After celebrating Sinterklaas with the family in the Netherlands, we left to visit the UK. Although we promised we would be back soon, my family had a hard time saying goodbye. On Tuesday the 4th of December we took a train to Leiden where our hotel was booked for the night. This hotel was situated next to Leiden central station and perfect for us to explore Leiden on foot. Luckily we got an upgrade. We left our luggage at the room, so we could walk into town. Brett called Leiden ‘little Amsterdam’- a charming town with its own canals yet far fewer tourists and crowding. In the evening we met up with an old study friend of mine and chatted like we had hardly missed the 10 years between us.
After a good night’s sleep we took the train to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and from there the intercity train to Brussels. We checked in (like checking in for a flight) to the Eurostar London bound. What a lovely way to travel. Relatively cheap, enough space, generous baggage allowance, right on time and very fast too.
In London, we arrived at Kings Cross Station so we decided to use an Uber. However, if you are not familiar with the surroundings, your 3G internet is not working perfectly, stuck in peak hour traffic, with 4 heavy suitcases – good luck! Finding an Uber driver at the pick up points around the station was quite a challenge for us (as rookies). Oh, did I mention it was raining cats and dogs too? After struggling for a while we found a lovely Uber driver who drove us to Brett’s sister. This will be our London “home” for the next couple of weeks until New Years!
A well deserved hot shower and a bowl of home cooked pasta were waiting for us, as well as the smiles of two gorgeous little twin brothers. What a wonderful welcome.
For the first time ever I tasted sparkling Sake and will definitely visit Chinatown/Japan Center to get some more!
Brett’s sister showed us around the area the next day and told us where the bus stops were to be found as well as some trusted shops and restaurants.
As authentic gourmet travellers we cooked fresh Scallops that night and paired them with a lovely sauvignon blanc from Chile.
Traveling on London busses is a very cheap way of cruising through the city. For 1.50 GPB you can travel for an hour and for us an hour is enough to get to all the major attractions of London in the coming weeks.
What’s on our to-do list? Harrods, Selfridges, Trafalgar Square, Borough Market, Chinatown and much more.
We definitely will keep you updated so stay tuned to be part of our daring culinary journey.