florence and pisa

As my career has progressed I have realised that I like to research and organise. So for the second time in four years I organised a city break for myself and my female colleagues. I am lucky that the females in my department are such good friends and all around the same age. Four years we went to Istanbul and it was fantastic.

This year we decided to go to Florence. It is a place that all eight of us had not yet been to and all wanted to visit. So in the Summer of last year we booked flights with British Airways for under a hundred pounds.

Florence is beautiful and much more than I had expected. Sometimes it felt that you are were walking in a film set because it just seemed so surreal. The biggest surprise was the food. Because there was so many of us I researched hard for restaurants that took reservations and served traditional food that was popular with Florentines and not so much with tourists.

Anyway below are some of the pictures from my trip. Highlights were the pizzas at O'Munaciello which were fantastic and the eat all you want buffet brunch (22 euros)at Obika which was just sublime. Seeing the Leaning Tower was also a bit surreal for for all the times you see it in images the lean in the tower is really breathtaking.

 Quirky Interior of O'Munaciello

 Antipasti

 One of the best pizzas I have ever had

 Ponte Vecchio Bridge at night

 View of the Al Duomo

 Tiramisu Masterclass

 Al fresco dining at Il Latini www.illatini.com

Rabbit Gnocchi

Rabbit, veal, beef, chicken, pork

 Brunch Buffet at Obika

The Leaning Tower of Pisa



I love Scotland

I have just got back from a 4 day break in Scotland. I went to University in Edinburgh and worked there too after graduation before finally settling in London. I therefore think for an Englishwoman I know Scotland quite well. I have travelled to many places in Scotland over the years and the place is very dear to my heart. I have been very lucky in my life so far to have travelled to many places including Mongolia, Mexico, India, Nepal to New Zealand but for me the many landscapes of Scotland are the most breathtaking. I try to go back to Scotland as often as I can and this weekend I travelled to the Isle of Islay on the Western Isles. It began with a early morning flight from London to Glasgow, a 3 hour drive to Kennacraig and then a 2 hour 20 minuteferry crossing. The OH is a whisky lover so we visited some distilleries too. Here are a few snaps of our trip.I cannot wait to go back.

Loch Lomand from Luss

Loch Fyne

The ferry

Salmon three ways at the Port Charlotte Hotel, Isle of Islay

View from our room at our guesthouse

Our guesthouse, Loch Gorm House, Islay

The Sound of Jura

Islay

Sunset at Bowmore

claridges high tea

Fact. I love tea. This isle is famous for it's tea and it's tea drinkers. Unlike continental Europe, tea is drunk with milk...always.

Another fact. Tea is personal and everyone likes to drink it in their own special way. Strong, weak, little milk, a lot of milk, with sugar and without sugar. Its complex.

What goes best with tea? Cake. So my Scottish friend and I ventured to Claridges for High Tea. There is nothing I enjoy more than good conversation with an old friend over tea and cake and hence I thank the Universe that someone invented high tea.

I have been to The Dorchester twice before and The Ritz for high tea and so I wanted to see how another establishment did it. Checking out the Tea Guild Awards Of Excellence list we chose Claridges Again with anything that is good in London we booked months in advance to get a time and date that was convenient for us.

The hotel itself is steeped in history with photos all over the lobby of its famous visitors. With architecture and buildings being the main part of my job I really appreciated all the original art deco features inside.

The Lobby

The Tea Room

On to the tea. The choice of tea was excellent and the food was also excellent and unlimited. Yes you heard right, food at high tea is unlimited. All the high end establishments offer unlimited portions of cake and sandwiches but in reality there is only so much one can consume. 

In my opinion I felt that The Dorchester is the better place to experience high tea. The service is razor sharp and the food just seemed more memorable. They offer a sandwich, scone, pastry and chocolate course whilst Claridges only had the first three courses. By no means, Claridges was not bad but The Dorchester just edges in front on the service alone. The Ritz for me did not impress so it comes in third after The Dorchester and Claridges.

notting hill

Sorry about the lack of posts of late but I have been busy with Easter. Easter brought eggs but also visits from family. Anyway prior to all this , OH and I went for a walk around Notting Hill and Portobello Market. This part of West London is just lovely but it also quite touristy. So here is a diary of our day. Note the weather, it was gorgeous.

The street where I would love to live. George Orwell lived in one of these houses.

I love this shop and I always love looking around. Unfortunately, though lovely it is, it is also very expensive.

Resident "guard" dog

"The" bookshop

Pizza East for lunch

The best pizzas in town..seriously they are.

le gavroche

I love food. Its pretty evident in the number of posts so far. As mentioned I and the other half will eat anything and anywhere as long as it is good. It was my birthday recently and as a treat I was taken to Le Gavroche website. You have to book months in advance (3 at least) as it is so busy. This probably is not helped by the fact that the patron chef, Michel Roux Jr, is on TV a lot especially with Masterchef.

I don't want to bore you with the history ( find out more here ) of the place but it has a long and established one in London.  It is somewhere where I have always wanted to eat. 

Anyway the restaurant has 2 Michelin stars so there was high expectations. We decided to go for the dinner taster menu which comprised of 8 courses and cost 100 pounds. It is steep but at the end of the menu and having enjoyed every course it was well worth it as the quality was so high. The cheeseboard alone was like the shop display of Neal's Yard Dairy. So much cheese, so little space left in the tum (for the record I love cheese).

We even got to meet Michel Roux Jr ourselves and he came to chat with us after our meal. This alone made my birthday. 

Le Gavroche also does a reasonably priced 3 course lunch for 52 pounds but again if you can get the booking its worth it. 

Course 7 or 8. Dessert.