London Day Trip: Kent

When you're living in London, it's always nice to get out of the city and into the countryside. The region of Kent - "the garden of England" - fits the bill perfectly.  Less than an hour east of London, it makes the ideal location for a day trip.

Recently I have been visiting my cousins in their new home in Orpington, Kent. Orpington is easily accessible from London, and just arriving in the station makes it clear you've left the city for the suburbs. People have big front gardens, there are more cars, and you can tell things just move a bit slower here.

Image courtesy of L2F1

Just a ten minute drive from Orpington station, and you're out of the suburbs and into Kent proper. There are rolling hills, hedgerows, and neat farms as far as the eye can see. This is classic English countryside - a curious blend of wild brambles and cultivated green farms, perfectly divided into squares.

The Best Hidden Cafes in London

London is well known for its quirky pubs, but if your after a decent, unique, cafe or coffee shop you might be stuck.

It's pretty easy to find your stock-standard coffee shops that  you would find in any city - There probably either a Costa, Caffe Nero, or Starbucks sitting on just about every high street corner.

However, there are some excellent cafes hidden in and around London. You just have to know where to look. My favourite cafes include My Village and Neal's Yard Salad Bar - both unmissable (but hard to find!)

Neal's Yard

Late Nights at London Museums

The Natural History Museum in London is definitely worth a visit. As a start, I would recommend checking out the space and dinosaur sections, and then continuing upstairs and checking out the human evolution section.

Go along any day, though, and it's usually packed with kids and adults, all crammed together in true London style. There are lines to get into the more popular sections, which can become overwhelming after living in London, and, well, spending an inordinate percentage of your life standing in queues.

But there is a solution: a lot of museums offer late-night access at certain times - for instance the Tate Modern is open until 22:00 every Friday and Saturday.

Quote of the Week

What a bounteous banquet of costly viands is spread before an ardent-minded, grateful-spirited Perambulator!’ - Old Humphrey’s Walks In London

‘One must perambulate early and late in all weathers, to know a little about London’. - The London Perambulator

via the lovely blogger The Great Wen

Finding the Perfect Online Cookbook

I don't really own proper cookbooks anymore. When I moved to London, I flew here with just one suitcase and a carryon bag. This means I left behind just about everything I owned, including all my cookbooks.

And when it comes to cookbooks, I'm pretty particular. I prefer cookbooks that have interesting, straightforward recipes, but don't mean I have to run to a specialty supermarket for ingredients.  In my opinion, you always need one generalist tome with a variety of recipes- my favourite in New Zealand was my copy of Mark Bitman's How To Cook Everything Vegetarian. 

Since leaving my cookbooks behind, I've turned to the digital cookbook of the web.

Berlin Links

Now that I have tickets to Berlin booked, I'm in the process of researching the city and trying to figure out what's worth seeing.

Here's some links to tourism sites and blogs that are pretty helpful for planning a trip:

Visit Berlin - The official tourist website for the city

BVG.de - Tickets and fares for Berlin public transport. It looks like the weekly ticket is the way to go!

Berlin - David Lebovitz's tips for eating and drinking in the city, including the best places for currywurst

Berlin on a Platter - restaurant recommendations that make it clear that Berlin's a true multicultural city

iHeartBerlin - a guide to events happening in the city, including art, fashion, and entertainment

Mostly Berlin - a personal blog about the city

Berlin-bound

I have just booked tickets to Berlin in December! I am really excited - last winter we visited the Christmas Markets in Cologne which was amazing.

The major downside of Cologne was that it is located right on the Rhein. This means that it was nearly completely destroyed during World War II- there is no old city centre like Berlin has. Instead, there are lot of cement tower blocks which are fairly unpleasant. Luckily, the cathedral was only partially damaged, and makes a stunning centre point to the town.

View from Cologne Cathedral

 The people we met at the hostel told us that Cologne was a pretty ugly city compared to what else is out there in Berlin - and we thought it was fantastic, so who knows what delights Berlin has in store for us.

I booked the holiday straight through Expedia, with hotel and flights together. Hopefully the hotel will be OK- usually I opt for booking a hostel since the staff are so much more helpful and friendly. (I recommend booking directly through HostelWorld - their ratings and reviews section is very dependable)

However, this time, I couldn't resist the idea of a hotel with a indoor pool and sauna.

While living next to Continental Europe - the Brits get quite upset if you call the UK part of Europe - it's the perfect time to see as many countries and cities as possible. But there is a certain seasonality to picking and choosing destinations; some countries come into their own at a certain time of year.

Hot places like Italy, Spain, and Greece are probably all best in spring or Autumn - heading there in the winter means you miss the best beaches, and visiting in summer means it's too hot to move. Thinking about all this, I've decided that Germany, Austria, etc. are probably all best in the cold of winter. These cities are designed for the cold, and for a magical Christmas.