Wheres me jumpa

Despite having been to England and Wales a number of times as a young whippersnapper, I had never been to London before. After this weekend, I will definitely be back to see more of London.

We flew to Stansted and got a Terravision bus to Liverpool St. station. The bus journey took about 1 hour which was a tad annoying. Out hotel was about a five minute walk from Liverpool Station. We stayed in The City of London Apex Hotel. £90 sterling per night for a 4 star hotel was more than reasonable! The hotel and room were great, the only drawback being the location is in a business area, which meant the area was deserted at the weekend.

A major plus for the hotel was its proximity to the Tower Bridge and the  Tower of London which was two minutes away on foot. A bus tour in Rome put us off bus tours forever more, so we braved The Tube. We were lucky to be on the Red Line, which is pretty straight forward to understand. A day ticket costing £5.60 each got us around all the sights. You get a real sense of the size of London when on the underground. Our first stop was Notting Hill which was nearly 25 minutes way from Liverpool St Station on The Tube. Word of warning, dont eat in Notting Hill if you are like me, a bull in a china shop, the restaurants and most shops are tiny!

The highlight of the trip was definitely The London Eye. Although the queues seem large, they move pretty quickly. The “flight” itself takes around 30 minutes but the time literally “flies” by! We rounded off the weekend with dinner in The Ivy, in the hope of seeing some celebrities, a hairy, arrogant horse racing commentator was the closest we came!

Happy that we have seen all the major sights, we will definitely get back to London again to sample a bit more of what the city has to offer.

Minnie and I have agreed to get away more this year. For various reasons over the past two years we have’nt got away enough and we intend on putting it right this year! First stop was Rome.

Ryanair flight to Ciampino airport and a return flight with Aer Lingus from Da Vinci airport came in at €140 for both of us. Neither airport is particularly close to the city. A bus from Ciampino to Termini took nearly 1 hour, although traffic was bad. The train from Termini to Da Vinci took approx 25 minutes.

We stayed in Hotel Lirico, a modest 3 star hotel, just around the corner from Termini station. The room was big, comfortable, clean and of course perfectly priced! The staff were very friendly and the location is excellent for getting around the city. I would definitely stay here again.

We kicked off the trip with dinner at a great Sardinian restaurant . It was like eating in a family’s living room. Great food and great service. I got my first sample of heaven, another round of food. The Italians have this great concept of another round of food between your appetizer and your main course. I for one think this concept should be introduced in Ireland, post haste. Several glasses of wine rounded off our first evening in Rome.

On our second day there we decided to blitz the sights. Something we regretted in the end, as we were shattered. We began by visiting St. Peters. A free audio tour(you will be hounded by people offering their services, the free one is more than adequate) of the church outlined some fascinating stories and facts. Most impressive was the dimensions of the church and how deceptive they are, i.e. what you think is small is actually very big, e.g. the engraved letters around the ceiling. The letters in the picture are 6ft tall, note the people just above them.

Next stop was The Colosseum. I was looking forward to this the most. While it is certainly very impressive, even in January, it was very busy and it was hard to find a good spot to take it all in. Here’s me trying to take it all in…

The Pantheon took us ages to find, it is buried in a maze of winding streets. But it was more than worth it. This huge ancient structure is now surround by low rise buildings and it looks completely out of place. It is as if it was just dropped into its location. Easily my favourite sight of the trip.

We stopped off at a few other sights throughout the day. The last if note was the Trevi fountain. Again hugely impressive and again very busy!

Tired and hungry we grabbed some food and rested up for our last full day in Rome. We returned to the Vatican to tour the Vatican Museums. To take even the majority of the museums in would take far longer than my annual leave will allow for. The main focus for us was the Sistine Chapel. It took nearly two hours to get to it and leave the museum again so allow plenty of time. And allow for plenty of ssshhhing in the Sistine Chapel also.

Intent on sampling more wine and food we quickly stopped off at The Spanish Steps.

Last stop was The Capuchin Crypt. The crypt is adjacent to a church. It comprises of 6 small rooms or chapels. The decor is unusual to say the least. The bones of nearly 4000 monks are used to decorate the chapels. It will take you only five minutes to go through it all but it is five minutes of heeby jeebies!

We left on Sunday morning very happy with our few days in Rome. There is so much to see, we touched on the major sights. I cant wait to go back again and find the lesser known area’s and above all sample the food and this incredible extra round of food the Italians have invented!

Next stop, London baby!

You must eat here! Maeve spotted this restaurant in a guide. The review said the restaurant is “low key” and can easily be missed when walking by. Sure enough, a tiny door with a simple canopy is what you need to look out for.

This is a Spanish restaurant with a great menu that has all the dishes you would expect from a mediterranean restaurant. We ordered lobster paella and a fillet of beef while we had chorizos and stuffed mushrooms to start. The starters were simple but packed full of flavour. The main courses were oversized and delicious.

The staff are very welcoming and entertaining, they seem very genuine, unlike some of the tip chasing staff you meet in NY. At the end of the meal you are offered a rum soaked grape that packs a punch!

This is a real find and we will be back again.

Cant seem to find a website for this restaurant, so here are the contact details:

303 E 56th St
New York, NY 10022

(212) 759-8767

This restaurant was recommended in a travel guide and the travel guide got it right. This is a Turkish restaurant located on the Upper West Side on 100th St and Broadway.

The walls of the bar and restaurant are lined with drapes which makes for a very unusual interior. The staff were very friendly and explained all the Turkish dishes on the menu.

We went for Iskender Kebabs. Coming from a country where a kebab is a late night takeaway snack this dish changed my opinion! For desert we tried the recommended baklava. I never had baklava before but I want more, delicious!

Prices were very reasonable also.

Click here for more details.

We found this restuarant the first time we visisted New York and we have gone every time we have returned. This small Italian restaurant and bar is located on West 56th St.

The menu has the usual from an Italian restaurant, seafood, pasta, steak, veal etc. Ive sampled the steak, lamb and veal. All were delicious! While Maeve can offer the same verdict for the seafood.

The staff are very friendly and really make you feel at home which really adds to the atmosphere. Its location in mid town also means its never too busy or overcrowded. The price is right too with a three course meal for two and a bottle of wine just passing the $100 mark.

Click here for more info.

Stayed here for five nights before we moved to Queens. It is located in Spanish Harlem on 105th st. and Lexington Ave. Really enjoyed our stay here. Rooms were huge, but more importantlyly had nearly 100 channels to watch on the television!

The 6 train stops just 3 blocks away at the 103rd st. stop. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Found a really nice, authentic Mexican restaurant just around the corner, the nachos were amazing!

Would definitely recommend this hostel.

We finally found an apartment. We are bassed in Woodside, Queens where we are renting a 1 bed apartment. Its a really nice place and Esther who we are renting from is just a nice!

The area has a large Irish population with lots of Irish bars and restaurants around. We are here for three months which by then we will have found employment which is our next task.

Spent one night here, it was just around the block from The Continental Hostel on 94th St., Upper West Side. Right next to the 96th St. station which has 3 trains running downtown.

The hostel itself seems to be newly rennovated. Its very clean, rooms were big, free wireless in the lounge area and pc’s for net access too.

All in all, location was good and hostel was fine for the night. Would definitely recommend.

We found this completely by accident but it is definitely a place we will visit again. The park is located at the foot of the bridge in Brooklyn. Its a small park but the views are amazing. We were there at night when the park is illuminated with neon green fibre optic wires which are assembled to look like plants.

Stayed here for one night and would love to have stayed longer. Located in D.U.M.B.O. the suites are part of a health and beauty spa. In the same building is, by day a coffee shop and huge lounge area, by night a really quirky bar which had karaoke the night we were here.

The rooms were very nice. Bathrooms were stocked with all the items you would expect to find in a spa. Generous breakfast included (by the way, it turns out the really large coffee cups are actually cereal bowls, dont make the same mistake I made, biggest cup of coffee ever!). There is also a steam room, which we didnt get to try out. The host, Erika was very helpful and keeps the place in immaculate condition.

Another major plus is the location. Around the corner is the Jay St. station on the F line. On the same street is a great bar and restaurant called Superfines. Plenty of other restaurants, bookshops, supermarkets, clothes shops in the area also. While here you are also at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge.

I cant recommend this accommodation enough, its a great find! Details here.