Category: Food & Drink

Family & Friends, Food & Drink, Travel Adventures August 16, 2023August 16, 2023

UK Day 11: Carousels, high tea and couture at Kensington Palace and a trip to Harrods

I’m not sure how I sold Amir on today’s itinerary because it involves a lot of “girlie” stuff. Fortunately he’s a pretty cosmopolitan guy and also willing to humor me (thanks babe!).

Me and #1LittleSister on her first carousel ride

We had reservations for high tea at Kensington Palace at 12:30, so we left the house a bit early knowing we wanted to spend time in the gardens at Kensington. We knew about the lovely Princess Diana Memorial playground, but we didn’t know we could also expect a carousel and a Disney car ride.

We snagged the LEGO JEEP and Mickey Firetruck

The carousel spun surprisingly fast with a noticiable centripetal force. By the time I thought better of letting #1LittleSister ride on her own, we were already spinning. Fortunately I could reach out from my horse and steady her leg. We all survived – she loved it.

We knew a few of us were too young to appreciate tea and couture, so we made a plan for Amir and I to attend tea with #1BigSister while Liza picnicked in the gardens with the other two. Later on, Amir and Liza swapped places, and Liza and I took #1BigSister into tour Kensington Palace and see the couture exhibit.

Sweet treats, scones with clotted cream and jam, finger sandwiches

The menu included options for a grown-up tower or a children’s tower. In theory each tower serves one person, but in reality Amir and I split one which was plenty.

Tier 1: Dark chocolate peanut butter button truffle, white chocolate and orange graham crumble, raspberry poof

Tier 2: Orange zest scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream

Tier 3: Cucumber, Egg Salad, Coronation Chicken and Lox Finger Sandwiches

We ordered Earl Grey Black tea, and she ordered Red Velvet fruit tea. When the “children’s tower” arrived, I admit I was a bit jealous. Anything served with candy floss (AKA cotton candy) is super fun and unique.

Tier 1: Blueberry frosted cupcake with rainbow sprinkles, chocolate chip cookie bar,
Tier 2: orange zest scone in a bed of candy floss,
Tier 3: puzzle piece finger sandwiches

We topped the meal off with two glasses of Prosecco and called it a wrap. We needed to get back to Liza to make the swap ahead of the Palace tour. On our way back, we peeked into the Diana reflecting pool. There’s a statue of Diana commissioned in 2021 by her sons, and placed here as Diana spent hours walking these paths and chatting with the gardners.

Statue of Diana overlooking the reflecting pool

When we walked back to meet Liza, she and the kids were enjoying the pirate ship inside the Princess Diana Memorial playground. The area may be one of the largest play areas I’ve ever seen. Made entirely of wood and not plastic, it’s a beautiful compliment to the natural surroundings.

We had thought we’d signed up for a Downton Abbey type tour of Kensington Palace, but we were delighted to find a special exhibition entitled “Crown to Couture,” featuring gowns from the Victorian age juxtaposed with avant-garde Met Gala gowns from the last five years.

In addition to the couture exhibit, we were also able to see parts of the palace. Of particular interest were Queen Victoria’s bassinet and childhood toys. They also have a room with all of her jewels encased for viewing.

I’m not sure Amir would have appreciated this exhibit as much as we did, but I know he enjoyed his time in the park with the kids. Leaving Kensington Palace we stopped by a food stand where I grabbed a PIMMs cup for me and a bucket of strawberries and cream for the kids. When we arrived to the gardens, Amir had everyone in the grass, shoes off, eating snacks and playing fetch with a King Charles Spaniel from the next blanket over.

We walked from Kensington Gardens to Harrods with the intention of looking at the toys but barely made it into the building when we found ourselves immersed in chocolate and whipping out the ApplePay.

After buying chocolate figs, chocolate bark and various truffles, we extricated ourselves from the sweets only to land in the to-go food area, ordering four Thai dishes and three kinds of fresh pasta with sauces. Clearly we’d made the mistake of going to the store hungry.

The dish ware from tea at Kensington is available for purchase

Exhausted after battling the infinite requests for toys from the 4th floor of Harrods, Amir read my mind and snagged a black cab for the ride home rather than taking the tube. Part of me thinks he just wanted to rush home and eat the amazing food we bought, but either way, I was on board with both tired and hungry.

Tomorrow Liza is taking the day off, so we think we’ll head out to Kew Garden in the west. There’s space for the kids to run around and some shade for us adults. We’ll see how we feel when we wake up.

– Steph

Family & Friends, Food & Drink, Travel Adventures August 12, 2023August 13, 2023

UK Days 6 & 7: Arrival at Crayke Manor and celebrations with family

Today’s post is combined as I was just too spent last night to make it happen. When the sun came up yesterday, the first thing we did was explore the grounds here at Crayke Manor. We arrived the night before after dark , so we hadn’t been able to take in much of the scenery. I made a little virtual tour of the manor which you can check out here.

We had an hour before the local cafe was set to open for breakfast, so we turned left instead of right and quickly found some new friends. Two small horses greeted us with neighs but were disappointed to find we had empty hands instead of apples. Across from the horse pen was a small farm with fresh eggs for sale using an honor box for payments.

There were stables in the back of the farm house with a more majestic horse and an odd collection of Invacars, Britain’s 3-wheel solution to helping disabled citizens get around. The program existed in the 1970s as a government-sponsored aid to the disabled where they could get a 3-wheeled car for free. Rumor is they discontinued the program due to safety issues with the cars. Bright side though was if you did flip it over it was light enough you could flip it right back.

Throughout the day, Amir’s relatives began to arrive. Uncles, Aunties – cousins twice (maybe three times) removed. Amir was born in London and moved to the US at age 5, but with the exception of his nuclear family, all the other Brits are still here in England. When we got married almost 10 years ago, it was difficult and expensive for any of the relatives across the pond to make the trip. I met a few when Amir and I traveled to England in June 2014 after graduating medical school. That was nearly a decade ago.

Since everyone was arriving at different time on Friday, we were quite sure no one would want to be burdened with cooking. Amir found an amazing private Chef online – Shaun “The Cook in the North” – who drove three hours to the house and whipped us up 12 courses of Spanish tapas for all 15 of us. He comes to you with ingredients, kitchen tools, dishes and everything. He cooks, and almost most importantly cleans up, too. So you have NOTHING to do – except maybe decide red vs white.

Shaun – The Cook in the North

We sat 12 of us to a round table, outdoors, under a miraculously rain-free English sky. We passed dishes randomly at first, quickly realizing we needed to go clockwise to keep some semblance of sanity.

Auntie Linda reads #1LittleSister a story

Shaun was still cleaning up the kitchen when I had to throw in the towel and head to bed… at 10pm I’d been up since 6am… I was exhausted and maybe a little tipsy. Our plans for the next morning were nebulous, but I knew I could count on the kids waking up from 6:30-7:30 at the latest.

Crayke Day 7

#1LittleSister let me sleep until 7:00 this morning. And by some stroke of travel luck, she’s been falling back asleep on my chest for another thirty minutes after I pull her from the crib.

I wasn’t brave enough to revisit the shower this morning. Yesterday when I took a shower I struggled to figure out which dials did what, and wasn’t even sure what I was seeing. When I initially turned the water on, a geyser shot up from the tub where the water should have been draining out. I was quite sure I’d wrecked the plumbing for the whole house. But it turns out I just had it in “douche” mode instead of shower, and that was exactly as it was supposed to be.

This afternoon we dropped Liza off in York to take some time off and explore. The rest of us headed to the York Birds of Prey Center. There we were up close with hawks, owls, eagles and falcons. Of course the skies opened up for the first time on our trip and drenched us. But we still caught some new sights and had a great outing.

Making friends at the Birds of Prey Center

Back at the house today we all relaxed, enjoyed some beer and wine, and geared up for a casual dinner. Michael made an amazing bolognese, accented by dessert by Linda. We were introduced to Colin the Caterpillar, which is apparently the standard cake/dessert that every English child grows up with.

#1LittleSister attacking Colin the Caterpillar

Just before sitting down for dinner, the adults all enjoyed a champagne toast. Wine has been flowing freely tonight, so I’m quite sure Amir (my editor) will send me many edits in the morning. By all accounts this has been an amazing weekend reuniting and getting to know many relatives here in England. Tomorrow we are of to London for the week.

– Steph

Family & Friends, Food & Drink, Travel Adventures August 7, 2023August 7, 2023

UK Day 2: Edinburgh Fringe Festival

As I mentioned yesterday, we selected Edinburgh, Scotland as a first stop on our trip in part due to the Fringe Festival happening most of August.

Most of the roads are closed, and people and performers fill the streets. From bagpipers, unicyclists and hoopsters, to artists, jugglers and violinists, there’s seriously a little bit of everything. We snagged a balloon animal early, and wrapped up with a Swede juggling toilet paper atop a microwave balanced on three stacked tables. Of course. Why not?

Sven from Sweden

We stopped for beer, fish and chips, gelato, more beer, and eventually groceries. My phone logged 16,241 steps. And my back sure feels it.

In addition to all the free street performances, there are also plays, musicals, circus acts, comedy sketches and variety shows playing in every theater in the city. Most require tickets (and we didn’t plan ahead), so we’ll need to save a show for tomorrow or Wednesday. They have an app, ED Fringe, where you can search through the thousands of events to find one that’s just right.

#1BigSister was able to make friends with a pigmy owl, the smallest species of owl in the world. Unfortunately with that short stature comes a short lifespan – just 6 years.

While the rest of TeamLouka watched a street performer, I snuck into the Saint Giles Cathedral, founded in 1124 by King David I. Today it’s still a functioning Presbyterian church.

We walked and walked and walked… and heard person after person comment about the weather. 65 and sunny, this was apparently the first day without rain in over a month. Par for the course in Scotland I’m told… and looking back, the sky was overcast throughout the entirety of Braveheart.

Tomorrow we have our sights set on the Museum of Scotland in the morning and possibly the botanical gardens in the afternoon. That all hinges on the cooperation of the rest of the team.

– Steph

Family & Friends, Food & Drink, Travel Adventures April 9, 2023April 10, 2023

Italy Days 11, 12 & 13: Celebrazione e famiglia

I’m writing Days 11-13 together because it was 1:30 in the morning before I went to bed Saturday night. Yesterday we were honored to attend my niece’s Bat Mitzvah. Like her parents, I’m so proud of all the work she put in towards this day, studying and preparing for the last three years.

The event started at 5pm with cocktails in the garden of Palazzo Corsini al Prato in Florence. The kids enjoyed running through the garden hedges and gathering the lemons that had fallen from the trees. We took family photos with our cousins and enjoyed the flowing Prosecco.

This was now my fourth bat mitzvah, so while I’m still not fluent in Hebrew, I am much better at following along. We sang and chanted in Hebrew, listened to readings from the Torah, and heard lovely words from family members. It was cold and windy by the end, with the wind blowing out the flame on the braided candle, but both my niece and the Rabi were unfazed.

After the ceremony there was another hour or so of cocktails and photos, but this time in both the garden and an interior room more like a night club. There was a great amount of space for the kids to run around and let off steam before sitting down for the three course meal.

I was psyched to see the photo booth… it was one of my favorite memories from my oldest niece’s bat mitzvah. The props were on point – complete with a statuette of David set to piss off a few Texans.

One smart thing we did, all credit going to my sister for the idea, was to hire a babysitter to attend the event with us and look after #1LittleSister. She was also there as a back up plan in case anyone needed to go home early – we wouldn’t all have to leave the event. It turned out we didn’t need that backup plan as the kids were in full-on party mode. Anytime I set #1LittleSister down in a room that wasn’t the dance floor, she made a B-line back towards the music and lights. That girl loves a party.

One of the most impressive event of the evening was the performance art show of building the dessert. Four men laid layers of wafer, piped gallons of creme and poured chocolate chips in distinct layers to create a giant cannoli. It not only looked impressive but was delicious.

The DJ played great music – a mix of American pop hits set to discoteca type club tracks. I was caught off guard when a pounding track with a euroclub beat turned out to be the hippest version of hava nagila ever heard. Up went my nieces in chairs into the air. Somehow my sister skipped out on flying high this time around.

We lasted til just after 11 and left the dance floor full. By the time we got home, got everyone to bed and packed up for our morning departure it was nearly 2 am. The next morning we were to be at the garden of Palazzo San Niccolo for a send off Easter brunch.

The garden setting was perfect for Easter. Casual, airy, with wisteria in full bloom. The food was excellent and surprisingly kid-friendly. My kids are fruititarians, so they were in heaven.

The brunch started with an Easter egg hunt. The caterer laid out simple white baskets and hid chocolate eggs all around. The kids were elated. We’d done an egg hunt at our house before leaving for Italy as we weren’t sure what traditions to expect. I can only hope they don’t expect two egg hunts again next year. $50 says #1BigSister remembers and calls me out on it next April.

It was nice to have just that little bit of extra time to spend with family and talk in a more quiet setting. After losing my dad and his brother in the last 14 months, I’m reminded how little time we have with some people. Yes, you’d think as a part of my job I would know that because I see it play out everyday… unexpected car crashes, seemingly benign pain that turns out to be cancer… but somehow I think I’d lost part of that awareness you get when you touch death regularly. I hadn’t actually realized I’d fallen into it until just now as I type this out actually… which makes me feel a bit of shame… because that’s always been one of the greatest gifts of my job. Perspective. To keep that focus on what truly matters. It’s why I left my last career. And here I am taking it for granted again.

For me, and I know Amir as well, travel is the reason we work as hard as we do, trudge through some of the monotony and the grind of those other days. Yes, those little mundane moments are beautiful in their own messy sort of way, but sometimes beautiful is just beautiful, too. I like to mix it up.

We’re on our way home and contemplating our next adventure. Last Christmas we discussed a change in tradition – instead of the pilgrimage home to Virginia Beach – perhaps a trip to London since half the family lives on that side of the Atlantic. But… that would mean giving up that tradition for at least this year… which wouldn’t have to be forever, but sometimes forever comes before you expect it.

So I’m not sure. But I do know this trip has been like a marathon… I’m not going to lie and say it’s been as rosy as my posts may seem. It’s been painful, long, difficult at times – but full of moments that recharged us. And as we approach the finish line on flight 2 of 3, I feel that sense of accomplishment, fulfillment and purpose. I’m still going to give it some time to decide about London though. I’m not sure this is the right time for big decisions.

~Steph

Family & Friends, Food & Drink, Travel Adventures April 7, 2023April 7, 2023

Italy Day 10: Turista massimo

Amir’s mother, Julia, is staying with us in Florence which has been a nice way to spend time together. We’d been on the lookout for ways to explore the city that don’t involve a tremendous amount of walking. Our kids can be hit or miss with cooperation, and Florence is quite hilly. So when Amir identified a golf cart tour, it was a perfect fit.

We booked through a company called EcoToursItaly.com. They were most responsive by WhatsApp and were able to pick us up right at our front door.

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We liked the golf cart because we were able to see parts of Florence we’d never have wandered to on our own, and the speakers in the cart explained the history and architecture of everything we were seeing as we went along. The only down side of the cart is that since it’s motorized, it’s restricted in some areas like the plaza with the Duomo. But if you or anyone in your party have mobility limitations, it’s a great solution.

Somehow we managed to work up an appetite riding in the golf cart, so of course we headed to lunch next. More pizza. I might be reaching my pizza limit.

After lunch we walked to the Palazzo Vecchio just to take a closer look at some things. We didn’t have the attention span to commit to the whole museum, so we walked through the ground floor only. It did not disappoint.

At Palazzo Vecchio we spotted some horse drawn carriages. Amir and I were content with our city tour via the golf cart, but the kids desperately wanted to meet the horses. For 50€ we hired a horse-drawn carriage to take us on a second and very different (no motor) tour of the sites.

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After leaving our horse friends, we headed back to the AirBnB for some R&R. Tonight we had the first of many events this weekend in celebration of my niece. This evening my sister hosted all of the out of town friends and family at her home (Galileo’s house) for dinner, drinks and great conversation. Amir and I took our obligatory rooftop view photo, despite the fact that it was pouring rain.

View of the Duomo and Florence from Galileo’s rooftop

Tomorrow we are free until 5 when the bat mitzvah begins. Then I’m somehow expected to stay awake until two as to not miss any of this amazing experience. I may try to sleep in tomorrow… or even nap… if my kids last longer than I do, I’ll never live it down.