My New Commute

Now that we are settled (well, kinda!) at the new place, I am experimenting with my new commute options. Until now I have been walking to the office, which is great, and it normally took me about 45 minutes. It's a bit long but doable and also that was my daily dose of excercise since I don't do anything else!

From Shad Thames to my office I now have the following options:

1. Walk: it takes me 50 minutes. I did it yesterday and this morning and loved it.

{me this morning, walking and wearing my funky Lanvin sneakers}

2. Tube: Tower Hill - Temple. I tried it last Friday and it took me 30 minutes door to door. Not bad.

3. Boat, Thames Clippers. I haven't tried this yet but I reckon it would take me about 30 minutes. Wouldn't it be super cool to commute by boat!?!

4. Bike. There is a Boris Johnson's bike docking station right outside our new building and one right outside the office. Perfect! I have never cycled in London before but, what do you think, 30 minutes should be enough, right?

In any case, it's nice to have options and whatever I decide to do, these are just some of the lovely things I will be admiring on my way to, and from work:

{All pictures are mine. I took them this morning while walking to the office.}

SUNday

Finally, we have been able to join the London cycling gang and I must say, cycling in London is no picnic! 

We had a very sunny and warm day on Sunday, so Rob and I decided to hire a bike and wander around our area. We are very lucky to have a docking station right outside our flat; so after spending a few minutes reading the instructions and understanding what to do, we were on our bikes. We went down to the river side, crossed the Tower Bridge and made it to St. Katharine's Docks where we stopped to do some food shopping at Waitrose. 

I absolutely loved going around by bike but I must confess that I found it a bit tricky. A) I didn't really know where to go. Please, first time bikers, make sure you remember to keep left, Rob and I had some troubles there. B) Trucks and buses don't really care about you. Make sure you remember that! C) There's too much to admire, crossing the Tower Bridge by bike was very cool but I kept looking around forgetting that I was on the road!

I am sure we'll bike again, especially if we keep getting this amazing weather. Perhaps next time we'll just hire a bike in Hyde Park and enjoy a ride there.

P.S. My legs are sore!

Amsterdam: canals, narrow houses, tulips and lots and lots of bikes

So, Rob and I spent a few days in Amsterdam, the city of tulips! Did I ever mention that tulips are my favourite flower? Well, I am saying it now. I have loved them for a very long time and now I like them even more. Did you know that there are over 1000 varieties of tulips in the world? And did you know that tulips didn't originally come from Holland but Central Asia instead? I have learnt this and more at the Tulip Museum, a little, cosy museum you must visit next time you are in town. Of course, we went to the flower market as well and bought some bulbs of black and blue tulips. We'll plant them this weekend and can't wait to see them blooming!

Amsterdam really is the city of flowers, they are everywhere. And everywhere are canals and little, narrow houses...

not to mention bikes! Please be careful when you walk, bike riders really don't care about pedestrians, they are the queens and kings of all the roads!

We stayed in this beautiful hotel, full of character and great design, Hotel Arena. Don't you just love these chandeliers? If I had a big enough house, with very high ceilings, I would definitely buy them. They are a bit weird, perhaps, but so am I!

So, a few recommendations:

MUST SEE

The Cat Cabinet: if you love cats as much as I do, go ahead and visit this amazing museum completely dedicated to cats. At the entrance there will be two cats welcoming you and if you show them enough love, they will follow you around the house. The house is a gem in itself and certainly worth a visit.

And of course Rembrandt House and Anne Frank House. Don't bother to go to the Van Gogh Museum, you will spend 14€ to see paintings that *inspired* Van Gogh and just a very few of his own!

MUST EAT

A very big highlight of the trip was this burger diner suggested on my guide: Burgermeester. This is your chance to taste the delicious Blonde d'Aquitaine, and no, it's not a beer, it's a type of meet! Believe me when I say that I have never, ever, eaten a better burger, not even in the States!

So, I would definitely advise you to book a trip to Amsterdam as soon as possible! And one final piece of advice: don't breath in the air too much, you'll find yourself all stoned even if you haven't touched a sigarette :)