If there’s one place I could have stayed all day in London, it was the Covent Garden Market. Chris and I perused the market briefly one rainy Saturday afternoon (rain + weekend = everyone at the market), and because of our lack of patience with crowds, we just didn’t get to explore as much as I’d have liked. I would have loved to poke my camera into every little nook, and if we could have found an empty seat I definitely would have enjoyed the people-watching opportunities. Next time, I say!
Oops! I took a slight detour from my blogging schedule to post about London before wrapping up our Central Europe trip coverage. So I’ll squeeze this snapshot in here now, and then get back to a few London things. And I thought about separating this summary into separate posts for each country, but I’m going to combine it with the intent of catching up on my blogging to-do list and just see how it turns out.
Chris and I just discussed this category, trying to identify a stand-out Best Moment moment, but we agreed that we loved the whole trip. Oktoberfest in Munich and the Brews and Views tour in Prague come to mind as our favorite general activities, and if we had to pinpoint one single moment, it would be when we were standing on top of the Karwendel mountains in Mittenwald. We had the entire mountaintop area to ourselves, and it was quite peaceful.
As I remember it, this trip went really well and I don’t know if we had a true worst moment. Sure, I wish we had better weather in Munich, and we both ended up coming down with what turned out to be a pretty bad cold on the last day, but other than that we had an incredibly smooth trip.
A brief encounter at the Westbahnhof U-Bahn station provided us with a quote that we used frequently for the rest of the trip: “I don’t know…blah blah blah.”
A guy approached us as we were exiting the underground and seemed lost or confused. He had a strong accent and I didn’t quite catch what he was asking, but I thought I heard him say “where” and “metro.” So I responded cheerfully, “Oh! Yes, it’s down the stairs over there,” and gestured politely toward the entrance to the U-Bahn. He repeated something, but I still couldn’t understand as I wasn’t even sure what language he was speaking, so I gently said, “I don’t know. I’m so sorry I can’t help.” Then all of a sudden in much clearer English he sharply said, “I asked you a simple question and you say (and he switched to a very sarcastic mocking tone), ‘I don’t know…blah blah blah.’” And then he angrily stormed off! I was stunned.
Chris explained to me after that he thought the guy was trying to ask us for our train ticket so he could reuse it. But for the rest of the trip, whenever Chris and I asked each other a question, we responded with (in a mocking tone), “I don’t know…blah blah blah.” It cracked us up for days!
We also giggled at this menu with “rabbit-shit” on it, this “soup of the day” board, and every time we saw an exit sign in German. What can I say? We’re easily entertained.
This is always tough category, especially since we ate our way through the delicious cuisines of four countries! This was my first time trying schnitzel, real apple streudel, krapfen, and Sacher Torte, and they were all amazing. I also loved the goulash we ate in Germany. I could easily repeat this same itinerary just for the cuisine alone!
I learned that Oktoberfest isn’t necessarily the drunken debauchery mess that I thought it would be. I mean, it certainly can be if that’s what you’re looking for, but it doesn’t have to be if that’s not your scene. Before we arrived in Munich, I sort of pictured Oktoberfest to be this massively overwhelming crowded situation descending upon the city to the point where I wouldn’t have any personal space. I read advice online to wear shoes that I don’t mind getting soaked with beer. I didn’t want any of my shoes soaked with beer!
Now that we’ve attended Oktoberfest, on opening weekend no less, I know that there are many flavors of Oktoberfest and you can make it anything you want from family-friendly fun, to a chill people-watching experience, to an all-out party-’til-you-pass-out rager. My shoes ended up being beer-free. And now I also understand that it’s about more than just beer – it’s a celebration of food, music, culture, and tradition. I loved hanging out in the beer tents and singing along with the traditional songs and even some American songs.
A wide variety of outfits for all different kinds of weather. We did not expect it to be over 90 degrees the entire time we were in Austria, but thankfully we packed some short-sleeve shirts and shorts. I’m also thankful to have purchased a dirndl ahead of time! It was so easy to have it on-hand already instead of spending time shopping for one. And I must have looked fairly festive – a group of tourists at Hofbräuhaus requested a photo with me!
I can’t remember anything extraneous from our packing efforts. We packed pretty light, and I think we managed to wear everything we brought in our one carry-on each.
I wish we could have seen more of Munich, especially on a day when it wasn’t pouring rain. But we were busy Oktoberfesting, so we didn’t really have time to see much beyond the highlights.
I’d love to see these countries during the holiday season to see the Christmas markets!
Again, really tough to narrow it down to a few favorites for four countries, but I picked one from each that I love!
How gorgeous are these jam-filled shortbread cookies from Cinnamon Tree Bakery at the Borough Market in London? I can personally attest that they were not only beautiful, they were absolutely delicious. I’m crazy about chocolate sweets, but every time I step foot in the U.K. my shortbread craving shows up, and these hit the spot.
The first time I visited London, my mom played tour guide for the weekend and showed me pretty much everything you can squeeze into two days. My parents were living in England at the time, and my mom knew how to hit all of the city’s highlights perfectly and managed to fit in a super fun show at the theatre as well (Mamma Mia!).
Since I had already seen most of the major sights, and since Chris didn’t have any specific wants for this trip (he was just happy to see and do anything in London), I elected to plan a few things on my running wish list this time around. We arrived on a Thursday morning and had plans for Friday afternoon and most of Sunday, so we had about two full days to spend on London things. Here is what we managed to accomplish on the wish list!
When I visited London in 2003, I photographed everything with my 35mm film SLR. While I cherish those photos and I do love film, I was looking forward to taking more photos of the city with my digital camera. And not to toot my own horn, but my photography skills have maybe gotten a little better over the past 13 years.
I covered this one already in the previous post, but having proper tea in London ranked quite high on my wish list. Sanderson offered the perfect place to do so and with a cute theme to boot!
I love any opportunity to get up high where I can enjoy a bird’s eye view of a location, so the London Eye appealed to me for a good photo op. Because we had such a limited amount of time in London with a ton of items on my to-do list, I purchased advanced Ultimate Fast Track tickets from the website with the option to visit any time within 3 months from the date of purchase. It was a little bit of a splurge to buy those tickets over the standard tickets, but in the end we appreciated the convenience of selecting a day based on the weather forecast and then walking right onto the first rotation without waiting in line at all. We arrived at opening time (10am) on a Friday and there was quite a long queue for the standard tickets line. I’m pretty sure if you ask Chris he’ll say the extra cost was worth not having to wait. I tend to get a little whiny in long lines.
Truth be told, I was a little bummed to see the Parliament building covered in scaffolding and tarp, but the Eye was still a fun ride and I’m glad we had a gorgeous day to check this off the list.
This one was on the list with Chris in mind, although we both love bars. We stayed in the Covent Garden area and we had plenty of options for pubs – we couldn’t walk a single block without finding one and I had fun photographing the various pub signs. Sitting in a pub with a pint and a steak pie or fish-and-chips this time of year felt especially cozy.
My mom and I didn’t fit much shopping into our London weekend because we prioritized seeing the sights and getting to the theatre. This time around I planned to hit Harrods, the Covent Market Garden, Neal’s Yard, and even umbrella shopping at the famous James Smith & Sons store. Note: I wanted so badly to ask if the umbrella shop employees felt it was bad luck to open the brollies indoors, but I resisted. The store has been around since 1830, so I suspect the urban myth does not apply here.
The holiday shopping crowds at Harrods totally overwhelmed me and we didn’t end up staying long, so I’ll probably need to put Harrods back on my wish list for a third trip to London. It was fun to see the beautiful Christmas decorations though! I bought a very sturdy, well-made umbrella at James Smith & Sons, some artwork from the Covent Garden Market, and we had a fantastic lunch at a cute pizza place in Neal’s Yard.
I don’t consider Chris and I to be true foodies per se, but we do love food (understatement), so the more I heard about the different food stalls at Borough Market the more I wanted to eat my way through this outdoor marketplace. We went into the market at lunchtime with empty bellies and a specific plan of finding certain vendors that I had read about online. We found gorgeous produce, exotic mushrooms, fresh flowers, sinful baked goods, giftable food items, and so many options for a well-rounded meal.
On that very rainy Saturday, it felt like everyone else in London had the same idea to visit the market. We expected the market to be busy, but perhaps not quite that packed! The massive crowds meant we had some challenges navigating the market and finding things, so we ended up just going with the flow of the crowd and trying whatever we stumbled upon and that was fun, too. We tried a fantastic sausage bap from Northfield Farm, a warm, gooey cheese toastie from Kappacasein, cookies of all kinds at Cinnamon Tree Bakery, and as much fudge as we could manage to carry from Whirld. It’s worth mentioning that the fudge was so good none of it even made it onto the plane ride home.
In addition to all the goodies from Borough Market, we ate at some really fantastic restaurants in London. We were spoiled for choices in the Soho/Covent Garden area. One of my goals for each of our trips is always to try a new food, and I ended up doing just that while having breakfast at Bill’s in Covent Garden. I spotted “bubble and squeak” on a menu in my trip research and after Googling the definition (shallow-fried leftover vegetables and potatoes), I wanted to make sure I tried it. I absolutely loved it! One of these days I’m going to have to try to replicate it at home.
I didn’t technically have this on my London wish list, but I always want to go to the show. Always. I adore the theatre and will pretty much see anything, so on Friday when the weather forecast predicted a very rainy Saturday evening, Chris suggested we see a show and I pounced at the idea. Our hotel was literally less than one hundred feet from Cambridge Theatre where Matilda was playing, so we decided to give it a try. We were able to get great seats online, and the show was tons of fun. I’ve had the songs in my head since we returned home!
Lastly, I love seeing a city lit up at night, and I welcome the challenge of low-light photography. I didn’t end up doing any nighttime photography on my last visit, so I figured this time we could carve some time out to see parts of the city well past sunset. The Tower Bridge looks particularly lovely at night and I think this photo turned out nicely. (Low-light selfies are tricky, though I like how that one turned out, too.)
Looking back, we managed to pack so many things into a short almost-four-day trip considering we also visited the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London and saw another super fun show at the theatre (posts coming up), but I still have a running wish list for London. I have yet to tour the Tower of London or the National Gallery. I’ve seen St. Paul’s Cathedral, but I haven’t been inside. And Chris didn’t get to see Buckingham Palace because we ran out of time. I guess we’ll have get to go back!
Chris and I snuck off to London for a few days a couple of weeks ago with the main purpose of attending a very exciting event (hint/spoiler). But first, we spent a few days in one of my favorite cities doing a few things I had yet to cross off of my London bucket list.
Attending afternoon tea ranked high on that list, and I discovered the perfect place to do exactly that. Sanderson in West End offers just about the cutest afternoon tea I could have imagined with a Mad Hatter theme to make us feel like we stepped right into the beloved Alice in Wonderland fantasy world.
We arrived in London on a bit of a cold and dreary day, in fact we were nearly drenched walking to Sanderson in the pouring rain, so I was happy to see that the courtyard garden provided a lovely spot to warm up not only with hot tea, but with cozy blankets and plenty of heaters. Our reservation at 2:45pm meant we were seated right away, and the service was welcoming and quite friendly.
Of the wonderfully fragrant teas to choose from, I selected the tea party’s namesake, Mad Hatter, and Chris tried Alice. Both were delicious, and I regret not purchasing one of each to bring back home! The loose leaf teas are available to take for £12-15 each.
We had yet to eat breakfast or lunch after stepping off the plane, so we were both ravenous and all too excited to head down the rabbit hole and try each of the goodies in the savory selection. Classic cucumber sandwiches, goat cheese croque-monsieurs, crab and herb eclairs, and smoked salmon and caviar Scotch eggs filled our bellies. We were even offered additional savory rounds (the savory plates are unlimited!) before the sweets portion of the menu.
I could have eaten quite a few of those croque-monsieurs, but I knew I needed to save room for the massive tower of confections up next. The multi-tiered serving dish offered sweets of every color, shape, and size. I felt like a kid (in a candy store!) every time I selected a different candy caterpillar, marshmallow mushroom, or drink me potion.
My absolute favorite ended up being the rich chocolate Queen of Hearts cookie soldiers, but I also loved the banana bread-and-butterfly. And the scones. And the White Rabbit’s pocket watch macaron.
And just when we thought we couldn’t possibly eat or drink another thing, we received a surprise ending – ice cream served in a tiny flower pot with cookie crumble topping, bits of honeycomb, and an edible flower.
Sanderson definitely nailed the Mad Hatter theme, and afternoon tea couldn’t have felt more whimsical unless the Cheshire Cat himself was grinning at me from a corner in the room. At £48 per person, afternoon tea at Sanderson is perhaps a bit of a splurge, but it’s perfect for a special occasion though fancy dress is not required. We noticed a pair of friends at the table next to us celebrating a birthday (or maybe an unbirthday?) and they received some special birthday treats. Occasion or not, I definitely recommend this experience!