Cheltenham and The Cotswolds

A few weekends ago we went to visit friends from home - Jules and Alex!

Unlike the last time we thought we were going to the Cotswolds....this time we actually did make it there.  Jules and Alex live in a lovely town named Cheltenham.  It is one of the largest towns in the Cotswolds and back in the day was a spa town used by the Romans.

It was so lovely to be out of the city for a weekend and be somewhere that was a little slower.  It reminded us of home a little bit and had a very easy pace. 

We were also graced with the most beautiful weather and the hottest day of the year.

Our wonderful hosts took us to three of the most gorgeous Cotswold villages - Stow on the Wold, Bourton on the Water (my favourite) and Prestbury (S's favourite).

The little villages were so handsome, neat and clean and had the most amazing rustic English gardens.  E loves herself an English garden - all messy and crazy and full of colours we have never seen before.  We strolled around looking at the beautiful houses.  Whilst in Bourton and Stow we stopped for an obligatory cream tea and lunch in a pub followed by drinks in a gorgeous little courtyard.  We also stopped off at the oldest pub in town which dates back to the 900AD's!!!!

On Saturday night, Jules and Alex wanted to show us the nightlife so we went to an awesome Italian restaurant in a converted Cathedral followed by a raging nightclub which funnily enough was also in a converted cathedral (packed to the brim with pretty young things).

We spent the entirety of Sunday strolling from Cheltenham to Prestbury (detouring through the world famous Cheltenham racecourse).  The fresh air was amazing as was a little pub known as the Plough Inn where we sat in their back garden drinking jug after jug of Pimms.  Alex was such a good tour guide she even took us through the old cemetery that is supposedly haunted and where she was once told to "get out" by a ghost.  You can imagine how E handled this!!!

We decided to catch the bus back after we had troubles on the train there (the brakes failed!).  However, we were met with more disaster - the bus had no air conditioning, no windows and no ventialtion on the hottest day of the year.  We were also stuck in three hours worth of traffic - complete nightmare.  Never catching the bus again no matter how cheap it is.  Lucky the Cotswolds were so beautiful - the pictures below speak for themselves.

E&S

The oldest Inn in England - dates back to 947AD

The Chuch where we had dinner!

The Church we had drinks in!

Cheltenham Racecourse

xoxo

Portobello Markets

A few weeks back the girls and I decided to hit the antique shops and markets on Portobello Road in Notting Hill.

The boys were all at the Ascot Races (in the rain!) wasting their money on punts so we were let loose to spend money on some vintage treasures.

And vintage treasures we did find...there was all sorts of things on offer....from useless junk to antique teacups, fur coats and vintage bags, silverware and old maps.  There were reasonably priced antique wares and then vintage shops that looked like they were museums - the stock was so old and special.  I fell in love with quite a few vintage pieces that I told myself I would buy if they were still there the next time I came.

I bought a few little trinkets:

• An old ceramic ginger beer bottle that dates back to 1890;  
• A little red and white tin pot that looks like a billy can that was actually used by an Indian family as a dowry for their daughter.  The story is that it sat on the mantle piece of a very wealthy Indian family and was a dowry gift collected from Eastern Europe;
• A print of some Disney characters from 1940; and
• A tea cup set (the tea cup is entirely platinum and reflects the pattern of the saucer - it's a little bit special).

We feasted on yummy fresh food from the markets and red velvet cupcakes from world famous Hummingbird cafe.

I also now have a long list of coveted items including a fur coat, some vintage maps and some tortoise shell vintage binoculars.  I better start saving those pennies....

E&S
xoxo

Things we've realised...

Now that we have been living in London for just over three months we thought we would update you on some of the things we have noticed....

• It does rain a lot - when we first arrived we were lulled into a false sense of security with beautiful blue skies and warm temperatures.  Don't get me wrong, we have some amazing weather but when it rains, it is windy and the air is icy.  I write this as we have had beautiful weather for the past five days - I am relishing in it don't you worry. I also don't get burnt here - it's great.
• People paint their doors so that they know which house is there own.  I absolutely love this concept. Each of the apartments would look identical but for the coloured doors.  Pinks, greens, yellows, blues.  One of my favourites is in the picture above.  When we buy a house back home we think we will paint our door. 
• A mother can get a fine for having her child stomp through the daffodils in the park but you can ride a bike as much as you like without a helmet - go figure.  We actually saw a mum in a park get told by a police officer that if her son didn't stop playing in the daffodils, she would get fined.
• Nobody waits for the traffic man to go green before walking across the road - People come within inches of a bus, car or bike. I know that I am starting to convert as I no longer wait at traffic lights. I can get to my destination 3 seconds earlier if I cross before waiting after all!! You can even jaywalk straight in front of a police officer.
• It doesn't get dark until 9 to 10 pm - the days are sooo long.  It's magical.  Although we do go to bed later because it is so hard to go to bed while it is still sunny outside.
• Dogs are treated the same as humans when it comes to getting a seat in a pub.  People's pooches are taken everywhere, even inside pubs and restaurants.  Shane and I wonder at the size of some of these dogs.  We understand how having a little dog in London would work but some people have great big dogs.  I don't know if you have noticed but everyone lives in apartments in London! 
• I thought only Amsterdam-ians rode bicycles everywhere but the poms do too.  There are bikes everywhere.  We have a great bike lane near our house and every morning I forget to look for the bike rider and almost get bowled over.
• The poms have hard shells. It takes you a long time to crack through that hard exterior.  I have found them quite different to the Aussie's and to be honest often hard to get along with.  They are really quite funny actually so it evens out in the end.  It's true what they say about how fast Londoners walk too.
• British girls wear A LOT of make up!

We wanted to jot some these things down because as we get more and more immersed here we start to forget that these things are actually different to what we are used to.  That is the beauty of living overseas!!!

xoxo
E&S

Primrose Hill and St John's Wood

We recently bought a new set of cards which are called "City Walks London: 50 Adventures on Foot".  They are keeping us very very busy and a few weekends ago we decided to go to Primrose Hill and St John's Wood.  Doesn't the name Primrose Hill sound delightful.  Let me tell you - it lived up to it's name. 

Primrose Hill and St John's Wood have some of the most exclusive and expensive real estate in London.  It is also home to stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Moss, Jude Law and Jamie Oliver.  It was once the old hunting ground for Henry VIII.
Deli's and boutiques (especially those of the homewares kind) line the High Street and of course we had to stop for E's obligatory weekend cream tea (tea, scones, jam and cream).  We didn't spot any of the celebrities above but we were sitting next to one very self indulged author.  We couldn't quite figure out who she was to begin with but we knew that she was either famous or wealthy.  Remarks such as -"Don't worry Sarah - tell your woman (i.e. maid) not to worry about buying food, we simply want to have a wine with you" or "oh yes...my son is now studying at Trinity College [in New York]" or "my agent booked me a hotel in Mayfair" must have given it away.  She finally dropped the "you simply must read my new book" bomb and it was settled.  Our guessing game was over.

We climbed Primrose Hill for amazing views of central London and sat in the sun watching all the pompous fluffy pooches play.  We then made our way to St John's Wood - ooooing and ahhing at the massive houses. Behind any of those doors could have been Kate or Gwyneth or the Olivers.

We made our way to Abbey Road and walked across the same crossing that the Beatles did in 1969 for their album cover.  The old recording studio seems to still be there and the fence outside is covered in graffiti and public signs of admiration for The Beatles (some of our favourite are below).  It was amusing watching the locals get irritated at tourists posing in the middle of the road for their happy snap just like The Beatles.

Twas a lovely relaxing Saturday.

xoxo

E&S

Obligatory Cream Tea

Regent High Street & Le Tea Cosy Cafe

Primrose Hill

The one and only Abbey Road crossing.

Kew Gardens

A few weeks back, we ventured down to Richmond to visit Kew Gardens.  We went with our good friends M & B and had a lovely relaxing day strolling through the pretty flowers and impressive glass houses.

The Kew Gardens were originally the royal family's private gardens. Various different royals have lived on the estates that make up Kew Gardens at various different points in time.  Queen Victoria opened the gardens to the public in 1898.  Prior to that, various different royals used Kew Gardens to grow and experiment with medicinal plants.  The gardens actually contain plant varieties which were collected by Captain Cook on his travels!

The Glass Houses are what intrigued us the most.  It was amazing to see how plants from all over the world, each requiring a different climate, could be kept in one location.  We also really enjoyed the Lilly Pilly House and the Rhododendrum Garden.

We also enjoyed a yummy lunch in the garden's Orangery which used fresh produce grown on-site!

xoxo
E&S

If I were a punk you'd find me in....

CAMDEN.

Camden is just north of Angel and sports three large markets - Camden Market, Stable Markets and Camden Lock Village.  Our favourite was the Stable Markets which back in the day housed a horse hospital.

Camden is seriously a punks paradise.  There are some interesting characters walking around in that part of the world that's for sure.  It is ultra ultra grungy but has a very cool vibe.

S and I loved it.  There was such an eclectic mix of things to buy - vintage clothes, trendy clothes, home wares, vintage furniture and flea market finds.  We spent hours strolling through the little lane ways of the markets looking at bits and bobs and getting lost.  There were so many things that E could have bought but she fought the temptation.  We suspect there may be many more trips to Camden.

Within the markets there was also a large array of food stalls selling everything you could imagine and so fresh!  For lunch we sat by the Camden Lock (Regent's Canal) and ate Chinese.  Surprisingly we also found some good coffee at a cafe called Cafe Cremma (we say surprisingly because good coffee is hard to come by over here).

We also found a bar we had been told about called Proud which is in converted horse stables! We will definitely be checking that out soon.

E&S
xoxo

The Enchanted Palace

Last month we visited Kensington Palace which has been transformed into the Enchanted Palace!

While Kensignton Palace is being renovated, there is a series of exhibitions and interactive pieces in the State Rooms of the castle.  The exhibition centres around 7 princesses who once lived in the Palace and their secrets (hidden in the palace for years).  The exhibition had an enchanted forest and mystical feel.

The Palace has a simply amazing history.  For example, it was the place where Queen Charlotte died during childbirth, Queen Victoria awoke to hear that she had become the youngest queen in history and even Princess Diana lived there for some while.  We were fascinated by the stories we discovered in some of the rooms.

E's favourite room was The King's Staircase which was a entrance hall and stairway that was entirely painted by William Kent to depict the court.  Interestingly, there is not one royal painted in the whole picture.  The painting contains each of the Royal Servants at the time (including the royal bottom wiper which was apparently a very prestigious position) and the painter himself.  The staircase was the entrance used for when subjects wanted to see the King in Court.  The paintings are unusual as it was the norm in that era for high society, royalty and nobility to be painted but not servants and normal subjects.  E's other favourite room was Queen Victoria's childhood bedroom (E has a fascination with her!).

The exhibition included poems, installations that portrayed a story and costumes designed by Vivienne Westwood.

Whilst there we also visited the Sunken Garden and had a delicious Sunday Roast Lunch at a nearby pub.  It was a lovely Sunday date day.

E&S
xoxo