Saturday, July 12 (Dorset, England) – One of the highlights of my trip to Morocco in May was meeting Kathryn and Dave.  They are a fantastic retired couple who kept me in stitches throughout the tour from laughing so hard.  They currently live in Waymouth in Dorset, England and invited me to come for a visit before my travels take me back to the States.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect or what our plan would be when I came to town, but I definitely wasn’t worried – sitting in a room with them talking about world travels and cracking jokes can entertain me for hours.

On our first – and very busy – day together, we started with a hike through the mountains.  At the top we had incredible views of the port, town and beaches, and could almost make out their home.  We even saw some hang gliders flying over the cliff, just a few yards away from us.

We worked up quite an appetite on the hike so we took a drive to the town of Wareham.  A quaint, small town with a handful of pubs and shops, a small market and a river.  We stopped for lunch at The Salt Pig, a small café where the chef cooks a small selection of relatively-healthy options that you must choose from.  We all went for the tomato, zucchini and basil quiche, but picked different salads and sides.  It was very tasty and the perfect amount of food for the warm afternoon.

We continued a few more blocks to what is really the end of the small town, and turned around to come back.  But we saw a sign that a pub next to us called The Kings Arms was awarded “pub of the year” and we poked in to check it out.  It looked like someone’s home in that there were four or five different rooms, all with different feels to them.  The front room had the bar where I tried some of the local ales like the Ringwood Brewery’s “Best Bitter” (note: they don’t serve ice-cold beer that people like me are used to, because they prefer to actually taste the beer and think it can’t be properly tasted when too cold… I prefer ice-cold).  We enjoyed the brews outside in the backyard / garden where a bunch of tables were set up.  

The highlight of this little town was the river where dogs were swimming, boats were floating by and we were exploring on foot.  There was a path along the river, which turned out to be the perfect way to walk off the lunch and beer.

Even though we were already getting a bit tired (well, at least I was), we weren’t finished quite yet!  We drove over to the Corfe Castle and neighboring town of the same name.  The castle is from the 11th century and now lays in ruins after an attack in the mid 1600s.  From the top of the castle we were pretty lucky to see a steam engine train come to the station, bringing me back to Thomas the Tank Engine days!

It was a really fun and packed day, so we went home to my favorite tradition – afternoon tea!  Homemade Victorian Sandwich (white sponge cake with jam and clotted cream in the middle) and a cup of tea, yum!  We then spent an hour or two reminiscing over our Morocco trip, looking at photos and then enjoyed a delicious home-cooked meal before passing out.  I am so lucky to have met these great people and I HOPE they can fit a trip to NYC in soon, somewhere in between their other fabulous upcoming travels!

(April 28, 2014) - Yea… so this happened.  I had Marta’s apartment keys while she was at work my last day in London.  I spent the whole day walking and exploring and finally got home to take a shower and take advantage of her washing machine (score!).  After my shower, most of my clothes were in the wash so I was just chilling in my underwear and sweatshirt, checking my flight information for the next leg of my trip (Spain).

Around 7:30 I hear Marta buzz the front door to the building (picture a brownstone or townhouse where there is a front door and then an apartment on each floor).  Since she lives on the ground floor, about 10 feet from the front door I figured I’d just run over quickly in my underwear to let her in.  So I did.  But her apartment door closes automatically and seconds later, before I could run back and catch the door, it closed!  Yup.  Locked out barefoot, wet hair and in my underwear.

Marta graciously gave me her cropped jacket to wear as I wiggled my sweatshirt down into a skirt (totally invented a new fashion statement) as she started yelping and calling local locksmiths.  (Literally the night before I was asking her what would happen if she got locked out and she said nobody has an extra key so she’d be screwed).  Ugh.  I felt awful!

As I awkwardly sat on the steps in the building but outside her apartment, Marta ran to find an ATM so we could pay the locksmith.  She came back with a full wallet and a full bottle of wine.  We then sat.  And drank.  And sat.  And then the locksmith arrived!

I don’t want to share how much we ended up spending on the locksmith (I hate the pound!) but now Marta has 3 sets of keys, a brand new lock and a funny store to tell to scare future guests from leaving the apartment without keys, a doorstop and pants.

(April 27, 2014) - New Yorkers may have their brunch (I should know… www.brunchuponatime.com), but in London, there is something else that feeds locals with food and drink on a Sunday afternoon:  the roast.  Traditionally, the Sunday roast is served at pubs and includes roasted meat, roasted (or mashed) potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, gravy, and veggies.  As an added bonus, a highly anticipated football (soccer) game happened to be on, and watching is also a big part of the local experience.  

After spending much of the morning wandering the city – another lucky sunny day – we ended up at The Water Poet for the roast, which is a huge pub in East London with at least six different rooms, each with its own unique vibe.  Half the rooms are indoors and half are outside – and there are televisions all over.

Really an awesome bar and a great time!  The only negative is that you can only order drinks and food from the main bar in the front room (unless you are in the seated dining room), which means walking in front of the football enthusiasts who are parked by the largest screen in the whole bar.  (Good luck maneuvering through them without spilling a drop if something good or bad happens in the game!).

(April 26, 2014) I’ve been to London twice before, but it has been a good 12+ years since then.  So while I wanted to see some of the key sites, I also wanted to experience the ‘real’ London as an adult.  One of my closest friends for the past 20+ years got an awesome new job in London just under two months ago.  So the timing seemed perfect to go for a visit and explore some neighborhoods together. 

Upon arriving in London from the Luton airport (1 hour bus to Baker Street in the city), Marta was coming to meet me so I stopped for a coffee… at Pret a Manger, where I used to eat breakfast, lunch and/or a coffee every day during the work week.  Normally I don’t like to go to chains I can go to in New York, but I was waiting for Marta and really wanted a coffee!  The second she walked in, we were chatting like high school girls again, with so much to catch up on – sooo great to see her!

We dropped my stuff off at her flat (an adorable one bedroom in Notting Hil) – after nearly falling flat on my face on the Tube while trying to navigate my luggage and myself... Then the exploring began!  We had a delicious brunch at a new restaurant in her neighborhood called Tom's and strolled down Portobello Road where there are many tourists but a few nice restaurants and bars. 

The next few hours are a bit of a whirlwind as we must have walked half of the city!  My favorite highlights were Borough Market where we shopped for the freshest food to cook dinner, going out and trying local beers, and strolling through Spitalfields Market for unique gifts and finds (we both ended up with new tops).  

Borough Market is one of the most amazing fresh food markets I've ever seen. It is easy to get lost there with so many people running around and so many booths distracting you with their specialties.  TIP:  The market closes around 5:15PM at which time many booths start heavily discounting their remaining goods.  We got half price fresh mozzarella that was delicious!

Spitalfields Market is a different kind of open-air market where the focus is on clothes, accessories and other miscellaneous gifts.  There were some really cool handbags with unique zipper patterns, and a bunch of cute clothing booths, but half the fun was exploring and finding out what was in booth after booth.

The George Inn was our secret goldmine - a beer garden tucked behind a busy city street.  The George Inn is an actual inn, but the inner courtyard is lined with bars and outdoor seating.