London, Day 1

We arrived in London two hours later than we expected, as our flight from Shannon was delayed due to weather/traffick at London Heathrow. On top of our delay, we had been on stress-overdrive with our crazy airport adventure back in Boston. And, we hadn't slept so we were tired. Nevertheless, we were SO EXCITED to finally be in Europe!!! 

 

We picked up our Oyster cards, and headed out on the Tube!! Thanks to Jamie's extensive transportation research, we knew that for a 5 pound refundable deposit we could get Oyster cards that would save us money on Tube trips. Additionally, the amount we put on the Oyster card was also refundable if we didn't use it all. We were off to a great start! 

However, since our flight was delayed and we arrived later than planned, we were in a rush to get to the 1PM tour we had signed up for. We ended up arriving at Heathrow at 11AM, but it takes an hour on the tube to get to the city. So, at 12PM we arrived at the Liverpool Street Tube Stop and practically ran to Tune Hotels to drop off our bags. Oh, and we ate some Burger King at the same time. It wasn't the best choice because the Burger King wasn't very good, and with the pound conversion rate it ended up costing $16 for two sandwiches and an order of fries... CRAZY. 

We decided to stay at the economical Tune Hotels Liverpool Street. It is a brand new hotel that features insanely low rates -- the lowest rates we could find in the city. Our rate came out to 50 pounds per night, for a very small room without a window. Since it is such a budget hotel, you have to pay a la carte for everything, including for them to hold your bags at the desk. So, in our panicked and rushed state, we arrived and were asked to pay 4 pounds, but we hadn't gone to the ATM yet... Jamie had to run to the ATM so we could pay the desk people, and then we ran back to the Tube so we could try to get to our tour on time!

In what was becoming our characteristic style, we made it just in time for the tour! We went on the New Sandeman's Free London Tour, a free tour guided by a local Londoner in which you are requested to pay only what you think the tour is worth at the end. It was a really enjoyable tour! We got to see Buckingham Palace, learn some British History, and walk around the city. The gallery below displays our photos from the tour. 

During the tour, the weather fluctuated quite a bit. It was incredibly windy, and we found ourselves wearing sunglasses not because of the sun but because of the extreme dust blowing in our faces. After the tour, it began raining off and on and became very cold. We took refuge in a Tube tunnel for a little bit. 

And then, the sun came out again, and we ended up with some amazing views of London, although in our memories, London is nothing but cold and rainy! 

Also, we quickly learned and we were constantly reminded to look left!

We then stumbled upon the London Supreme Court building, which was fun to tour while we were waiting to attend the Evensong performance at Westminster Abbey. 

We made it to Westminster for the 5pm Evensong performance, which was amazing. We loved seeing the church in action. Afterward, we walked around the church grounds, exploring. 

After all that (and still no sleep), we kept going. We made a trip to the National Gallery, where they have live music and tours on Friday nights. We listened to some great music and toured the paintings, and by the end we were thoroughly exhausted -- but we weren't done yet! It was dinner time. 

We waited an hour to eat at Yalla Yalla which featured a delicious array of middle eastern mezze plates. It was well worth the wait! 

And finally, we returned to our window-less room at Tune Hotels, where we tried to get a good night's sleep. 

 

18 Days in Europe: Our Adventure Begins

Jamie and I just returned from our amazing European adventure, and we can't wait to tell everyone about it!

The plan is to write one post for each day of our trip, so that we can share our travels with family and friends. I'm also hoping to get back into blogging this summer, as I want to share more recipes I've been making and other summer travels... let's hope that happens!

Without further ado, let the story of our European Va-cay begin!

The Planning 

Let me start by saying that we have been wanting to take this trip for a LONG time. Jamie and I love traveling, and travel frequently, but neither of us had ever been to Europe before this trip. Six years ago, we were lucky enough to get to travel to Japan to visit my uncle. We found traveling in Japan to be so cool, and ever since then we've wanted to explore more parts of the world together and have been dreaming of European travels.

For multiple reasons (including the plethora of PBS channels on MIT cable), Jamie and I started watching Rick Steves together about three years ago. His shows gave us an idea of what we wanted out of a European vacation, and inspired us to keep dreaming of the perfect trip. 

Early this Spring, we found an AerLingus flight from Boston to London, returning from Milan back to Boston for only $800 round trip, which we thought was a great deal. We decided that we would travel to London, Bruges (thanks Lisa!), Paris, Nice, Venice, and Milan in early June. 

To plan, we scoured the web, read Rick Steves' books, and talked to friends and relatives to get advice on how to get the most out of our trip. We knew it would be expensive, and we hoped to get the most out of every dollar. Due to our careful and purposeful planning, we succeeded in making our trip a great value! Our entire trip cost ended up at approximately $2850 per person -- including ALL transportation (even our flight there and back), lodging, food, attractions, and other expenses. Essentially, this number includes every dollar/euro/pound we spent while abroad (even including soap and tissues from the pharmacy). 

I researched hotels, restaurants, and some attractions while Jamie researched transportation and other attractions. We ended up being able to find the best lodging in most cities at small bed and breakfasts, which we loved! They were so comfortable and conveniently located. To find the values I found, I searched on international bed and breakfast websites, which I discovered by learning that in France, they call bed and breakfasts "chambres d'hotes". Our lodging costs averaged out to less than 77 Euros/night (approx. $97 USD/night), which we found to be a great value for the locations in which we stayed. It was important to us that our lodging was close to the city center, to public transportation, and to the city bikes, as well as clean, tasteful, and equipped with a private bathroom.

To find the best transportation deals, we bought our train tickets as soon as the schedule opened up (usually 3 months out), and researched which days the plane tickets would be cheapest before deciding which days of the week we would travel.Our transportation costs came out to around $1150 per person, including our base flight. 

For food, we took recommendations from friends as well as TripAdvisor, and for the most part we weren't disappointed. We tried to strike a balance of gourmet and casual meals, while keeping to a modest budget. Many times, we were glad that we had made reservations in advance, as in some cities it is difficult to get in to the most popular restaurants. We very much enjoyed learning about the McDonald's menu in other countries, as in France, fries come with "pommes frites sauce", and in Italy, side salads come with crunchy breadsticks and EVOO! On average, we spent 55 Euros/day on food (for two people) which is approximately $69 USD/day. 

There are so many web and technology resources available for European travel, many of which we found to be extremely valuable on our trip. These included TripIt, TripAdvisor, MapsWithMe, and more. TripAdvisor has an awesome app which we used on our Kindle Fire that has offline maps and reviews of restaurants and attractions. This was a great tool whenever wifi was hard to find! Additionally, after much trial and error, Jamie figured out how to use GPS on his iPhone without the risk of international charges (the trick was to take out the SIM card so that Airplane Mode could be off without the risk of charges). GPS became useful many times when we couldn't figure out where we were on the map. 

The Trip Begins!

Our trip began on a Thursday afternoon in July. We succeeded in packing light, carrying only two large backpacks and a messenger bag! Our wonderful neighbor Kevin volunteered to take us to the airport for our 7:25PM flight. We ended up leaving our apartment at 5PM, which would on a normal day put us at the airport 2 hours before the flight. However, Cambridge was a crazy mess that afternoon and after 45 minutes, we had traveled about 2 miles and were moving so slowly that we weren't sure if we would make it to the aiport in time. So, we jumped out of the car, ran to the T, and put ourselves at the mercy of public transit (praying we would make it on time)! After a stressful T and bus ride, we made it to the airport with 5 minutes to spare for our bags to be checked. Lucky us! We went through security, boarded the plane immediately, and it felt good to be on our way!

6 hours later we arrived in Shannon, Ireland, where we found out that our flight to London would be delayed due to weather/traffic at London Heathrow. After waiting a couple of hours, we finally made it to London, where we arrived at 11AM London time and began our first day in London. 

Salisbury Steak

Tonight, Jamie and I enjoyed Salisbury Steak, which I modified from Pioneer Woman's recipe (find her recipe here.) I decided to try this recipe because our good friend Ilene said that she made it and enjoyed it, so I thought I'd give it a try. Jamie was glad I did :) It was delicious! He said he would give it a B because the sauce didn't quite thicken (I think I should have just waited a little bit longer... I need more patience with sauces!), but we both really enjoyed it regardless. I served it with mashed potatoes, salad, and freshly baked bread. Here is my modified version of the recipe. Enjoy! Oh, and European Vacation Posts are coming soon!

Ingredients

Meat Mixture

3/4 pound Lean Ground Beef
1/4 cup Seasoned Breadcrumbs
1/2 cube Beef Bouillon, Crumbled
3 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Ketchup
Salt And Pepper

Gravy

1 whole Onion, Halved And Thinly Sliced (or Diced If You Prefer)
2 cups Beef Broth
4 dashes Worcestershire (additional)
1 Tablespoon Ketchup (additional)
1 teaspoon Corn Starch
Salt And Pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Combine all the ingredients for the meat mixture and mix well with your hands. Form into 3 oval patties, then make lines across the patties to give them a "steak" appearance.
2. Fry in a skillet with about 1 T. oil and 1 T. butter over medium-high heat on both sides until no longer pink in the middle (about 4-5 minutes per side). Remove from the pan and pour off excess grease.
3. Reduce the heat to medium and add sliced onions. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown and soft. Add the beef stock, Worcestershire, and ketchup. Stir and cook over medium-high heat to reduce.
4. Take about 1 T of the sauce out of the pan, and add about 1 t. cornstarch. Stir until dissolved, and then add back to the sauce to give the gravy a little gloss and to thicken it up a bit.
5. Taste, and add salt and pepper if needed.
6. Return the steaks to the gravy. Spoon gravy over the top and let them simmer and heat back up for a couple of minutes.
7. Serve with mashed potatoes and peas or salad.

Fruit Tart

This fruit tart is so simple and delicious! It can be made with a mix of berries, or a single type of berry. My original recipe (from Kate Carr :)) says to just use strawberries, but I had a medley of berries I needed to use up, so I used strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. Perfect for the Fourth of July! 

All you need is:

2 c. fresh fruit
1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. flour
pinch of salt
1/2 c. apple jelly 

And all you need to do is:

1. Cream the butter and sugar. Add flour and salt to form soft dough. Press into bottom and sides of a 9" tart pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool.

2. Wash fruit. Heat apple jelly in a small saucepan.

3. Place berries on the cooled crust and brush with apple jelly. Chill and serve with whipped cream or ice cream (optional).

Cheers to Summer!