Day trip to Hever Castle, Kent - September 20, 2008

Hever Castle with drawbridge over moat

Annie and I visited Hever Castle last weekend, a short train ride away from London on Southern Trains. Hever Castle was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, a fact which is prominently displayed throughout the house. The Astor family (the namesakes of our former neighborhood Astoria in NYC) purchased the Castle in the early 1900's and are largely responsible for the excellent condition of both the the castle and the gardens.

Getting there:

It is probably best to visit Hever Castle by car but seeing as we don't own one, we took the train. We took the train to Hever station and from there it is about a mile walk to the castle via two methods: along a footpath or along the road. Since the weather was nice we chose to walk along the Eden Valley Walk which is a somewhat well marked path through woods and fields. While we loved the walk, it would not be a good option for un-able bodied people or people with strollers (there are a few fences that have to be climbed over). Also, if it had rained recently or was raining the walk would be a muddy, miserable mess. The other option, to walk along the country roads, isn't the most relaxing as the roads are narrow and when traffic comes along you aren't always certain you won't get hit.

Fence to climb over, Eden Valley Walk

Eden Valley Walk

The best part of Hever Castle is its size. Both the castle and the gardens are very manageable, allowing visitors to see everything without being completely exhausted at the end! The castle is the size of a largish house and walking through it could be done in about an hour's time. Unfortunately, there is no photography allowed inside but the the ₤5 guide book is actually very good. We used the guide book in place of an audio guide and felt like we learned quite a bit. There is a lot of history at Hever Castle and it shows throughout the different rooms - some rooms being very dark and heavy with a very castle feel to them and then some with a more current style (1950's).

Along the Italian Garden, Hever Castle

The gardens are really beautiful, especially the Italian Gardens with all the Mediterranean vegetables. There are two mazes in the park, one made up of Yew bushes and the other a water maze. Both mazes were extremely popular with kids, yelling and running through them. We chose only to do the dry maze as there were far too many cautionary signs for the water one and we saw too many wet people walking back from it! There is a large lake in the gardens (with rental row boats) that we contemplated walking all the way around until Annie saw the fenced off section with signs warning of fast moving water and mud! We still enjoyed the parts of the garden nearer to the Castle, admiring the landscaping and the variety of flowers. Picnicking in the gardens seemed like a very popular activity amongst families but made us wonder why you would pay to picnic there (about ₤25 for a family of four) when there are plenty of free beautiful parks/open spaces to use.

Part of the gardens at Hever Castle

Two Sisters' Pond

Overall, Hever Castle was a great day trip. It is probably best enjoyed on a dry day, especially if you are arriving via train.

Stockholm, Sweden - August 22 through August 25, 2008

Stockholm, Sweden

Taking advantage of the August bank holiday weekend, Annie and I headed to Stockholm, Sweden. It was our first (and hopefully not last) trip to Scandinavia. We were both very excited for our trip as Annie is a fan of IKEA , Volvos, ABBA and Swedish design and I am a big fan of Swedish death metal. It did not disappoint! Stockholm delivered on all fronts and proved a great weekend destination. It was so different than any other city we have visited, consisting of a number of islands with beautiful streets and parks to explore. It took some time to get our bearings but with a good map (or two) we were able to figure out the main islands and the bridges. Walking shoes were a must in Stockholm as we did a ton of it!

The charming streets of Södermalm

3+

1. The island of Djurgården. We took a ferry to Djurgarden in order to see the Vasa Museum and Skansen, both of which we would highly recommend to anyone visiting Stockholm. The Vasa Museum houses the preserved royal warship Vasa, a ship that sunk on her maiden voyage in 1628. In the 1950's it was discovered on the bed of the Baltic by an amateur archaeologist and was recovered, restored and put on display. The ship is quite spectacular to see and the museum has extremely good exhibits. Before exploring the museum we watched the 25 minute video that provided a good overview of the ship's history and is worth watching. Skansen, a short walk away, is the world's oldest open air museum and represents how Swedish people live in the various parts of the country, highlighting their living accommodations, dress, occupations and even the native animals. It reminded us a bit of the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii, but Swedish...and better. Skansen provides an interesting view into rural Swedish life and is a great place to spend an afternoon if you have an interest in learning more about Swedish life. We read that Midsummer's celebrations and a Christmas market are held in Skansen, both of which are probably great experiences. (Top photo: The island of Djurgården, Nordiska Museet (left) and Vasamuseet (right), Bottom photo: Grass covered house, Skansen)
   
2. Annie loved all the shopping and has plenty of souvenirs to prove it! She was very pleased with all of the traditional goods made at Skansen and picked up Swedish glass ornaments for ourselves and our families. The clothing shops and home stores also drew her in and she made sure to fill up any empty space in our suitcase! I personally liked all the record stores especially Repulsive Records.
3. The bakeries in Stockholm are unbelievably good. We never knew the Swedish were such baking experts! The bread that was served at our hotel every morning was perfect first thing in the morning and the cinnamon buns, kanelbulle, were a great way to get a sweet fix. Our favorite Swedish treat was the sockerkringla, a sugar coated doughnut that reminded us of the malasadas we have enjoyed in Hawaii.

Sockerkringla from Skansen Bakery

3-

1. We were not thrilled with the food in Stockholm. We imagine that Swedish food is an acquired taste and in the short time we were there we didn't acquire a taste for much of it, other than for the baked goods. We were surprised though to find that 7-11 has a very strong presence in Stockholm, starting at the airport and continuing on to many of the streets. We haven't seen a 7-11 outside of America before and would have never imagined we would encounter them in Sweden!
   
2. Stockholm is pricey. The shock was not quite as bad coming from London but even so it is definitely not a value vacation destination.
   
3. We didn't have nearly enough time in Stockholm! There were more things that we would have liked to do but didn't have the time to. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see all the interesting museums, take a boat tour or visit IKEA (poor Annie!).
   

Awana - Chelsea, London

To make up for all the time he spent at work last week Eddie surprised me with reservations at Awana, a restaurant that I have been wanting to try for quite some time. It was a great surprise and we both loved our first experience with Malaysian food - a type of food that is very well suited for vegetarians.

The menu at Awana is probably one of the largest I have seen. It has page after page of choices: set menus, chef's starters, regular starters, curries, grills, stir-fries, etc. It was hard to decide with so many choices! I liked how the last two pages were a compilation of all the vegetarian and vegan options throughout the menu. The drinks menu was just as extensive as the food menu; it took me forever to decide on a drink (I went with the Honolulu, Eddie the Malaysian beer, Anchor). Even though I had seen the menus online it was a little overwhelming flipping through all of the pages. Process of elimination is what seems to work best for me!

Our choices for the evening:

Me:
diver caught scallops satay (₤9.50) - this was a very large portion with 9 large scallops, thankfully justifying the price. I liked the starter but really preferred the scallops I made myself for dinner earlier in the week.

ayam berisi udang (₤16) - from the grill menu; grilled chicken stuffed with prawn and served with pak choy (aka bok choy). This dish was prepared and presented very well and like my starter, was a really big portion. I only wish that it came with a choice of another sauce as the sambal belacan was a little too sweet for me. I was, however, really happy with my choice.

Eddie:
sup dahl (₤5.20) - this soup had a really nice texture and it was a great choice for a chilly, rainy London night!

kari sayur bermusim (₤12.50) - Eddie really liked his curry but in the hierarchy of curries still thinks Indian and Thai are the "top dogs" with Malaysian an "honorable mention."

To share:
roti tisu (₤8.00) - this dish was extremely creative in the presentation and was really good! A crispy bread was covered in cinnamon and sugar and shaped into a large cone in a circular wire stand. Underneath the tip of the cone sat a bowl of cinnamon ice cream. The server poured melted chocolate around the ice cream cone shaped bread, allowing the chocolate to seep into the bread and drip down into the cinnamon ice cream. It was a little messy to eat but well worth the sticky fingers! Definitely a dessert for sharing as it was very large.

Total for food, drinks and service: ₤83.76

The restaurant was really lively, mostly groups of diners (at least 5+). This made for a pretty noisy night which was tolerable but not ideal for a dining couple. The decor of the restaurant was dark and heavy and almost gave me the impression that it could be used as some sort of after hours karaoke lounge. In fact, it was almost too dark in the restaurant for me, as I had trouble reading our massive menus.

In addition to all the entertainment provided by the large groups there were TVs stationed throughout the restaurant that allowed you to watch what was going on at the satay bar. This was how we came to order our dessert. We saw the chef making it right after we were seated at our table and asked one of the waiters what it was. If the TVs weren't there we would not have seen and tried this really great dessert!

Awana was a great choice by Eddie and I am glad I finally got to try it. We will definitely be back to taste more of the menu and to take advantage of one of their half price deals I have seen online. In hopes of a quieter dining experience we will go on a weeknight instead!

(An added bonus of Awana is that The Hummingbird Bakery is right down the street, allowing us to pick up goodies to take home!)