Picnics in the park

With so many great spots in London to picnic in, one would have a hard time to have to travel far to enjoy one of the great parks in the city to picnic in. As the weather has gotten better, Erin and I had two recent weeks with great weather, allowing for some great picnics. We did everything to make these picnics good except one thing, we forgot suncscreen.

Primrose Hill
This is a great spot to have a meal, some Pimm's or bubbly and let the hours go by while overlooking the city. Primrose Hill is very central, just off the north part of Regent's Park. We grabbed some fruit, bread and cheese, a bottle of champagne and our shades and headed for the park, meeting Desie, Sam Kate and Zeus.

This park is a little smaller than most but can easily accommodate hundreds of people and as mentioned, affords amazing views of the city.

Hyde Park
The following weekend we went to Hyde Park. One of the city's biggest and most central parks, home to the weekly American football game, acres of trees and paths and a public lawn bowling space that is perfect for an after-picnic match!

We went with Cam and Emily, had lunch in the Diana memorial park just south of the Serpentine, then headed for the lawn bowling pitch. Its really cheap to do at only £6 an hour to rent the balls. I highly recommend this activity for visitors and locals alike. You can also rent the entire pitch for a party or work function. I think Erin's money pasta salad prompted Cam to pop the question!

Brick Lane and bowling

Each neighborhood in London has its own split personality -  a mix of history and modern culture.  All you need to do is select a different Tube stop and you exit,  feeling like you're in a completely different place. Washington, D.C. too, reminds me of this.  Smithsonian and you're at the heart of the national mall.  Old Town with its colonial charm. Adam's Morgan and your senses are overwhelmed - colourful restaurants, grungy graffiti and jumbo pizza slice smells.  Brick Lane in London takes this sensory overload one step further.  Unfortunately, this picture doesn't do it justice but it is one long neighborhood that winds through various bric-a-brac markets selling curries and odd collectables, upmarket Spitalfields and ends in the middle of London's Bangladeshi community. Jack the Ripper also started his conquests here.

The area is starting to become more developed, but remains one of the most colourful and vibrant parts of the city.  This is a perfect spot to bring someone that has seen Big Ben and Portobello Road and is looking for a glimpse into life in the city.  Lucky for me, Linsey, who studied abroad in London during university and came over for a visit, was up for such an adventure. Where else could you have a cocktail on an old school bus, view graffiti by Banksy and complete the evening with a traditional Indian spread? We dined at Aladdin on a recommendation.  There were no flying carpets but the food was unbeatable and fun for the price. 90% of London's Indian restaurants are Bangladeshi.

Liverpool Street and Aldgate East are the closest Tube stations.  The area is liveliest on Sundays, when the Spitalfield market is on.  During Linsey's visit, we wanted to blend new with old and spent a leisurely Saturday afternoon lawn bowling in Hyde Park.  Much like bocci ball, its a competitive but undeniably social sport. And especially when its a geriatric costume party.

The day was capped off with another English past time - a picnic. And lucky for us, there were no archaic open bottle restrictions to stop us from enjoying the warm weather and a glass of bubbly.

Paris, France

One can only stay away from Paris for so long. It had been 5 years since Erin and I had visited Paris, and with Erin's increasing love of all things French and Jenna's interest in visiting the city, we booked last minute cheap flights to visit for the weekend to see the sights.

We arrived pretty late on Friday night, but luckily booked our hotel in Marais, a mere 30 yards from a great Bistro that Tanya recommended (http://parisianspring.blogspot.com/2009/10/best-brasserie-in-paris.html). 

It was a great little spot that had everything you need; the steak frites was nicely complimented by a couple bottles of cheap, but delicious Rhone red. The restaurant, Bouquet Saint Paul, is a must for reasonably-priced bistro food with a good vibe; a great place to relax the feet after a long day of power-touring!

The next morning, inspired by the movie Marie Antoinette, we made the quick trek out to Versailles to see perhaps the most amazing palace and garden combination in the world. We purchased the Paris Museum pass which is EUR30 for two days and worth the money in terms of skipping long ticket lines and getting access to over 60 museums and sights. 

The crappiest part about it was at Versailles, in what is blatantly a ploy to make tourists that have came from afar pay extra, charged an additional 8 euro to get access to the gardens because of two daily water fountain shows. So you not only have to pay the 8 euro to see the museum, but an additional 8, not covered by the museum pass to see the gardens, even if it isn't close to the time of the fountain show. Due to principle, we choose against seeing the gardens; which is a pity because the gardens are perhaps the best part about the estate. The museum pass does however, cover Marie Antoinette's hamlet and mini-palace, which was really nice and provided a great setting for our picnic lunch, picked up at the great market in Versailles village. We opted for a whole rotisserie chicken on a baguette!

After the morning and early afternoon in Versailles, we headed back to the city and went to the Louve. What a great museum. One of my favorite parts is the old fortress, which the Louve is built directly on top of, but the foundations and old moat are part of an exhibit in the museum. 

Following the Louvre we went to a little bistro by Centre Pompidou called the Hanger, which had excellent home-made raviolis and good steaks, of course washed down with some nice house wine.  We hustled back to Pont Neuf after dinner (after learning nobody else was being let into the Notre Dame towers). Regardless, we had a nice sunset on the pont. 

The following day consisted of breakfast crepes, a nice coffee then it was off to the Eiffel Tower. If I would give any advice to visitors going to the tower, it would be to purchase advance tickets and avoid a lengthy wait (at least 90 minutes) to try and buy tickets the day of. I imagine Rick Steves says the same thing!

We were smart to get tickets in advance and got to the top in about 30 minutes (i.e. there is even a small wait when you already have tickets). 

After the Eiffel Tower, we wandered towards Luxembourg gardens and had a nice lunch, before hitting up Saint Chapelle before making our way back to the airport. It was too quick of a weekend and we all wished for a few more days to truly appreciate Paris!

Day Trip: Canterbury, England

A few weekends ago, Erin and I were craving an excursion outside the city. With an abundance of day trip options, we wanted to choose wisely as free Saturdays cannot be taken lightly. We opted for a trip to the Southeast of England, specifically Canterbury. Much of medieval England history was written here, as Canterbury Cathedral was the head of the Catholic Church in England for centuries and is where the Archbishop sits today. 

Canterbury’s history dates back to prehistoric times, with a significant roman influence.  Christianity came to England in the sixth century where St. Augustine set up the Cathedral and it has since been central city in England. There are several monasteries, churches, an old priory, an inn dating to the 13^th century, and lots of great historical buildings and streets. 

Getting to Canterbury from central London is about as easy as getting lost in the medieval streets of the town itself. Trains depart from St. Pancras station every half hour on the Southeastern train link and take about an hour, with part of the journey being on the new high speed track. A round trip day ticket costs about $40.

The town is two blocks (5 minutes) from the old town, which still has a respectable portion of its medieval walls in tact. We spend the first 90 minutes just getting our bearings, checking out the old inn/hospital/chapel on the main street, where the gentleman working at the desk was extremely well versed on the history of the town.

After walking around some more, we worked up an appetite and got a picnic at a cute little café/gourmet foods shop and had a nice picnic along the river surrounding the old town. 

After lunch, we made our way to the famous cathedral, which is still where the head of the Church of England sits today. The church became a site of pilgrimage when King Henry II murdered his old friend Thomas Becket in the church after power struggles came to a head. 

I strongly encourage reading a non-fiction book by Ken Follett titled Pilars of the Earth, which focuses on the struggles between the Church, State, and people and culminates around the time of the famous murder. There is even stain glass depicting the famous murder. 

The church was impressive, larger than many, smaller than York Minster Cathedral, but without question the centerpiece of the town.

Following the church, we wandered around a little more before catching the 3:30pm train, capping off a highly successful and stress free day trip. 

Hampstead

Erin and I recently took advantage of a nice and sunny London Saturday and grabbed the Northern Line up to Hampstead to check out what is described as a village within the city. We arrived, walked around the city and poked into random markets, gourmet food shops, pubs and art dealers. The town center does indeed have a village feel to it and its worth exploring for a day if in London for an extended visit. Nearby Hampstead Heath park is also a relaxing escape that all visitors should take a walk through. There is a building on the massive park that was supposed to have a highly touted restaurant/cafe. However, it was closed for repair and replaced by a less exciting sandwich kiosk. Hopefully it'll open back up this summer. 

We of course made our way to two different pubs during the day to break up all the walking around the village and park. The first pub we went to was the Spainard's Inn and had a pint of Hooegarden and cloudy cider. The bar has been around since 1585 and is on the street that bisects the park on the way to the main building in the park. It is definitely on the tourist map (rightfully so). There is a huge beer garden in the back for warm summer days.

This is the park very close to the village center with great views of London in the distance. It's a great place to escape the city and enjoy the fresh air. 

The second pub we made it to was the Holly Bush, a brilliant pub up the hill from the tube stop with a great selection of beer on tap (Fuller's selection I believe, but they have some good alternatives to London Pride). The pub was one of the best we've sipped at since coming to London and I highly recommend it.