Eating Our Way Through London Series

S and I consider ourselves to be foodies - we love food, of all varieties, especially when it's cooked well.  It is a big part of our lives and big part of our trips away.

Just before we moved to London lots of people told us that the food would be rubbish and we wouldn't be eating well at all.  Terms like 'Heathrow Injection', beer battered fish, sardines on toast and SPAM spring to mind. 

Yet what we have experienced has been far from what we were told.  Instead, we have experienced some of the best restaurants in the world.  The options are endless from high end designer haunts to fresh from the farm rustic loft type conversions to gastropubs.

I am constantly reading about restaurants and have a huge list that we have to get through.  Because of this we've decided to start a series on our little blog called 'Eating Our Way Through London'.  Here we will write about a different restaurant we've dined in each time.

Not only were we surprised about the variety of restaurants, we were overwhelmed by the choice in the supermarkets and the amount of Farmer's Markets selling amazing fresh produce.  For me, my favourite has been the availability of cheeses, berries, and olive oils.  It's also incredibly cheap!

Our first review will be posted shortly....

Bon Appetite

xoxo
E&S

Let's talk about...Ugg Boots

A topic which S and I regularly entertain is the use of Ugg Boots by the English girls.

As far as I was aware, Ugg Boots are slippers that are meant to be worn indoors to keep your feet warm!  Apparently not so in the UK.

Girls, women, ladies, toddlers of all shapes and sizes wear them as shoes! As in shoes that you wear when you go out or go to work.

I don't know if they realise but it is wet and rainy alot in the UK and Uggs probably arent the most weather proof shoes.  They wear them through puddles and even through SNOW!!! 

They get wet and soggy and we just dont get the appeal.  Besides, they cost a whopping 250 pound each.

It really is amusing...especially when they wear them in the office with a short skirt.  Can someone say Essex!

E&S
xoxo

Bon journee Mademoiselle and Monsieur

For S's birthday we decided to go to Paris. It's a mere hop, skip and a jump from the centre of London by train... So, why not?

We have both been to Paris before (this was my third time) and we had already accomplished our fair share of tourist sites.  This weekend was purely about visiting a Boulangerie or two, eating lots of food, taking our cafe au lait Paris style and strolling the streets of the Left Bank.

We strolled around the Marais, visiting the beautiful boutiques (this is where the real Parisians like to shop).  We stopped for coffee at a typical french bistro and also saw Place Vosges with its beautiful red brick mansions and amazing galleries.  Parisian girls are so darn stylish...even down to their specs.

We had a really fantastic authentic french dinner in the 10th at a place called Chez Marie Louise.  The food was absolutely delightful - stacked eggplant with goat cheese, prawns, lobster ravioli, fish with homemade aoili, vegetables and snails and an amazing vanilla layered eclair with cream.  It was heaven.

We discovered a treasure on the east side of town known as Promenade Plantee - a disused freight train line that has been turned into a walkway and garden and sits high above the city (much like the High Line in New York).  Parisians of all ages were out running the 4.5km stretch on Sunday morning.  It's any wonder they stay so thin.

We strolled around the streets of the Left Bank, stopping for a cafe au lait at Cafe Bonaparte on Rue Jacob before heading to one of the most amazing galleries in the world....the Musee D'Orsay.  The collection of Impressionists (Monet, Cezanne, Degas, Manet, Sisley) were awe inspiring and the building itself is a highlight.  Our love for art has certainly increased since living in London.

Monday was S's birthday so we took a walk through the Il St Louis, the Il De Cite, the Right Bank, the Opera quarter and Place Vendome with its incredible jewellery shops and home to the Ritz.  We then lunched at the amazing Cafe de Flore in St Germain (you may remember it from Season 4 of Gossip Girl!) where I had the most amazing hot chocolate. No trip to Paris is complete without a trip to Laudaree for a healthy supply of macaroons - we had hazelnut pear and coffee flavoured this time.  On top of this, S had 3 pain a chocolats and I had 4 pain a raison!

Our hotel room was amazing and literally overlooked the Pantheon - another incredible Parisian building and shrine to all of those French heroes and heroins like Joan of Arc and St Louis.

Paris brought back some very special memories for S and I - it will always hold a special place in our hearts. We chatted for hours about how much we have changed since we first travelled to Paris together and got engaged 3 whole years ago.  It's definitely a place that woos you with it's charm!

E & S
xoxo

The view of the Eiffel Tower from our street

Our room at the Hotel du Pantheon

Inside the Pantheon

Back streets of the Latin Quarter

Looking towards the Il de Cite and Notre Dame

Musee D'Orsay

The view from Promenade Plantee

Shaney enjoying le baguette



Inside the Musee D'Orsay



When I came to Spain, I saw people partying, I said to myself what the....

We just had an amazing 5 day trip to Barcelona followed by a few days skiing in the tiny country of Andorra.

We left early Boxing Day and had three days to accomplish what we wanted before 7 of our friends arrived (to party).  We did not waste any time at all.  This is one of E's favourite places in the world so our itinerary was jam packed.

Barcelona...the home of Gaudi, amazing architecture, colour, mosaics, sunshine, fantastic art, Catalonian tapas and sangria (even if it is in a tetra pack) never ever dissapoints.

We loved exploring Gaudi's master pieces - the whimsical and under the sea Casa Battlo (which reminded E of one of her polly pockets as a child), Casa Milla, La Sagrada Familia and our favourite, Parc Guell.

One of the highlights of our sightseeing was the Palau de la Musica Catalana.  This is Barcelona's treasured music hall.

We enjoyed strolling through the tiny streets of the Barri Gotic, shopping for fruit in La Boquiera markets, chilling by the marina in the sun, frollicking in Parc Le Cuitadella and enjoying an afternoon drink and Madeleons in El Born (a cute bar in Le Born district).

Like all holidays we take, a large part is centred around food and where we eat.  E had researched a few places she couldnt resist.  We tried tapas with a modern edge at Tapac 24 (including a cheese toastie with truffles) and drank incredible wine and tasty tapas (including caviar) made in front of our eyes at Qiumet Quimet.  Photos of both below.

Once our friends arrived, we changed the pace and chilled out taking it easy and drinking lots of sangria (including a night in with a dozen tetra packs).

We then travelled to the tiny prosperous country of Andorra where we skiied for 2 days (3 nights) in Pas De La Casa.  The local tongue is both Catalan and French and it was incredibly confusing knowing which to speak.  Sometimes we even spoke both in the one sentence.

Andorra is the land of cheap alcohol and is in fact a duty free nation.  There were duty free shops everywhere with row after row of incredibly cheap alcohol (vodka for 2 euros anyone!!!). It is also the land of some of the worst service we have ever experienced.

It snowed heavily while we were there which meant amazing skiing conditions.  Since we were only there 2 days, E spent more time perfecting her technique on the easy runs.  No trip to the snow is complete without a snow fight or a snowman and that is exactly what we did.

We had a rather epic New Years Eve.  We recall there somehow being 55 shots on our drinks bill.  E doesnt think she has been that drunk ever.  In fact, we only just saw the New Year in.  Needless to say, both our resolutions for the year are no more shots (it seemed to be a running theme during 2011).

We  now both think it is safe to say that Barcelona is firmly one of the best places we've been too.

Enjoy the photos (E couldnt help herself, she went crazy with all the mosaics and colours).

E&S
xoxo

A British Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of our friends and family back in Australia!

We can't believe it is 2012 already. I must say though, I am very relieved that it is a new year. 2011 was such an enormous year for us and I was exhausted by the end of it.

Moving to London has been one of the biggest and best things we have done so far. It is so refreshing but it can be hard work. We've been gone for 9 months now and are definitely settled and ready for what 2012 has in store.

We had a really fantastic Christmas with our London family. The lead up to Christmas was both exciting and hectic - full of catch ups, drinks and dinners and embracing English tradition (like minced pies). E also went to see the Nutcracker ballet in true Christmas spirit (which was absolutely stunning) and we even had time for an English tradition - the Pantomime. We saw Dick Whittington which starred the one and only Dame Edna (the self professed gigastar).

On Christmas Eve we went to Winter Wonderland and on Christmas Day we had a fantastic large lunch with turkey, roasted vegetables, mulled wine and eggnog. We were a little disappointed that it didn't snow but grateful at the same time because the weather was quite mild. Later in the afternoon our Brisbane friends joined us for drinks and a game of Thieving Secret Santa.

We had a really lovely relaxing day in good company (which made us all forget that we were a million miles away from loved ones and definitely less lonely). Waking up just S and I on Christmas Day was strange and to counteract that we started a new tradition of stockings so we had double the amount of presents to open.

We hope that everyone had a really lovely Christmas Day back home. More on our epic New Years Eve coming up.

E&S
xoxo

Merry Christmas - London Style

An ecard by Smilebox