Travels – Page 5 – Nolan's blog – Travel, Food, Poker, Photos

December 9, 2012December 24, 2012

Europe 2012 – London to Paris on the Chunnel Train

As part of our travel package we booked via Costco Travel, we got Premier class train tickets on the Chunnel Train/Eurostar from London to Paris. We checked out of The Rubens and hit The Tube from Victoria Station, exiting at King’s Cross/St Pancras Station. After picking up our boarding passes, we passed through the automated gates and then cleared EU customs before heading out to the platforms. We were seated facing each other and settled in for the 2.5 hour or so journey to Paris’ Gare Du Nord. After exiting London proper, the train hit high speeds, whipping through the English countryside. Transiting the Chunnel was quicker than we anticipated, taking about 15 minutes or so. We were served a light lunch as we exited the Chunnel on the French side. Although the dishes were all served cold, they were very tasty and Theresa really liked the bread that came with our meal. After getting our bearings at Gare Du Nord, we hopped on the Paris Metro to the Hotel Baltimore where a comfy fluffy bed awaited us.

December 9, 2012January 11, 2013

Europe 2012 – London Sightseeing

Major highlights:

Our Room at The Rubens, complementary cake from the Rubens on our wedding anniversary, Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace (Royal Gibraltar Guards), St Paul’s Cathedral,, Tower of London, Shopping along Oxford St (Hamely’s toy store and M&M World), Seeing Rock of Ages at the Shaftsbury, the British Museum, walking in Covent Garden and the West End, Tower Bridge, the London Eye, projected art display on the front of Buckingham Palace (project with school childern’s drawings to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee), Picadilly Circus, and St. Pancras Station to board the Eurostar Chunnel train to Paris

Tip: If you are going to Convent Garden via the Tube, get out at the Leicester Square station, which is a short walk away. The Convent Garden station is often crowded because you have to either take a lift or ascend a spiral staircase of 193 steps (equivalent of a 10 story building), with no landings in between, in order to exit to street level. We did the 193 steps because we did not want to wait for the lifts. It would have been easier to walk the short distance from Leicester Square.

December 9, 2012December 24, 2012

Europe 2012 – London Food Pics

A pint of Old Golden Hen with some English baked pudding/pie and Bangers and Mash at the Prince Albert Pub near Victoria Station.

Breakfast buffet at the Rubens includes sausage (regular and blood), bacon, eggs any style (including freshly poached and fried), hash browns, various baked breads, fresh fruits, cold cuts and cheeses, yogurts and cereals, hot oatmeal, coffee and tea, juices

A pre-theater dinner at the Rubens with Prime Rib, Onion Tartm Yorkshire Pudding, vegetables, fried fish; dessert of meringue topped with berries, chocolate covered cream puff with creme anglaise, chocolate mousse cake, tiramisu and melon

We also decided to go simple during a couple of dinners by going to Mark and Spencers for sandwiches, chips, and fruit.

December 9, 2012December 24, 2012

Europe 2012 – Harrod’s London

Went to the world famous Harrod’s department store in London, where Theresa instantly bonded with the Harrod’s mascot bear. This place is massive, with rooms upon rooms of luxury merchandise covering multiple floors and spanning the entire interior of the building. They even have a small area dedicated to Princess Diana. Besides durable goods, Harrod is also known for its vast Food Halls, which were several rooms filled with both prepared and raw foods. They have separate halls for meats of all types, seafood, baked goods/desserts, coffees and teas, chocolate, and vegetables. Each hall also has a restaurant area where you could sit and eat the hall’s specialty. For example, the seafood hall had a caviar counter and a small cafe that served sashimi. Great place to browse and look, but it can get pricey to actually buy and/or eat food there. You will most likely leave Harrod’s either hungry or with a lighter wallet.

December 9, 2012December 24, 2012

Europe 2012 – Belgo London, Belgian Style Mussels

Belgo Restaurant in London, famous for their mussel dishes, is located in the Covent Garden area of London. After ordering a pint of beer, we decided to get two types of mussels, the traditional ones cooked with wine and herbs and a spicy one cooked with a chorizo and tomato broth. Restaurant was really busy even during the weekday in the early afternoon when we arrived for a late lunch. Seating was mostly benches around picnic style tables within a warehouse type setting. Prices were reasonable for London and portions were satisfying. L

Fun fact: Check out the water closet. The male and female water closets share a common sink, which is a fountain looking affair. To activate the water, you step on a rail, which starts the flow of water. (picture below)

Gallery:

December 8, 2012December 22, 2012

Chicago – June 2012

Went to Chicago this June for Marla and Scott’s wedding. Took some additional time off before to wander around the city. As you can probably tell from the marque above Conan O’ Brian was in town to tape his show.

Conan folks were all over downtown, particularly the Magnificient Mile. They set up vending machine that they set up to distribute “swag” from the show. You could pick up a card the day before, and then you had to line up in the morning and exchange your card for a change to use the machine and get stuff. They had 4 or 5 of these scattered throughout the downtown area.