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Big Ben and Parliament at sunset
Now that it’s been a few months since my first trip to Europe, I’ve had plenty of time to think about my top 10 favorite parts of London. Since it was only my first time there, I’m no expert, and I definitely spent most of my time doing fun, touristy stuff. But who cares? I was a tourist, wasn’t I? Let me begin by saying that I loved every minute of my trip to London with my roommate and good friend, Katie. The city is one of my favorites in the world (so far). I kind of think of it as a mix between Boston in New York. Definitely larger than Boston, but still very walkable. We walked miles and miles every day, and by the end of the trip knew our area of town well enough to give another tourist directions back to her hotel.
1. Seeing all the famous tourist sites. You can’t go to London without visiting all the touristy spots. Big Ben, the London Eye, the Tower Bridge, the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the crown jewels, Westminster Abbey, etc. The list goes on and on. We saw most of these on a one-day tour with Golden Tours, which included admission to many of the top attractions and brought us around the city on a tour bus. The tour was definitely a little pricey, but worth it for my first time in London!
Pret in Bath, UK
2. Pret. I couldn’t walk down a single street in London without seeing a Pret, and I definitely ate quite a few meals there during my trip! Pret a Manger is a London-based healthy cafe that serves all natural, preservative-free sandwiches, salads, and snacks. Although the chain started in the UK, there are now locations around the world. Apparently there are quite a few in New York, Chicago, and DC! I hope Boston is next on the list! In London, their lunches were tasty and very inexpensive (only a couple of pounds each). My go-to sandwich was the Chicken & Pesto Bloomer.
3. Pizza Express, another UK chain that’s on every corner. Whoever said that food in London wasn’t good didn’t know what they’re talking about. Pizza Express was absolutely delicious. And yes, we did eat at some non-chains while we were there, these were just two of my favorites. When we went, they were having some type of special that included an appetizer, pizza, and possibly dessert for I want to say around 10 pounds. We stuffed ourselves with great pizza (the Pomodoro Pesto and Margherita were favorites), wine, and amazing desserts…maybe that’s why even though we walked 10 miles a day, none of my jeans fit on the last day of the trip…
4. Harrods. I’m not a big shopper, especially when it comes to expensive designer clothes, but I couldn’t go to London without visiting Harrods, the largest designer department store in the world. Katie and I walked the few miles from our hotel in Russell square, did some browsing of clothes that we couldn’t imagine spending money on, and headed into the chocolate/coffee/dessert section. We filled up on free samples of chocolates, truffles, and macaroons.
Stonehenge
5. Day trip to Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Bath. The best $100 I spent during my trip to Europe would have to be the day trip to Windsor Castle, Bath, and Stonehenge. The trip started early in the morning , when we boarded a Golden Tours bus near our hotel. They first brought us to Windsor Castle, a picturesque medieval castle that is still used as a royal residence and located an hour or so outside of the city. The next stop was Bath, a beautiful town in the countryside where an ancient Roman bath has existed since 60-70 AD. Finally, we headed to Stonehenge, the famous large prehistoric monument made of large stones. The entire day was such a great experience. Getting to see the countryside and famous locations outside the city was the perfect way to spend the day.
6. The British Museum. Located only a few minutes walk from our hotel, the British Museum is filled with ancient Egyptian artifacts and art, as well as items from different countries and cultures. They even have the Rosetta Stone. And it’s free. Can’t get much better.
7. Pubs. The perfect spot for a couple beers and unhealthy fried food, traditional British pubs can be found throughout the city. I had some great fish & chips at one, and we stopped at another for some beers. Fun fact, pints in the UK are much larger than the typical 16 oz pints here in the US.
8. The beauty of the countryside, parks, architecture, and history. Enough said. It’s nothing like home, and everything I saw was memorable and full of history.
9. Platform 9 3/4. I’m a big Harry Potter fan, and I couldn’t go to London without finding the infamous platform at King’s Cross where Harry Potter and friends boarded the Hogwarts Express.
Katie and I at the Eiffel Tower!
10. Paris is only a few hours away by train. For not too much money or time, you can take the Eurostar train from London to Paris, so since we were staying in London for a week, we decided to do just that, and then take another train from Paris to Amsterdam. One morning we took an extremely early train and arrived in Paris around 9:00 am. We spent the next 8 hours running around the city, eating as many chocolate croissants, crepes, and other desserts as possible and seeing as much of the city as we could. We walked everywhere. To the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, down the Champs Elysees, to the Louvre, past Notre Dame, and back to the train station. Of course we stopped for a quick lunch in a little cafe, and to buy some expensive macaroons from La Duree.
My trip to Europe was definitely one of the best vacations that I’ve ever been on, and I can’t wait to go back!
New England’s extreme lack of snow and insanely warm temperatures left me craving winter, snowboarding, and cold weather in general, and the only cure was a trip up to Vermont. Looking for a low cost option with good reviews that was close to Mount Snow, I stumbled upon the Kitzhof Inn and decided to book it before the non-existent winter completely disappeared.
Greg and I headed down Route 2, late one Friday night, towards Mt. Snow, skeptical of what was ahead of us. Our previous two trips had included a small rear-ending on 93 heading up to Killington and hitting a deer on our way to Mt. Snow. Punishment for taking ski trips we couldn’t afford?? Whatever it was, we hoped that this trip wouldn’t include any accidents.
We called the Kitzhof Inn on the way to let them know that we were going to be late for check-in; they were fine with it and just let us know that there would be directions to our room at the front desk. After stopping for a quick dinner at a great little pizza place in Greenfield, MA, we arrived at the hotel. A light snow was falling, and we were glad we had made it there without any mishaps.
The Kitzhof was exactly what I expected. A casual, old ski lodge, with probably around 20 rooms, decorated with wood paneled walls, plaid carpets, and old pictures. Our room was large and clean, although it was clear it hadn’t been updated recently, and had a separate sitting area with a couch and room for our suitcases. The TV was from 1980, but that didn’t matter, we were only using the room to relax in after a long day on the mountain, anyways. The bathroom was tiny, and somehow it took us 20 minutes to figure out how to turn off the shower, but other than that everything was great.
The next morning, we woke up early (for us…meaning like 8:00 and late for most people that are about to go skiing), and headed down to the free breakfast the next morning. Simon and Allison, the two owners, cooked and served the breakfast themselves, and it was very tasty! There was a menu to order from, which included french toast, oatmeal, or a full breakfast of eggs, homefries, toast, and bacon or sausage. Of course, we both selected the biggest free breakfast possible to fill up before heading out to the mountain. Everyone working at the inn was very nice, and they chatted with all the guests as we ate breakfast.
For amenities, the Kitzhof Inn offers a hot tub, a large gathering area with a big TV and ping pong table, and a byob bar. It’s also only a two minute drive to the base of Mount Snow, and there’s a shuttle that comes along the road every so often.
We headed up to the mountain, ready for a full day of snowboarding. Of course, I chose my favorite trail to go on first, Snowdance. It was pretty icy, but not too horrible, considering even Mount Snow had received very little natural snow. Instead of heading up to the summit, or trying a different trail, I convinced Greg to go down Snowdance once more before moving on. Mistake. I made it down pretty quickly, and realized once I got to the bottom that Greg wasn’t waiting for me like usual. He’s much faster than I am, and always has to wait a minute or so before I get down. A couple of minutes passed, and I realized that he must have fallen. He got down and stopped in front of me, holding onto his arm…It turns out he fractured his radial arm head, or something painful. And after convincing him to go on one more run, he decided he was in too much pain to continue, and our day at the mountain ended with him getting xrays and cast.
Car accidents, deer, broken arms…I’m scared of what’s in store for us on our next ski trip.
