[Travel Tuesday] London Surrounding Areas

While we were in London, we made sure to take in a few of the surrounding areas as well.  This post will document some of the surrounding areas of London we visited during our trip.  

Oxford
We arrived in London around 7:00 am with an 8 hour layover until our flight up to Scotland.  Rather than twiddle our thumbs at the airport, we decided to check our luggage at the hold desk and take the bus to Oxford.

If I remember correctly, it took about an hour for the bus to get to Oxford so it provided us a nice time for a nap prior to sightseeing.  We loved the city of Oxford!!  Such a quaint town and of course, being the nerd that I am, I love any type of university setting.  Our first stop was University Church of St. Mary where we climbed 127 steps for a birds-eye view of the city.

[Travel Tuesday] London Sightseeing

We have quite a bit to share regarding our previous trips therefore we will begin a Travel Tuesday segment to highlight past trips as well as new ones!  Also it will be fun for us to go back through our photos and reminisce about our trips.  For February, we will focus on our trip to the UK back in May 2011.

Overall we LOVE the city of London.  I think this is where we really started to develop an appreciation for history and have ensured we spend some time during our travels learning some aspect of the local history.   We would welcome the opportunity to go back to London someday.

Outside the Tower of London with Tower Bridge in the background

Hotel
The Waldorf Hilton - We used Hilton Points here and it was fantastic!  Great location within walking distance to several areas. If you are an Honors member, they have a fantastic lounge for breakfast and tea time.  Instead of lunch, we would come back here to enjoy the snacks at tea time to save money.

Sightseeing
Buckingham Palace
Tower Bridge
London Eye
St. Paul's Cathedral
Tower of London
Westminister Abbey
Royal Mews
The Monument
Abbey Road

Sunday Dinner - Pork Belly Pasta

Over the past year or so, I have been trying to cook more often.  Sundays are usually the easiest day to make something because we normally have a more relaxing day.  The time to prep is much easier when you don't have to work all day! 

I usually try to make something more complicated or larger on Sunday.  Also, making a larger amount allows Amanda to have leftovers for lunch during the week.  

This Sunday I made Vietnamese Carmelized Pork Belly Pasta.  Sounded like a pretty safe bet for an awesome combination of two great things:  Pasta & Pork Belly! 

We did not have any shallots, but I used more red onion than as suggested, so it seemed to work out just fine.  

Superbowl 2015

As born and raised Steeler fans, we were not thrilled with this year's lineup for the Superbowl.  None the less, it was a great excuse to host a Superbowl Party!  In lieu of showing team spirit, we opted to dress as refs.

If at first you don't succeed......

Wow, so this attempt at a blog was a major fail!  The thing is, we are still as busy as ever and need a place to document it all.  As we continue to develop our photography knowledge, having a place to document it will encourage us to shoot more and edit photos faster.

So in the words of William Edward Hickson:

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again!"

Uchi

While living in Chicago, one of our favorite things to do was to try new restaurants.  We really enjoyed the "food scene" in the area and learned a lot about different types of food, preparation and style.  We followed chef's as they opened new places and also attended food events such as BaconFest.  This was one of our favorite things to do.  When we decided to leave Chicago for Houston, we knew it would be a big change in our dining options.  

Color in Motion

We are not really runners, I would say we dabble in it.  We always say we are going to start running but when it comes to hitting the pavement, it is never as fun as we want it to be.  We are not giving up on it though.  In an effort to make running fun for us, we sign-up for 5K gimmick runs once a year.