What to do with a half day in London? How about enjoying art, beer, and a show? We started at one of our favorite museums, the National Gallery. Leandra hadn't seen Cagnacci's Repentant Magdalene (a...
Blog posts from London
Winter Weekend in London: Sunday
For our last day in London we planned an itinerary that took us to four separate neighborhoods. First, we walked along Bayswater Road for the weekly Sunday Art Exhibition. Unfortunately, not many...
Winter Weekend in London: Saturday
We were hoping to see another show on our trip and checking the usual discount ticket sites wasn't getting us the results we wanted for Saturday evening. The Gielgud Theatre offers £15 same day...
Winter Weekend in London: Friday
Friday was definitely a day of culture! First up was the famous Natural History Museum, with all manner of mineral, animals, and lots of other science. I spent a half day here a couple years back...
Winter Weekend in London: Overview and Thursday
In November we found an outstanding deal for the direct flight from RDU to London, so we booked a long weekend trip for February. London is a favorite city to visit (2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012...)...
Memory Monday: Cocktails @ The Zetter Townhouse Clerkenwell
I found this bar listed in an article on excellent bars several months before our trip and planned to surprise Eric here for birthday-eve drinks. Upon arrival we grabbed an open couch near the door...
Eric’s 40th: A birthday in London
After breakfast we left our hotel and headed north to the Brick Lane area. As we came to the north end of the street we found a collection of street vendors selling delicious smelling ethnic foods,...
Eric’s 40th: where we stayed in London
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel London - Tower of London - located a block from the Tower Hill metro stop, this hotel is well positioned for exploring Tower Bridge, Bermondsey, Shoreditch, and other...
Eric’s 40th: IcelandAir
How to celebrate my 4oth birthday - how could it not involve travel? When we noticed some nice fares on Icelandair to London we started thinking about a trip. Then I remembered that Icelandair...
UK 2015: London – Day 2
Friday morning we awoke to a beautiful morning of blue skies, so we decided to explore Notting Hill. We started along the famous Portobello Road, and quickly found several interesting shops and road...
UK 2015: London – Day 1
Thursday We arrived in London's Kings Cross station, adjacent to the beautiful old brick St. Pancras station. Due to our unfortunate visit to the lost & found office, we also saw the famous...
UK 2015: First Class train to London
There was enough drama with our connecting flight from London to Edinburgh (AA and BA changing the flight time - multiple times) that we were happy we chose the train for the return leg. Because we...
UK 2015: overview
In late April we traveled to the UK with a group of friends. Altogether we spent eight days traveling around Scotland, where Leandra drove over 900 miles (!) in six days; then onto London for two...
Memory Monday: tracking down teapigs!
On our last visit to London, the hotel we stayed at had teapigs tea in the room and I absolutely fell in love with the peppermint tea. On this visit, I was determined to get my hands on some to...
London 2014: overview and where we stayed
Overview Between my time in France and an office visit in the UK I had a free weekend, so I knew I was going to stay in London. Leandra wasn't going to let me go to London by myself again so this...
Germany & France, July 2013: long layover in London
Given the opportunity I will gladly spend time in London, and on my way back to the US I enjoyed an 18 hour layover. As with earlier trips, I stayed along the Piccadilly line since it runs out to...
Belgium 2012: overnight in London
On our way home from Belgium we had a 20-hour layover in London, so after clearing customs we dropped our carry-on luggage at the hotel and took the tube into central London. Our intended...
Belgium 2012: where we stayed
Grand Hotel Casselbergh, Bruges On our last two trips to Bruges we stayed at the Oud Huis de Peellaert, and while we enjoyed our stay both times, on this trip their sister property, Grand Hotel...
Our Itinerary
2025 Trips
Tampa Bay, FL (Jan)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Feb)
Villa la Angostura, Argentina (Feb)
Bariloche, Argentina (Feb)
Iguazu Falls, Argentina + Brazil (Feb)
Miami, FL (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Mar)
Boston, MA (Apr)
Kathmandu, Nepal (May)
Bhutan (May)
Slovenia (Sep)
Treviso, Italy (Sep)
Bologna, Italy (Sep)
Turin, Italy (Oct)
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Madrid, Spain (Mar)
Valencia, Spain (Mar+Apr)
Palma, Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Long Island, NY (July)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Puglia, Italy (Sept)
Matera, Italy (Oct)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Mosel Valley, Germany (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
London + Manchester, UK (Dec)
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Oak Island, NC (Sept)
Brooklyn, NY (Sept)
Bordeaux + Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castilla y León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)