Winter in London

So I'm sitting here on Christmas Eve, waiting for Santa Clause to turn up, so I guess I can give you an idea of what London is like in Winter.

Well it's sunrise around 8am and is dark by 4pm. Now, when I say sunrise, this is the official timing. Whether there is light or not depends on how much cloud/fog/pollution is around on that particular day. We have had a cold snap recently and London has had a dusting of snow on the ground. Some of the outer areas of Greater London have had up to 3 or 4 inches of snow. We've had minimums of a couple of degrees below zero, and maximums of a couple of degrees above. The weather changes quickly from cloud to sun many times a day, but the coldness has remained.

Still, there are moments of pleasure. We took the opportunity one sunny weekend to have a wander around Hampton Court, which is an old palace dating back to Henry VIII. He used it when there was a particularly bad outbreak of the plague that he wanted to avoid. It of course includes a large portion of obligatory hunting grounds (below). These a just a great green space to escape the greyness of London's urban landscape.The sun strength still takes a little getting use to. Below is about midday with the sun at full strength. Note the length of the shadows.But, it does have it's benefits. It has been a good warm up to Christmas. Plenty of festive cheer (mulled wine) and they do put on a good show. This is Bella under some lights while wandering around Regent Street. It is also a time for firsts. Despite living in Canada for nearly 12 months, we never got around to ice-skating. London has a number of temporary rinks set up around the city. Before (we get on the ice).And after (we get on the ice).Now for some shots for the family. Firstly our London apartment Christmas Tree. And secondly, us.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Winter in London

Two Big Ticks

The weather has turned here in London and Winter (and Christmas) is nearly here. But before Jack Frost takes hold, we squeezed in a few more trips to Europe. With so many different lcoations for travel in Europe, it is sometimes hard to decide where to go. But these two places were always at the top of our lists.

Italy
Italy was always high on my list of places to visit. While the sights and history of Rome would be amazing, what Italy is most famous for, in my opinion, is its food. And this was what I wanted to taste for myself. So we found some cheap flights and headed to the city of Bologna for a quick weekend trip. Located in central northern Italy, a university city from the 11th century and a city reknowned for good food. Perfect!

These weekend breaks are great, but they are a little rushed. We left home at 3:30am to catch our flight. But this meant we did arrive in central Bologna at 10:30am. Perfect timing for a coffee and a pastry. Cafes in Italy can be intense places. Lots of people bustling in and out, people standing and drinking coffee at the counter, not knowing where a line begins and ends, lots of noise from the espresso machine and people chatting away in Italian. A vibrant and energetic setting. So, an espresso and a pastry, both 1 euro each, in a busy cafe was a great introduction to Italy. Needless to say the coffee was great.
So we filled in the day, wandering around, soaking up all that is Italy. Great public spaces with obligatory fountains, cathedrals, churches and markets. Fruit and vegetables never looked so good.The house of meat. All cured meats.Seafood.Or the highlight, pasta. Bologna is the home of tortellini and tortelloni (small and big). Oh, and that place Parma that invented parmesan cheese. It's just down the road. Here's a wheel as big as a 4x4 tyre with a few chunks of cured meat on top.So yes, we ate our way through Bologna. Pasta has never tasted so good. Vino by the litre. About 4 coffees in 24 hours and 2 servings of gelato, which was also amazing.

The coffee was great (have i mentioned that yet) and we tried it in a variety of forms. Espresso, cappuccino, machiatto and latte. The coffee oozes out of the people. Anyone on the street could make you a great cup. The cleaning lady in our hotel, also doubled as a maid to serve breakfast. She whipped up a tasty and memorable cappuccino. Good shot, perfect quantities, great milk texture. However, I think my favourite was the macchiatto.
We quickly caught on that it was a lot cheaper to have your coffees at the bar. People don't stop to have a coffee in Italy. It's a mad rush to place your order, wait at the bar, and pick it up and drink it as soon as the barista places it before you. And then fly out the door like you are a busy person. Of course, you can take your time if you like. There are some cafes with people, who sit and wait and are there to be seen, but that's more in the sunny plazas.

So Italy, I hope to see you again soon.

Paris, FRANCE
It's kind of like London. It is referred to so often, that you really need to experience it for yourself. Some people don't like Paris, some do. We would make up our own mind. So once again we jumped on the Eurostar and took the train to Paris. It really is a great way to travel.
With only just over 24 hours in Paris, we were on a tight time frame and knew we couldn't do everything that we wanted to. So we started with the big ones.
Arc de Triumph. Napolean's symbol of victory for the conquering French, however it is now a war memorial for all of those that died. Is that irony or just confusing?
Eiffel tower from the bottom and from the top. I can tell you that it takes 669 steps to get to the second viewing platform and i saw all of them twice. The view was quite good too.
And Notre Dame from the back. Quite spine tingling when the pipe organ starts up when we were wandering around inside on a Sunday morning.
And some more gargoyles on one of the other monuments. I forget the name but I liked it.Add in a few croissants and that was about all we had time for. We also climbed the steps up Montmatre, to take in the night lights up Paris. We then had a great dinner somewhere up there. Some fois gras and sauces on meat that only the French could create.

We enjoyed Paris and can't wait to get back there again.

Click below for more photo-y goodness.

Two Big Ticks