Our four-day, Thanksgiving weekend getaway to London
Dec 2nd, 2009 | 12:55 PM
#21
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 23,867
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I just love your pictures, mr go! We'll be in London at this time next year (actually from September to December -- almost a full four months!) and I'm going to save your trip report and pictures to refer to.
Bloomsbury was high on our list of apartment sites but we've ended up with a charming little apartment in West Hampstead, five tube stops from Oxford Circus. We're great walkers too so we'll probably walk long stretches.
Can't wait to read the rest of your report -- especially on food.
Bloomsbury was high on our list of apartment sites but we've ended up with a charming little apartment in West Hampstead, five tube stops from Oxford Circus. We're great walkers too so we'll probably walk long stretches.
Can't wait to read the rest of your report -- especially on food.
Dec 2nd, 2009 | 12:58 PM
#22
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,007
Likes: 0
Enjoyed your report and your beautiful pictures; you covered a lot of ground. Your daughter must be the envy of her classmates!
My husband and I took a similarly quick trip to London in Nov., 2000 (we left the day after the disputed election results, and everywhere we went we could hear people buzzing about it), and I was surprised at how we hit the ground running, both going and returning, something I can't say I feel like doing when we travel to France. It's hard to imagine that the one less hour in the air and one less time zone could make such a difference, but it did.
My husband and I took a similarly quick trip to London in Nov., 2000 (we left the day after the disputed election results, and everywhere we went we could hear people buzzing about it), and I was surprised at how we hit the ground running, both going and returning, something I can't say I feel like doing when we travel to France. It's hard to imagine that the one less hour in the air and one less time zone could make such a difference, but it did.
Dec 3rd, 2009 | 04:33 AM
#28
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,625
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Thanks, everyone! I'm glad you're enjoying the photos. I still have some work to do on them. DD also took some very nice photos, but I haven't even had a chance to download them on my computer so I can post some of them. Not sure where her camera is at the moment.
Goddesstogo: four months? I'm jealous!
<b>Food</b>
As background, we are not foodies. We don’t plan our trips around food. Not really into fine dining (except for special occasions). But we’ll usually spend at least a little time doing some research to find quality and value. Our plan for this trip was to mix it up with various ethnic meals. We did a little research here, but also used Time Out London and a few other sources. I’m using a credit card statement for reference, so some of this is in dollars and some in pounds.
<b>Italian: La Porchetta, Holborn</b>
A cozy, bustling place down a side street in Bloomsbury, with a real neighborhood feel (didn’t really seem like a tourist destination). Pizzas are the specialty and they did look great. But, after a long day of flying and a long walk around London, we all opted for pasta with a couple of starters, and it all pretty much hit the spot. $75.
http://www.laporchettapizzeria.co.uk/holborn/home.html
<b>Turkish: Tas, Bloomsbury</b>
This one we did plan. It was Thanksgiving for us, and what’s Thanksgiving without a turkey dinner? Well, how about a Turkish dinner. Our next big trip is to Turkey, so it seemed particularly appropriate. Tas is part of a small local chain, and it just happens to be located on the corner right next to the Morgan. Service and food were very good. Two starters, three entrees, dessert and drinks, $111.
http://www.tasrestaurant.com/tas_bloomsbury/index.htm
Tavuklu Ispanak
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p...a7af9#hc1a7af9
Kagit Kebap
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p...7af9#h1aa2284e
<b>Chinese: Baozi Inn, Chinatown</b>
We solicited recommendations here and got many good suggestions (thanks to all!). I’ve posted the original thread here in hopes it will help others.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...estaurants.cfm
Thanks to yk and walkinaround for the recommendation of Baozi Inn. This is a small, informal place with very fast service. This is what we wrote in the other thread:
We were seated right away, even though it was pretty full; there was a line when we left. It's a chilly night in London and nothing sounded better than a hearty bowl of spicy noodles--a specialty here. We had a three-sliver salad (kelp, carrot and vermicelli); a spiced peanut salad; pork dumplings in broth; spicy cold peanut/sesame noodles; and Sichuan pork noodles. Unfortunately, they were out of the baozi (buns), but we ended up with plenty of food--with beer, less than £30 for three people. It certainly met our needs: fast, tasty and a solid value.
http://www.timeout.com/london/restau...ews/13356.html
Peanut noodles:
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p...7af9#h194febdc
Three-sliver salad:
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p...a7af9#h43e10a7
<b>Indian: Curry Leaf, Charlotte Street</b>
We’d staked out an Indian option or two in Soho, but it was raining and we decided to stick closer to home. We headed to Charlotte Street and perused some menus before selecting this restaurant. We thought the food was pretty good, but for some odd reason we didn’t exactly feel welcome here. The bigger problem, though, was DD’s allergic reaction to her dinner. She is allergic to nuts (cashews, walnuts, etc., but not peanuts), and she is always very careful in choosing dishes in restaurants; we very rarely have problems. Her allergy isn’t a deadly one; but it can be very uncomfortable for a bit and can make her sick. The menu here did spell out nuts in certain dishes, so we were chose otherwise. Well, with one bite of her meal, her throat began to itch and swell...turns out the dish had cashews. She was able to manage through it by drinking a lot of water (we’d failed to bring the Benadryl with us that evening), but obviously had to leave the meal on the table and we had to make a fairly hasty exit. $125.
She ended up having a take-out pizza a bit later from Icco, which saved the day:
http://www.timeout.com/london/restau...iews/6197.html
Honorable mention to our quick but tasty lunch of toasties at Silva’s near the hotel:
http://www.timeout.com/london/restau...ews/10488.html
Just a few more small things to cover. I'll try to wrap up tomorrow.
Goddesstogo: four months? I'm jealous!
<b>Food</b>
As background, we are not foodies. We don’t plan our trips around food. Not really into fine dining (except for special occasions). But we’ll usually spend at least a little time doing some research to find quality and value. Our plan for this trip was to mix it up with various ethnic meals. We did a little research here, but also used Time Out London and a few other sources. I’m using a credit card statement for reference, so some of this is in dollars and some in pounds.
<b>Italian: La Porchetta, Holborn</b>
A cozy, bustling place down a side street in Bloomsbury, with a real neighborhood feel (didn’t really seem like a tourist destination). Pizzas are the specialty and they did look great. But, after a long day of flying and a long walk around London, we all opted for pasta with a couple of starters, and it all pretty much hit the spot. $75.
http://www.laporchettapizzeria.co.uk/holborn/home.html
<b>Turkish: Tas, Bloomsbury</b>
This one we did plan. It was Thanksgiving for us, and what’s Thanksgiving without a turkey dinner? Well, how about a Turkish dinner. Our next big trip is to Turkey, so it seemed particularly appropriate. Tas is part of a small local chain, and it just happens to be located on the corner right next to the Morgan. Service and food were very good. Two starters, three entrees, dessert and drinks, $111.
http://www.tasrestaurant.com/tas_bloomsbury/index.htm
Tavuklu Ispanak
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p...a7af9#hc1a7af9
Kagit Kebap
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p...7af9#h1aa2284e
<b>Chinese: Baozi Inn, Chinatown</b>
We solicited recommendations here and got many good suggestions (thanks to all!). I’ve posted the original thread here in hopes it will help others.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...estaurants.cfm
Thanks to yk and walkinaround for the recommendation of Baozi Inn. This is a small, informal place with very fast service. This is what we wrote in the other thread:
We were seated right away, even though it was pretty full; there was a line when we left. It's a chilly night in London and nothing sounded better than a hearty bowl of spicy noodles--a specialty here. We had a three-sliver salad (kelp, carrot and vermicelli); a spiced peanut salad; pork dumplings in broth; spicy cold peanut/sesame noodles; and Sichuan pork noodles. Unfortunately, they were out of the baozi (buns), but we ended up with plenty of food--with beer, less than £30 for three people. It certainly met our needs: fast, tasty and a solid value.
http://www.timeout.com/london/restau...ews/13356.html
Peanut noodles:
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p...7af9#h194febdc
Three-sliver salad:
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p...a7af9#h43e10a7
<b>Indian: Curry Leaf, Charlotte Street</b>
We’d staked out an Indian option or two in Soho, but it was raining and we decided to stick closer to home. We headed to Charlotte Street and perused some menus before selecting this restaurant. We thought the food was pretty good, but for some odd reason we didn’t exactly feel welcome here. The bigger problem, though, was DD’s allergic reaction to her dinner. She is allergic to nuts (cashews, walnuts, etc., but not peanuts), and she is always very careful in choosing dishes in restaurants; we very rarely have problems. Her allergy isn’t a deadly one; but it can be very uncomfortable for a bit and can make her sick. The menu here did spell out nuts in certain dishes, so we were chose otherwise. Well, with one bite of her meal, her throat began to itch and swell...turns out the dish had cashews. She was able to manage through it by drinking a lot of water (we’d failed to bring the Benadryl with us that evening), but obviously had to leave the meal on the table and we had to make a fairly hasty exit. $125.
She ended up having a take-out pizza a bit later from Icco, which saved the day:
http://www.timeout.com/london/restau...iews/6197.html
Honorable mention to our quick but tasty lunch of toasties at Silva’s near the hotel:
http://www.timeout.com/london/restau...ews/10488.html
Just a few more small things to cover. I'll try to wrap up tomorrow.
Dec 3rd, 2009 | 06:27 AM
#30
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 12,076
Likes: 0
While my LW prepares her wrap-up, I’ll jump in with a little bit about another must-see attraction in London: the pubs. No trip to London is complete without a pint or two at a local establishment, and the areas to the immediate west and south of our hotel offered dozens of inviting options.
I have to say that I love traditional English pubs, from their homey painted-wood exteriors to their “real” ales pumped by hand from cellar casks to their implicit expectation that you engage in some friendly chat around the bar.
During our second evening there, ms_go and DD took a couple of hours to rest a bit before dinner, so I nipped around the corner to visit the Museum Tavern, directly across the street from the British Museum.
http://www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub306.php
Despite being in a prime tourist spot, this was actually a decent place to hang out and spark up a chat with the locals. After trying a so-so pint of bitter, some fellow named Nick suggested I try a Czech beer I’d never heard of (and can’t remember now), and it was excellent. He’d lived in the neighborhood for 20 years, and had plenty to say about how it had changed in that time… for better and for worse.
Ms_go and I also enjoyed a drink early Saturday evening at Fitzroy’s, the venerable tavern that gives the Fitzrovia neighborhood its name.
http://www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub6.php
Literary and artistic giants like Whistler, Orwell and Dylan Thomas used to bend an elbow here, and we were pleased to do the same. Delicious Samuel Smith beers are offered on draught, but the white wine was adequate at best. Again, for a well-known establishment, it was nice to see a mostly local (and friendly) crowd there.
I have to say that I love traditional English pubs, from their homey painted-wood exteriors to their “real” ales pumped by hand from cellar casks to their implicit expectation that you engage in some friendly chat around the bar.
During our second evening there, ms_go and DD took a couple of hours to rest a bit before dinner, so I nipped around the corner to visit the Museum Tavern, directly across the street from the British Museum.
http://www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub306.php
Despite being in a prime tourist spot, this was actually a decent place to hang out and spark up a chat with the locals. After trying a so-so pint of bitter, some fellow named Nick suggested I try a Czech beer I’d never heard of (and can’t remember now), and it was excellent. He’d lived in the neighborhood for 20 years, and had plenty to say about how it had changed in that time… for better and for worse.
Ms_go and I also enjoyed a drink early Saturday evening at Fitzroy’s, the venerable tavern that gives the Fitzrovia neighborhood its name.
http://www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub6.php
Literary and artistic giants like Whistler, Orwell and Dylan Thomas used to bend an elbow here, and we were pleased to do the same. Delicious Samuel Smith beers are offered on draught, but the white wine was adequate at best. Again, for a well-known establishment, it was nice to see a mostly local (and friendly) crowd there.
Dec 4th, 2009 | 04:14 AM
#32
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,625
Likes: 0
Well, I don’t have much more to add, really.
Everyone knows how easy it is to get around. There are several transportation pass options, including one with entrance benefits at various sites. But, since our plans were loose and flexible and we weren’t sure where we’d be visiting, we decided to keep it simple and stick with the Oyster Card. I ordered these online a few weeks before we left, and they arrived in about five business days.
https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do
I had them preloaded with £20, and we used most of that. We went to the ticket office at Heathrow station at the end of our trip to redeem the small balance left. There was a line of about 15 people but it moved quickly.
Our hotel was near the Russell Square and Holborn stops on the Piccadilly line, so that served us well for getting to and from Heathrow. The ride to/from Russell Square is almost exactly one hour. I could see how this might be a little difficult with lots of luggage if traveling during rush hour, but for us, it was not problem; we had small bags and were transiting during non-peak times (mid-day on a week day going in; Sunday morning going back out).
While we watched weather forecasts for the week leading up to the trip, we knew that we could be in for just about anything (well, we did know it would be cold, but beyond that...). All in all, we were very lucky. Most of the time, the sun was out. It was brisk and kind of windy, but we only had to break out our umbrellas once, on the evening before we left. We couldn’t have asked for more. If I’d had a crystal ball and known how things would turn out, I would have gone with a warmer wool coat rather than the raincoat.
Things were taking a turn as we left, though. We could see the dark clouds building as we rolled our bags toward the Russell Square tube stop on Sunday morning; in fact, we left a little earlier than we needed to just to beat them. By the time our train emerged from underground, it was raining steadily. By the time we were boarded and ready to take off, it was pouring enough to cause delays.
One of those freakish, never-in-a-million-tries sort of things happened on our train ride back to the airport. My rolling bag bumped mr_go’s rolling bag as we were getting on the train, and a small fabric tag on mine became attached inextricably to the zipper pull of his. After much effort, we ended up having to break off the end of the zipper (with great force). A sign of things to come for the day?
The flight home wasn’t too late, considering the weather, but among other problems, the seat-back entertainment system was broken. The good news is that we’ve received $650 in vouchers (more than we paid for one ticket) for future travel.
I think that’s it. We had a fun and enjoyable trip. It had been about eight years since I’ve been to London, and it was great to be back.
We thank everyone for their help and advice and hope this report is useful to others in the future.
Everyone knows how easy it is to get around. There are several transportation pass options, including one with entrance benefits at various sites. But, since our plans were loose and flexible and we weren’t sure where we’d be visiting, we decided to keep it simple and stick with the Oyster Card. I ordered these online a few weeks before we left, and they arrived in about five business days.
https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do
I had them preloaded with £20, and we used most of that. We went to the ticket office at Heathrow station at the end of our trip to redeem the small balance left. There was a line of about 15 people but it moved quickly.
Our hotel was near the Russell Square and Holborn stops on the Piccadilly line, so that served us well for getting to and from Heathrow. The ride to/from Russell Square is almost exactly one hour. I could see how this might be a little difficult with lots of luggage if traveling during rush hour, but for us, it was not problem; we had small bags and were transiting during non-peak times (mid-day on a week day going in; Sunday morning going back out).
While we watched weather forecasts for the week leading up to the trip, we knew that we could be in for just about anything (well, we did know it would be cold, but beyond that...). All in all, we were very lucky. Most of the time, the sun was out. It was brisk and kind of windy, but we only had to break out our umbrellas once, on the evening before we left. We couldn’t have asked for more. If I’d had a crystal ball and known how things would turn out, I would have gone with a warmer wool coat rather than the raincoat.
Things were taking a turn as we left, though. We could see the dark clouds building as we rolled our bags toward the Russell Square tube stop on Sunday morning; in fact, we left a little earlier than we needed to just to beat them. By the time our train emerged from underground, it was raining steadily. By the time we were boarded and ready to take off, it was pouring enough to cause delays.
One of those freakish, never-in-a-million-tries sort of things happened on our train ride back to the airport. My rolling bag bumped mr_go’s rolling bag as we were getting on the train, and a small fabric tag on mine became attached inextricably to the zipper pull of his. After much effort, we ended up having to break off the end of the zipper (with great force). A sign of things to come for the day?
The flight home wasn’t too late, considering the weather, but among other problems, the seat-back entertainment system was broken. The good news is that we’ve received $650 in vouchers (more than we paid for one ticket) for future travel.
I think that’s it. We had a fun and enjoyable trip. It had been about eight years since I’ve been to London, and it was great to be back.
We thank everyone for their help and advice and hope this report is useful to others in the future.
Dec 4th, 2009 | 09:52 AM
#35
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 5,142
Likes: 0
The weather looks good in your photos! I love the one entitled 'queen for a day' 
I've lived in the US for almost 9 years and this is the first year that we haven't been home and your photos made me homesick. Need to book tickets for 2010!
I've lived in the US for almost 9 years and this is the first year that we haven't been home and your photos made me homesick. Need to book tickets for 2010!
Dec 5th, 2009 | 10:23 AM
#37
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 4,258
Likes: 0
I really enjoyed your report. I was in London earlier in November, so your observations were fun to read. I skipped the paid Beatles exhibit at The National Portrait Gallery, but loved the Tudor room. Unfortunately, it was so hot in the museum that I couldn't wait to get out of there and into the fresh air.
mr_go - After several trips to London, I hadn't spent much time in the pubs, since I am usually solo or with children. I finally took a pub tour with Londonwalks (www.walks.com). Highly recommended. Also saw a bit of Hampstead on that particular walk. I will definitely take another one next time I'm there. One great thing is that you don't have to pre-reserve, you just show up at the appointed time and place and pay 7 GBP.
mr_go - After several trips to London, I hadn't spent much time in the pubs, since I am usually solo or with children. I finally took a pub tour with Londonwalks (www.walks.com). Highly recommended. Also saw a bit of Hampstead on that particular walk. I will definitely take another one next time I'm there. One great thing is that you don't have to pre-reserve, you just show up at the appointed time and place and pay 7 GBP.
Dec 6th, 2009 | 03:16 PM
#39
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,625
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Thanks, all, for the kind comments.
travelgirl2, the pub tour sounds fun.
cpilgrim, the photos are almost equally split between a Canon Rebel XSi and a Panasonic DMC-ZS3. I don't think a higher-end camera is necessary at all to get good photos. The Panasonic is mr_go's new camera, and this trip was its first real "work out." I've played around with it a bit, and while I'm more accustomed to using a DSLR, I've been pretty impressed with the Panasonic so far. It doesn't have a lot of manual controls, but the 12x zoom is nice and photo quality seems good. We're still trying to figure out the video capabilities, though; hence, no videos from this trip.
travelgirl2, the pub tour sounds fun.
cpilgrim, the photos are almost equally split between a Canon Rebel XSi and a Panasonic DMC-ZS3. I don't think a higher-end camera is necessary at all to get good photos. The Panasonic is mr_go's new camera, and this trip was its first real "work out." I've played around with it a bit, and while I'm more accustomed to using a DSLR, I've been pretty impressed with the Panasonic so far. It doesn't have a lot of manual controls, but the 12x zoom is nice and photo quality seems good. We're still trying to figure out the video capabilities, though; hence, no videos from this trip.
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