Spa Break in Somerset

Really nice 2 nights break from all the stress at Bannatyne's Charlton House resort and spa in the village if Shepton Mallet . 150 miles from London . Very nice Jacuzzi pool with a connecting small pool which is open and you can see the stars while swimming. The pool is really warm so you don't feel cold but fabulous. Also has an outside Whirlpool .. Excellent Spa .. Treatments are at average £ 50 which is not bad at all !

Spitafields Market and Brick Lane

Spent the day today in and around Spitafields market and Brick Lane. I found the market to be a larger version of Greenwich market. Found these really nice earrings being sold by a Chinese girl for £18. Like the design concept, one can make the earrings shorter or longer depending on the dress they are worn with and the mood !! Just behind / adjacent to Spitafields market are some shops and I discovered the "traffic people " shop !
We parked in parking on commercial street and walked to the market .
The end of the brick lane towards the brewery has a vintage market in the tea rooms .. Lovely stuff. Good road side food as well though we ate at a Pakistani kebab shop and then picked up chicken biriyani and "mishti dhoi" from Ambala !! For dinner.

Recommended day out in London !

Peter Pan

I believe in fairies ! I do ! I do !
I believe in miracles ! I do ! I do!

Chocolate flan dessert

Chocolate flan dessert
( big ready flan sainsbury)
300 ml extra double cream
1 dark choc bar ( green and blacks)
French Bitter almond extract 2 drops
Godiva liqueur or amerrato or kahlua cud try
Blob of butter
Coarse ground almond
Caster sugar to taste


Lightly soak the flan in liqueur and keep aside
Put slight butter in saucepan and put pieces of choc and put on heat and melt
In a separate saucepan , melt the double cream , add Sugar to taste melt and then add the choc and the almond extract. When it cools add the almonds ( cut try other nuts like pecan etc ) oh and bright idea what about some dates ?

Mix all and pour into flan .. Decorate the way u like ( I did with strawberry slices on the edges )

San Francisco

Billa's house

The Presidio .. That is where Billa's house is ! Nice green area and just off the Golden Gate bridge !

First learning .. If you holidaying in the US then generally it's advisable to keep a hired car ( unless you are staying in a hotel in NY ! )

California holiday .. In Monterey

The city in Mexico is with double rr !
Drove up from San Loius Obispo to Monterey on the historic route 1 or pacific highway. What a drive .. It's a must do in your lifetime .. Beautiful vistas with lot of stopping points on the way.. Since we are in an open top car the experience is truly exceptional..

Some photographs of the way attached .. Words will not do justice !

We stopped at the Hearst Castle " castle in the Sky " I would call it. Built by William Heart 40 miles north of San Louis Obispo..

This followed the best drive ever .. Pacific highway or route 1 from San Louis Obispo to Monterey is one of the best drives ever !! Most beautiful views along the way and we got tbe best weather one could dream of !! Saw the famous Bixby bridge !

In Monterey we stayed at the Clement Intercontinental :-) truly loved the hotel.. A really special hotel and I would highly recommend it ! We stayed in a room with a side ocean view ( ask for higher floor if possible)
The balcony was small and enuf just to stand but still had a great view. ( photos attached)
I went for a run from the cannery row towards the old town .
Monterey used to be the Sardine capital of the world ! They used to fish them and can them in Monterey .. They were so much overfished that they suddenly disappeared and all the canneries closed down.

Went to Carmel in the day time . found it a bit over rated .. I guess would be for anyone from Europe as they are terribly trying to be French ! ( later uf course someone told us that it's better to hang out in the evening .. So that's the tip for next time ! )
..

Holding Each other up - Mark Nepo

Let's be honest
Which docent mean
Being harsh, but gentle

Let's be clear
Which doesn't mean
Being dispassionate , but
Holding each other up
In the face of what's true.

Let's be enduring
Which doesn't mean
Being important or famous,
But staying useful like a wheel
Worn by rain in the same place
After years of carrying
Each others burden

Let's be in awe
Which doesn't mean
Anything but the courage
To gape like fish at the surface
Breaking around our mouths
As we meet the air

California holiday continued...

So here we are In Santa Barbara in a beautiful hotel ( the Fess Parker Double tree resort) in a Sea facing room )
The view us great but there is a road ( 101) between the hotel and the sea and therefore you can't hear the sea how we could hear in Southwold . So anyone deciding to stay in the hotel save money and stay in a garden facing room and go for a walk on the beach/ promenade or sit in the lounge and enjoy the views.

We are driving up to San Francisco and taking the scenic route in a Ford Mustang which hubby has got from Dollar rentals. We stayed in Los Angeles for 2 nights ( most time recovering from the jet lag ) . Stayed at the Hilton Universal City as one thought we will be close to Beverly Hills/ Hollywood where the action is . But seriously there is no action in LA. You are better off staying at Santa Monica/ Malibu .
However we did like the City Walk .. Near the universal city studios and the Hard Rock Cafe was fabulous with my favourite " heavy metal chicken wings " and a pink margarita ( photo attached !!)

Santa Barbara is a great place. Right place to live if you have the money ! Fabulous weather , great atmosphere and State Street ( the 3 mile long high street ) has all the shopping/ restaurants and Bars. We ate at a place called Blush. Great food/ live music. Good Californian ;-)) cuisine !!

Attaching some pictures of the promenade across the resort where I went for a run and then of the resort itself ! The 3rd one is of the Santa Barbara Mission. We did the red tile tour ( roof and not floor as I originally thought :-)) highly recommend . I much preferred the court house building to the mission building tho .. The court is a working court to date !
The court house building has original tile flooring .. Attaching a picture of that too !

I don't think anything will be able to top the Santa Barbara experience in this trip .. Let's see how San Francisco fares..

http://www.fessparkersantabarbarahotel.com/

Suffolk

England being an Island has a long coastline and coastal towns were holiday destinations in the Victorian Era and up to the 50's and 60's. Then came cheap airlines and retirement money and summer time every one goes to Spain or Italy or north Africa to pursue the sun and the sea.
But for someone like me who grew up in India in a desert state the sea in the UK is very mesmerising!
One of my favourite areas is Suffolk... there is something special about the place.. somehow every time we have visited the sky is light, there is a smell of lavender's and there seems to be more sun than London!
We have been to Aldeburgh and love it. Our favourite hotel there is the http://www.brudenellhotel.co.uk/default.aspx. We have stayed there twice and enjoyed the sea view rooms.. You wake up to the sound of the waves and the restaurant is nice as well. Aldeburgh is an artist town and you find a lot of small galleries and they have a book fair every march. lovely to get a fish and chips from the " Aldeburgh fish and chips shop" and sit on the wall by the sea and enjoy!
Last week we drove further up north and stayed at Lowestoft at hotel Victoria. http://www.thehotelvictoria.co.uk/
We booked one of the Sea facing Deluxe rooms with a dinner package for 2 nights and were really pleased with our decision.
The food in their restaurant " coast" is really nice .. good choice of Sea Food, Steaks and Pasta dishes.
We spent one day in Southwold. Parked at Ferry Road, crossed over to the Sea front and walked along the promenade. Go up from the Tea Shop and you are on Tea Street. At the corner of East Street and Pickney's Lane is " Nutter's of southWold" We had been to this shop before on the way back to London from Norfolk and were really pleased to find it again!! It specializes in food and cheeses from the world and gourmet ingredients! The Beach in southwold is sandy and popular !

Lowestoft is quite and good as a base to drive around... we went the next day to Snape Maltings on the way back home. Again nice place to stop over for lunch and some quirky shopping!!

I would love to buy a sea facing cottage or apartment in Suffolk!!