So Now What?

Well...

ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHA!

Instead of Ciao Bella, in May we'll be saying aloha and shaking our hips in grass skirts.  We'll keep you posted on the new shenanigans.  Think, lots of pics of ocean.  And lots of meat and rice photos.  Yipee!

Oh Wait, There's More (Kris)

Oh wait, there's more. We saw our dear friends Natalie and Theo and their daughters.  Nothing says the end of a three week trip like a stop in New York the eve of Thanksgiving to say hello to toddlers!

Love them Lil and Liv!

Awake and then asleep. Classic.

LOVED seeing our extended NY family!

What Else Do We Need to Tell You? (Kris)

Well Gus would have his own things to say.

Me?  God, must go back to London.  Don't get me wrong, LOVED Italy, but we did up Italy like crazy so it felt like I conquered it, although Amalfi Coast could be done again for sure and well, Florence again too. Oh hell, Rome again too.  Damn, ok, so fine, I'd go back to Italy.

But London and Paris?  We only got a taste and there was so much more to do, so much more money we could spend on food and clothing!  I should have ate more baked goods in Paris.  If you go to Paris, don't deny yourself.  Don't be a stupid American worrying about carbs - indulge in all things butter and sugar and dough.

So What Did We End Up Buying?

So are you curious what we bought in London?  These were the shoes.  Oh dear, Gus's Jeffrey West shoes gorgeous yes?  And yes, I bought black AND brown - from Irregular Choice.  A place that has a store in New York as well.  I only had 15 minutes before closing time.  I guess that was a good thing because I could have chosen even more shoes!  SO expensive though - in that U.S. dollar hurting so much.  Damn.  Gus got other stuff from Ben Sherman.

Post Trip

Aw jeez.  We never quite "ended" our trip did we?  Perhaps we didn't want to face the fact it was over? Perhaps it's because we were tired as hell.  Or perhaps we just got lazy.  So now, only two months later, will I share the last of our hurrahs through a series of pictures.  I must say to end in London was in divine.  As you saw in earlier post, Buckingham Palace was fantabulous, but I must say the shopping was DIVINE.  I got two pairs of shoes and not much more in London but oh how I just WISH I had gone there with an empty suitcase and loads of dough.  From Harrod's to Selfridge's I was in love.

Check out the numerous pictures below...

The ultra famous Harrod's.  It is BEAUTIFUL.

From the inside looking out.

Xmas time means gorgeous window displays.

And of course they had gorgeous INDOOR displays.

NOW FOR FOOD PORN.  Yes INSIDE HARROD'S is a glorious display of fancies for the foodie.

The stuff was GORGEOUS.  I wanted to BUY EVERYTHING.  Crazy thing is, you can buy it, but you can't eat it there!  You can only eat at their actual restaurants.  So we did - at a dim sum tiny thing.  So expensive for dim sum. We were dumb and hungry and should have explored more because they had some bad ass restaurants in there that looked even better.  

And OF COURSE WE ATE AT THE ICE CREAM PARLOUR inside there.  But those pics are missing along with the Princess Di pics.  Those were weird anyway - the Princess Di ones, that is.

Buckingham Palace Rocked

Dude on odd days in November the changing of the guards happens in front of Buckingham Palace. I went online to see what people had to say about it and most were haters but dude I loooooooooooved it. Maybe it's the wannabe band geek in me.

Starts at 11:30 a.m., but you should get there at least 40 min earlier. If you face the front of the palace, walk all the way to the right end where it looks like nowhere is gathering. I'm telling you it's a great spot!

When it begins, horses travel round with a marching band and soldiers with guns and then they all meet inside for battle of the bands. Dude it was so cool. The band closest to our end played the STARWARS theme. I took tons of video but don't know how to post that here.

Occupying London

So they are Occupying London. They can't occupy Parliament because they'd get kicked out so they are occupying St. Someone's church.

From Westminster to London

The below notes the point in which you move from Westminster into London or vice versa.

That's Not London Bridge!

Below is NOT London Bridge. Duh! It's the Tower Bridge!

Now below is the London Bridge, which is simple and straightforward transportation path.

Dragons are everywhere and if you see the back of a dragon it means you are leaving an area...

Who Cares About Australia's Embassy?

Below is a pic of Australia's embassy? Why do I care? I don't, but apparently Harry Potter fans do because some scene uses one of its facades.

Blurry but Important

Below is the location of the first bar to serve Guinness outside of Ireland. Interesting and perhaps untrue but a neat tidbit shared by our guide.

The Great Fire

Below is a monument of the GREAT fire. It started in that location and while taking nearly everything out was apparently a blessing in disguise as it stopped the plague and in effect sanitized the city.

Where Ms. Middleton became a Mrs.

Westminster Abbey...THE church. Every royal except for three ( or something like that) has been married in there.

Hugh Grant

So we didnt see Hugh Grant, but we believe he was on his way to court regarding the phone tapping scandal. See all the news vans?

Ben Pokin an Eye

Wish it wasn't so dreary but that's the way it is out here. Also it was like 830 in the a.m.

Additional pics of big Ben, parliament and the London eye below. By the way, the London eye was supposed to be only temporary. So much for that! Our guide joe, hates the London eye.

Hop On, Hop Off

We took one of those hop on and hop off buses. Super great idea to learn cool facts and get a lay of the land. The next few posts will be random pics we took from up on the bus. It was friggin cold by the way...

London Calling!

Pompeii (kris)

Gus did an excellent job recapping Pompeii. Just a few more notes from me. Bring snacks and water! Actually they do have a cafe there, so either way all good. It just would have been cute to sit on the rocks sharing a meal together.

Above: if you miss the bathroom at entrance of Pompeii, there's this one. One of the cleanest and roomiest bathrooms I saw in italy actually, not counting hotels.

Niño Restaurant Rome (kris)

We aren't in london now, but again this wifey is lagging on posting. Gus recounted our last evening in Rome. It was nice to spend it with some newlyweds as they were about to embark on their adventure and we were ending ours.

Thank god for a wonderful last meal at suggested restaurant, Niño. It's just steps away from the Spanish Steps. Other than the neon green sign, it's pretty nondescript. Upon entering nothing speaks fancy. Just well lit, wood walls and very straightforward food and service. Only downside? Dessert. Don't bother with that.

Above: white beans in olive oil to start. Simple goodness to smear on bread.
Below: salad - hunks of fresh tomatoes and blocks of mozzarella doused with olive oil. Excellent.
Not pictured: Marinated artichoke hearts - so good we ended up ordering another pair for the table.

Above: beef carpaccio salad with parmigianno. According to Gus, it wasn't so much that it was raw, it was more the combination of all the ingredients that made it unique. Carpaccio alone good, all together, with the perfect bite of aIl ingredients - perfect.

Above: beef filet - medium rare. Excellent, juicy, moist, perfectly cooked.

We also ordered pasta with artichokes. This pasta was fantastic as the noodles were homemade and al dente.

Adrian ordered hamburger. And it's a plain looking hamburger patty that surprised Gus and Adrian as totally flavorful in its rareness.

Sam ordered a penne arrabiatta. Me n Gus didn't try it, but it looked decent.

Dessert was not so hot. Tiramisu PALED in comparison to what we had at Pandemonio in Florence.