Morning Stroll in Swindon, IronBridge & Shrewsbury in Shropshire

Swindon is a quiet village in Staffordshire near Dudley in the Midlands. It is so close to Wales that you can weave in and out of Wales as you go on a country drive to Shropshire.
Although we have been in England for a few days now......... we were still slightly jet-lagged. What to do when you are wide awake and it is still dark outside??? You put on layers of jumpers and jackets....... head out into the crisp cold air for a morning stroll along the canals and see the sun rise.

A day trip to Shrewsbury lead us to Ironbridge, a village in Shropshire where the first iron bridge was built in 1781 spanning across the River Severn. The town boast to have the WORLD'S BEST PORK PIE SHOP where the shop window advertised their specialty "Pork Pie Wedding Cake" !!

Shrewsbury is a nice town with lots of timber framed black and white houses and narrow streets and alleyways. It has a castle, an abbey. It is also the town where Charles Darwin was born and educated.

Thanks for the experience Lynn, Bri, Anne and Molly xx

Beauty of the Cotswolds

Why the Cotswolds? Well, Arlington Row in Bibury is the reason. I saw a picture in a magazine one day of a row of beautiful stone cottages adjacent to a running brook and I decided I'd add it to my list of places to see. The Cotswolds is a rural area located in south central of England near Bath and Oxford. This area is well known for its rolling hills known as 'Wolds" and beautiful honey colour stone houses and pretty villages.  It is definitely Jane Austen country...... I was expecting to bump into Mr Darcy walking through the fields towards some of the most beautiful country estates we drove past.
The commute to this area from London was simple and cheap. We booked with National Express Coach and it cost us 11 pounds for the 2 hour journey to Cirencester. Because we were staying in Earls Court, we simply caught the tube on the District Line and got off at Victoria Station where the coach station was just a short walk down the street. In hind sight, we should have caught the Piccadilly Line and changed at Green Park for Victoria. There are no lifts coming out of the tube on the District line and having to drag a large suitcase up a flight of stairs was a DRAG (literally.....). I have been to London numerous times now and I find this time, Londoners are a lot friendlier. Twice I had been assisted up the stairs with my bag by commuters who saw a tiny girl with a big bag!!! A lovely gentleman sensed we were a bit lost and offered us directions without having to be asked. Such a refreshing change..... makes me love London even more now.
Back to the Cotswolds....... You do have to have a car to really see the beauty of the Cotswolds. The public buses only go into the bigger towns and they are far and few in between.
Our first stop was Burford as it was lunch time and we are hanging out for a hot meal and a pint.

 

"The Cotswold Arms" looked inviting with its roaring fireplace.

We chose the pub classic of Beef pie, peas and chip. Perfect for a grey winters day.

From here, we made our way to Stow on the Wold", a small village which was once a famous market town. We booked into a gorgeous pub, The Porch House for a couple of nights. Beautifully appointed rooms wth all the old charms. The biggest fireplace I have ever seen (it can double as a single bedroom, its that big !!!).

We had dinner at the Porch House tonight. Delicious country fare, rich full-bodied French Red, seated in front of a warm roaring fire while tiny droplets of snowflakes hits the window outside....... such indulgence....

Breakfast was included in our room rate. Best way to start a cold day.

Driving around the cotswolds, we come across Lower Slaughter, consisting a handful of houses, a water mill and a grand church.

Bourton on the Water, a bit artificial and too touristy for my liking.

We did visit Arlington Row in Bibury, but we were in the wrong season, so the scenery was not as picturesque as I had hoped. But still, I can say I have been there now.

Out on a whim, we decided to drive out of Gloucestershire and head towards a small village call Lacock in Wiltshire. It has featured in Harry Potter Films, Pride and Prejudice, Downtown Abbey just to name a few. Well worth a visit if you are in this part of the UK.

We also stopped off at the Roebuck Inn at Marlborough on our way to Lacock for a bite to eat. For a non descript roadside inn, we were totally blown away by the delicious food, nice beer and friendly owner and locals. Apparently, this is where Merlin came from, so we were told by the local at the pub.

From here, we head off to Swindon in the Midlands via Stratford upon Avon. 

Eating Tours of London

When we say London, most people would think of Big Ben, Tower Bridge, The Tube, Buckingham Palace, Harrods................... for Steph and I, our sole purpose of stopping in London was to take part in an eating London walking tour of the East End. http://www.eatinglondontours.co.uk/

On a cold fresh morning, we made our way to the Old Spitalfields Market to meet with our guide Harry. First off, Harry took us to St Johns across the road for a bacon sanger. St Johns is owned by Fergus Henderson, a chef who is renowned for using every part of an animal in his dishes. Surprisingly, when we walked into St Johns....... the man himself was in the restaurant in his chefs gear (a rare sight these days with chefs who have created an empire and a name). This is a good sign !!! The bacon was delicious, tasty served with their house tomato jam. I do have a soft spot for good bacon......

Next up, we head off to The English Restaurant on Brushfield Street. This is a 17th Century heritage listed restaurant with church pews as dining booth seatings "straight out of Dickensian novels". This is where we had a gorgeously creamy bread and butter pud. Talk about an indulgent breakfast !!

From here Harry took us to a cheese shop, The House of Androuet...... mmm..... love English cheeses. If you like cheese, check this place out. It is on Lamb Street. 

Now, you cannot be in the UK and not have fish n chips. Harry took us to Poppies in Hanbury Street. Its pretty good. The shop looked just like what you would expect a fish n chip place in London to look like. Men in white coats and hats, no deep fryer smells......... and they even give you a container of mushy peas to dip your chips into. 

After all that walking about, its time to quench the thirst with a tasting of the english ale and cider at the " Pride of Spitalsfields". Although I enjoyed it, I still can't get use to warm beers. Apparently there is a resident cat at this pub who is famous. He has his own facebook page, twitter account with millions of followers. How about that !! 

What comes to mind when I say Brick Lane? Curry of course. If you have ever been down this street during dinner time, you will know how daunting it is with curry house after curry house, touting for your business. It can get a bit overwhelming. Harry reckons the Aladin is the place for the best curry. We had a go at 3 curries - and they are pretty good. I still can't say they are the best though. But then, we are spoilt because of our friend Saif who is a Bangladeshi Australian and he cooks wicked curries. 

The next spot is our favourite. Beigel Bake at the end of Brick Lane (towards Bethnal Green). Now this place is definitely worth talking about. It is a simple shop front with a massively long queue out the door. Their specialty, Salted beef (we know it as Corned Beef) served in a bagel with hot mustard and pickled gherkin. You can see a staff member by the window carving up these salted beef. It is lean, tender and moist. This place is open 24/7.......... I would quite happily replaced the good old late night Kebab for one of these back home anytime. 

Our final food destination was a pizza joint call Pizza East. The restaurant is quite hip and stylish. We were served a slice of salted caramel tart with a nice cup of english tea to finish the tour. It was nice but again not much to write home about. 

Although this tour was advertised as an eating tour. They do dabble in a bit of street arts and history. Harry pointed out all the Jonesy miniature sculptures as we walked down Brick Lane and adjoining streets. There was also a Banksy installation, due to the demands for his work, it had to be boxed inside a perspex box so no one would run off with them.

Headcases have taken off

Headcases are off travelling, This time seeking new adventures and continuing our eating mission around the world.
Flying with Japan airline to London gave us the opportunity to stop overnight in Narita for a night to break up the long haul flight. As it was getting late on a Sunday night when we arrived, we decided to dine in house for dinner. Never one to dine in hotel restaurants, we were pleasantly surprised. JAL organised a room at the Narita Excel Tokyu Hotel. There is an international buffet restaurant, a Japanese and a Chinese. Of course we chose the Japanese.....when in Rome.....
The one outstanding dish we had was the pickled seaweed and anchovy roe. It tasted like the fluoro pickled raddish with a funky crunch when you bite into the roe. Stephan and I both agreed it was pressed and pickled and then cut into strips. Amazing. The other dishes were nice, but nothing to write home about.

Pickled seaweed and anchovy roe

Next post will come to you from the UK....... Sayonara Japan x