England – Page 6 – Noelle Across The Pond

Three Choirs Vineyard: A Day at an English Winery

Published on August 16, 2016July 18, 2017 by NoelleLeave a comment

English Wine Industry

As a avid winery visitor when I was living in Virginia, I had been hoping for a English vineyard visit since my early days in the country. Although, I didn’t realize till about a year ago that England even had a wine producing industry. Apparently what has really made a difference in the growth of wine production in recent years is climate change – thanks to global warming, England’s south now has a climate similar to France’s north, which is more conducive to grape growing.

Also because of the climate, England produces mostly white wines, with a large increase in the production of sparking white wine in recent years. Some wineries do produce red wines, but they tend to be weaker since there isn’t enough sunshine in the country for the grapes to mature to the level they need to.

Our Visit to Three Choirs Vineyard

As I was in Cheltenham with Mark Saturday, we decided to go visit Three Choirs Vineyard in Newent, Gloucestershire (about 30 minutes by car from Cheltenham). Mark had been to the winery before and enjoyed it, so I was keen to see it for myself.

Rather than having tastings throughout the day like most Virginia wineries do, at Three Choirs Vineyard they have two tastings with a tour each weekend day, at 11am or 2:30pm. We arrived just before the 11am one.

On the tour we learned that the vineyard was originally opened in the 1970s and started on HALF an acre (cue my thoughts that I could too someday opening a winery)! It is now much bigger of course, at seventy acres, and includes a wine shop, restaurant, and small inn.

The vineyard is located in a valley that has a micro climate that actually makes it 4-6 F degrees (2-3 C degrees) warmer than the surrounding area. I could definitely feel the sun shining strongly that day and enjoyed getting some vitamin D in!

We also learned that the owner had done some research before buying the property and found out that the Romans had grown grapes in the same area. I swear there’s nothing the Romans didn’t do!

During the tour we tried two white wines, one sparkling white wine, and one red wine. I actually liked all the wines – even the red, but the first two whites were my favorite. We also got to see the machines that are used for bottling, labeling, and removing sediment in wine bottles.

After the tour Mark and I headed to the wine shop. I was pleasantly surprised that a few of the bottles available were only £8.50 (approx $11) so we bought one to enjoy there and a few to take home. We set out our picnic of wine, cheese, and crackers and proceeded to have a lovely afternoon.

My Thoughts on English Wine

I was skeptical that English wine might be sub-par because of the whole climate factor, but I was pleasantly surprised that the wines I tried were quite good. While there still aren’t a ton of wineries in general in the country, there are a few that are day-trip doable from London, so it’s piqued my interest to check them out.

Would you want to visit an English winery?

Noelle’s Parents Take London

Published on August 3, 2016November 29, 2016 by NoelleLeave a comment

This past weekend, both my parents were in town. This was the first time since I moved that my dad has been here so I was really excited to show them around.

Friday we did afternoon tea – one of my favorite things to do with visitors, followed by shopping in a shopping center not too far from my house (but that I had no idea existed!). I’m not usually a fan of shopping at all, but considering I have only gone shopping about twice since moving, I was actually really excited and bought various things for my flat.

Afternoon tea menu

Delicious!

Saturday we went to Big Ben and Parliament, and then hopped on a boat cruise from Westminster Pier to Greenwich. I had done the boat cruise before, but I think I had a renewed sense of appreciation for it now that I know what a lot of the significant buildings are and have more of a sense of the history of London. I also haven’t been far into east London where the boat ride went.

Greenwich is a really quaint area of London. It’s not in central London – it’s just outside it, so it has a unique charm that makes it feel more like a small town by the Thames. Once there we split up, my mom tackling the Queen’s House that is part of the Old Royal Naval College, while my dad, Markie, and I went to the Roger Harrison Planetarium. At the planetarium, we watched a thirty minute show on asteroids. The show was produced by National Geographic and explained what the impact has been and will be of asteroids hitting earth and why it’s so difficult for humans to get to them in outer space. I’m not even a traditionally ‘science-y’ person, and I really enjoyed it. Trying to understand space and the magnitude of it is all really mind boggling to me.

Overlooking Greenwich

Dad, Markie, and I

Peter Harrison Planetarium

Asteroid time!

Greenwich Market

In the evening we headed to the Queen’s Walk next to the Thames and near Tower Bridge for dinner. I absolutely am loving all the al fresco dining I am doing this summer, and how it stays daylight till almost 10pm each night.

Tower Bridge

On Sunday, I said goodbye to my mom as she headed back to the U.S. My dad, Markie and I also went and spent the night near Gatwick Airport; on Monday they were off to Algeria to visit family there for just under two weeks while I headed into the office.

Markie stole my phone at the Gatwick hotel

Until next time all!

All Around London Town

Published on July 26, 2016November 29, 2016 by NoelleLeave a comment

One of the best parts of moving to London thus far has been that I get visitors! I really enjoy showing friends and family around London, especially bringing them to some of my favorite places and checking out new ones as well. My mom and Mark were in town this past weekend, so I enjoyed exploring with them and Markie. Here’s a look at what we did:

Saturday

Camden Lock Market

On Saturday Mark was in town, along with my mom, so what better way to please everyone at once than to bring them to a place with tons of food. We headed over to the Camden Lock Market, which is a huge market that has dozens of food stalls, and has a great view of Regent’s Canal. My mom and Markie enjoyed pizza, and Mark and I had a pulled pork salad and watermelon juice. I also got Markie a dessert that I had eyed a few times – Dutch pancakes with powdered sugar and Nutella. Delicious! The only downside of the market is it get SO crowded, so after a while we were tired of the excess of people and headed home.

Mini-golf & Molly Bakes

Mark is a huge mini-golf fan, so Markie, Mark and I headed to a mini-golf place that is a 15 minute walk from my flat. We enjoyed a few rounds of mini-golf, and then headed to a place that had been on my bucket list for several weeks – Molly Bakes. If anyone has seen (mostly likely on Buzzfeed or Instagram), there are places that are now serving basically jumbo/monster sized milkshakes. Molly Bakes is one of these places, so we ordered a chocolate shake that came with chocolate on the rim, a ice cream sandwich on top, along with whipped cream and a marshmellow. The three of us were able to share it – it was that big! Thank goodness we walked a lot that day to burn that sugar off.

Mini-golf!

Markie with the shake

Chocolate freak shake!

Freakshakes

Sunday

Museum of London & London Wall

My mom is a British history enthusiast, so on Sunday I brought her to my favorite London museum – the Museum of London. There is currently a special exhibit going on to commemorate 350 years since the 1666 Great Fire of London so we checked it out. We also enjoyed taking in the other exhibits – before London was “London”, Roman London, Victorian London, and so on. The museum is next to London Wall, which is the original wall built by the Roman Empire 1800 years ago to fortify the city, so we took a walk by that as well.

Museum of London

London Wall

The Queen’s Walk & London Bridge City Summer Festival

After our museum visit we headed to The Queen’s Walk which is a promenade on the south bank of the Thames River. We had built up an appetite from the day and sat down at Côte Brasserie, a reasonably priced but good restaurant I had been to once before. From there we had views of HMS Belfast, Tower Bridge, and across the river of the Gherkin and of 20 Fenchurch aka the “Walkie Talkie” building.

After our dinner, we decided to walk towards Tower Bridge, and stumbled upon the London Bridge City Summer Festival. There was a outdoor colorful bar serving cocktails and food, along with DJs from Mi-Soul radio who played a mix of funk, disco, and R&B music while people danced along.

Markie at Tower Bridge

All in all it was a great weekend, and I love how London has so many places to explore, as well as places that are great to go time and time again.

Till next time all!

Day Trips from London

Published on June 22, 2016November 29, 2016 by NoelleLeave a comment

Day Trips from London

While London has a plethora of activities to do, it is sometimes nice to get out of the city and see the other towns, countryside, and seaside that England has to offer. Below I offer some of my favorite day trips I’ve taken thus far and a few that I’m hoping to get to this summer.

Eastbourne and Beachy Head

Eastbourne is a seaside resort town with Victorian-era architecture. When I visited, my friend and I walked on a beach path by the bright blue water of the English Channel and then hiked up to Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain. During the hike up to Beachy Head you also get a great view of the Eastbourne area. There’s a pub near the top of Beachy Head where we had some food and a drink before heading back.

How to get there: Eastbourne is a 1 hour 20 minute train ride from London Victoria station. Beachy Head is a four mile slightly strenuous hike from Eastbourne station, but taxis and a bus are available if you don’t want to hike.

Beachy Head cliff and lighthouse

Jing and I

Arundel and South Downs

Arundel is a quaint market town on the River Arun. Attractions in the town are a medieval castle and cathedral, cute pubs, and local shops. When I visited, we started in the South Downs National Park (a short walk from the town center) doing a countryside hike and then later explored the town before heading back.

How to get there: Arundel is a 1 hour 20 minute train ride from London Victoria station. From the train station, it’s a ten minute walk into town.

Oxford

Oxford is the home of the prestigious University of Oxford. The town is full of picturesque Gothic medieval churches and colleges and the city is quite vibrant thanks to the large student community. For my fellow Harry Potter fans, some of Hogwarts scenes in the movies were filmed in Oxford.

How to get there: Oxford is a 1 hour train ride from London Paddington. The Oxford train station is directly in the city center.

Radcliffe Camera, part of Oxford University

Hever Castle and Gardens

Hever is a country village in Kent. When I visited, we took the train into Hever station and then it was a lovely one mile country walk to Hever Castle. Hever Castle was the home of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII (the king who had six wives and started the Church of England) and is well preserved with a fair share of furniture originating from the 16th century. As well, the property boasts really beautiful gardens as well as a maze.

How to get there: Hever is a 40 minute train ride from London Bridge station. From the train station, it’s a twenty minute walk to the castle.

12671723_1003839366332495_8370886425541858358_o — Mom and Markie at Hever

12376300_10205599643221515_2246620966926163266_n — Hever Castle

The below day trips are on my list of trips I’d like to take this summer.

Brighton

Brighton is an English seaside resort town – and is one of the most popular beach destinations for those living in London. There are several arcades, the Brighton Pier, and a boardwalk. The town has many Victorian era buildings that add to its charm.

How to get there: Brighton is a 1 hour train ride from London Victoria station. From the train station, it’s a fifteen minute walk to the beach.

Bath

Bath, appropriately named, has historic Roman period baths that date back to 2000 years ago. The town has some lovely Georgian architecture, and there’s also Pulteney Bridge which has shops that span both sides (only one of four of these type of bridges remaning in the world!). You can take boat rides from near the bridge during summer months.

How to get there: Bath is a 1 hour 30 minute train ride from London Paddington. The Bath train station is directly in the city center.

Which of these would you most like to go to?

Till next time all!

My Top 10 London Experiences (thus far!)

Published on June 16, 2016November 15, 2016 by NoelleLeave a comment

I’ve lived in London since February now and have really enjoyed exploring the new city I call home. I obviously haven’t done everything the city has to offer (that would take years!), but of the things I have done I thought I’d share my top ten favorites below.

My Top 10 London Experiences

1. An evening in Hyde Park

Like most Londoners, I don’t have a yard, or a balcony for that matter, so I really appreciate the bounty of parks that London has to offer. Hyde Park is a very popular park in the city – Kensington Palace sits on one end of it, and within you can find the Princess Diana fountain, Peter Pan statue (author J.M. Barrie died in London), and the Serpentine Gallery. In summer months, there are paddle boats that you can rent and paddle around Serpentine Lake. I first visited in January and enjoyed it, and even more so now that it’s summer.

2. Gardens in Regent’s Park

Regent’s Park is another park within the city. Regent’s Park has several gardens with well manicured shrubbery, which are really nice to walk through. There’s also Primrose Hill to the north of the park that you can climb up and get a great view of the city.

12552519_10205173352444512_2457454929985908632_n — View from Primrose Hill

3. Eating in Camden Lock Market

Camden Market and Camden Lock Market are across the street from each other and are a lot of fun to explore. Camden Market has a lot of clothes and accessories, while Camden Lock Market has more artisan items and a large international food area where you can get foods from all around the world. This market is not where you’ll find a bargain since it gets a decent tourist crowd, but it’s worth a visit. During warmer months, you can also hop on a canal waterbus from the Camden Lock area for a one or two hour boat ride (more info on the London Waterbus company here). One of the times I went, without knowing, I ended up at The Hawley. The Hawley was Amy Winehouse’s favorite pub (she was a resident of the neighborhood) and you can see messages written to her in the bathroom stalls.

4. Learning in the Museum of London (and seeing the London Wall)

London has several great free museums, but the Museum of London is my favorite thus far. While many of the other museums have artifacts and history from around the world, the Museum of London is focused on solely London and somewhat on England (hence the name). My first time here I did a tour called ‘Fire, Plague, and the Civil War’ which was a free one hour walking tour with a guide who discussed these topics. This summer the museum is having a special exhibit since its the 350 year anniversary of the 1666 Great Fire of London. Next to the Museum of London is the London Wall, which is the original wall from Roman times that surrounded the City of London.

5. Viewing London from above

I always enjoy having a nice view – and in London one of the best ones is from above. So far I’ve viewed the city from the Shard and Duck and Waffle. You can pay £25+ ($35+) for the view from the Shard, but the insider tip is to go to one of the restaurants in the Shard (make sure to enter through the restaurant entrance) for a similar view but for much less – I got an £5 beer when Mark and I went. You can also get a great view at the Duck and Waffle restaurant; my friend Miriam and I got an £8 glass of wine and enjoyed the view there as well.

View of the Gherkin, as seen from the Shard

6. Traditional British tea time

Tea time is a British tradition, but can be quite costly in London. I recommend looking at Groupon or LivingSocial for tea time deals, otherwise prices start at £25 ($36) per person. With Groupon I did tea time twice for about £12 ($17) per person, which is a much more reasonable price. I did splurge once and go to one that was £26 though. Tea time is great because you always get plenty of food – enough for a filling meal and some – and the food and tea are well presented.

Tea time at The Tea Rooms in Stoke Newington

7. Going on walking tours

One of my top interests since moving to London is to learn more about the city’s history. I’ve done two walking tours thus far – a Jack the Ripper Tour and Ghosts of the Old City tour. Both focused on different aspects of the city and what has happened in the past. There’s more tours that I’d like to do (Harry Potter walking tour!) as well so I can continue to learn. Bonus of walking tours is you definitely get your step count in for the day!

8. Drinking and eating in pubs

While the U.S. has bars, England has (mostly) pubs. Pubs are more laid back, generally historic, family-friendly watering holes that typically have English classics like fish and chips or steak and ale pie on the menu. I have three pubs in a five minute walk of my flat, one of which I’d consider my ‘local’. I also enjoy exploring pubs throughout the city of London and have a few favorites. Pubs are a good place to go for a hearty meal, relaxing with friends, and watching a game.

‘Elvis doughnut’ and wine at my local pub

9. Eating out and partying in SoHo

SoHo is the most ‘New York’ area of London with dozens of restaurants, pubs, bars, and clubs. If I want to have my choice of cuisine (Ramen! Korean BBQ! Tapas!) I tend to go to SoHo. There’s also plenty of pubs and bars for a good night out.

12513929_10100454530893591_3526512919232103206_o — Night out at Coach and Horses pub in SoHo

10. The infamous Platform 9 3/4 photo

For any Harry Potter fan, getting the photo at Platform 9 3/4 in Kings Cross Station is a must-do. There’s a professional photographer there who will take your picture (and give you a scarf and wand to pose with), but you can take your own photo for free. Be warned though – I went at 10am on a Tuesday in January and the line was over 30 minutes; I’ve heard its even worse in more popular tourist months. Try to go at off peak times if possible (early morning or late at night) to beat the rush.

I’m still waiting for my Hogwarts letter

What are your favorite London experiences? Are any of the above on your bucket list? Post in the comments below!

Till next time all!