Abbey Road.

Traveller found this link though A Cup of Jo and my goodness, it is an extremely honest depiction of Abbey Road!

Living in Maida Vale, Abbey Road is a mere 10 minute walk from T and, as she often runs past there, she is continually amused by the hoards of tourists taking pictures of themselves crossing the road 'Beatles style'.

{it goes without saying that T has done this herself a few times with various visiting friends!}

If only we were in Moscow.

Traveller saw this lovely lady on the stage last night.

Romola Garai is currently playing in Three Sisters by Chekhov at the Lyric Hammersmith and boy, it was fantastic!

The play itself was compelling and poignant, albeit a little bleak

{it is Chekhov!}

Flattie had a few tears and Traveller has been pondering the play's meaning all day.

The characters, like in most Russian plays, were facing dark and meaningless lives, which they were sure would be much improved if they living in Moscow. Sort of a 'grass is greener' tale.

It definitely made T think.

Garai was striking and skilled as one of the sisters and she was joined by a large and talented ensemble cast.

T is continuing to love theatre in London.

{especially because flattie has discovered that she is viable

for free theatre in London due to her spritely age (under 26!). She managed

to procure us super-close seats which were only three rows from the very front. Awesome!}

Pie love you.

This Christmas, Traveller received a new cookbook to add to her collection, 'The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook'. And, boy oh boy, it is full of delicious recipes!

The Hummingbird Bakery is an institution in London. It is has two stores; one in Notting Hill and one in South Kensington. If you love cupcakes, then this is the bakery for you; it is choc-a-block full of cupcakes {red velvet, banana, pumpkin, etc} and every delicious full-sized cake that you have ever imagined.

To thank the gift givers, Traveller decided to bake them a treat from the book. After flicking through and considering her limited baking supplies,

{small London flat = small kitchen}

T decided to make an all-time-favourite - Lemon Meringue Pie!

Surprisingly, it wasn't too difficult to make, although T must confess that she did make the more simple recipe and saved the Italian meringue for a more confident day.

The verdict - a triumph!

{verdict according to gift-giver}

Stars in my eyes.

This week, Traveller, hubbie and flattie went to see the lastest British celebrity on London's stage. Keira Knightley is appearing alongside Damian Lewis and Tara Fitzgerald in Moliere's 'The Misanthrope'.

Having seen Jude Law, Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh and Derek Jacobi on the stage, it is something that Traveller has almost started getting used to. Almost.

{our little town in Australia doesn't quite receive this calibre of celebrity in their one big playhouse)

The play itself was fantastic - Moliere's script is intensely witty, dramatic and there were many laugh-out-loud moments. Damian Lewis lived up to his many flattering reviews and Keira Knightley was also fantastic.

The most amusing thing happened, however, after the performance. Traveller and flattie made their way around to the stage door...

{we know it's silly and perhaps a little stalker-like, but we really can't resist meeting the actors! Husband usually stays, but the temperatures were beyond arctic, so he quickly escaped down to the underground}

We were first surprised by the very large, black, tank of a car parked outside the door. Usually in London, the actors come out, sign a few autographs and then make their way on foot.

The first big actor to exit was the show's star - Damian Lewis. He came out very casually, signed a number of autographs and made his way up the street. A few minutes after this, a bodyguard climbed out of his enormous car and began to speak into what T assumed was a microphone in his ear. Moments later, Keira Knightley breezed through the doors, signed two autographs, made a sweeping call to the crowd 'Is that everybody?' {to which the many people waiting waved their playbills} Without waiting for the answer, she turned, pouted for the paparazzi, jumped in the car and screeched off into the night.

Traveller and flattie were in fits of giggles. This type of celebrity behaviour is so out of character in London. When we saw Jude Law in Hamlet, he was oh so very gracious, signed many autographs and posed for a few pictures. Following this, he simply sauntered off into the night. You even spot the odd celebrity around town attempting to live a very normal, bodyguard-free life. Just last week, Traveller and hubbie were in their local blockbuster, lining up behind a very casual Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

After having a little giggle, Traveller and flattie made their way to Piccadilly Circus, whereby they spotted Damian Lewis still allowing fans to take pictures with him. He then, very unassumedly, jumped into a black cab.

Quite refreshing, really.

Ramsay, you've done it again!

This weekend, Traveller and her flatmates (old and new) went to Gordan Ramsay at Claridge's... and oh boy, T wanted to stay forever.
Claridge's is a whole new world in regards to service - the waiters were so attentive that T and her friends almost started to giggle at their exuberant helpfulness. Upon entering the room after a powder-room-break, T and her friends received a 'Welcome back, ladies' from one of the enthusiastic waiters.
And, after a waiter recommended a dessert to one of T's friends, he came by the table to make sure that she liked it. When she was a touch less than uber enthusiastic {because of some very minty icecream}, he sped to the kitchen to procure her an ice-cream flavour more palatable to her tastebuds!
It was just lovely.
And the food... oh the food!
T's three course menu consisted of carrot and cardamon soup with wild mushroom {compliments of the chef}, parmesan risotto with duck bacon; guinea fowl with peal barley risotto and pinot noir glaze and finally, a chocolate fondant with mint ice-cream. Every single bite was oh so very delicious.
A London-restaurant-one-must-do-before-one-leaves.

Happy Weekend.

Traveller's weekend has started off well with a snowy run through Regent's Park and alongside London Zoo.

The park is covered completely with the white stuff and even the lakes are frozen over.
{so beautiful!}

The giraffes looked a little grumpy, though.

photo via flickr

Room with a View.

This is the view from T's hotel last night!

The hotel, along with most of the hotels in London, was almost booked out from all the suits who had to stay the night in the city to avoid getting stuck in the snow.
The hotel was much more fancy than our usual travelling abodes, so T kicked up her heels and soaked up the luxury!

Teachers have all the luck.

Both Traveller's husband and flattie had to work today because the snow wasn't quite heavy enough to deter London transport {shocking, T knows!}However, both her and Kiwi friend's schools were closed!
Yippee!
We had a lovely day trudging through Primrose Hill and Regent's Park and also enjoying a nice hot drink at a Primrose Cafe. And it gets even better... school is closed again tomorrow! The snow is still falling really heavily and as Traveller works out in Zone 5 - it's even heavier there!
The holidays continue....

Let it snow.

Today, London was put on a severe weather warning. It is, hopefully, going to snow more than it has since 1962! Now, you should know by now how excited Traveller gets by the snow. Apparently it will keep on snowing all day tomorrow!

{ so, so excited}

The only negative in this extremely positive situation is that husband was told {half an hour before he finished work} that he has to stay in a hotel near work tonight! Apparently everyone at his newspaper company will be working from home on laptops and, as he is in I.T., he has to stay to make sure the computers are working! He is a little glum that flattie and T are going to be playing in the snow tomorrow while he is at work. Poor hubbie.

Still, nothing can hinder T's snow-filled-excitement.

The snow is just starting to come down and a few gleeful rounds of applause have already filled their cosy, London flat.

Celebrating on Primrose Hill.

This year Traveller and hubbie celebrated New Year's Eve with friends at their little London flat.

They furthered celebrated by walking up to Primrose Hill to cheer in 2010 and watch the fireworks.

The yummiest part?

T made some s'more cookies.

The most lovely part?

It snowed just after the countdown.

{magical}

Something scary.

While in Switzerland, Traveller went paragliding!!
T paraglided from Schiltgrat-Stechelberg which was right near where she was staying in Murren. T had to take a ski-lift up to Schiltgrat which was 2150m above sea level! Traveller is a wee bit scared of heights, and hadn't even been on a ski-lift before, however, she decided to simply grin and bear it!
The most terrifying part (after the ski-lift!) is the running. You have to run 20 metres towards the edge of a hill and hope for the best. The paraglide is supposed to lift you up once you reach the edge. Husband went first and everything went according to plan. As soon as he was flying, my paragliding instructor yelled, '3-2-1' and we were off! However, because we had received a lot of snow the night before, the top of the mountain was covered in powder. This slowed us down and caused T to lose her shoe! T kept running, not wanting to ruin the experience, but then a few steps later, she completely face planted! Her whole head was under snow just before the edge of the hill!
T's instructor helped her up and we made our way to the running point again. Believe it or not, Traveller actually felt good by this stage. It seemed she lost all of her fear after the face-planting and was ready to run!
'3-2-1' and we ran again, and this time had the most stunningly beautiful {and cold} flight over Murren and down to Stechelberg. It took 20 minutes.
It was one of the best experiences of T's life so far and she really wants to go again {perhaps somewhere warm this time}!