England - English Seaside

This is my last post recapping my holiday and I will admit that I am quite sad about it. I have loved reliving my trip through these posts. Well, I will admit that I need to now go through what gopro footage, so I may have more to share later...we shall see.

Anyway, let's get on with it. My last day on my vacation, Christie took me to the south coast of England. Our first stop was Beachy Head. It is rolling green hills, and white lime cliffs and picture perfect views. Apparently, when you go to the coast, it is required to get a Mr. Whippy ice cream cone. It isn't what you think...or it wasn't what I thought. I was expecting vanilla soft serve...nope, it's not that, and I can't even describe what it tasted like. Anyway, it was fine, I probably wouldn't get another...the cone was good... We walked along the steep cliffs enjoying the sunshine and breeze. It was the perfect day to be at the coast.  On our drive to lunch, we stopped at Birling Gap and to see the seven sisters. It was another pebble beach and the water was much colder than in France, Barcelona and Tanzania.  Then we headed onward to the Tiger Inn for lunch. There I checked a few more items off of the list (and we even added one more). I had a scotch egg, a ploughmans lunch and sticky toffee pudding (oh my freaking god. i think i can go as far to say as it was one of the most delicious things i have ever eaten...)

After lunch we headed to the beach town of Brighton. It reminded me a lot of Santa Cruz. There is a cute pier with arcade games and roller coasters. It is quaint and the downtown was fun to walk through and stop into a wine bar to people watch (oh and get hassled by the homeless). I got to eat the last item on my must have list: Fish & Chips. 

My last day in England was beautiful and relaxing, which was exactly what I needed after spending the previous 24 days rushing around the world. See you soon England! 

England - London

On our first day, Christie booked us a sightseeing tour bus on a red double decker bus where we could enjoy afternoon tea. It was such a special day spent with Christie, her mom and her grandma. It was wonderful! They are so full of knowledge (not "the knowledge" thats saved for the black cab drivers.) And not to mentioned, the tea spread was amazing!  Before we got on the bus for our tour, we stopped at a nearby pub for drinks. I ordered a beer and was carded. Yes, I was carded in a country where you have to be 18 to drink. I was the only one. Christie is younger than me. After our bus tour and tea service, we found another cute bar to have some wine and olives and then head over to the Museum of London where we watched a Gladiator reenactment. It was hilarious and it rained on us so we had to buy ponchos.

After the games, Christie and I headed to the London Heathrow Airport to stay in our hotel for the wedding we attended. More on that next...

On Sunday, we spent the morning relaxing and then headed back into London to Brick Lane to visit with some other friends we made in Peru. Story time...Christie and I met while traveling in Peru on our trek to Machu Picchu. She was traveling with three other friends from University and there were a few more people on our trek from England: there was a group of four gals and a couple. Because of technology, I have been able to keep in touch with everyone over facebook and video chats, which has been so great. So, when I decided to add London onto my itinerary, I made sure to reach out and make plans with the group. Seven people came out, from all around England and one girl even took the day off of work. It was such a treat to visit with everyone and everyone got along so well, it was like we were all drinking beers in Peru again. I absolutely loved it and I felt so loved! I can't wait to go back and visit for longer and drink more caipirinhas!!!

While I was in London, everyone was telling me the things that I absolutely had to eat. While we were all together, I was able to check off two items on the list: a sausage roll and a roast dinner. The sausage roll from this pub we were at was so good. I could eat 5 more. The roast dinner, ehhh....I can compare it to a Thanksgiving dinner. It was okay, not my favorite, but I am glad I tried it. The rest of the items on the list I checked off the next day on our trip to the South Coast of England. 

Overall, England was wonderful. I had such a wonderful time spent with wonderful people. Next up..an Indian Wedding and the South Coast! 

France - Cooking in Avignon

On this trip, my mom really wanted to partake in a few cooking classes. We cooked in Barcelona, which was so fun, and then we had a completely different experience in Avignon. It was wonderful. It was just our family and we made a four-course meal with the most delicious foods and wine. It was fun to all work together in the kitchen and make something that we all enjoyed so much. The kitchen was beautiful and very rustic and all to us and our chef who was super sweet and fun. She is visiting CA soon, and we hope to see her when she visits with her family.
One of my favorite stories to tell about the trip is the story about my name. As everyone knows, I have a unique name and no one ever knows how to pronounce it. When we got to France I was so excited because when I would introduce myself I wasn't going to be met with confused stares. Or so I thought. I would introduce myself, people would have no idea what I said and then my mom would follow it up with, "La Tache! You know, like the wine!" And then people would repeat my name in celebration because they understood and all I could think is: "That's what I just said!" Anyway, this happened with our sweet chef. 
We first went to the market to buy the ingredients for our dishes. The markets are full of so many beautiful colors and yummy things! We got back to the kitchen and got to prepping and cooking. After everything was prepped, we headed down to the wine cellar for wine and olives and to relax a bit before we dug into our feast. In the cellar, she told us that the hotel/restaurant receives a case of wine from the region La Tache wine is from, only one case. It comes in the beginning of the year and the locals know when it comes and make reservations and drinks the wine up so they didn't have La Tache wine in their cellar. Or so she thought.
As we were enjoying our pre-meal, she let us into the cellar that had all of the fancier wines. She walked in and exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! There is a bottle of La Tache!" It was under lock and key, and sadly, she didn't have the key, so the photos through the cabinet were going to have to suffice.  We enjoyed our meal, our wine and our time spent together! It was an amazing afternoon! (And no, we were not drinking the La Tache wine )

Spain - Cooking Class in Barcelona

On Tuesday my mom, brothers and I did a cooking class. We learned how to make Tomato Toast (easy peasy), Gazpacho (so freakin good), a Spanish Omelet (ummm yes, please), Paella (seconds please) and Creme Catalana (like creme brulee, but almost better).

Before the class, we went into La Boqueria to buy all of the ingredients for the dishes. It was cool to walk through the market and see all of the different types of things you could buy. Anything from produce, to olives, to dried fruit and nuts, to fish and meat to cured meats and olive oils. Everything was so colorful, if I could have bought something from each stall, I would have.