir John Soane’s Museum, Natural History and Science Museums, Victoria & Albert Museum, Imperial War Museum, and National Maritime Museum. There may, however, be a charge for guided tours or special exhibits.
* Go early to Saturday markets, such Portobello Road Market or Borough Market. Great place to pick up a sandwich for lunch later.

It is good to have an Underground map handy so you know where you are going and how to get there. A bus map is also helpful. Of course, be sure to mind the gap.

We opted to purchase two tickets for the Big Bus Tour. For £22 per person, we had 48 hours to ride their hop-on, hop-off buses as much as we wanted AND could take advantage of one of the Big Bus Walking Tours or go on a cruise of the River Thames. The 48-hour time limit is a promotion until February 2009, but it seemed like one day would have been ample. It is helpful if you want to see the city while getting around to the sights. Might be wise to make a plan to make the most of the Big Bus ticket while you have it and visit places closer to where you are staying when you do not have the Big Bus.

Hope you enjoy your visit to London!

Where Have All The Milkmen Gone?

This is an excerpt from my wildly popular Cooking Peas & Q’s blog post. Only the list of Irish milk delivery options is included here. To read the entire [fabulous and informative] post about milk delivery trends, options, and benefits, please visit: http://wp.me/pl7el-5n

I love milk. From an ice cold glass to stinky cheese to fresh whipped cream, you name a form of dairy and I’ll drool. So the idea of a milkman tiptoeing up to my doorstep to deliver my daily dairy is delightful… and not as rare as one may think. READ MORE

I compiled the following list of dairies and dairy-affiliated service businesses (including organic farmers and grocers) that offer doorstep milk delivery. This portion of the list only includes those in Ireland, but there is a longer list in my main post sharing milk delivery businesses in America, Canada, United Kingdom, and beyond. This list is always looking to be improved so please comment with your local milk delivery business’ name so we can add it right away.

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Republic of Ireland

Eamon Reilly, Jr. (Kells, Co. Meath)

O’Sullivan MI on Casement Street (Clonakilty, Co. Cork)

Paul Madden (Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary)

Tony Kehoe Morning Fresk Milk (Bannow, Co. Wexford)

Vincent Browne Milk Distributor (Kilbride, Co. Wicklow)

Christmas in London – Dining Favorites

I’ll admit I was expecting to cry on Christmas since we’d be away from our families, but somehow going to London for the holiday weekend curbed the urge to be sad. How could I be sad with a strong Euro in my pocket? Oh, and the post-Christmas sales. Sigh. They were lovely!

 

We stayed at the Millennium’s Hotel Bailey, across the street from the Gloucester tube stop. Our friend Katie recommended some nice places to eat, two sublime finds in particular. I will write more about the trip later this week once I’ve caught up with life again, but will write about the restaurants now for those of you who can’t wait (or are going to London for New Year’s).

The Sandwich Shop on Gloucester Road (SW7)
Such a find (thanks, Katie)! A personal-sized baguette sandwich for £2 to £3. We picked some up before going to the airport and I ate mine on the plane (it was still chilly and by some miracle the avocado was still green).

Olives in Bailey Hotel on Gloucester Road (SW7) - photo below
Afternoon tea is just £11.95 pp and we order one to share and it was plenty. The tea was delicious! I wish they had more sandwiches and less sweets, but that’s just what I was craving at the time (savory not sweet). There were two scones, clotted cream, jam, two petite fours (little cakes), one fruit tart, and four half sandwiches (one each: tomato and cheese, ham and something, egg salad, and smoked salmon). I recommend this as a light bite before a late dinner or a late lunch or an afternoon snack or just about any excuse you want. Though it may not be the most elegant tea, it is affordable compared to some of the other spots in London. And the lack of elegance took away the pressure to have perfect British tea manners, though my pinky did stick out.

Il Borgo on Gloucester Road (SW7)
Italian and charming. Our friend hooked us up with reservations for Christmas Day dinner and we were so grateful!
Unrelated to Il Borgo, but sharing nonetheless… When we went to cancel the reservations at the other place we had (looking rather bedraggled and casually dressed), they greeted us as if ready to seat us early in spite of our appearance. We could see why, one glance in the restaurant showed us the buffet and about four or five people. Maybe if they did charge £50 pp the guests would be feeling more festive and have shown up.

Memories of India on Gloucester Road (SW7) (yes, we spent a lot of time, money, and calories on that road)
Attentive staff and good food. 

Builder’s Arms on Kensington Court Place
I almost do not want to tell anyone about this spot since it is so authentic and a haven from the touristy spots in the city. We had the beef pie and a friend had a club and another friend had the [huge] burger. Great chips (French fries). Perfect off-the-beaten path spot if you’re on Kensington High Street doing some shopping, as we were.

That’s all for now. Another London post coming soon. Including my thoughts on our London Walks and Big Bus Tour experiences.

Christmas tree in the foreground and in the background the old clock tower that houses Big Ben (that's the name of the bell) - Photo taken from City Cruise boat

 

 

 

Afternoon Tea at Olives in the Hotel Bailey on Gloucester Road (SW7) in London

Off to London

There’s no place like London for the holidays. Well, perhaps that’s not the song, but in the spirit of Love Actually and The Holiday (and the strong Euro), that’s the plan.

We secured a reservation at the Millennium ‘s Hotel Bailey across the street from the Gloucester tube stop. The rate was obscenely reasonable (less than £100 per night for two people including breakfast) and the location ideal. I am lucky enough to have an expat friend living there who is giving us restaurant suggestions (we like to eat).

The flight will be late tonight so we can hopefully avoid some of the crowds at the airport, but still get there early enough that the tube will be operating. Since it is Christmas Eve, our goal is to beat Santa to London!

We will not have WiFi in the hotel (costs £15 or 20 a day, didn’t get a straight answer which but either way too expensive), so I will write a nice long post about our adventures when we return after the weekend.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a safe flight!