british museum & dishoom

so ... we got up extra early this morning to tidy up and head to st pancras int'l station for our 8:31am eurostar, arriving nearly an hour early due to the swifty tube. but we dwindled that time away at the station coffee shop as i was completely unaware of the 30 min prior check-in requirement. :( doh ... we would be put on the next train to paris, departing at 3:30pm.

i. was. bummed.

good thing one of us was level-headed and kept us in high spirits as kevin suggested we check out the british museum and dishoom, two places we hadn't had a chance to hit up.

after an EXTREMELY LONG circuitous walk to the british museum, we decided it would probably be better for kevin to navigate going forward. special note!! the british musem is a 15 minute walk from st pancras int'l and has a very reasonable baggage check-in, so take advantage as necessary :)

we checked out the germany: memories of a nation exhibit which was quite interesting, and enjoyed the beautiful architecture of the great court designed by foster+partners. it felt like you were inside and outside all at the same time, and in my opinion, the great court design enhanced circulation and the symmetry and shadows were beautiful to look at. 315 tons of glass!

next we walked around the shops in seven dials and were quickly seated for lunch at dishoom, a bombay cafe in london. we weren't familiar with the concept of bombay cafes, but after some reading, learned that they were actually irani cafes opened by persian immigrants in bombay and quite famous for their chai teas and tasty foods.

the decor was phenomenal. tiled floors, wood trim, pendant lamps, and tattered mirrors. the food was phenomenal! we had the pau baji, black house dahl, chicken ruby curry, and LOTS of garlic naan. my earlier frustrations from the train complication had melted away.

a few hours later, we arrived in paris's gare du nord! the last time i'd been here was during the summer of 2003 while backpacking with my friend, melissa. eleven and a half years and +25 countries traveled later, i felt empowered at the gare du nord, a place where we'd spent many hours checking schedules, trying to schedule and reschedule trains, and napping in my early twenties.

when we arrived at our st germain flat, our hostess, charlotte, was waiting and ready to give us the tour. it seemed like the eiffel was also waiting for us as it twinkled for 2-3 minutes as the clock struck 8pm :)

dinner was next on the agenda and we found it at a local cafe in st germain, on the recommendation of two parisians smoking out front. it turned out they worked at the cafe haha! kevin had something with sardines, and i had the most ~heavenly~ warm camembert cheese salad. i am definitely trying to trick at home! crispy, yet warm, tasty, refreshing, and hearty.

the morning sure didn't start off perfect, but the ending was going rather well.

g'day, london!

after a few hours rest on the flight, we arrived at london heathrow airport around 7am and at our notting hill flat around 9:30am. our host's friend, jinan, welcomed us and we started our first day in england with a long snooze. haha ... it felt so good though!

after the much needed nap, we walked around portobello street, shops in mayfair (love love loved the smythson shop - what great designs, nice leather, and minimal brand/logo'ing going on), and topped off the afternoon with the fanciest (and tastiest) fish & chips ever at the dorchester hotel, thanks to a great recommendation from my gf, liz! :)

we were lucky to be seated near the bar and piano player, who entertained us with contemporary pop and some traditional holiday tunes. and although out bar portions of fish & chips appeared meager upon arrival, kevin and I were both completely stuffed after we consumed te delicious wasabi peas, salted mixed but medley, and our respective f&c's.

what to do next? well, since it was boxing day aka the most maniacal day of shopping of the year in england (i hope), we decided when in rome ... let's just say although kev has been desperately trying to separate out which of +35 jackets to keep and donate, he added another one to the collection today (which honestly looks pretty similar to a couple other ones he already has). LOL. i almost joined him, but fought back the urge to spontaneously shop and came home with just a tweezer and a personlized jar of nutella.

we hiked out west to brick lane / shoreditch afterwards for an entertaining night of indian comedy and curry at T+L's number one rated indian spot in london: nazrul. the decor was cheesy and the waiters were a bit too jovial, but the food was flavorful and the mango lassi was sweet and filling. we had the "chicken tiki masala blast", a house specialty, which was much lighter than the butter double-cooked tiki masala.

kevin fell asleep on the couch when we got back and snored! ah ha - im not the only one.

ps. also got a cute hat from barbour today. it's so warm and hardy, i love!!

we are going to london+paris!

despite weeks of flip flopping between japan, argentina, and france, we finally booked tickets to heathrow, and are planning to spend 3 days in london and 5 in paris. i was clobbered with remodel stuff the last few months so was a little disappointed (understatement ha) when i realized that all flights to japan and buenos aires had gone through the roof, and i didn't have enough time or energy to plan a trip somewhere new.

looking forward to wandering the cold, wintry streets of london and paris with kev :) and exploring all the little shops, coffee spots, and architecture! it's been a year since we've visited somewhere foreign!

we will be staying at these lovely flats in notting hill and saint-german! i need to do some research! it's been +12 yrs since i've been to france ... lucky for me, three of my girlfriends just visited this fall so i am hitting them up for recommendations :)

best: watching friends find love. love that is strong and truthful enough to be the real thing. mutual respect. taking time to get to know each other and learn each others' strengths and weaknesses.

worst: watching friends go through difficult times. and nothing you say helps. i don't know, i'll just try my best to support and rebuild my friend's self-esteem. things will be okay, actually, things will be BETTER than okay in time.

smile: our sectional arrived! enough said. there will quickly be body imprints on the chaise :)