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My trip to London!
5 days in London...I left poor, fat, and happy!
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De 4-sterrenreview van Andrea: As usual I packed way too much for my trip to London. If you took a look at my suitcase you'd never guess I was there for only 5 days...I had enough clothes/shoes for a month stay in London. However, I forgot one very important thing...boots! Fortunately, my friend that I was staying with was nice enough to lend me her boots. And not just any boots, but her new boots! These boots were not only super stylish, but also beyond comfortable (so important when running around London all day). I think my friend feared I was going to steal her boots (have to admit I thought about it) so she took me to Moda in Pelle to buy my own. They were waiting for me just begging for me to buy them so I did what any reasonable shopper would do and bought 2 pairs...one black pair and one brown pair. While my boots are fabulous I wasn't impressed with the rest of the store. They have some ugly shoes in here and I found the sales associates to just be OK in the helpful department. However, I did appreciate the sales associate discounting my brown boots because of a small scratch on the last pair they had. I ended up paying £160 total for 2 of the most comfortable boots in the world. Priceless. -
De 4-sterrenreview van Andrea: The oh so fabulous Laura N and I decided to have lunch at the Ivy. Since I was still on Chicago time lunch ended up being around 4 PM...and much to our dismay the Ivy was closed until dinner. And so we decided to choose from the dozens of Indian restaurants nearby for our lunch instead. We picked Mela because of the appetizing menu and there were several people enjoying food inside- always a good sign! We decided to order the set menu for £30 for 2 people. Seemed to be a good deal...well, a good deal by London standards. And it actually did turn out to be a good deal by the amount of food we were soon greeted with. The first course included something that resembled meatloaf (ick), chicken (just ok), and something that looked like a crab cake, but tasted like a potato (tasty!). This would have probably been enough food for us, but several more plates of food soon arrived. I could attempt to describe it all, but you probably won't have any idea what I'm talking about thanks to my lack of knowledge when it comes to Indian food. It was all pretty good, although it was the naan and rice that I couldn't get enough of. We were beyond stuffed after all that delicious food, but then they brought out ice cream. And I'm not one to say no to ice cream so I did what any good customer would do and ate that too... So yeah, you can say we got our €30 worth of food here at Mela.
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De 4-sterrenreview van Andrea: Seems to be the American Apparel of London. I noticed lots of affordable tees, sweatshirts, etc. However, the real winner at Uniqlo...the jeans! I admit to being a bit of a brand snob...especially when it comes to my jeans. I don't hesitate to drop close to $200 on jeans that I'll wear over and over again. But now I feel silly for spending so much money on all the jeans in my closet because I scored 2 super cute pairs of skinny jeans for a total of €39. Oh yes, you know you're jealous... -
De 4-sterrenreview van Andrea: My friends and I spent the day in Stratford being shown around by someone who is actually from Stratford. And he knows all about Stratford (I quizzed him to no end on Shakespeare facts and he passed with flying colors) so I believe him when he tells me Dirty Duck is the most famous bar in Stratford. And check it out for yourself by looking at all the pictures of famous people on the walls. I'm guessing that all of these famous people have enjoyed the same mulled wine that I had at Dirty Duck. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical of hot wine, but I liked it...a lot!! If it's good enough for the famous people it's good enough for me... -
De 4-sterrenreview van Andrea: My friends and I visited at least a dozen stores in Stratford and Vinegar Hill was my favorite. If you're looking for a gift this is your place! They've got it all...candles, really cute silverware, etc! I'm pinching myself for not buying things to take home to my friends/fam in Chicago. My friend picked up a few adorable birth certificate holders to bring back to new moms- it's actually a lot cuter than it sounds. One of the more charming stores in Stratford; happy shopping! -
De 4-sterrenreview van Andrea: My friend is a huge fan of Mediterrano and was oh so disappointed when they turned us away on a Thursday evening because they were too busy. Fortunately for us they pointed us in the direction of their sister restaurant, Essenza, just down the street. And Essenza had a table with our name on it! Unfortunately, it wasn't the most ideal table since it was right by the door and got a bit crowded with people waiting nearby for their tables...but it did the trick. The food was terrific- one of the better meals I've had in London. We split the caprese salad, which had artichokes in addition to the usual mozzarella and tomatoes. Not sure if this is typical in London, but have never seen artichokes in my caprese salads back in the States...and it's a very nice addition. As for our meal I ordered the grilled calamari, which was the perfect portion size, perfectly cooked, and delish. My friend ordered the ravioli, which was sinful. She cleaned her plate pretty fast, but was nice enough to let me have a bite or two. No room for dessert, but who needs dessert after a ravioli so that rich?
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De 4-sterrenreview van Andrea: 3 times a charm! We thought we'd be safe scoring a table for 4 for dinner at 5:30 PM, but apparently we forgot about the theater crowd in Stratford. After being turned away from 2 restaurants we found a good meal at Edward Moon. My meal... Appetizer: Crab/shrimp cocktail. It was covered in mayo (ick!) and therefore inedible. Don't order unless you're a mayo fan. Entrée: Seabass. Covered in lots of cream, but fortunately I liked this cream sauce a lot more than I like mayo. It was also served on a bed of spring onion risotto, which was even better than the actual seabass. Dessert: The Americans at the table decided on apple pie- go figure. While the one Brit at the table decided on some sort of banana pie. Both desserts were equally incredible, but the real winner of the evening was the hot chocolate with irish bailey. By far the best hot chocolate I've ever had....and it helped me sleep like a baby on the train going back to London right after our meal. -
De 3-sterrenreview van Andrea: It's all about happy hour at On Anon. You can choose any drink from their very impressive drink menu at discounted prices. Being both a champagne and mojito lover I went right for the champagne mojito. My partner in crime, Laura N, described it best when she said it looked like a mojito flavored snow cone. It tasted so good that I'm surprised that I stopped after one. Must have been the jet lag cause I never stop after 1! Instead of indulging in another champagne mojito my friends and I decided to split a bottle of champagne (also discounted for happy hour!) among the 3 of us. What's better than celebrating my first night in London with a bottle of champagne?? Besides the impressive drinks this place did little to impress me. As time went on it got louder and louder...not to mention more crowded! Probably the time of place I would have liked in my younger years, but these days I like to be able to hear my friends. The bartenders were just OK as well. While they make a mean champagne mojito they were clueless when it came to making Laura N's drink, which she picked right off the menu. I recommend stopping by after work for a drink (ahem champagne mojito), but then headed elsewhere before the crowds (and noise!) roll in. -
De 3-sterrenreview van Andrea: After a long train ride from London my party of 4 was absolutely starving! So starving that we couldn't help, but attack the bread the waitress brought to our table as soon as we were seated at Rose and Crown. Boy, that was good bread. For my meal I ordered the goat cheese sandwich, which came with a tomato, red pepper, and parsnip soup. The soup did the trick of warming me up right away! The goat cheese sandwich was just OK. I never thought I'd say this since I absolutely love goat cheese, but they overdid it on the cheese a bit. I think they used 10 goats to make this one sandwich. Someone else at the table was smart enough to order a side of fries (umm, I mean chips) so I put my sandwich aside and ate those instead. Others at the table munched on ravioli, ceasar salad, and mushroom risotto. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meal. I also liked that their coffee came with lots of sugar cubes (I ate 3 just on their own!) and smarties (one of my favorite candies). They may not know how to make a goat cheese sandwich at Rose & Crown, but they sure know how to serve a good cup of coffee! -
De 2-sterrenreview van Andrea: I lived in London for a bit about 7 years ago. I remember everything being ridiculously expensive besides the theatre. It appeared that the theatre was just about the only thing I could afford and being the arts that I am that was just fine with me... 7 years later the only thing that's changed is that nothing in London is affordable now. While the plays and musicals playing are impressive I think I spend less $ on tickets in Chicago. My friend and I had our hearts set on getting a good deal on tickets for both The Lion King and Rain Man. My friend has had luck getting affordable tickets through London Theatre Bookings so we gave it a shot. No such luck this time. The guy behind the counter first told us that The Lion King was sold out and then tried to rip us off by selling us expensive tickets. We ended up getting tickets from the box office for much cheaper. But we gave them a 2nd chance the next day for Rain Man and same story there... I guess it's worth a shot, but we found we were better off going to the box office. -
De 2-sterrenreview van Andrea: Stopped in here for a quick bite to eat before seeing The Lion King (LOVED it by the way). The menu wasn't really doing it for me so I decided to order a toasted bagel with peanut butter. Figured that would be tough to screw up, but oh...I was wrong. They actually buttered my bagel before adding the chunkiest peanut butter I've ever seen. Apparently the chef felt like I needed to gain 30 lbs. It was also a quite messy sandwich so I asked our waitress for extra napkins. She reached into a huge pile of napkins and said "you can have 1 extra napkin!" While it was the most affordable meal I had in London the food was gross and the napkin nazi works here. No thank you.
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De 4-sterrenreview van Andrea: Nobu is one of my favorite restaurants to dine at in many cities around the world...and London is no exception. My friend and I arrived for an early dinner at 6:30 PM ready for some good food/sushi, incredible service, and perhaps even some celebrity sightings. And we got 2 out of the 3... The food/sushi: Crab Tacos- very small portion, but tasty Tuna Tataki- melt in your mouth tuna Hot chips & tuna- one of my favorite appetizers of the evening Lobster Tempura Entrée- can't go wrong with fried lobster, but this was a bit overrated. Not any better than any shrimp tempuras I've had and the lobster staring at us kind of freaked us out. Sushi: yellowtail roll, shrimp tempura, and eel. The shrimp tempura roll was the best among the 3, but all were good. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't really have any specialty rolls. The drinks were INCREDIBLE. My sherry cherry had egg white in it (LOVE that) and my friend oooh'd and aaah'd over her lynchee martini. Service: Our waiter was beyond patient with us as we took FOREVER to decide on what to order and quizzed him about celebrities he's seen at Nobu. He was extremely attractive too so made for good eye candy, although unfortunately for my single friend we were pretty sure he batted for the other side. Celebrities: No celebrities (besides us of course!) on that Sunday evening we happened to be at Nobu, but hottie waiter informed us that Brittney had just canceled a private party there for that week. He's also seen Naomi Campbell and Cristina Aguilera recently. However, he told us we'd have better luck seeing celebrities at their other location in London because that's where they tend to go. -
De 4-sterrenreview van Andrea: My friend and I thought about going to Paris for the day. We checked the price on the Eurostar and it was £250. Whoa! For that we decided to stay in London and spend the money saved on shopping and a show. We couldn't get the idea of crepes out of our head so decided to get some of those while in London too. Harrods Creperie to the rescue! The menu had so many different tasty looking crepes that we had trouble choosing. We decided to split 2 different crepes. Started with the Mediterranean crepe (filled with lots of veggies and goat cheese- YUM) followed by a banana nutella crepe (holy goodness). Not quite as good as the crepes I remember in Paris, but pretty darn good. My one complaint is that the service was a bit on the slow side, but for crepes this good I'm happy to wait. -
De 5-sterrenreview van Andrea: Restaurants- check. Jewelry- check. Music- check. Fashionable clothing-check. A pet boutique- check. Beautiful home furniture- check. A piano- check. Is there anything you can't buy at Harrods? The answer =no! It may be overpriced, but they have it all. On my most recent trip to London my friend and I spent about 5 hours in this store and I could have stayed for another 24 hours and not gotten bored. And this is coming from a seriously ADD gal. They also play awesome music throughout the store, which makes shopping even more enjoyable. Oh, and if you're from the States and looking for brands you can't get back at home...I recommend Ted Baker. Cheers! -
De 3-sterrenreview van Andrea: The prices seem to range from €100- £200 so it's a bit of a splurge for me. I found most of the clothes to be not worth splurging on (cheesy central), but there were a couple of really cute sweaters calling my name. It's also worth noting that the selection at their actual store is MUCH better than the selection at Harrods. -
De 5-sterrenreview van Andrea: What's a trip to London without some afternoon tea? Our original plan was to have tea at the fancy schmancy Claridge's Hotel. When we discovered it was over €50 pounds for tea at Claridge's my friend suggested we try The Capital instead, where she's enjoyed tea two other times during her past few months in London. We were bummed to hear their supposedly adorable tea room was closed for a private event, but they offered to set up tea for us in the bar instead. My friends and I decided this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Afterall, us alcoholics usually feel more at home at the bar anyway. While I love the experience of going for tea, I'm not exactly a tea lover so I asked for the sweetest tea possible. I ended up with the hibiscus, which I actually enjoyed- especially after dropping 3-4 sugar cubes in it. Now, that's what you call sweet tea! As for the sandwiches and pastries....they were pretty fabulous! The serving size for tea for 3 looked a little on the large size, but we had no trouble gobbling it all up. There wasn't anything I didn't like, but favorites included the smoked salmon sandwich, mini lemon bar, and mini chocolate mousse. All this for £18. Take that Claridges! -
De 4-sterrenreview van Andrea: I was lucky enough to see Rain Man at the Apollo Theater. The oh so hot Josh Hartnett played the Tom Cruise character...my friends made fun of me for actually gasping when he took off his shirt. But even regardless of Josh's hotness this show was awesome! As for the theater it's small and cozy. I believe we were also lucky enough to score the best seats in the house (row 0, seats 7-9). The bathroom lines were short and you can eat/drink in the theater. My type of theater!! -
De 3-sterrenreview van Andrea: Eh. I'd heard this store was a winner so I was disappointed when I saw their selection of not so cute clothing. Then again most of it seemed appropriate for the office and since I work from home I don't have much use for anything besides jeans and sweats these days. Actually, it's a miracle if I get out of my PJ's! However, my very fashionable friend swears the selection is usually better though so maybe it was just an off day...check it out for yourself. -
De 4-sterrenreview van Andrea: Dear Zara, While I appreciate that you finally opened a clothing store in Chicagoland, I'd be even MORE excited with a Zara Home store. Affordable and trendy furniture and home accessories?? Please open in the Wiondy City to give us Chicagoans a nice alternative to Crap and Barrell... Cheers, Andrea R -
De 2-sterrenreview van Andrea: Before boarding my 9 hour flight back to Chicago (sniff, sniff) I thought it would be wise to get some food in my stomach. Especially since I won't touch airplane food with a 10 foot pole. Giraffe looked promising, although not sure it was any better than airplane food would have been. I decided on some vegetable gyoza, which was a bit too fried for my liking...if it's even possible for anything to be too fired for my liking. And I also got a side of naan, which was actually more like pita bread. The service was pretty slow too- um, hello waitress...flight to catch! I nibbled on my disappointing food and found myself hungry again just an hour after takeoff. -
De 4-sterrenreview van Andrea: I always feel like I have to get to the airport extra early when flying international so I did just that at Heathrow when headed back to Chicago. I got through the check-in lines and security at record speed and then found I had 2 hours to spare, which may not even be enough time at Heathrow. There's enough shopping to do here to keep me busy for 10 hours! Tax FREE shopping I might add! I did some browsing at French Connection, the mini Harrods, Burberry and other shops...and then found myself rushing to my gate to make my flight. So much for that extra time! -
De 4-sterrenreview van Andrea: When I arrived in London my first task was to find my friend's flat...where I'd be staying for the next 5 days. She said it was really simple. Get off the tube, walk towards the liquor star, walk thru the cemetery to the hospital! What time of place was she living in?? It actually ended up being a very nice flat located behind this beautiful cemetery. There were tons of people there (some even going on a run thru the cemetery) and my friend told me people even lay out (for real?) there when it's nice out. Personally I think London needs more parks in this area because not sure I'd want to lay out where dead bodies are buried, but regardless it was a very pretty and peaceful cemetery.
