adventure

South Africa Travel Guide: Franschhoek Wine Tram and Plettenberg Bay

If you missed the first installation of our South Africa travel adventures - you can read about days 1-4 here. Spoiler alert - the first three days of the trip were spent in various airports.

When I left off we had finally had an amazing day exploring Cape Town and managed to make it to Franschhoek via Uber at around 10 PM.

Having found no restaurants open for dinner, we enjoyed a gourmet meal of snacks purchased at the Atlanta airport.

South Africa Travel Guide Blogger

DAY FIVE

FRANSCHHOEK WINE TRAM

We woke up in our adorable bed and breakfast and were treated to an amazing spread complete with fresh eggs cooked to order.

Everything was looking up, despite the fact that it was torrentially downpouring and incredibly windy. It calmed down outside by the time we had to leave to walk to the wine tram so I rolled up my pants (because the world’s worst feeling is wet pant bottoms) and we took in the adorable town - fully realizing that we were in South Africa’s fall season and all of the trees were changing colors!

I had done a ton of research into which Wine Tram line to take, and I’m sure it was overkill considering any of the vineyards in this area are a delight. The options are Blue, Orange, Red and Navy and we ended up booking the Red Line, mainly because I wanted to do one of the picnics at Holden Manz. Unfortunately, with the weather, our picnic did not happen.

Our first stop was Le Lude, whose bubbly brut was a perfect way to start the day, especially considering it was 9:52 AM (this should give you some indication of how the day would turn out for me, after having been living the alcohol-free life for 7 months). We told ourselves it was basically a mimosa and the day was officially underway!

It stayed rainy on and off throughout the day, but it didn’t stop us from visiting 5 vineyards.

After Le Lude, we went to Maison Estate which had such a nice backyard/outdoor area with chickens running around. We sat inside though, and enjoyed a flight. It was wild how quick the staff are when you walk in the door, knowing that people want to get through a flight in the hour they have before the tram comes back to take them to the next place.

Stop #3 was Lynx. I liked this one because we were greeted with a glass of red wine as we stepped off the tram! This is also the stop where we got fancy and paired our wine with some oysters and other light bites. They took Allison’s food allergies very seriously and had her write them all down - you love to see it!

The tram-rides between vineyards had jaw-dropping views of mountains in the distance and at one point we were even treated to a rainbow!

Wine Tram South Africa

Stop #4 is where things went off the rails a bit for me - I ordered like $300 worth of wine and had it shipped back to Long Island so I guess I was really feeling the grapes at Grand Provence! Our waiter was great at his job, clearly! (I would spend weeks wondering if, in my drunkeness, I had even provided the right address and if i would ever see any of that wine. It did eventually arrive!)

At that point it would have been wise to call things quits but we soldiered on to the final spot - Rickety Bridge. I don’t remember much from this stop if we are being honest other than the fact that we had struck up conversation with some fellow drunk travelers (also American, shocker!)

The price of each of the flights varies from vineyard to vineyard, but I don’t think we ever paid more than $15. The conversion rate was seriously insane.

Such a lovely way to spend the day, and if I ever go back I will know to take things wayyyy easier.

We ended the day with a pizza from some place in town and then I zombie walked my way back to the bed and breakfast with a quick stop at the grocery store for supplies for the morning. When I say I zombie walked, what I mean is Allison sherpa-ed my drunk ass and got me back safely. Lucky for me the night was still young so I had plenty of time to drink water.

DAY SIX

BUS TO PLETTENBERG BAY

Thank God we had started drinking wine so early in the morning - it meant that despite overdoing it, I got plenty of sleep because the next days logistics were again not super easy.

I had done so much work on this itinerary in 2019 - knowing that we wanted to deal with a rental car as little as possible (the whole driving on the other side of the road thing coupled with high rates of car jacking being a bit of a deterrent). It wasn’t necessarily simple and I definitely had some anxiety surrounding this next bit of transportation in particular. We were setting off from Franschhoek and headed along what is known as the “Garden Route” to Plettenberg Bay.

Before we left on our wine tram, we had pre-arranged for a car service to bring us from our bed and breakfast to the Intercape bus stop bright and early (like 5:30 AM early).

Our driver was there right on time and just as friendly as everyone else we had encountered up until that point.

Then, a small mini van with a trailer hitched to it pulled up and were like “Uhh…is this what we are on for 8 hours?” they explained that this van was taking us to another bus stop (Paarl) where we would link up with the full size coach bus to Plett.

We didn’t really have a choice so we gave them our suitcases (still feeling very sensitive about letting them out of our sight…) and off we went!

We stopped at a gas station/bus stop and the driver was really nice since we were clearly the out-of-place tourists. He told us to hang tight and he would let us know when our bus was there.

Right on time it pulled up and we were off on our journey. We were amazed at how well everything ran - right on time and all of the rest stops were absolutely pristine. I-95 could never.

I wasn’t expecting the ride to be so beautiful - I wanted to read but the views were just too good (I did manage to finish Young Mungo though). It was calling for a ~listen to music, look out the window, have a main character moment which is what I did between naps (again…very hungover but surprisingly functional).

We went from mountains to ultimately driving along the coast with the ocean on our right hand side as we went further south. After about 8 hours we arrived in Plettenberg Bay but the travel logistics weren’t quite done yet. There was no Uber in Plettenberg Bay so we were calling various cab companies as we stood at a gas station. Someone picked up and said someone would be there soon (thanks Charlton!) and it was a quick wait and we were on our way to Beacon Isle Resort where we picked up our rental car. They were SO thorough in checking it and recording any marks.

Finally it was time for Allison to shine - getting in the car and driving on the opposite side of the road. The moment she had been waiting for. (AKA dreading). YIKES. I’m sure it was terrifying as the driver but it wasn’t sunshine and rainbows as the passenger either!

We checked into Nothando Backpackers and couldn’t believe how well things had gone (we really did have PTSD from the beginning of the trip and were just waiting for more things to go wrong!) We got settled and spoke with the owner to make sure it was safe to walk around (he assured us it was). We walked towards the water to a beachfront restaurant (Lookout Deck) and enjoyed a decent meal with a more than decent view of the ocean! (There was a “matric” dance happening in the main part of the restaurant which we came to find out is what they call their prom!)

We were in early and both started reading Born a Crime which I had already read most of before, but being in South Africa and reading it was an entirely different, incredible, amazing experience. I didn’t want to put it down and it was making SO MANY THINGS click that we had seen and experienced thus far.

DAY SEVEN

SNORKELING WITH SEALS

In the morning we woke up to chilly and rainy weather but headed into town for breakfast at Le Fournil. I got sourdough with ricotta and figs and honey and it was delicious (and $6!). Cannot go wrong with that combination!

Then we walked to the beach for snorkeling with seals through Offshore Adventures. We were greeted by a man that guessed our US shoe size perfectly but was keeled over in excruciating stomach pain and we felt so bad for him! He let us know he had called in for backup but got us all situated with wetsuits, flippers, etc. Our new tour guide Red arrived and took us and 5 other swimmers/3 observers out with skipper Jared on a zodiac that was launched into the water by…tractor.

The way that the boat was launched was wild, basically a tractor ramming us into the waves as they broke. Allison got drenched! We were told all about the fact that spotters are constantly on the lookout for sharks at this particular beach which kind of put our minds at ease but also just reminded us of how common sharks are in the waters that we were about to swim in full of their favorite snack - Cape fur seals.

As we approached Roberg Peninsula we saw HUNDREDS of little cape fur seals on the rocks and in the water. There are 8,000 as part of the Robberg peninsula colony but the smaller groups are called rafts. They have four layers of fur - 3 to keep warm and the fourth is a waterproof layer to keep dry. 2,000 hairs per cubic…something?

After a bumpy ride out to the seal colony, there wasn’t much of a safety of instructional spiel. We pretty much plopped ourselves over the side of the boat without much fan fair! The water didn’t feel as cold as I thought it would - it actually felt way worse when it was time to come out of the water and ride back in the wind while soaking wet.

The seals were SO CUTE - essentially little puppies in the water! I gotta say snorkeling is still not my favorite activity and I mainly stayed above water looking at them. There were even babies still learning how to swim!

They couldn’t have been less bothered by us swimming around with them - we were in the water for about 30 minutes and I feel like towards the end they were starting to think of us as friends and were coming closer and acting more playful.

Snorkel with Seals Plettenberg Bay

It was a cold, rainy ride back to the beach full of bumps and shivering - but hot showers awaited us and I am so glad I decided to do this despite my reservations. I can confirm that I still don’t LOVE snorkeling, but it was way better (and warmer) than expected and the seals were so cool (and noisy!)

After snorkeling with seals the plan was to head to Robberg to hike, but the weather really wasn’t cooperating so instead, after we showered and changed we went back to Le Fournil to try their almond croissants. WOWOWOW. Holy hell, they were out of this world. Truly no need to go to Paris, I know they won’t compare.

Le Fournil Plettenberg Bay Review

We walked and shopped around town and eventually headed back to the hostel, changed, and went to Old Nick Village where I got too many textiles from the Mungo Mill - a really sustainable working mill that makes incredibly beautiful things. In retrospect, totally worth the money as the pillowcase on my couch is a daily reminder of this magical trip and I know my parents still have the hand towels I got them out in their kitchen. Old Nick Village also had a nursery, flower shop, clothing store and a few other places that we checked out.

Back at the hostel I did a workout, showered and relaxed before dinner at The Fat Fish. This was one of our nicer meals of the trip and despite drinks, appetizers, entrees and dessert we struggled to spend $50 total for the two of us. Fat Fish was also packed with…white people. Again, so jarring.

The Fat Fish Plettenberg Bay Review

Allison and I had so many conversations during this trip as we learned more and more about South Africa, through books we were reading or conversations we were having. So many terrible things we came to realize - mainly, that the Dutch actively studied racism and segregation in other countries to figure out what worked “best” and then came back to make the most racist system of all racist systems - apartheid. Black people in South Africa couldn’t live anywhere but homelands and townships and the Bantu education system kept Black South Africans from learning English.

Our hostel owner tonight told us that 54% of people voted to end apartheid, which means that the other 48% wanted to uphold it (this is in 1990, remember).

I was wondering why the people I’ve met in my travels so often make me feel like, “Where are all the right wing awful people? I have this false sense that everyone thinks like me!” But it’s because we are making friends with the waitress Donna and the Indian hostel owner Vinthi - not the Afrikaaner eating dinner next to us (we would have our interactions with this group later on in the trip…)

Vinthi, the sweetest woman, was saying that she has mixed opinions on America based on who has stayed at the hostel, to which I said: “We have mixed opinions about American too!” hahah

DAY EIGHT

ROBBERG PENINSULA AND WALKING WITH ELEPHANTS

This day felt like it couldn’t possibly be real. I got to go on one of the most beautiful hikes of my life AND feed and walk with elephants.

We started with a leisurely breakfast at Le Fournil (again, duh) and then went and did the 6ish mile hike at Robberg Peninsula. I would plan on arriving early for parking.

Le Fournil Best Almond Croissants

The first half was deceptively easy - the return was a lot of navigating rocks and not the easiest to follow the trail across sandy beaches with no trail markers.

It got super sunny and warm for us and the views were amazing - 360 degrees the entire way! We felt like we walked through 5 different landscapes and we even saw a seal snorkel trip down below (the same we had been on the day before).

I was stressed about the time which sucked and in an ideal world that would have been the only thing to do that day and we could have brought lunch and books and bathing suits and swam on the secret, stunning beach but we had to get back and go to Knysna Elephant Park!!

Sadly there were no babies, but we got to do the feeding experience AND walk with them and learned a lot. It felt a little tainted after the fact, now that we have heard from some locals that they don’t love the place, but to an obvious outside it seemed well-run. I didn’t love that the guides had sticks to direct the elephants- the elephants must know those mean something…

Knysna Elephant Park Review

But walking so close to an elephant was incredible and their trunks were seriously like a whole separate animal! I watched Keisha’s trunk as much as a watched her head!

Elephants have no predators and my favorite fact was they are known to knock down trees to help other animals get to them to eat! They can live to 80 and usually die from old age because they lose their teeth. Female elephants carry babies for 22 MONTHS! African ellies have five front toes and four back toes and two little grabbers on their trunk which distinguish them from Asian elephants. Today, their trunks are genetically smaller because of poaching.

I wish my mom could have been there!

Knysna Elephant Park Review

After our amazing two activities, we came back to the hostel and the owner, who used to be the owner of a Indian restaurant, cooked us a true feast! We met all of the people on the Belgium tour group who were also staying at the hostel and watched a hysterical YouTube video about how confusing the Belgian government is.

Nothando Backpackers Hostel Review

Then we learned all about Vinthi’s life - she was a riot. She had some hot takes, telling us that South Africa exports all of their best products and the people that live there get stuck with the rest. I also love what she said about being a mom, “I asked my daughter to be naughty. You only have one life. Be naughty, but don’t be rude!”

DAY NINE

Tsitsikamma National Park

Day nine we went on a 4 hour adventure in Tsitsikamma National Park with Untouched Adventures where we got to kayak, lilo, canyon, cliff jump, anvil and swim! Multisport! It was similar, but way more low-key, than the crazy canyoning adventure we went on in Croatia.

Our guides for the day were Romeo and Franko and it was just the four of us which was awesome just getting to talk to them the whole time.

At the end of the trip when we were onto the cliff-jumping portion (I did it!) we met up with another guide who just had one solo female traveler on his tour - very brave! We ended up driving her to the trailhead she was looking for when we got back to the car because we saw her walking on the side of the road.

The National Park was beautiful, and even if you aren’t down for swimming, kayaking, etc. there are some beautiful trails in the park.

Untouched Adventures Tsitsikamma National Park Review

Post adventure we went to Surf Cafe and got enchiladas and margaritas that were really good and then just relaxed and read for our last night in Plett! We had a few hours of loadshedding where we had to read by headlamp, but for the most part it hadn’t had a huge impact on us.

DAY TEN

TRAVEL DAY! PLETTENBERG BAY TO PORT ELIZABETH TO JOBURG

This was a full travel day - Allison was a rock star and got us from Plettenberg Bay all the way to the airport in Port Elizabeth, about 150 mile ride that luckily went off without a hitch. Even saw some more wild baboons in the streets which, I know are slightly terrifying, but also SO CUTE! The babies!!

We were truly terrified of checking our bags and flying again, but didn’t have much of a choice! We both loaded whatever we could think of into our carry ons, wore many layers of clothes - we were taking no chances.

The Port Elizabeth airport was not the most comfortable, it was crowded and hot and we had obviously gotten there very early, not knowing how the drive there would go. Luckily we were still both so into our books (after Born a Crime we moved on to “We Are Not Such Things”) that the wait for our flight went pretty quickly.

We were pleasantly surprised when our flight took off exactly on time - though we were starting to realize that things in South Africa really did run smoothly, and we needed to stop being shocked every time something worked out.

The drive from Joburg airport to our hotel was slightly terrifying because the sun was setting and loadshedding was in full effect, meaning even the traffic lights were out as we drove through some neighborhoods that most Americans would find “sketchy.”

It was nice being in a huge, modern hotel room. We got changed and took ourselves out to a nice dinner at Proud Mary in the Rosebank neighborhood of Johannesburg which was really fancy and built up with a ton of restaurants and shops.

The following day I would be going on a tour of Soweto - a city who, in 1976, had a New York Time’s article written about it titled, “Crime Rate in Soweto Among World’s Highest.”

Check back for more!

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There's No Place Like London

London - name a more iconic city.

I’ve always been a little intimidated to tackle this city as a tourist because it just seems like there are endless things to do and see. It’s how I imagine people feel about coming to NYC. It’s not something that’s easy to experience in just a short stay.

That intimidation was why I happily took the passenger seat during a recent trip with my friends - letting them set the itinerary, make the reservations, choose the Airbnb, etc. It was really wonderful to be along for the ride and Abby did a phenomenal job making sure we got the full London experience in just 4 days.

What do I consider the full “London Experience?” Well -

London Long Weekend
  1. Harry Potter

No trip to London would be complete without a little magic. The “Tour for Muggles” that Bertha found has wildly high ratings on almost every website - Yelp, Timeout, TripAdvisor, etc.

One of the reasons I loved it was because it wasn’t only Harry Potter specific. You learned a good amount about the city in general. There was a fair amount of walking, one ride on the tube and it lasted about 2.5 hours in total.

We got to stop at the inspiration for some quintessential Harry Potter locales - Knockturn Alley, Diagon Alley, Ministry of Magic, The Leaky Cauldron, Azkaban and more .

It was a good mix of actual filming locations and the places that inspired things in the books and films. I loved seeing the Millennium Bridge (“Wobbly Bridge”) and hearing the story of Sir Frances Drake, a 16th Century pirate whose Golden Hind replica served as the inspiration for Durmstrang’s ship in The Goblet of Fire.

Just note that this tour doesn’t stop at Platform 9 3/4 - next time I’m in London I’d like to go and take that iconic, dorky picture!

2. Walking Around London-Town

In the Rain

When it started raining at the end of our walking tour, my first instinct was to be annoyed. I was wet, chilly and a little hungry. I tried to channel my crankiness into “it’s London, it’s supposed to be drizzly and gray! This is the full London experience!”

It worked, a little.

Mostly, during this time I was comforted to see that people in London are just as rude on the sidewalks as people in NYC. Just sayin’

Phone Booths

Another charmingly British thing about walking around London were the phone booths - thought we never did get around to a photo-shoot in one. Nonetheless, we appreciated them every time we passed one.

Flowerful Doors

One of my favorite things to take pictures of during the trip were all the doors covered in gorgeous flowers. They made the streets seem so springy and happy despite the fact that it was November.

adorable flats

So many streets with gorgeous, symmetrical flats all lined up in a perfect row. They were endlessly appealing. Especially when we found a street full of colorful ones!

Crazy Streets

My last note on walking around London - WE WERE SO SCARED TO CROSS THE STREET! Those Double-decker buses whipping around corners were absolutely terrifying (did you know the Knight Bus in Harry Potter was TWO double-decker buses stacked on top of each other?!) and we never seemed to figure out which way we should be looking before crossing the street. Eventually, we just started looking both ways to be safe.

On our last night we took a taxi home just for the novelty of driving on the opposite side of the road!

3. The Tube

By the end of our trip, it was still fun to say “the tube,” and I was still giggling every time we came to the Cockfosters stop.

I was also still singing every time we passed Waterloo Station.

Other than one disastrous journey and the world’s longest transfer - it was fairly easy to use the tube- though the lack of direction when the trains got messed up was another similarity to NYC as were the crowded rush hour cars.

4. History

I didn’t want to spend all of our time in London walking around museums, but I do try to get in something educational on every trip. I had read a ton of good things about the Churchill War Rooms and I’m really glad that we decided to go.

It was really interesting walking around the actual underground world that existed below the streets of London where Churchill and his advisers worked during World War II.

The portion of the museum where you walk through the war rooms was fascinating, but the museum afterwards that focused on the entirety of Churchill’s life was a little less captivating.

5. Afternoon Tea!

No trip to London would have been complete without an afternoon tea! We chose to do ours at the affordable Ham Yard Hotel.

There are million articles out there listing the “best” afternoon teas in London, but we went with a recommendation from a friend and where she does tea when she’s home. While places like The Ritz and Fortnum & Mason can cost more than $76 - the afternoon tea at Ham Yard came it at a much more affordable $30.

The space was beautiful, the tea was tasty and the scones with clotted cream were…there are no words. One of the best culinary experiences of my life was spreading clotted cream and homemade passionfruit and apricot jam on a warm scone in London at afternoon tea.

(Second only to scarfing down pierogies at 7 am for breakfast in Poland!)

The rest of the food was great as well, fluffy little sandwiches and bite-sized desserts served in a tower that just screamed “TEA PARTY!”

We thoroughly enjoyed this experience and sat long after we’d finished eating, sipping our tea and warming up/drying off after our walk through the London rain.

6. Eating Around the World

While London hasn’t always been known as a culinary destination, in recent years a number of incredible restaurants have opened. Similar to New York, London is a city with people from all of the world - and you can eat food from all of the world here as well.

The saddest part was that with only 4 full days, we only had 8-10 meals we could realistically eat out.

Our favorites were:

dishoom

This was the main event. We worked out, walked around and really got ourselves nice and hungry before our late lunch at Dishoom - what has become an incredibly well-known Indian restaurant with four locations throughout London (we ate at the Covent Garden location).

Chai

We started our meal with heavenly chai tea that was an all-you-can-drink, keep filling up your cup situation that was seriously dangerous (dangerous in the sense that I could have filled up entirely on chai tea!) It was so smooth with a nice little peppery punch at the end.

Bhel

First dish out was “Bhel” - described on the menu as “cold and crunchy, light and lovely.” And that it was. It was a delightful spoonful of flavors- with puffed rice, pomegranate, tomato, onion, lime, tamarind and mint.

House Black Daal

This seemed like a must-order, described as a Dishoom classic dish. It was the perfect dish to scoop up in the warm naan and roti (because yes, you should order both forms of bread. Duh.)

Chilli Broccoli Salad

YUM. My favorite part about these dishes were how many bright, fresh herbs and spices and flavors there were. So much happening in my mouth.

Dishoom Slaw

“Fresh, feisty, crunch” - an apt description of this side dish of shredded veggies, raisins, mint and honey.

Chicken Ruby

This was my favorite of the main dishes - I couldn’t get over how tender the chicken was swimming in a rich and creamy curry that was again pure perfection on roti and naan.

Paneer Pineapple Tikke

WOWOW paneer, you are a dreamy dish indeed. I could eat you forever.

Basmati Kheer

The number one rule of vacation is that you must always order dessert. This was a rice pudding with hints of coconut and cardamom (my flavor of the moment) and a blueberry compote.

This meal was exceptional - so many flavors weaved together and I only wish that my stomach had had more room to order more dishes. As it was, this was our only real meal of the day.

borough market

This outdoor market has operated in London for 1,000 years. Yeah, you read that right. America is over here less than 250 years old and London has a market that’s been selling produce since 990. I can’t even really wrap my head around that.

Now, Borough Market is a cross between La Mercado in Barcelona and Chelsea Market in NYC. There’s a good mix of stalls selling fresh ingredients while others sell prepared and ready to eat fare like paella, baked goods, sandwiches, pad thai and much more.

On our walking tour we found out that all of the vendors here use ingredients purchased from other vendors to make their food! I loved that concept of them all working together to keep the market going.

We wandered around the market when it was first opening in the morning but couldn’t stay long because we had to get to our Harry Potter walking tour. After perusing the different stalls, we decided to try the thai coconut rice pancakes at Khanom Krok and oh my word were they good! They were sweet, but not overly, and they had the crispiest crunchiest outside layer before a creamy center. I still think about them longingly from time to time…

Shockingly, Bertha and I passed on the donuts from Bread Ahead, but they’re apparently very good. If I’m ever back in London, I would love to take one of their cooking classes.

the palomar

The Palomar was trendy and packed when we showed up - and it’s a miracle that our small corner table held all of the dishes we ordered!

It was impossible not to be enjoy a meal in such a buzzy, beautiful restaurant.

The three of us are no strangers to eating Israeli/Mediterranean/Middle Eastern small plates together - it’s kind of our thing. So The Palomar’s Jerusalem-inspired menu was filled with our favorite things.

Including labneh (served here as a beet-infused spread), m’sabacha, handmade puffy pitas, glazed octopus and kubaneh bread served with silky tahini and tomato (again - both forms of carbs are always needed).

harrods food hall

No trip to London would be complete without a stroll through the aisles of Harrods. Though we couldn’t afford the couture gowns and outrageously priced perfumes, we did were elated to find the plethora or free samples and delicious finds in the food hall!

One of my favorite parts were the rows upon rows of dates stuffed with all different fillings. It was incredible!

honey and co.

Upon landing and getting to the Airbnb, I quickly changed and headed back out the door for our first meal. Abby had made a reservation at Honey and Co., another restaurant featuring food from the Middle East.

Perusing the menu, we found ourselves distracted and salivating over the counter full of baked goods and cakes. It’s no wonder - Honey and Co. is the project of Ottolenghi’s former pastry chef Sarit Packer and husband Itamar Srulovich.

We started with the labneh - that’s never a question. It was served with the most colorful array of veggies and herbs.

Our Mudfunia main, though not colorful, was full of flavors - chicken tagine with fragrant chestnuts and topped with crispy kadaif that lent a subtle sweetness to the dish. The side salad overflowed with plump fresh figs.

Dessert was a slice of the most gorgeous cherry, pistachio and coconut cake which paired perfectly with a thick Turkish coffee spiced with cardamom. We didn’t know when we ordered that we were choosing one Honey and Co.’s original cake!

farm girl chelsea

We stayed in the Chelsea neighborhood during our visit, and everyone who heard this had the same reaction: “So posh!”

Chelsea’s posh aesthetic was on full display at Farm Girl, where we ate brunch one morning. Though the food wasn’t anything to write home about, the menu was full of healthy ingredients and buzzwords - there’s fancy lattes (activated charcoal, turmeric, CBD and more - though I stuck with a Chai), avocado toast, things served in bowls and fluffy pancakes perfect for photographing.

Though reviews aren’t great, we enjoyed the meal in a pretty space.

I needed to link to that review for some excellent lines like, “At the bottom is a “cashew aioli”, which is the kind of discharge you get when you torture nuts.” Give it a read if you want a laugh. But know we weren’t offended by anything we ate at Farm Girl!

7. Singing in a Pub with Rowdy English Boys

This is on everyone’s London Bucket List, right?

Wednesday and Saturday nights at Norman’s Coach & Horses turns into a sign along where patrons are handed lyrics to traditional British songs and invited to join the pianist and singer/tambourine man.

We had a blast and befriending a group of local lads - friends since elementary school and out for their monthly pub night. At one point they booked a trip years-in-the-making and their excitement results in us all screaming and a chair being lifted into the air. No one else in the place batted an eye.

It was a grand old time, especially when Abby and I headed up to the piano to sing The Shirelles’ “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and “You’re The One That I Want” from Grease.

8. Strolling Through Hyde Park

As someone who spends a large amount of time in New York’s Central Park, it’s hard for an urban park to impress me.

Hyde Park was beautiful! We loved walking around before our lunch at Dishoom. I finally understand what it’s like for tourists in NYC to see a chipmunk in the park and get excited - I thought it was insane when we saw a little fox running across the path!

I fell in love with this tree that we passed, which is apparently known as “The Upside Down Tree.” It was magical! It’s here if you want to go visit it!

9. Shoreditch in the Afternoon

If T-Swift writes about it in a song - it’s gotta be something you should do.

We headed to Shoreditch to explore what’s known as a trendy and eclectic neighborhood. We scoped out some vintage and design stores, looked at the street art, and eventually stopped by Cereal Killer Cafe for a peek inside the 90’s-inspired restaurant that serves all cereal all day.

It was awesome.

There was Spice Girls wallpaper, framed TY Beanie Babies, Trolls Dolls and any other relic of the 90s you can think of.

We weren’t particularly hungry, but I really wanted to try something, so we made a concoction of sugary nostalgia and snacked on ranch-coated Cheerios.

Immediately following our mid-day sugar rush, we walked into the Dark Sugars Cocoa House and emerged 20 minutes later in a full-on sugar-coma.

The two guys working the shop were like Italian grandmas who push another helping of chicken parm on you. Except that these guys were handing us cups full of rich hot chocolate, entire truffles, and pieces of dark chocolate while music bumped and they told us the story of coming from South Africa to work in the Brick Lane shop.

I left with a build-your-own-box of beautiful chocolates and truffles for my Grandma. If you’re not lucky enough to visit the shop, you can order from them online!

10. Hang out with Ed Sheeran at the Pub

Maybe a slight exaggeration, but it’s my blog, so I’m allowed to use creative license.

All week, we talked about what would happen if we were eating at Ed Sheeran’s new bar/restaurant Bertie Blossoms and he walked in.

Would we ask for pictures? Would we play it cool? What would you say if you could say one sentence to Ed?

After the tube had a meltdown on our journey from Shoreditch to the Notting Hill restaurant, we felt we were due for some good luck. Especially because we had helped an incredibly pregnant women navigate the mile-long transfer through Paddington Station.

We walked into the small, but cute pub and were seated at a both next to the bar. We loved our little corgi lamp and got to business ordering a bunch of dishes to split (wild mushroom risotto, lamb meatballs, artichokes and a flatbread).

The real highlight were the snowlobe-sized glasses filled with the most incredible gin and tonics that I’m still thinking about months later. Grapefruit and juniper, mint and elderflower, rosemary and lemon - these herby cocktails really hit the spot.

At some point we realized that the people at the bar seemed flustered. The 5 people that had been there seemed to be talking in hushed voices about something. Nicer chairs were brought to the bar and a table setting was put out. They were checking their phones a lot. They were talking about someone potentially sitting upstairs. Our ears perked up and the three of us went straight to the obvious conclusion - Ed Sheeran was about to come into Bertie Blossoms for dinner.

We picked up our conversation about what we would do if presented with a living, breathing, Ed Sheeran in the flesh in the same room as us and I was getting more and more flustered.

We settled in for more gin and tonics - we were committed to seeing this through. If if it was a big old nobody that walked into the restaurant.

Our gin-drinking and patience and slight-craziness paid off and ED SHEERAN WALKED IN.

There were probably about 8 people in the restaurant total, but I still chickened out when it came to asking for a picture. He just looked like such a normal, chill guy with his little black backpack and he was RIGHT THERE in front of me.

Sadly, after a few minutes he went upstairs to eat/drink with friends and we never saw him again. But we stayed until well past closing talking to the waitstaff and soaking in what had just happened. It was apparently the first time he’d come since opening night!

FATE. And all I have is a picture of this corgi lamp.

11. Take In the Sights

What trip is complete without a scenic overlook? In London, we chose a free trip to the observation level at the Tate Modern museum.

Entry is free, though some exhibits and areas of the museum require paid tickets. After checking out the views at the top, we walked around some of the free areas… modern and contemporary art is my favorite art!

Other places around London recommended for good views are:
One Tree Hill (Free)
Sky Garden (Free, but need a reservation)
The London Eye (£27-£44)
One New Change Rooftop (Free)
The Shard (£30)
ArcelorMittal Orbit (Slide Down! £11-22)

12. The Rest…

Other highlights from our trip included a walk through the beautiful Daunt Books

A workout at the local F45

Walking through Paddington Station and snapping a picture with the cute little bear statue

And playing board games at Draughts Board Game Cafe. Our favorite was Colorbrain Disney where we answered trivia questions like, “What color is the jewel in Jasmine’s headband?” We are almost 30 years old, I swear.

I particularly loved walking through the Leake Street Tunnel and seeing all of the graffiti art - when we were there, there were multiple groups in the middle of painting!

Sipping wine in a hidden little alleyway at Gordon’s Wine Bar was a nice way to kill some time before a nearby dinner reservation. The heat lamps helped, but it would have been more enjoyable in the summer - and with less smokers!

I was completely charmed by London - it really did have a magical feel to it. The most enjoyable part was not having a ton of expectations and just going with the flow - there was no pressure to do every touristy thing or to leave feeling super educated on British history - we just wandered and ate and checked off the top few things on everyone’s list.

It’s a city you can keep going back to without ever running out of things to do or places to see and as a New Yorker, I felt very at ease with the big city feel. Everything is pretty and has so much history! I could just walk around forever. And we really lucked out with pleasant late-fall weather with a touch of Christmas in the air.

Have a favorite place in London? Let me know in the comments!

And let me know if you got the title reference…

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