Distinctive Lodgings in the UK and Paris

I have so much to share with you about our trip to England, Scotland, and Paris! I've decided the best way to do this is not chronologically, but topically. The trip took months of planning...consumed nearly all my free time for about three months. It was the trip of a lifetime, and since I'd anticipated it for...oh...ALL my life(!), I really wanted it to be exactly as I'd envisioned. Since so much planning and thought went into our trip, I've decided to share all the links to the places we stayed, ate, visited, toured, etc., in hopes that it might help someone else planning a similar trip.

Since all my postings will be topical in nature, if you need a framework of an itinerary, here's the basics of ours:

-depart Boston Logan Airport on a red-eye (very pleased with Norwegian Airlines)
-arrive Gatwick Airport (London) - three nights in London
-depart London and arrive in Paris - three nights in Paris
-depart Paris and arrive in Edinburgh, Scotland - one night
-depart Edinburgh and arrive in Scottish Highlands - two nights
-depart Scottish Highlands and arrive in Yorkshire Dales/Lake District - three nights
-depart Yorkshire Dales and arrive in Cotswolds - three nights
-depart Cotswolds and arrive in London - two nights
-depart Gatwick Airport (London)
-arrive Boston Logan Airport

The most time-consuming part of the planning process was finding lodgings that: fit the budget, were large enough to accommodate three people, were clean and safe, and were distinctive and gave us the feel of really being in that particular locale. I must say that all the hard work paid off, because we were 100% pleased with each one!

London Hotel

The first hotel we stayed in was the London House Hotel (click here for their website). I found this place through Rick Steves' London 2017 guide. It's located in the Bayswater area of London, sufficiently close to a Tube station and restaurants, yet a couple blocks removed from busyness on a quiet street. The room was super clean, which is very important to me. And the breakfast buffet offered a nice variety of choices. I booked the hotel directly. We would not hesitate to stay here again!

Paris Airbnb

In Paris, we opted to try out Airbnb for the first time ever, because we wanted to stay in a classic Paris apartment (find it by clicking here). It was in the St. Germain area of Paris (6th arrondisement). It had: one bedroom and a sofa bed, nicely sized rooms, two balconies, and the best shower of the entire trip. Best part of this apartment was the view! Worst part was that it was on the 4th floor, and there was no elevator. But the view made it all worth it! The management company was stellar and made us feel ever so welcome!

View from the living room balcony:

Looking hard right at night (zoomed in), we had a view of the sunset and a partial Eiffel Tower view!

And a slightly grainy cell phone shot of the Eiffel Tower at night from the balcony.

Edinburgh (Scotland) Hotel

I wanted to stay in a former country house estate at least once, and so we chose the Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club on the outskirts of Edinburgh (click here for the link). It was built in the 18th century and converted to a hotel in the 1920's. The grounds are beautiful and we enjoyed walking about them. The rooms are all located in the newer addition (not pictured) and ours was nicely spacious. The breakfast buffet is more than generous with omelettes made to order, fixings for a full English breakfast, pastries, fruit, yogurt, cereals, and more!

The light-filled restaurant is where breakfast is served, with views to the golf course, tartan upholstered chairs, and attentive staff.

Scottish Highland Hotel

I will admit that I had my doubts about this hotel when I booked it. Its location was quite remote, and I was dubious. But the Bridge of Orchy Hotel won our hearts (click here for the link)! The staff was exceptional! And check out the restaurant menu! Seriously, some of the most consistently delicious and elegantly served food of the entire trip! Would stay here again in a heartbeat! (That's me on the steps and our rental car on the far right.)

Yorkshire Dales Farmhouse

Although all our lodgings were superb, my hands-down favorite was the Farmhouse at A Corner of Eden in the Yorkshire Dales (in northern England), which Colette gifted to us last Christmas (what a sweetie!). Click here for the link. If you're looking for that classic, English country house feel, this is IT! It feels earthy, yet elegant. And everything you could possibly need to live well is included...right down to the Wellies and Barbour coats for the borrowing. Lots of pictures of this location, because it was just fabulous! Very hard to leave this one, and I'd be most happy to go back and stay a week. And I should mention that it's in the lovely countryside surrounded by green fields filled with sheep and lambs, which you can hear baa-ing from the house. A walk across the fields will get you to the local pub, or cook your own food in the kitchen and serve fireside in the dining room. All just TOO wonderful!

The formal dining room where a fire was already set in the fireplace. 

The cupboards flanking the dining room fireplace were filled with essentials, all nicely labeled with hang tags. This one's tag read "Crockery", and it contained dishes and glassware.

The "dairy" of the house, historically used for keeping food cold, now housed an honesty bar and the Wellies.

The cozy kitchen came provisioned with high-quality cookware and all the essentials for cooking. The owner, who lives in a building next to the Farmhouse, stocked the kitchen with farm fresh eggs, a welcome hamper of treats, homemade bread, and a Victoria Sponge cake! Yum!

Colette chose this bedroom:

And the room Hubby and I chose, and the view from our bedroom window. Bliss!

And a bathroom with a view!

Cotswold Cottage

In the Cotswolds, we stayed at Rambling Rose Cottage (click here for the link). Utterly charming! And the cutest kitchen EVER! And I got to cook on an Aga cooker, which felt so incredibly British! We loved its location, which was close to Stow-on-the-Wold, mere minutes from Daylesford Farm (for a restaurant and healthy groceries), and near other key destinations in the Cotswolds.

London Hotel

And for our last two days, we stayed at The Grosvenor hotel in London, built in the reign of Queen Victoria (click here for the link). Never underestimate the value of Expedia for scoring a great deal! Yes! It was our most spacious accommodation of the trip, had wonderful staff, and was centrally located to Victoria Station, Buckingham Palace, and many other London sites.

Next posting: London Museums!

Basking

She eagerly went out on the deck today to bask in the sunshine until all of her 100,000,000 pieces of fur were warm with the heat of the sun.

She squinted into the brightness. She sniffed and sniffed and sniffed...trying to discern all the awakening spring aromas wafting through the air on the fresh breezes.

She simply soaked it in, as though she knew the truth. The truth? Yes. Tomorrow, it's going to snow.

New Hampshire Maple Weekend

This is Maple Weekend in New Hampshire. Sugar shacks around the state are open for visitors...welcoming people to tour their little wooden structures in the woods and sample their syrup.

We started the day off with pancakes and maple syrup. Quick tip: buttermilk always makes pancakes better, lighter, and fluffier. Just substitute buttermilk for the milk called for in any recipe. 

Then, dodging raindrops and big, sloppy snowflakes, we visited a sugar shack in our town that is run by a family whose roots go back in this town to the 1700's. We traipsed across a mixture of snow and mud to reach the weathered door of the sugar shack.

Just inside, we could barely feel the heat from the wood-fired evaporator, so inched our way ever closer to keep warm.

We were offered homemade donuts to dunk in a sampling of maple syrup. Mmm. A taste of early spring in New England! We peered into the bubbling evaporator and smelled the sticky goodness of the sweet steam rising up and out of the roof.

After chatting with plaid-clad neighbors about weather and sap production and whether or not this is a good year for syrup (it is!), we purchased a pint to carry home.

It's a New England spring tradition I love...a bonding of a community after a long winter. Spring is here!

Chocolate Break

Neither Colette nor I drink coffee, so no coffee breaks for us. But whenever we go to Boston, we need a late-afternoon chocolate break at L.A. Burdick in the Back Bay area of Boston. Sinfully rich hot chocolate and tempting pastries!

Visiting the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

In January, as a birthday treat, I requested a day in Boston with Colette to visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. But the dog needed a minor surgery and then had to be watched while she recuperated, I came down with a head cold, Colette didn't have time off work, snow storm...one thing after another. But we finally made it! And it is ever so lovely!

A passionate art collector, Isabella Stewart Gardner amassed an impressive collection, which she housed in her Boston Italianate-style mansion. The home is built around a soaring indoor courtyard.

A violinist was playing in the courtyard while we were there. Every room looks out upon the light-infused atrium, and we found ourselves drawn to the view of it from every room.

Isabella Stewart Gardner was a personal friend of John Singer Sargent, and there are several of his paintings throughout the museum, including this one of the woman herself.

But it was this John Singer Sargent work that enthralled me that day (a small portion of which is shown here). I was captivated by his ability to capture the weight of the fabric in the skirt of the woman's clothing, and yet include the dainty details of her shoes and the glittering bead work on her bodice.

Some of my other favorite works were this pretty redhead and this 14th century stone head...what curls!

Rembrandt!

Sadly, the museum was the victim of an art heist many years ago. The missing pieces of art, including Rembrandt's only seascape, have never been recovered. Their frames hang empty...awaiting their return.

It was lovely...top to bottom! We will definitely be returning some day!

Winter Picnic

Last weekend, Colette made plans for her friend and us to go ice skating on a pond and have a winter picnic. Alas, unseasonably warm temperatures rendered the pond too soggy for skating. But that same warmth made for great winter picnicking weather! We had a simple meal of sandwiches (Black Forest ham, Brie, apple, and arugula on baguette), clementines, coffee, and Colette's famous hot cocoa. Piles of warm wool blankets kept us from getting damp. And we had a gorgeous view of the frozen Connecticut River! It's our favorite picnic spot in all of New England!

Easy and Delicious Crock Pot Roast Recipe

It's wintertime and comfort food season! So, looking around for an easy recipe for roast beef that I could put in the crock pot, I combined Ina Garten's Balsamic Roast Beef from her How Easy is That? cookbook AND Brisket with Sweet Mustard Sauce from The Ski House Cookbook. And the end result was delicious!...tender and flavorful and ohhh so comforting!

The combined recipe goes like this:

1/3 c. Dijon mustard

1/3 c. brown sugar

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 T. balsamic vinegar

1 t. kosher salt

1 T. freshly cracked black pepper

2 medium, yellow onions

2 1/2 lb. roast

1 c. beef broth

Quarter onions and scatter onto bottom of crock pot. Rinse roast and place on top of onions.

In small bowl, combine: mustard, brown sugar, minced garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Pour mixture over meat.

Pour beef broth around roast. Cook on low setting for about 4 hours.

Serves 6.

Enjoying Six More Weeks of Winter

Happy Groundhog's Day! I love this holiday, because it's just so silly. I mean, what's not to love about a chubby rodent surrounded by a bunch of men in top hats? It's the thing of which children's books are written, yet it's real and it happens, much to my delight, every year!

And this year, when pulled from his cozy burrow, America's premier rodent weatherman predicted six more weeks of winter. I suspect about 85% of the nation groaned. I, however, was thrilled! So, lest you be tempted to grumble at the groundhog, here's some winter inspiration to help you enjoy the season to its fullest!

- Plan a sledding party...thermoses of hot cocoa or warming soups, wool blankets, and a group of friends. Bring the dogs too!

- Nights are long in the winter, so find a good television series to watch. We've immensely enjoyed "The Crown" (available play instantly on Netflix) and the latest in the "Hollow Crown" series this winter. The currently playing "Victoria" is excellent as well.

- Go ice skating at a local rink or lake.

- Read a novel aloud as a family in the evenings.

- Light candles every night for dinner.

- Go for a walk in the falling snow.

- Start a collection of warm scarves, mittens, and earmuffs, so bundling up becomes fun.

- Make a new soup recipe at least once a week. Here's one new recipe we've enjoyed this winter, click here.

- Have a fondue party! Ask everyone to bring an ingredient or two. Feast on fondue and then play games.

- Mull wine.

- Have a snowball fight.

- Make orange marmalade, since it's citrus season right now.

- Experiment with hot cocoa by adding flavored syrups, flavored whipped creams, homemade marshmallows, or spices. I've been adding turmeric and cinnamon to mine...mmm!

- As the sun sets early, enjoy the coziness it creates by turning off or dimming overhead lights and turning on lamps. 

- Keep a basket piled high with cozy blankets and quilts.

- Have a taffy pull. 

- Go snowshoeing.

- Build a snowman.

- Wear a bright scarf to add a pop of color to a gray day.

- Learn to ski or snowboard.

- Knit.

- Go for a sleigh ride.

- Bake cinnamon rolls.

What are some of your favorite ways to enjoy winter? I'd love to hear!

On Top of the World

A few days ago, Max texted me from the top of the world. He was at the observation deck of the new World Trade Center. Despite the cloudy weather...what a view! I was thrilled he had the opportunity to do some exploring in New York City. But mostly, I was thrilled that he's curious about the world around him and has the adventurous spirit to go along with it.

Garden Planning

Snowy January days are the best for garden planning. A cup of hot tea and a gift of herb stakes made it all the more pleasurable. And now everything is ready when it comes time to order seeds or mark out the beds one warm spring day. "To everything there is a season." - Ecl. 3:1

Trip Planning

Our big plan for 2017 is a trip to England, Scotland, and Paris! It's been a lifetime dream of mine and it is coming true! *giddy happy dance* Plane tickets have been purchased. Tickets to tour Highclere Castle were purchased next. (Priorities, you see.) And I just finished booking all our lodgings. I've been pretty much planted right here for the last two weeks...surrounded by maps and Rick Steves' London guide and endlessly studying hotels and tea shops and street views on Google maps.

Two weeks to make a few hotel reservations seemed ridiculous on one level. But we've never done this before, and I wanted the full experience in each place. I want to immerse myself in each, distinct location and feel like each place is the quintessential experience for that locale. Our lodgings include: a London hotel in a row of beautiful white buildings built in the 19th century, a classic Parisian apartment with tall ceilings and equally tall windows that open onto a wrought iron ringed balcony, an 18th century former country estate in Scotland that turned into a hotel when the aristocracy took a down turn post-World War I, a hotel in the Scottish Highlands (haggis served there), a farmhouse in the Lake District (our Christmas present from Colette) outfitted with wellies and a hamper of treats, a stone cottage in the Cotswolds with robin's egg blue kitchen cabinets and an Aga range (can't wait to try that out!), and (at the end) a London hotel built when Queen Victoria was on the throne. 

If you're planning an extensive trip, here are some things I learned in my planning:

- Set a budget and try your best to stick to it with each booking. If it's a bit over, but includes breakfast, it's probably still on budget.

- Maps are your friend. And Google Maps street view is your BEST friend. It enables you to check out the surrounding area.

- Rick Steves is a good starting place, but don't overlook Trip Advisor reviews too.

- Check out the traveler photos of hotels on Trip Advisor.

- Hotels are great, but get creative and check out Airbnb and other such sights for more distinct offerings.

- And when all else fails, try Expedia, which, despite what the hotel sites tell you, sometimes beats the hotel's best price.

Resolve to...

This week, I made good on my resolve to keep fresh flowers in the house more often this year. My favorite, reasonably-priced sources for fresh flowers are: Trader Joe's, Whole Foods (these beauties came from there), and local farms (in season). 

What have you resolved to do this new year?