Romania in London

TH lived in Romania for two years and he's been telling me tales of wonderment from his time spent there. We've been talking about finding a Romanian restaurant for years, and we finally did it in London. I really have no words to describe it, except to say that it was everything that TH had described...but oh so much more.

our cokes and the fine art

close up of the fine art. yes that is a painting with the actual object hanging next to it on a hanger that says "12". so poetic.TH in his element

my salmon and delicious potato delicacies

TH's meal of polenta and cabbage stuffed with meats

But that is not even the best part. No, the best part was the fact that we had to scream to each other to be heard, on account of the dueling synthesizer and live duet vocalists. They just turn the reverb knob up to 11 and hope for the best. All that in the backdrop of red tablecloths and strange decor...it was beyond entertaining. Romania really delivered. I can't wait to actually go there.

And for your viewing pleasure, I've provided you with a non-scripted short film including TH eating and musicians sythesizing. I just play the first 1.5 seconds over and over again and there is a lot of LOLing involved.

London w2

Back in London, we had a crazy Friday and Saturday. We basically robbed a vintage store - Radio Days - the best vintage store I've ever been inside. We bought everything they had. TH bought me a beautiful brooch and a string of pearls, and I bought myself a gorgeous dress from the 40s. I'll try to show pictures when we get dressed up in our vintage threads.
After hours in the vintage store, we went to Borough Market again. Bought more chocolate truffles, ate a fresh veggie burger, and TH got a huge burger with a fried egg. Again, we made out like bandits.
Then we played super tourists and went over to House of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abby, and Trafalgar Square. Perfect weather, we layed out on the grass by Parliament for a while. I also ate a jelly donut, and was converted. Amazing what vacation can do to you.
That night we headed to Mayfair, a super ritzy neighborhood, and ate at an Australian place - Suze in Mayfair, where I had delicious pavlova. If you have never eaten pavlova, find the nearest restaurant and go. It was some of my favorite food in London.
I'm posting separately about Friday night and Sunday. Too much goodness.

Paris

Paris, in between meetings and school trips, was pure gluttony. I became a glutton in every aspect. I ate more cheese than I care to say, more chocolate than thus far consumed in 2009, the best falafal I've ever had, etc. I also experienced visual gluttony. Every street, every cathedral, every small shop - I could not get enough.

My favorite neighborhoods were St Germain des Pres, Les Halles, the Jewish Quarter, and Montparnesse. Each neighborhood was so distinct and had the world to offer. If I had it to do over again I would've spent all my time eating in Montparnesse and Les Halles and shopping in the Jewish Quarter and Saint Germain des Pres. I wasn't there long enough to get a great feel for the good shopping, but I was really impressed with the Jewish Quarter. I found the coolest dress in a random thrift store there and an adorable red purse. All for under 10 euro. Hooray.

I could die happy in Paris. Their museums alone are enough to keep me occupied for the rest of my life. I left Paris on Friday and took the Eurostar back to London to spend my last weekend in Europe.

Cherbourg and Normandie

Then we took a train to Cherbourg. Its an old war town, and we saw one of the first French nuclear submarines. It was very big and very terrifying, as I usually tend to think machines of the sea. We toured a nuclear reprocessing plant. It was also very big and very terrifying. And also incredibly cool. The energy nerd in me shed a tear for the miracle of science as I stood next to spent nuclear fuel rods with nothing between us but a 3 meter glass and lead panel, protecting us from its lethal rays.
We stayed here for a day, then back to Paris, where we caught a high speed train to the south. The train went 185 miles, and only took an hour to get to south east France. Amazing.

Montmarte

I took the train to Paris and walked up to Montmarte as soon as I left the train station. It was about 65 degrees outside, beautiful sunny Spring day. I visited the Sacre Coeur, walked up the the top of the dome, up the 300 stairs, then visited the catacombs. Then I walked to the Montmarte cemetary, and walked around the narrow cobblestone streets. I walked into a bakery and said one of the only things I knew how: Pan au chocolate. Merci.
I walked around the streets, eating my pastry, soaking in Paris, soaking in the sun, reflecting on my weekend in London and how lucky I was to be getting a free trip to Paris! Finally, a payoff from my expensive graduate program.
I was only here for about 4 hours, then took the metro over to meet up with the rest of the school group, and we were off to cat around France for 4 days.

London w1

First weekend in London: Borough market, London Tower, Victoria and Albert museum, Big Ben, Hyde Park, St. Paul's Cathedral, Islington, Picadilly Circus. And I still had another weekend chock full of touristy things and boyfriend. What a time we had.