Life in London before the holidays

Here's some things we got up to in London before the Christmas and New Year holidays.

East London markets, Spitalfields
Shortly after arriving back in London from Sydney, Wendy and I caught up on all the goss at Giraffe, Spitalfields for brunch before browsing the East London markets.


Spitalfields is a great little area of London, with loads of boutiques, cafes, restaurants, markets and creative agencies. It is most well-known for its markets, with the Old Spitalfield Market (held Thursdays-Sundays) being the most famous and biggest, and being just a hop away from the Indian eateries of Brick Lane (which we'd say give a miss). The area was also the old hunting ground for Jack the Ripper.

We paid a visit to the Columbia Road flower market after brunch. It was just a 5 minute walk away on a quaint street tucked away from the bustling city roads of London. The markets are lined with some 52 stores bursting with colourful flowers and pot plants. It always amazes us the sheer variety of flowers one can purchase in the UK and for not very much. This is where all that rain is a good thing! Wendy and I picked up 3 big bunches of flowers for a mere £5.


After, we browsed the markets around Spitalfields. Our favourite was the Backyard Market on Brick Lane, which looks like nothing much from the front, but is full of budding young designers making jewellery, clothes and accessories. We bought some bespoke jewellery (thanks to the lovely designer who offered to make us personalised pieces).

Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Palace is most well-known as Henry VIII's grandiose tudor palace where he resided in the 1400's. Some highlights at the Palace include the massive charred tudor kitchen which cooked and baked for 600 people twice a day.

The formal Privay garden dotted with toparies and a vast fountain.


The Palace's maze, known as one of the most famous in the world (but don't expect it to be huge!)


And the rest of the Palace's gardens which cover 60 acres and provides a peaceful and serence place to explore, relax and wonder. As well as the formal gardens and maze, one can discover the Great Vine (the biggest vine in the world), the rose garden (with purple roses!) and many fountains.


A day out in London with Kirsten, Islay and Constance
My very good friend from home, Kirsten, who currently resides in Brighton, visited London with her two little girls for a day out in the town. We enjoyed lunch at Giraffe (again! But it is a very kid-friendly place) along South Bank which is right on the Thames.


Shortly after lunch, the girls were getting restless being indoors so we walked along the Thames and toward the Tate Modern to visit Dominique Gonzales Foerster's impressive sculptures in the Turbine Hall. The girls squealed at the 3-storey high spider sculpture and Islay engaged a lot with the other installations- climbing on, under and around them.

Christmas at Balham
After our trip to Portugal, time was really flying by and Christmas celebrations were already well underway. A group of Aussies living in London gathered at the Balham Manor for pre-lunch mulled wine and finger food. Lunch was enjoyed at the local restaurant and bar, The Exhibit.


Post-chrissy lunch celebrations continued indoors back at the Manor to exchange Secret Santa gifts but with a twist- when it was your go, you could choose someone else's gift or take the risk of opening a wrapped one (this activity became a very amusing social experiment on scheming and devious behaviour).

Emma and Ian visit London
Emma (my cousin) and Ian (Emma's boyfriend) visited London as one of their first stops before a 10-week holiday skiing in the French Alps and then touring Asia. As I write, I am pretty sure they are still on holidays.

We caught up in London for brunch at Brasserie James, which was between our place in Balham, and Clapham where they were staying with Ian's brother. We then went to the Portobello Road Markets at Notting Hill to browse the antiques and also pig out on German sausages and schnitzels. The day went by so quickly, so we met up again a few days later, for high tea at the Orangery (after a frenzied day of property viewing for me. See below).




The London property hunt
The time rolled around again to search for a new rental property. For all those heading over to live in London, the property hunt here is not the most pleasant of experiences. After 3 weeks of viewings, we finally, finally found a little place in St Pauls the day before we flew out of London for New York. We'll be moving in, this weekend and shall look forward to a fresh new place for the new year and continuing our adventures in London and Europe from here.

Best wishes for 2009 and see you soon on the blog!

Reliving D&M Memories

Relive good times at David and Melissa's website. They recently put up photos from events related to their big day, including the lovely ones shot by the professional photographers. See them here at the D&M website.

Sun, Sand and Sea in Portugal

It's hard to believe that just a 2-hour flight from London can make one feel like they are in another universe completely.

One Saturday, at the end of November for my birthday, we departed a wintery London for the south coast of Portugal. Sunshine was on my birthday wishlist and wishes do come true. We were greeted in Faro, Portugal with sunshine and blue skies. A 40-minute drive from Faro transported us to the Grande Real Santa Eulaia Resort and Hotel Spa in Albufeira.


Grande Real Santa Eulalia is just as it is described- grand and every bit the 5-stars the hotel has been awarded. It's strapline is "small details make all the difference" and true to their word, they have thought of almost everything to ensure one's stay at the palatial hotel is memorable and relaxing.


The rooms are also huge (such a change from many other European cities) and ours was on the top floor and opened out to nothing less than an endless glittering Atlantic Ocean, white sandy beach and palm trees swaying in the breeze. The sun rose and set from one side of our balcony to the other, bathing our stay for 3 days in constant sunlight. The weather in Portugal was such a stark contrast to London. Constant sunshine, blue skies and 25 degrees meant we could swan around in a different attire for once of shorts, tees and our much missed Havianas.


The hotel's remote location meant we hung around the hotel for almost the entire weekend, but this suited us fine seeing as we had planned a do-nothing weekend. But there was enough at the Grand Real to keep us occupied.

On Saturday, we had taken the first flight out of London in the morning, so a long sun-filled day stretched ahead of us. After setting our things down in our room we made a beeline to the beach, passing a quiet, terraced cafe called Cafe Atlantico where we decided to grab a bite eat. Over the course of the weekend, we'd visit Cafe Atlantico everyday (sometimes twice a day).


The cafe was perched overlooking the beach, under the palm trees. We ordered lunch and coffees, and noticed the cafe patrons jumping out of their seats and pointing to the emerald ocean as a pod of dolphins dived in and out of the water in front of us! They traveled the whole distance of the beach, entertaining us with their jumps and then disappearing around the headlands.


After lunch, the mercury began rising, so we changed into cooler clothes and spent the afternoon down at the beach reading and soaking up the sun. When 4pm rolled around, we headed to the Grande Real's day spa for a private Pilates class and then a stretching and relaxation class. By the time our classes finished the sun was setting, burning the sky in a deep orange and pink. When it finally disappeared it was time for dinner at the hotel's restaurant.


The Grand Real boasts a number of drinking and dining options, so we enjoyed drinks at the bar before dinner. We were pleasantly surprised to find the restaurant prices very reasonable (tourism in Eastern Europe has been steadily rising in popularity over the last few years, but one can still find well-priced food), so we dined at the restaurant every night over the weekend, sampling the generous dishes. We also found the hotel to be of such low occupancy, there were only at maximum of 3 tables full (including us) every night. This made for very attentive restaurant service.

(Thanks for sending the Grace & Hart dress, Mel!)

Sunday morning was met again with blazing sunshine and a huge buffet breakfast down in the main restaurant.


We walked off the food (including mangoes- I think the first time we have eaten them since departing Australia!) on the beach before catching the hotel's free shuttle bus to the Albufeira's town centre.

Albufeira is a small, white beach town, with a glittering beach. It's name is Arabic for "the lagoon" and it's population over summer, increases 15-fold! But in the middle of winter, Albufeira is so sleepy we didn't even spend an hour there promptly catching the next bus back to the hotel.


Back at the hotel we relaxed around the pool, took a dip and then headed for the spa again for a massage and gym session (since we have not be getting much exercise since winter hit London, and post-Mel and David's wedding!).

Our final day, Monday, began with another huge breakfast and walk down on the beach. This time we discovered a private beach and meandering pathways on top of and around the headlands. The weather was a bit cooler and clouds had appeared for the first time over the beach.


We decided to walk to the nearby Balaia golf driving range to hit a few balls before we needed to get to the airport. One would not have guessed that the south of Portugal is a golf course haven. On a local map, we counted no less than 15 courses between Faro and Albuferia alone! The hotel actually has a golf booking desk in the reception area too.

Balaia, just a 10 minute walk away, is a private golfing village with its own 18-hole course, driving range and club house. White terraced accommodation with pink Bougainvilleas climbing up the walls, house guests and golf lovers alike. We hit a bucket of 50 balls each and quickly walked back to the hotel as rain began to lightly fall and the wind began to pick up.

(No comments on my swing Mum and Dad!)

It was sadly time to leave our quite, relaxing and sunny weekend in Portugal. Our ride to the airport transported us back into the real world and to London for 4 weeks before our Christmas and New Years holiday in New York.