Oh, changeable London weather. By the time we left, it was gorgeous.

My favorite touristy thing in London: Westminster Abbey

By Lisa | Oct 4, 2012
Posted in: Best Of, England, London |

I love cemeteries. Not modern cemeteries so much — they feel too sad, too fresh and recent. I’m happy in old, old cemeteries with elaborate sculptures and tombs and overgrown plantings. Places like Père Lachaise, Montmartre Cemetery, and the Catacombs in Paris, the Unitarian Church’s cemetery in Charleston, Lafayette Cemetery #1 in New Orleans, or any little cemetery in downtown Boston…these places can combine the history of a museum, the greenery [...]

Freixenet 2010 Vintage Especial. On sale at Sainsbury's.

The Best Wine Deals in London

By Paul | Oct 3, 2012
Posted in: Bars, Booze, Beer, Etc., England, London |

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Slight amendment to this post. We did find two good wine deals while in London. Half-off Champagne at Tesco. Just some random French bottle. It was pretty great and £12.99 ($21), 50% off its normal price. Not worth $42. That’s Bollinger price territory back home. Half-off 2010 vintage Freixenet (fresh-e-net) at Sainsbury’s. Normally, Lisa’s not a huge fan of the black bottle, but for £6.99 ($9.70), we had to try it. It was fantastic. [...]

Good Mexican food in London — impossible? We visit Chipotle to find out.

By Lisa | Oct 2, 2012
Posted in: England, Food, London |

5 Comments

British food is not bland, dull, or horrible. Portion sizes are generally not that much smaller than the massive piles of food we’ve come to expect in the US. In fact, the food is pretty much…the same as it is in the US. And there’s a reason for that — a reason outlined over 500+ pages in a fascinating book I recently read, Eating In America: as you may recall, [...]

Scotch Eggs are £0.95 at Marks & Spencer, where this one is from. This one would get rave reviews at any US gastropub.

A Tale of Three Scotch Eggs

By Paul | Oct 1, 2012
Posted in: England, Food, London |

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Scotch eggs are a novelty in the States. They’re the hip new thing that gastropubs serve. I think we first had them in Chicago at either The Gage or Longman & Eagle. Not sure … it may have even been at Three Floyds brewery in Indiana. They’re slowly creeping into the beer-food culture. To the uninitiated, Scotch eggs are hard-boiled eggs covered in sausage and breading then deep-fried. They’re delicious [...]

Secret views and maritime history in Greenwich

By Lisa | Sep 28, 2012
Posted in: England, London |

1 Comment

Three weeks in London has given us the luxury of time — time to just wander around and see what we find. On our first visit to Greenwich, I was intrigued by the narrow, hilly streets, cute rowhouses, and little shops that I spotted from the main drag. I declared the view from the Royal Observatory one of the best in London, but everybody knows that already. On our second visit [...]

This post and the Rosetta Stone server similar purposes.

English Pronunciations for Americans in London

By Paul | Sep 28, 2012
Posted in: England, London |

3 Comments

Yes, we speak the same language, but not only do we not use the same words for things, we pronounce things differently. There’s like these insider secret pronunciation rules that outsiders just don’t know and locals take for granted. Here are the ones I’ve noticed. Greenwich. Not pronounced like a green witch, it’s gren, like grenade, itch. Gren-itch. But we all know that one, right? Leicester Square. I want to [...]

British Cuisine: __ on Toast

By Paul | Sep 26, 2012
Posted in: England, Food, London |

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There’s something going on with British cuisine. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good. We haven’t had a bad meal yet (don’t believe the rumors). Not even close. But there’s this fascination with things on toast. We had grouse offal on toast at St. John Bread and Wine. We’ve had mushrooms on toast at The Fox. The other day, we were at a pub early and the staff dinner was something unidentifiable served [...]

13 Amp fuses from Bradbury's Store of Things in Hackney.

The London Win: Fuse Edition

By Paul | Sep 26, 2012
Posted in: England, London |

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We blew a fuse on the electric tea kettle. Not sure how I managed that, but I did. Tripped the breaker in the house too. Finding and flipping the breaker back was easy. The fuse, that was another matter. In Chicago, we lived around the corner from a mini Home Depot. Down the street from that, there was an Ace Hardware store. On Clark, a block in the other direction, [...]

Dessert! Madeleines and Chocolate Ice Cream.

Offal Lunch at St. John Bread and Wine

By Paul | Sep 25, 2012
Posted in: Bars, Booze, Beer, Etc., England, Food, London |

1 Comment

I cut into it and it spewed, simple as that. Not a bad spew. Just a spew. Didn’t want Lisa to see though, so I mopped it up and shoved it in my mouth. Damn, it was tasty. “What was that?” she asked. “I’ll tell you later,” I told her. “Tell me now,” she insisted. “Better later.” I kept chewing, but I couldn’t convince her. So I told her: “The [...]

A Thames Clipper, from a Thames Clipper.

The best free / cheap things to do in London

By Lisa | Sep 25, 2012
Posted in: Best Of, London |

1 Comment

London is expensive. Finding free or cheap things to do is tricky — you’ve got to be creative. At least the majority of the national museums have free admission for their permanent collections, so you can always duck inside on a rainy day. But maybe you’re sick of museums…then what? Here’s our pick of the best free(ish) things to do in London… 1. Explore The V&A Museum What?! Didn’t I [...]