Ah, Paris. Always a good idea, especially when it’s the setting for an epic girls weekend. Between the warm weather, incredible food, sightseeing and a few surprise encounters, the magic of Paris made this trip memorable. Here are my tips and recommendations on how to spend a girls weekend in Paris.
Corporate dinners can often be heavy and unimaginative. Thankfully, this is not true when it comes to Baltic, a restaurant in Southwark specializing in the cuisines of Eastern and Central Europe.
While the restaurant offers 70+ different types of vodka, I played it safe and instead opted for a Spiced Pear Mojito, made from house infused Pear Vodka churned with fresh Lime, Mint, Cinnamon syrup, Pressed Apple Juice and Angostura bitters topped with soda water.
It’s always interesting returning to a place that you lived in for 13 years. No longer a resident, but not quite a tourist, I’ll always have a special place in my heart for a Boston and a desire to visit a few times annually. Here are highlights from my weekend back in Beantown.
The Arrival I took a daytime flight from Virgin Atlantic. As I settled into my seat, it was one of those amazing traveler moments where I had a row of three seats all to myself. Oh, and as we took off, the crew announced that we also had in-flight wi-fi (for a fee). A brilliant flight on so many levels, thank you Virgin Atlantic!
It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you’re not traveling a ton. Compared to March, where I was quite the jetsetter, April found me exploring London, trying new recipes and other fun unexpected adventures.
The month started with lots of long walks around London. The above photo is from my happy place – Regent’s Park, but I also ventured to a number of other places, including…
A lovely walk along Embankment Bridge and South Bank on a sunny day.
…And exploring a very cool hidden garden within one of London’s ugliest buildings, The Barbican.
I also got to partake in a mixology class. My first ever – suffice to say, mixing up amazing cocktails is a LOT harder than it looks!
For a country that has a reputation for being grey and rainy, there sure seemed to be a lot of sunshine this month. I definitely appreciate sunny days a lot more now that I live in London – a bright day like this immediately turns into an outdoorsy day! Here I am pictured exploring Hyde Park.
An interesting trend in London has been experiential museum exhibits from luxury brands. A great way to immerse oneself in the brand’s history and craftsmanship, I loved exploring Hermès Wanderland at London’s Saatchi Gallery. Fun fact: this gallery always has really cool exhibits on and is free!
This month also resulted in a number of cool discoveries – including a velvet-wrapped Rolls Royce. Only in London!
I also explored a few cool spots around London, including The Artesian at The Langham, repeatedly named one of the best cocktail bars in the world!
On a healthier note, I finally got to try a juice to go at Roots & Bulbs in Chelsea. The green apple, strawberry and coconut H2O was a refreshing pick-me-up after tons of walking.
I also discovered a new favorite place for hot yoga and green smoothies – Triyoga! Very calming, I am smitten and will definitely be back. The Soho location adjacent to Carnaby Street also makes for a nice spot for grab & go smoothies and healthy vegan/vegetarian eats.
Unfortunately not all of the month generated zen-like bliss. I had a stressful morning when my shower blew a major fuse and knocked out all of the power to my flat. I’ve never lived in a flat where everything is electric – including the shower! It’s kind of like a scene in a horror movie when you’re in the shower and everything goes black. It took about a week to get my shower back up and running – THANK GOODNESS I had a gym 10 minutes away.
Luckily, the £2 morning coffee and pastry deal at Carluccio’s is EXACTLY what one needs to ‘recover’ from such traumatic experiences.
As is getting AMAZING and unexpected presents from dear friends. My friend Betsy Weber totally made my month by sending me my lego mini me in the mail! Side bar: When you’re an expat, mail from home is always an amazing surprise. It may be hard – and expensive – to send large packages, but a simple letter is always a thoughtful gesture!
I also went to Pret A Diner, a very cool bohemian traveling dinner party. This one was hosted at the posh Hotel Cafe Royal in London and was an incredible experience. I would have blogged about it, but the lighting doesn’t do it justice.
I also cooked up a storm this month, including a Chicken, veggie and brown rice stir-fry.
And chicken thighs with edamame, butternut squash and curried brown rice. Yummmmm!
Spiced cauliflower couscous was also a success!
As was a breakfast treat in the form of a matcha, banana, watermelon and protein smoothie.
Thank you April for a great month. Who’s ready to ‘hop’ into May? 🙂
