Noelle Across The Pond

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!

Italian Flavor in Switzerland

Published on July 19, 2016November 6, 2017 by Noelle2 Comments

There’s nothing better than family, especially Swiss-Italian family that cooks homemade meals when you visit! For the second half of our Swiss trip, Markie, mom, and I headed to Lugano, Switzerland which is on the border of Italy. This area of Switzerland has a very Italian feel to it – architecture and language wise (they speak Italian here) – which we were fortunate to experience. Continue reading “Italian Flavor in Switzerland” →

Switzerland, the Beautiful

Published on July 12, 2016November 29, 2016 by NoelleLeave a comment

As I write this, I am currently in Biel, Switzerland, my mom’s hometown. My mom, Markie, and I are four days into our trip to Switzerland – staying in the cities of Biel and Lugano – with a brief 24 hours in Milan at the tail end. We are mostly visiting family on this trip, although we have done some exploring of our own in the downtime.

View of Biel from the balcony of our AirBnB

On Saturday, we arrived in my mom’s hometown of Biel. After a brief walk around the La Vieille Ville, the old town area of Biel that dates back to the medieval ages, we headed to my mom’s cousins house for a family BBQ. The last time I was in Switzerland was ten years ago, so it had been quite some time since I had seen my family here. They were so welcoming though and we had several hours of great conversation. I am SO proud to say that my French comprehension is actually quite good with the Swiss accent; I was able to understand a good portion of what was said and my mom translated the rest.

My mom’s hometown is on Lake Biel, so on Sunday we went for a lakeside BBQ with my mom’s best friends from childhood, and Markie was able to swim in the lake. Her friends were so kind and gave Markie a Swiss hat and t-shirt as a present.

FullSizeRender (1) — Markie’s Swiss shirt and hat

Monday we took a day trip to visit my mom’s cousin and his family in the town of Thun, about an a hour from Biel. Thun is an absolutely beautiful town with a really nice historic old town and a lake. We walked around the town and lake a bit before heading to my mom’s cousins house for lunch and a relaxing afternoon. On the way back to Biel in the evening we also stopped in the capital of Switzerland, Bern, for a quick walk around.

Lake Thun

View of Thun from Thun Castle

My family in Thun

This morning we met up again with some of our family for a mid-morning cafe visit – I love how strong coffee is here! We also went to visit a winery in a town called Twann this afternoon. Twann is a really pretty town with historic Swiss houses by the lake. At the winery, I was able to sample five different Swiss wines and bought a few bottles to take home. Switzerland actually produces a fair share of wine, but 98% of the wine produced here is consumed within the country, so it’s quite hard to buy except for in Switzerland.

Vineyards in Twann

Swiss wine tasting

Twann, Switzerland

What’s next on this trip?

Tomorrow morning we are heading to Lugano, a touristic city on a lake that is near the Swiss-Italian border. We have more family there that we will be visiting until Saturday, at which point we will head to Milan for a day of exploration before heading back to London on Sunday.

What is interesting about Lugano is that while the vast majority of Switzerland either speaks German or French, Lugano is in a canton (like a state) called Ticino, where the main language is Italian (due to it’s proximity to Italy). My great-grandparents and great-great grandparents were all born in the Lugano area, and this is my first time visiting, so I’m looking forward to seeing an area that is such an important part of my family history.

Till next time all!

What I Miss About America

Published on July 5, 2016February 8, 2017 by Noelle2 Comments

In homage to the 4th of July yesterday, I thought I’d share some of the things I miss about America.

Patriotism

Being openly proud about your country is a very American trait, while the English are far more reserved about it. We wear, decorate with, and fly the U.S. flag and colors without a second thought, which is not as frequently done here. English people also don’t have an equivalent of the Pledge of Allegiance, and they only play their national anthem at some major sporting events (versus the U.S. where we play ours for almost every event – sports and others).

“Big” houses, more space

I wasn’t expecting homes in London to be very big; I certainly know I downsized when I moved here. But even outside the city, homes in England aren’t very big in general – I have found the rooms in some to be quite small and they aren’t as into the ‘open layout’ concept that we see a lot more of in the U.S. For all my DC area friends, the McMansions that we are used to are definitely rarely present in England. I’m not sure this is necessarily a bad thing (less is more?), but I also wonder where they put all their stuff!

Keurig machine and Coffeemate coffee creamer

Keurig machine, I miss you so. Keurig machines are not really present in England, and while I could have brought my own, I also wouldn’t be able to easily buy the k-cups to insert into them here. I also really miss Coffeemate coffee creamer. English people either use powder creamer, or milk… so no Hazelnut or French Vanilla or Pumpkin Spice creamer for me anymore (so sad).

Bar culture

There is pub culture in England, but its not like American bar culture because nobody talks to you! In a pub you stick to talking to the people you went with for the most part; it would be weird to approach someone else there to strike up a conversation. Pubs also tend to have a more relaxed atmosphere than the busyness of a bar, and many are family-friendly.

Country bars and music

I love my country music. But for all my Northern Virginia people, I definitely have found myself missing Nick’s Nightclub in Alexandria. Country karaoke, country bands, and line dancing are not really found even in a city like London (although I did find some country bands on the 4th of July weekend after searching them out!).

Wineries

England has a few wineries – nowhere near the amount we had in Northern Virginia and none of which are particularly close to London. For anyone who knows me, one of my favorite activities is to spend a lazy afternoon sampling wines and having a picnic at a winery. Thus far since moving, I’ve visited only one winery when I went to Spain, and my friend Miriam and I recently went to a wine and cheese tasting at a hotel in London. I’m hoping to visit some more wine-oriented destinations in the future though (and when I visit home!).

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Tailgating

Tailgating is not really a concept in England; they’ll go to the pub before a game but they don’t do cookouts and drink in the parking lot before sporting events and country concerts like we do.

And lastly… my family and friends!

I was really, really lucky to have a great group of friends at home. I also have never lived very far from my immediate family, so that was an adjustment when moving. I’m grateful that so many people have kept in touch with me and made an effort to see me when I was home, and I’ve also been lucky enough to have a few visitors as well (everyone is welcome!).