Liquid Gold...


This little coffee shop, my friends, is a life saver in a big City filled with rubbish coffee.

I never realised how much Australians were coffee snobs.  It seems to be a goal of many Australians living in London to find the best coffee in the city.  In fact, most of the cafes you find a good coffee at is probably owned or ran by Aussies.

Whenever you meet an Australian you inevitably enter into discussions about where you had a great coffee.

Monmouth Coffee has to be the BEST coffee I have had in this city.  It has a shop in Covent Garden and one in Borough Markets.  The milk is velvety soft and the coffee tastes like proper strong coffee instead of burnt to the shitter airy milk and weak as crap coffee shots.

Argh for the love of Monmouth Coffee Co!

This weekend we are going to try a cafe named Brill which my Melbourne friends tell me is pretty damn good.

E&S

xoxox

Am-stellar-Dam

Last weekend we went to Amsterdam!!!

It really is one of the best places to visit - so unique and different, relaxed and quaint.  E has a dutch colleague at work who gave us lots of tips about the best places to visit.

We left work early on Friday and arrived in Amsterdam at about 7pm (it was only a 50 min flight from London Gatwick). We had made a reservation at a trendy European restaurant called Brasserie Harkema (which had amazing bread and olive oil) and had a lovely romantic dinner.  We then had a nice beverage in the Leidesplein - a square filled with cafes and restaurants which was full of life.
On Saturday, we decided to rise early to make the most of the best weather we were going to have that weekend.  We were surprised to find that the streets were relatively empty at 9.30am.  We were able to have the most relaxing stroll through the canals of Amsterdam...admiring the house boats and the wonky gorgeous buildings.  We then recalled why the streets were so empty.  Amsterdam goes off at night time and the town is lit up in neon lights.  Everyone was still too hung over or tripped out still to be up and about.

We spent most of Saturday exploring the area known as the Naarden Straats (or nine streets).  The area is made up of nine streets joint by little bridges over the canals.  We drank coffee, shopped in the cute boutiques and quirky stores and ate and drank some more.  E then found her heaven when we located the Flower Market - a long stretch of stalls selling the most colourful, fresh, full flowers.

On Saturday afternoon, as the weather turned bleak, windy and rainy we took an enclosed cruise on the canals.  We learnt an awful lot about some of the history of the buildings and the area (including the fact that Amsterdam was originally known as Amstelladam after one of its canals and that the city is inhabited by 50% foreigners).  We braved the wind and the rain on Saturday night for S's first experience of the Red Light District (which lasted a mere 15 minutes and we got lost in the process). After dinner we decided to have a relaxing night in the hotel.  The weather was nowhere near as welcoming as our cosy hotel room.

On Sunday we woke (as expected) to gale force wind and rain so we decided to hit the Van Gough Museum. Apparently everyone else had the same idea but sneakily we managed to buy pre-paid tickets up the road and bypassed the massive line waiting in the rain.  The museum did not disappoint.  We both love Van Gough's artwork - every single one.

We spent the rest of the afternoon snuggled up in a cafe eating frites and mayonnaise, drinking beer and coffee.

We love Amsterdam for its uniqueness - the laid back feel, the trendiness, the millions of bikes left on the side walks, the wafts of weed you smell as you walk past a cafe or even a person, its wonky unique buildings and its frites with mayonnaise. Despite the horrific weather we managed to have a pretty stellar time!

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