London by the Sea

Brighton Beach has been one of my favorite places that I've gone to since being in London. It offers so many things that I love in a place and basically makes it impossible for you to not love it. Settled on the southern coast of England, Brighton sits as a beachside city full of history, lively people and fish n' chips.

You can do just about anything in this little beach town that dates back to the 15th Century. Standing just before you reach the seaside is the Royal Pavilion that can be toured and awed for it's magnificent middle eastern architecture and luscious interior design. You can then make your way down the Lanes for some easy going retail therapy and pick one of the plenty restaurants to stop at for a seafood lunch. After that, head down to the seaside and take a ride on the ferris wheel. It goes pretty quick and the view is beautiful. It's not that high so don't fret if you're scared of heights!

Once you've taken in the view of Brighton from above, get down into it and head to the pier! The Brighton pier has been standing for centuries, although it did burn down at one point in history and has since been rebuilt. Take a stroll down the boardwalk and stop for some rock candy or ice cream. If your thriller side has kicked in, maybe you're ready for a spin on the roller coaster. End the day with small carnival games and badda-bing badda-boom you've successfully done Brighton Beach!

One last thing, I know the rock beach is really strange and definitely not ideal, but it is really beautiful so tread lightly and take a seat in a striped beach chair--you won't regret it!



Until later mates,

Jor

Drink, Drank, Drunk

London is filled with little nooks and crannies of amazing things to do. Some are more hidden than others so you've got to search!

Last weekend my friends and I happened upon on the Kopparberg Festival: Urban Forest. Every year Kopparberg Premium Cider has a summer long festival in London; this year it was in Dalston, just a few bus stops away from our apartment. 

Basically it's a super hipster and trendy hangout filled with food trucks, cider and beer. Free admission. A live DJ mixes beats all afternoon and that Saturday just so happened to be hip/hop karaoke in the evening. You better believe we got on stage and awfully rapped every word to Superbass. Nicki Minaj would've been so proud…or not. 

Favorite cider of the day? The Elderflower and Lime. It is unbelievably refreshing and comes topped off with fresh cucumbers. The Cloudberry with grapefruit and the Pear are also delicious. Kopparberg just gets it. 

Safe to say we got great food, a sick buzz and all the embarrassment for singing our tone deaf hearts out on stage.

Until later mates, 

Jor

Market Fresh

Sooo basically all we do in London in our free time is explore, eat and drink. This city is huge and that means endless boozin and foodin. (Yeah I made that word up.) So you can rest assured that we have been on the grind finding the best pubs, restaurants and food festivals that London has to offer.

Hidden throughout many areas of London are the gems known as street markets. Some have shopping, some have food, some are a mix. They are spread in and around the city and are permanently calling your name to come behold all of the goodies that they have to offer.

So far one of these gems as stood out the brightest of them all to me--Borough Market. This 100% food and drink marketplace sits right in central London at the feet of the London Bridge. Hundreds of tents, pavilions and stands all crawling with hungry customers spread over the market area. You can find everything from fresh local cheeses and meats to the widest assortment of fruits and vegetables from all over the country. In one step you could be passing gigantic pots of thai curry and then in the next step you get a huge whiff of salt beef (corn beef to us Americans).

After a good half an hour in pure awe, we couldn't put off our rumbling tummies anymore. It was a hard decision but I settled for a chicken and sweet potato mini pie and half of a salt beef sandwich. I washed it down with fresh sangria and organic cider. We took a couple more laps around to digest meanwhile still stealing samples of the local cheeses, breads, spreads and honeys scattered all throughout the vendors.

One final stop before we headed out of there before we were rolling on the ground--organic ice cream! Chocolate and vanilla please. It was actually unreal.

If anyone is taking their travels to London and has any spare time to enjoy some true London foodie attractions I would recommend a trip to the Borough Market any day of the week! Bring some cash and a hungry stomach and you will never be disappointed.

Until later mates,

Jor

Ciao Firenze!

So for my first adventure outside of not so little London, I ventured over to Europe's one and only boot. The land of pizza and gelato, the perfect cappuccino and endless history--le belle Italia! More specifically, Firenze or more commonly known as Florence.

I had four full days to explore this beautiful city and I soaked up every second that I could. I felt like a Florida girl back at home in the 95 degree weather and couldn't have been happier to catch some rays while walking the cobblestone streets. The first authentic Italian cuisine I had while I was there.. an amazing Gnocchi Bolognese. It was unreal as was the carafe of white wine that accompanied it. But seriously Italian food in Italy is on a whole other level. Everything is so fresh and made with the richest ingredients. I could actually live off of the pizza and spaghetti and bread that is available to everyone all day everywhere.

Bonus tip: wine in Florence (and probably the rest of Italy) is literally cheaper than water. Rest assure, I had wine with EVERY meal. It's basically required.

Aside from keeping my taste buds dancing, I did a lot of other amazing things while in Florence. I witnessed and went inside the Duomo as well as climbed the 414 steps to the top of the bell tower, the Campanile di Giotto. I walked the Ponte Vecchio and spent hours in the leather markets bargaining for authentic Florentine leather goods. With my GE group, I toured the Gucci and Ferragamo museums and saw how big Florence's role is in today's high fashion. In between doing touristy things, my friends and I made sure to scope out some of the best appertivos, bars and clubs that this lively city had to offer.

However my favorite part of the whole weekend was getting to go up to the top of Florence into Tuscany to the city of Fiesole. This city sits as a part of ancient Rome where some of the first Italians settled into the land. We were treated to a tour of the city's ancient ruins as well as the best views of all of Firenze. To top it all off, we sat for a five course traditional Italian meal complete with prosciutto and melon, pasta bolognese and the most delicious chocolate mousse i've ever had.

Florence was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. It's compact in size but filled with so much awe-inspiring architecture, artwork and culture. Everything in Florence is Italian through and through and it was incredibly interesting to be submersed in a world that has maintained so much of it's original creation.

Grazie Firenze per aver condiviso la tua bellezza e l'amore con me.

(Did I mention I was a pretty convincing Italian. The language was tough but not completely impossible to pick up.)

Fino a tardi mates,

Jor