Friday, August 30, 2013

Addiction

I have a confession, I may need to attend some type of anonymous group, maybe even a rehab center...

I AM ADDICTED TO CARROTS AND HUMMUS.

Seriously yal I have always enjoyed hummus but recently carrots and hummus are just my thing, my craving. Carrot sticks are carrot batons here in London and hummus is spelled houmous. 


I may have eaten a bag of carrots in a day...or did I?! 

Yal have a great weekend. Do something spontaneous and fun and out of the norm. We are planning to go to a beach tomorrow by train.

Cheers, Nelly


Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Weekend Rewind...Carnival Style


What a weekend!! It was full of spontaneity and new experiences. Told yal I would find some hidden gems...

Friday was a just a normal day, started with a run in Hyde Park with the Mr and because I can't keep up with his sprint style running we did our own thing but when we needed to meet back up it was like a scavenger hunt...texting each other what landmarks we were near...it was fun. I planned to try chicken tikka masala from the recommendation of Calista and it was awesome! There is a Masala Zone restaurant just a couple blocks from the flat.

Later in the evening we thought we should try out the clubbing scene of London...Ibiza style. We went to Pacha which is a satellite club from the original in Ibiza. We had fun but it was just not the same. 

Saturday was cool and rainy all day. We went to a new market that was covered, Covent Garden Market. It was different, more so a craft market. I had read online there was an Italian festival going on in the same area...um, don't believe everything you read on the internet...Thanks Mr. Al Gore. No festival in sight...
What we did find was the most-amazing-mouthwatering-scrumptious-finger-licking-goodness SOUTHERN KITCHEN!!! Joe's Southern Kitchen and Bar was a gem! I ate way too much but it was absolutely out of this world yumo! 
All the details were perfect reflection of the South
We started the meal with some coq n' balls...fried chicken and monterrey jack cheese...CHEESE PLEASE!


That homemade hot sauce was phenomenal! 
I drooled all over that menu trying to decide what to order and I finally settled on the coq of the week. 

Bacon salt!?!? What?? 
That's a masterpiece of food art

As if that wasn't enough to throw me into a coma we had to try the pecan pie with Jim Beam whipped cream.
That pecan pie had class

And that my friends is how you clean your plate


We did walk around the market for a little bit before heading back to the flat for a much need nap. 

Covent Garden Market



Who needs flower pots when you have pianos?!
Sunday we woke up and the Notting Hill Carnival was in full swing. It is the largest festival in it's kind within Europe. Over a million people were expected to attend and I think about half of them were walking pass the flat. We read that Sunday was the children's day of the Carnival and thus decided to just get out of town for the afternoon. Prior to coming to London we watched the reality show The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE). It is based on some young 20-somethings and their daily lives in Brentwood. It is only about 45 mins away and some of the stars have boutiques in the small town...so why not!? We ate lunch at Taratino Italian Restaurant and I had fresh tomato soup that was delish and of course ended the meal with some tiramisu. 


The infamous Sugar Hut club of TOWIE


Seriously it was such a quiet, quaint, sweet town...nice change! 

Went to Lucy's Boutique and of course found a purse
Sunday ended with some fun people watching with Carnival patrons making their way back to where ever they came from...it was absolutely entertaining. Yesterday was a bank holiday so I think more adults attended the Sunday events even though it was declared the children's day. We thought we would see what it was all about during lunch when the Mr had a little break from work. WOW! ... that's all I kept saying. It was so fun! 
The parade lasted from 10a-7p


Lots of beautiful costumes

Even the flats were having a good time

Mount Gay Rum!! Reminded me of our honeymoon...wanted one but didn't.

The amount of trash was horrendous! There were no trash bins anywhere.
So folks that was our weekend in rewind, lots of good eating and fun times...now on to the eight loads of laundry that keep screaming at me! I'll show them who's boss!

Cheers, Nelly












Friday, August 23, 2013

British Museum



Yesterday was just a blah rainy cloudy day in London. I decided later in the afternoon that it would be perfect to go to the British Museum and wander around...I think the entire UK had the same idea. I was able to only really walk through about three rooms in an hour...Egypt, Mexico, Southwestern America..

The entrance of the museum is pretty cool in itself



This dude had a bad shave and could use some rhinoplasty




The Crystal Skull has some unique history. It was thought to be from the Aztec area created not by man; the British Museum purchased it from Tiffany and Co of New York in the late 1800's and recently after research it is from Europe and made by man. Still a pretty cool piece. But can we say "Fooled ya!!"



I guess we all have our good sides, huh? 


That's just too much work for a mummy




Not real sure what this was besides a witch riding a grasshopper, a skeleton over earth and the
devil just hanging out on the sidelines. 

Yal have a great Friday and a happy weekend. I plan to find cool hidden sites to share with ya Monday. 

Cheers, Nelly



Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Weekend Rewind...Bergen Part Two: Fjord Tour

Saturday we were lucky with good weather for the majority of the Fjord Trip and were able to get some great pictures. I swear I felt as if I was rolling through postcards. Hope you enjoy the scenes!

Just a little FYI...

Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity. The word comes to English from Icelandic, but related words are used in several Scandinavian languages, in many cases to refer to any long narrow body of water other than the more specific meaning it has in English. The coasts of Norway, Iceland, and Greenland have many fjords.




The floating bridge...the floor bed is too deep to anchor


Um can we say oil money!?



Just a little lunch on the tour...and if ya know me,  you know I LOVE hot dogs with mustard





This is a frame worthy pic of the Mr and me

There were so many waterfalls


Told yal it was BEAUTIFUL



So picturesque






The tour was 4 hours long and it was just perfect...not sure how some people do the 8 or 10 hour tours. It was a nice weekend getaway...and remember never live life too serious... 

Me not being serious...

Cheers, Nelly