Same start to the morning as yesterday but then I ventured to The British Museum. The basic structure of The British Museum is amazing. Then once you are inside the exhibits are extraordinary. You have pieces from The Parthenon, The Rosetta Stone, Cleopatra, Easter Island, and so much more. Unfortunately, it's also one of the busiest museums I've ever been to. I went mid-week and can't imagine how it would be on the weekend! Even with the madness of tourists and school children the visit was well worth it!
When it came to lunch I remembered walking by a Wagamama. I could definitely go for a yummy bowl of Spicy Beef Ramen. A seat for one was easy to come by and the staff were friendly. I ordered a lemongrass and ginger drink and my Ramen. 15 minutes later my soup was delivered. Okay wait a minute, where is the rich broth? Where is the heat? Oye! This was bland, and mildly spicy (chili oil couldn't even help). Definitely not like I get at home. After this small disappointment I headed back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon. When Greg got out of work the lobby bar was packed so we crossed the street to The Jones Family Project. That lovely Lavender Mojito.....ahhhhhh. For dinner we walked up the street to Banh Mi 11. For the full review and pictures visit here.
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We're finally home from our trip and the laundry has commenced. Here's the first part of our trip review :-) Heading to London British Airways contacted us during the day on Saturday to tell us that our flight was going to be delayed by 4.5 hours. After taking off at 1:30 am the pilots were able to make up some time and had us landing in London only 3.5 hours late. We filed a claim online for compensation but naturally British Airways wrote us back saying it was due to extenuating circumstances and therefore they weren't liable. Right! You delayed three different planes that day because of operational maintenance (the phone agent told us) but somehow you're not liable. We met our driver Ivan who picked us up in a very roomy car and quickly drove us to The Hoxton Hotel. To read my full hotel review visit here. After a quick drop off of our luggage we headed to the Old Street Tube Station. We got to talking to a really friendly employee who suggested we start our tour at Camden Market. I was psyched as I've read about it online. Camden Market is a funky area with stores, markets, restaurants, and more. It's a mix of a flea market, hipsters, and restaurants with a bit of punk rock thrown in. We purchased a gorgeous painting and then decided to get some lunch. We sat at the Honest Burger stall and we were so glad we did. To read about my full review visit here. After lunch we headed down to Waterloo station and walked over to The London Eye. 38 GBP later we were in life for a clear view of sunset over London. It didn't really feel like we had a half an hour ride but the views were wonderful. After the ride we were feeling a bit tired so we headed back to Waterloo and purchased some waters and beers for our room. A quick Tube ride later we were back at The Hoxton for a relaxed night. Our next trip is going to be London and Frankfurt. Unfortunately, this trip is business for Greg and pleasure for me. I'm sure we'll still do things together but for the most part Greg will be doing the 9-5 thing. Here's a list of places I've been researching:
I still have several reviews to write from our trip to the Islands but I thought I would share some thoughts about our upcoming trips.
The first one is to New York City, NY. During this trip I'm hoping to visit: The One U.N New York Hotel The Metropolitan Museum of Art The U.N. Grand Central Station Frick Collection Eataly (again) Momofuku Noodle Bar Grom - I'm hoping the dairy free cioccolato extranoir is just as good as in Rome, Italy Dean and Deluca Vegan diva's Crumbs Gluten Free Bakeshop Our second trip is to Reykjavik Iceland! We are so excited to get outdoors and have some adventures! We're still trying to decide between transfers, rental car, tours, etc. but we definitely know what we are hoping to see: Hilton Reykjavik Nordica Reykjavik Thinguellir National Park Gulfoss Waterfall Geysir Seljalandsfoss Waterfall Skogafoss Waterfall Solheimajokull Glacier Snaefellsjokull Langjokull Glacier This morning we ventured across the river into Trastevere. Unfortunately, between the crowds and confusing directions we didn't stay long. We did a little shopping for our nieces and nephews and we were able to find Fior Di Luca (gelateria) unfortunately it wasn't open. Rather than getting lost looking for Dar Poeta we headed to Baffetto. For the 2nd time in two years the restaurant was closed when it was supposed to be open. I give! Now it's raining again and we're getting cold and tired so we grab a porchetta sandwich from the Piazza Navona and headed to Via del Corso for shopping. For my stylish nieces we headed to Camomilla. Camomilla offers stylish wallets, accessories, and purses for everyone age. I bought one for myself last year and still love it. We weren't really hungry for dinner so we thought we would just go out for a walk this evening. It was sprinkling when we left the hotel but thought that was fine. We go to the Spanish Steps and that's when it started to downpour. We decided to grab a cab back to our hotel. Purchased a bottle of wine at Castroni (wonderful store for wine, beer, treats, coffee, and more), ordered some cookies from Il Fornaio (delicious cookies, pastries, and sandwiches) and snuggled in with a movie. This morning we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel although we hit a small snafu. When asking for soy milk - definitely tell the staff you would like it cold for cereal or hot for beverages. I received hot soy milk for my cereal. Eh, go with the flow I guess. We walked through Piazza Barberini and headed for the Borghese Gardens. The gardens are so peaceful and beautiful that we wanted to spend some extra time just wandering about. We pre-purchased our tickets (online) and so when it was our allotted time we made our way over to the Galleria Borghese The Galleria Borghese is one of my favorites! I love sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and one of my all time favorite paintings is Raphael's Lady with a Unicorn. One of the frustrations though as with any museum is people and their need to be pushy. Guess what the paintings and sculptures have been there for hundreds of years taking 10 minutes to not be pushy won't stop you from seeing them. At lunch time we walked through the Gardens to the Piazza del Popolo. We tried to visit the 100 Presepi (Nativity Scenes) however at that exact time a full school load of children were visiting so we opted for lunch instead. We chose to eat at Canova again this year and were just as happy as last year. For the review visit: http://wanderlusthearts.weebly.com/rome-italy.html After lunch we decided to do some foodie shopping. We visited Altromercato which is a fair trade organization offering goods from several countries. Next we went to Lauderee for some delicious French Macaroons (yes I know I'm in Italy but I can never turn down French Macaroons). and also a chocolate store for some more sweets. The concierge helped us arrange dinner reservations at Nonna Betta's in the Jewish Ghetto tonight. This restaurant was a highlight for us last year and we had the same feelings about it this year. For the review visit: http://wanderlusthearts.weebly.com/rome-italy.html After dinner we took part in our usual night time stroll. This is always may favorite memories of Rome. Walking late at night back to our hotel (perhaps stopping for some roasted chestnuts or gelato) past all the sites lit up and empty. There is something truly magical about this time of night in Rome. Today was unplanned so we slept in and ended up missing breakfast. I think we were still full from dinner the night before so we drank some water, ate a cookie, got ready and headed out. We decided to spend time in our area (Via Nazionale) and the Monti area. I did some clothes shopping at Blue Sand, bought some AS Roma gear for our nieces and nephews (we purchased Lazio last year), and then stopped in at a store I read about online Natale Per Emergency. Here is a little bit about Natale Per Emergency Shops from their website: "Milan, Rome, Bologna, Brescia, Ferrara, Florence, Genoa, L'Aquila, Livorno, Reggio Emilia, Turin and Trento in the city that will host the December Christmas Shops Emergency, where do Christmas gifts is useful twice: to those who receive them and the humanitarian programs of Emergency. The Christmas Shops are real shops, where they are selling items from the countries in which it operates Emergency and products offered by businesses, companies and shops wishing to contribute humanitarian work of the association. Toys and children's books, beauty products, jewelry, gourmet food and wines of our land donated by companies this year will help support the Pediatric Emergency and Surgical Centre in Goderich, Sierra Leone." At lunch time we stumbled across La Matriciana and we were so glad we did! For the review visit: http://wanderlusthearts.weebly.com/rome-italy.html For a mid-day snack we walked back through Monti (which is full of artisan stores, restaurants, bakeries, and more) and headed to Gelateria Fatamorgana. Finally here is a gelato shop that is not only creamy, has a large dairy free selection, but it also has unique flavors that you never knew you always wanted. For the full review visit: http://wanderlusthearts.weebly.com/rome-italy.html As we were walking back to our hotel we popped into a store to browse. Suddenly we hear a ton of noise and as we turn around we see what looks to be a snow storm but it's large size hail. Next you hear tons of car alarms going off and you see people ducking into stores. Luckily it was short lived and we were only a block from our hotel. Thanks to the hotel concierge again we had dinner reservations at La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali. For the review visit: http://wanderlusthearts.weebly.com/rome-italy.html Once we were ready we headed downstairs to the breakfast room. We were greeted by Lorca who is beyond friendly, helpful, and personable. The breakfast staff are also friendly and helpful! Right away my dairy allergy was recognized and I was told that the eggs in the buffet have milk but the restaurant would make me eggs any way I like. I was also told that I can have Soy milk for coffee, tea, or cereal. The buffet offered: Rolls and bread, toast, and pastries Scrambled eggs, sausage, potatoes, and beans Yogurt, fruit Cereals, pancakes Fruit juices Coffees and Teas Fresh Ricotta Refreshed and full we headed to the Colosseum. We've been here several times but can't seem to stop visiting. Luckily today was a light traffic day and perfect weather. Tip: Purchase your Colosseum / Forum tickets online at http://www.ticketclic.it/Gb/index.cfm for the same price and be able to skip the line. Next we wandered through the Roman Forum and Palantine Hill area. It's nice to find new ruins you didn't see before, take a break and sit down and enjoy the scenery, and experience history. For Lunch we went back to the hotel and enjoyed drinks, and sandwiches at the Artemide Restaurant. For the full review visit http://wanderlusthearts.weebly.com/rome-italy.html We decided to head into the Monti area and try to find Gelateria Fatamorgana. Unfortunately, it's closed on Mondays (their hours aren't posted on their website). So we made our way back to Via Nazionale and popped into Castroni for some wine and artisanal beer. For dinner we walked through Via Nazionale, passed Piazza Barberini, and headed into the Spanish Steps area to eat at Life. For the full review visit http://wanderlusthearts.weebly.com/rome-italy.html Considering most restaurants offer desserts with dairy we opted to skip dinner and head to Venchi Gelateria for some Aztec chocolate gelato (dairy free). Things started out a little rocky with Alitalia. We booked our flights through Expedia and were told that we couldn't book seats until check in. I called Alitalia and we were given 11 JK. A few months later I called to add a special meal and to verify our seats. I was told that those seats didn't exist and that I would have to have 25 JL. I accepted this but wasn't too happy - I have a fear of flying behind the wing ( I know crazy but it's how I am). A few days later I noticed row 18 opened up so I switched to those sets. The day before our flight I checked in online and noticed that I was in row 18 and Greg was in row 10. Not even 10 minutes later and we were both in row 10 but in middle seats. Tip: You have to check in online with Alitalia before you have the ability to change seats. Finally I was able to select row 11 and all was right. We headed to Boston Logan thanks to Boston North Limousine. Our car arrived early and our driver was friendly. We dropped off our luggage and decided to enjoy some drinks and Oysters at the bar inside Terminal E. We boarded our plane (which was an older plane) and off we went. I had requested a dairy free meal from Alitalia however what they provided me was a Vegetarian meal including bread and butter. Luckily I brought some Larabars. After a safe landing at Fiumincino Airport we cleared customs and picked up our bags. Hmmmm what is that smell??? Oh yeah that would be my Miss Dior spilled all over my carry-on!! Not the best start to an early morning lol. Outside we met our driver from Rome Cabs. The minivan was clean, and our driver was extremely friendly, helpful, and informative. The check in staff at Hotel Artemide were friendly, funny, and personable. Unfortunately our room wasn't ready but we only had about a 2 hour wait. The staff offered us breakfast or coffee but we were prepared for not being able to check in and were ready to head out into Rome. Within 3 hours we got to see the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Castel St. Angelo, Piazza Navona, and the Campo de Fiori. We purchased cookies from Il Fornaio, and got rained on. La Dolce Vita! We we got back to Hotel Artemide we were fully checked in and given room 115. Hotel Tip: The hotel staff received my email about my dairy allergy, had it noted in the reservation, and already informed the breakfast staff about it. Room 115 is the perfect Deluxe Superior Room. You enter the room into a long hallway with a closet, shelves, table, mini fridge, and a coffee/tea area. The bathroom is large with shower / tub, sink, bidet, and toilet. The bedroom has a large bed, two end tables, a chaise, desk with chair, and a flat screen tv. The added bonus were two doors leading to a small personal courtyard (no view and no privacy but still very nice to have). The room can get very loud from the courtyard and the breakfast area of the hotel (you are above it). So if you are a light sleeper this may not be the best room. With that said, I still highly recommend this room and would stay here again. Tonight we were a bit tired so we ventured to the Spanish Steps and got some Pizza to go. I ordered my favorite potato with rosemary pizza (dairy free), and Greg tried the zucchini flower pizza. For some dessert we ventured over to Grom Gelato near the Pantheon. We both love their Cioccolato Extranoir gelato (dark chocolate) especially because it's dairy free but still ultra creamy. More coming soon! We are back from Rome and despite some weather issues we had a fabulous time. I will be telling you all the details shortly. My plan is to post one story and review per day (I'm kind of freaking out right now that Christmas is 2 weeks away - lots to do). Here's a taste about what you'll be reading about: Boston North Limousine Alitalia Airlines Rome Cabs Hotel Artemide The Vatican Museum, St Peters Basilica, The Cupola, The Scavi Tour The Roman Forum The Colosseum Palantine Hill The Borghese Museum and Gardens Castel St Angelo Piazza Navona and Christmas Market Artemide Restaurant La Matriciana Life Nonna Betta Osteria St. Anna Grom Gelateria Fatamorgana Gelateria del Teatro Porchetta Sandwiches Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and more P.S. I will still be posting reviews from Boston: The Bristol Lounge J.W.'s Burger Bar |
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