Before Tie and I embark on any adventure, I usually do some thorough planning to ensure we make maximum use of our time there. Of course, sometimes we might come across a snafu or are simply too tired to wake up super early, but it’s still better to be prepared 🙂 Two of my favorite tools for trip planning are Google Sheets and Google Maps, and they’re both free!
I’ve already covered the Tower Bridge in a previous post, but here is a photo gallery of some other London classic spots!
I’ll admit, prior to planning our trip to London I was under the impression that it’s all fish and chips. Probably because Ireland wasn’t exactly foodie heaven and I kinda assumed they might have similar cuisines. On the contrary, London has much variety to offer. We’re eager to return and eat more to our heart’s content, but in the meantime, this is our dining summary.
Like many big cities, London boasts some spectacular night views. Our favorite was crossing the Tower Bridge towards the side of City Hall. The bridge is very ornate up close, and I love the bluish-purplish illumination. It looked like you could live inside each one of the towers! Parts of the bridge was under construction, but we were still able to walk across it with many other pedestrians (and bikers, too).
The day after we landed in London, Tie and I joined a tour group for a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. From London to Stonehenge it is a 2-hour drive and then about an hour to Bath, and from Bath to London is another 2 hours. Typically I am not a big fan of tours, but if I can sit in the comfort of a coach bus with that itinerary I am a-okay with it.For breakfast, we just picked up something quick at the bus terminal. There are many tour groups in London, but we personally went with ____. We enjoyed our guide’s unapologetically cynical English humor as he gave us an overview of the buildings and parks we passed by in central London and later in Stonehenge and Bath, too. In short, British royalty owns most of the land and properties so the rich just keep getting richer. Living in Manhattan, this comes as no surprise. And there’s no such thing as a British accent, only an English one.
I never intended on visiting Basel, Switzerland, but it was a convenient place to catch a flight for the cities we did want to go to. Still, it was a decent one-day trip. We stayed at an AirBNB on the outskirts of the city and took a train into Basel. Parking was just too expensive (as was everything else, really). I really wanted to indulge in some quality chocolate and cheese, but I wasn’t ready to pay 40 swiss francs for a cheese fondue with only bread. So unfortunately, didn’t get my foodie fix here. We made up for it in other ways.
Lately, Tie and I have been busy renovating our first house together so I thought it’d be most appropriate to write about our visit to the Vitra Campus during our last Euro trip. It is truly an interior design lover’s dream come true. We were staying at an AirBNB in Weil am Rhein, Germany and the campus was a short drive away (they also have free parking!). Lots to see here – we ended up staying longer than expected! A brief background on Vitra – it is actually a Swiss furniture company that manufactures many works by famous designers of the past and present. Vitra Campus is a showroom, museum, and playground all bundled into one glorious span of land. And with its buildings designed by the likes of Frank Gehry, Herzog & de Meuron, Zaha Hadid, amongst others, you really can judge a book by its cover; the interiors are just as beautiful.
These days, Tie and I try to mix in both big and lesser known cities into our travels. When we told others we were going to France, many thought we might be going to Nice or Paris. This time around, however, we decided to visit Colmar, which is close to the border of Switzerland, Germany, and France. If you’ve read our previous post about the Ghibli Museum, you’ll know that both of us are big fans of Studio Ghibli films. And it just so happens that Howl’s Moving Castle draws inspiration from the quaint, charming town of Colmar. Seeing the floral-dotted canals and unique criss-cross facade on the colorful buildings in person was like watching a live-action version of the animated movie. I could see exactly why they chose this location.
Some of our friends may not know this, but Tie and I actually first started dating in Los Angeles. I’ve always had an attachment to the west coast. So we decided to consider having our wedding there, scheduling a venue tour and food adventures over Labor Day weekend. I’ll write a post about the venue and some of the sights in SoCal later, but first order of business: the food!
One of the most unexpectedly beautiful cities I’ve visited is Prague. And it’s not just because it was my first foray into Europe, or the first time I was traveling with a friend. Before going there, I knew little of the Czech Republic, except a former coworker had gone there and her pictures of the red roofs looked pretty cool. But Prague, despite being a popular travel destination, maintains a quaint and lovely old town charm.