London, January 5. - 8. 2024

London is not new to us. I visited first time as a teenager with my school, loved it, and was sure to return one day. Went back to the UK for a year between 1999 and 2000, not in London though, but visited London several times while I was in the UK. Also took a couple of quick trips when the kids were small (as a part of another holiday) and stayed again for four days on 2015. We all wanted to return - for the London vibe, the museums, choice of restaurants and things to do, just to walk around... It was a quick descision to buy the tickets and book the hotel for the last four days of the Christmas school holidays, although this time we were five people as Ricardo decided to bring along his friend Nina.

There are many flights every day between Nice and several London airports - I wanted to fly to Heathrow for being able to easily access the city by the tube. Our British Airways Friday morning flight went smoothly - the only difference with before was the passport control when leaving France and again when entering the UK. I had reserved us two rooms at Premier Inn London Farringdon, close to the Farringdon tube station, that is served by the new Elizabeth line, among other lines. We have stayed in several Premier Inn hotels over the years and for me, they are a pretty sure choice - it didn't disappoint this time as well. We arrived a bit early - meaning our rooms were not ready yet, so we decided to leave our bags at the hotel and go for a walk around Leicester square, only a few tube stops away. London was still like I remembered it - a bustling city with cool multicultural vibe. We checked out the square, then quickly passed Chinatown and took the small streets of Soho to Oxford Circus where we hopped on the tube again to get back to the hotel. Although our family had visited London before, it was first time for Nina, so we aimed to check out most of the famous sights during our stay. We had had an early start in the morning and we all needed a bit of relaxing time in the hotel before going out again in the evening.

Tube vibes

M&Ms Leicester square

                                                                        Chinatown

One of the main reasons for this London trip was to experience the famous musical scene at the London West End. We had tickets for the Mamma Mia musical at the Novello Theatre for that same evening. The overall show was just magical - the singing, dancing and acting was all performed at a high level and we enjoyed it very much. Although the musical tickets are pricy and they should be booked ahead, I still thoroughly recommend the whole experience. We are already thinking about taking another trip to see a different show - the choice in London is huge. The teenagers definitely added some ABBA songs in their playlists.

 Novello Theatre

The next morning we opted for a breakfast at the hotel (also to check out the vegan options of the hot breakfast) before heading to the museum of Madame Tussauds. Even if it was not the first time for me, the exibishion changes all the time, and it is always a fun place to visit. The kids had a lot of fun too. I had bought the tickets online a couple of weeks ago - they only let a limited number of people in at a time to avoid the museum become too crowded, so it is always better to pre-book.

After a fun morning, we carried on the usual tourist route of Buckingham Palace - St James' Park - the Royal Mews - Downing Street - Westminster Abbey - Big Ben. We were lucky to have had great weather for January - it was definitely colder than France, but still nice enough to walk outdoors, and the most important thing - it didn't rain.

 The day had already been pretty long, but we really wanted to take the most of our time in London, so we headed out again after a brief afternoon rest at the hotel. It is nearly impossible to have great Indian food in the South of France, so we went to the Brick Lane for dinner - the food at the Bengal Village restaurant was delicious (even for Nina, who had never had Indian before and who hates spicy food). 

The following morning I had reserved us places for the Natural History museum visit. Although the visit is free, it is always recommended to reserve. We had already been at the museum on 2015, but Martin really wanted to return. Being Sunday morning, it was still pretty crowded, although it was quite spreaded once we started the visit. The museum itself was huge and there were lots of very interesting exhibitions - we especially liked the dinosaurs and the Earth.

Natural History Museum

After a couple of hours at the museum, we walked to Harrod's that was not too far. Harrod's has some great tea, so I got some to bring to France, but it is also a famous landmark, so always worth a visit. The teenagers wished to do some shopping, so we headed to Oxford street - they shopped, while Johnny and I had some tea at a small coffee shop. 

For the early afternoon, I had booked us a late Sunday lunch in one of the oldest pubs in London, the George Inn, built in 1676, also London's only surviving galleried inn. The pub is situated near the Borough market - unfortunately we didn't have time to visit the market this time. It was typical British pub food, but I was really impressed by the vegan option - nut Wellington and all the delicious sides.

Nut Wellington, carrots, roast potatoes, roasted cabbage wedge, Yorkshire pudding and vegan gravy - delicious

The British portions are huge, so there was no way of just going to the hotel by tube after the meal  - we decided to walk and it was actually a wonderful idea. The hotel was 40 minutes' walk away and it was beautiful - the views from the bridge, St Paul's Cathedral - totally worth it. 

Our last day in London greeted us with crisp cold and a light snowfall (the first time seeing a snowfall for Nina, she was very happy) and also a message from British Airways asking us to go to the airport early as there might be flight disruptions due to snow. We still had a couple of hours to spare so left our luggage at the hotel and took a tube to Oxford Circus again where the teens still did a bit of shopping. We then walked the Regent street to Picadilly Circus, then to Leicester square and took in the city vibe for the last time before returning to France. We did arrive at the airport early, but there seemed to be no problem with our flight, so we used the time to have some good Asian food at Wagamama before heading home.

London left us again with great memories but also with the will to return - the theatres, the museums, the food choices and the city vibe left us all wishing to experience it more and soon. So this is definitely not goodbye...

Bucharest, November 4. - 6. 2022

Our Bucharest weekend was actually a part of our Jordan trip. On our way back from Jordan, we had the possibility of staying for a long weekend in Bucharest before going home. Although a part of another trip, I still felt that Bucharest deserved a separate post in this blog. 

We arrived at Bucharest Otopeni airport on Friday (November 4th) around noon. The airport was a total chaos - we were lining up for the passport control, but there seemed to be no correct queues - many people were not respecting the queues and there were just too many people for a pretty small area. The trouble did not end there - once we passed the passport control, we still waited for our luggage for almost an hour so it was nearly 2 pm when we finally left the airport. Bolt (the same as Uber) cars were easy and inexpensive way to get around in Bucharest. The almost hour-long trip from the airport to city center costed us 17 euros with Bolt.

We wished to stay in the old town and within walking distance of most sights, so we had chosen the Hilton Garden Inn Bucharest Old Town hotel for our stay. We were really happy with the choice - the hotel was clean, new and modern and the breakfast was really good with lots of choices (also plant based). Just after we had checked ourselves in at the hotel, we went for a little walk around the old town - just to get a bite to eat and exchange some local currency. The currency in Romania is called leu and one euro was worth around 4.9 leu. We were also lucky with the weather - it was unusually mild for the beginning of November. While walking, we looked at the menus of several restaurants to have an idea for where to have dinner and were pleasantly surprised of how affordable the prices were. The old town was lively on Friday night with lots of people in outdoor terraces of the bars and restaurants, street artists, many groups of young foreign people coming to spend a cheap party weekend in Bucharest. We finally chose a restaurant called Bazaar - after eating Middle-Eastern food for the whole Jordan trip, we were all craving for pasta. The food was not that special but the bill of around 40 euros for four people was a pleasant surprise.

The double room in Hilton Old Town hotel

Discovering Bucharest Old Town

The building just opposite of our hotel

For the next day we had planned to visit the Therme Bucuresti, a huge indoor (and in summer also outdoor) water park and spa. It is situated not far from the Bucharest airport, so it took about an hour to get there by Bolt taxi. There were three areas in the complex and the kids and under 14 were only allowed at the water park area called Galaxy. The Galaxy area had lots of slides, a couple of saunas and jacuzzis and an indoor/outdoor pool. The most of the spa and relaxation activities (like different saunas) were at the Elysium area. The entrance fee to enter all the areas was about 27 euros per adult. As we aimed to get there in the morning around 10 (it opened at 9), it was still not too crowded when we got in but it got absolutely packed (being Saturday) when we left in the afternoon. I would definitely recommend visiting during the weekdays to avoid the crowds.

 The "Hollywood Sauna" - a cinema-sauna showing nature documentaries

We wanted to try some traditional Romanian cuisine for dinner and decided to go to eat at Vatra - it serves a traditional Romanian food (that is very meat-heavy, complicated to find plant-based options), the waiters wear national costumes and it was pretty highly rated in Google. It totally lived up to expectations, we were very happy with the whole meal. 

Traditional stuffed cabbage leaves

 After dinner walk in the old town

We still had the whole day of Sunday to spend in the Romanian capital, as our flight was leaving at 9 pm. We had a nice walk in the morning, admiring the beautiful buildings and visiting an old Orthodox church and decided to go and try to visit the Parliament Palace - the second biggest parliament building in the world and also the heaviest building in the world. It is only possible to enter the building as a part of a guided tour. We had not reserved anything, but thought that maybe in November the groups are not as full as in summer, for example. We got there around 12 noon and were proposed an English speaking tour for 2pm, what we, of course, took. 

 

A beautiful old Orthodox church

The parliament building was very impressive, both outside and inside. The guided tour was so worth it, we got to know lots of interesting facts about the opulent palace of Nicolae Ceaușescu - that his aim was to build it using only Romanian materials, the stories of different rooms, when the palace was actually finished etc. 

 

 

Although our trip to Romania was very brief and we only managed to visit the capital, we really liked this not-so-well-known European country. Of course, Romania is so much more than Bucharest and I hope that one day we could have a chance to return and see more of it.

Munich and Salzburg, July 05. - 08. 2020

We had been thinking for some time about doing a city trip in Europe without the children. The best way for this seemed during the summer holidays in Estonia, where we would have been able to leave the kids with their grandparents. Not wishing to spend too much time for flying, we were only looking for direct flights from Tallinn or Riga. Our final choice was Munich, with the possibility to visit also Salzburg. We had already been in Germany - in Berlin before we had kids, and in Frankfurt (not counting the stopovers in the airport), and Munich as a Bavarian capital with its old town seemed very appealing. It was difficult to make travelling decisions during Covid, but in summer the contagion rates were low and we decided to give it a go. My sister and her husband were also travelling with us.

Our flight was leaving from Riga airport in the afternoon, but we already left Tartu in the morning - it takes around three and a half hours from Tartu to Riga airport and during Covid times we wanted to be there on time or even a bit early. The airport was mostly empty and three-quarters of shops and restaurants were closed. As we arrived a bit early, it was not so great, but fortunately we still found a place to have a bite to eat and a coffee.

Our 2 hour 15 minutes Air Baltic flight went smoothly, we were given disinfectant wipes and masks (although we already had our own) at the entrance of the aircraft and the flight was only half full. We decided to take the train from the airport to the town - our hotel was not far from the central station. We got an excellent deal for the hotel, very likely due to the lack of travellers because of the Covid restrictions. A brand new Premier Inn Munich Center hotel just a short walk from Karlsplaz for only 39 euros per night for a double room. The room was nice and modern with a spacious bathroom. There was no breakfast served due to Covid restrictions, but all guests could grab a complimentary coffee and croissant from the lobby in the morning. In Germany the masks were compulsory in all public indoor spaces and public transport, but everything - museums, bars, restaurants, markets - was open.

Munich is an excellent city for walking around and the center is mostly car free. There were lots of great looking restaurants on the squares and in the courtyards and we finally chose a nice square with several restaurants just behind Frauenkirche (the cathedral with two towers) for our dinner. Munich is an easy place for vegans to travel to, as plant based choices are widely available.

On our way to Marienplaz

 

 

The impressive Rathaus

Vegan burger and local beer for dinner

 

Our first morning in Munich looked cloudy and looked like it could rain and we decided to head to Residenz München - a Bavarian palace that served as the seat of government and royal residence for Bavarian dukes, electors and kings from 1508 to 1918. It is the largest city palace in Germany and is today open as a museum. The complex of buildings contains ten courtyards and displays 130 rooms. We bought the tickets (9 euros) and started the visit, realizing we were almost the only visitors. It was definitely worth going and taking a look into Bavarian history. Much of the Residence was destroyed during the Second World War though, and it has been gradually reconstructed to its former grandeur from 1945.

The weather had gotten a bit better and we went for a walk in the English Garden, one of the world's largest urban public parks. Unfortunately the Japanese Garden and teahouse situated in the park were closed, but we still took a stroll around. We spotted surfers on one of the streams - who knew you could surf in Munich!

No visit to Munich is complete without going to the Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, probably the most famous brewery and beer hall in Munich. That was exactly where we headed for the real Bavarian beer hall atmosphere. 

During the day we stopped here and there, to have quick bite in several places to eat or take a coffee. We loved the little Asian food outlets, be it soup, dumplings or bao buns... 

The next morning we needed to pick up our rental car from the central station and head towards Salzburg in Austria. The one and a half hour drive passed some beautiful landscapes - Lake Chiemsee, hills and Bavarian Alps. 

Salzburg is a lovely town by the Salzach river, probably most famous for being the birthplace of Mozart and also as one of the filming locations of The Sound of Music. The Mozart name is seen everywhere - Mozart park, Mozart square, Mozart university... We took a stroll in the charming center and old town and then headed for lunch in a vegan restaurant GustaV, a short walk from the center.

Delicious vegan lunch at GustaV

 

Salzburg town center

 

After lunch we checked out the picturesque gardens of Mirabell Palace - one of the filming locations of the Sound of Music movie. 

 

Wishing to see more nature we took a little detour on our way back to Munich and went to take a look at the area of Königssee - a paradise for hikers and nature lovers. We were sorry that we did not have more time, not even for a short hike, because we had to get back to Munich before the car rental place closed at 7pm.

As it was our last evening of the trip, we chose a nice Lebanese restaurant called Ksara for a dinner - the food and service were excellent and we had a memorable evening. 

Johnny had to take a flight back to France the next morning while the rest of our group had a flight back to Riga late afternoon. It gave us some time for another nice walk in the center, some shopping and a chance to sample some local specialities for lunch - Knödel - large flavoured (in this case, beetroot, mushroom and mixed veg) bread dumplings cooked in stock. Lets just say trying once was enough...

 Knödel

 

It was a wonderful short break in great company. We all fell in love in Munich for it being a very walkable and green city with a lovely old town, an excellent choice of restaurants, historic Bavarian beer culture with its gardens and cellars, and great overall cleanliness and organisation. Germany is a country definitely worth getting to know more and maybe next time we could stay longer, see more and even bring the kids.