Winter Break in London

It's been two weeks since we came home from London where we spent our winter break this year. Thank goodness we went before the Coronavirus situation exploded - we were able to enjoy our trip without too much thought on the virus. Though we booked this trip at a pretty late stage, thanks to some quick planning on my end, and the amazing help of my cousin on the ground in London, we ended up doing so much fun stuff in the old London Town.

Here are some highlights of our trip, in a chronological order because that seemed easiest to remember:

• Walking around London and seeing Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Street... 
• Eating Pub Food
• Finding the Hummingbird Bakery by accident 
• Harry Potter Walking Tour 
• Taking the Tube
• Riding the Double-decker Bus
• The National Gallery & seeing the Arnolfini Portrait by Jan Van Eyck
• Coming out of the National Gallery to a golden moment when the sun made all the wet surfaces gleam 
• London Philharmonic Orchestra concert & hearing the London Philharmonic Choir sing 
• Day trip to Oxford & Oxford University walking tour 
• The Wallace Collection & seeing the Swing by Fragonard
• Tea at the Zetter Townhouse 
• Waving like the Queen in front of Buckingham Palace
• Eating curry at Tayyabs in the East End 
• Brunch at Duck & Waffle and seeing the views from the 40th floor 
• Columbia Road Flower Market & the shops there
• Visiting with my cousin & her amazing cat
• Walking around Greenwich 
• And weirdly enough, and last but not least, the ride back to the airport. It took forever, but we were not in a hurry. Our uber driver took the local streets and I loved seeing the London suburbs, and somehow the ride in the rain was just so lovely and I was so very happy with what a wonderful time we had just had in London. 

Pictures are in random order: 

Big Ben was not at its best... 

Many times I was so thankful for this important reminder! 

Travel Diary: The Hoover Dam

On our road trip in the west, our first stop was the Hoover Dam which is situated perfectly on the way from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. (Actually, I'm lying, because our first stop was the Las Vegas outlet, from where I scored Tory Burch sporty sandals. But since I don't have any pictorial evidence of that quick shopping stop, let's not dwell on it.) The Hoover Dam, however, I have lots of pictorial evidence. It is an impressive place. Especially when you think that it was built before the computer era. The sad thing is that many people died building it. But the dam was (and is) extremely important to the economy and livelihood of the west, from Arizona, Nevada and California, all the way to Los Angeles and the coastal area; to this day it provides a major amount of electricity of the west.

After stopping at the Hoover Dam, it's about three hour drive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. You drive through a mountain area first, and then desert, and it's a beautiful drive in a very strangely shaped land. The lack of trees is a little disconcerting, and reminded me a little of Iceland, although Iceland is much greener. I think it would be hard to live on the dry desert climate. 

Someplace You've Never Been Before

"Once a year, go someplace you've never been before." by Dalai Lama

A few years ago when I turned forty, I made a promise to live by this advice from the great Dalai Lama. Whether near or far, I would visit a new place every year. That year I went to California for the first time, and since then we (the whole family) have traveled to Montreal, Iceland, then last year I went to Los Angeles with my hubby, and this year, during the winter break, we traveled with the kids to Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Grand Canyon, Arizona.

Las Vegas was more fun and less seedy than I had expected. The casino complexes on the Strip are totally over the top and it's fun to see the details of these huge complexes. Some of the best ones are Mandalay Bay, New York New York, Paris, Cesar's Palace, Venetian, Palazzo, and Wynn.

We did not see a show, but there was enough to see and do without spending a hundred bucks (or more) per head for a show ticket. I was surprised at the number of restaurants, and the quality of the food. Each celebrity you can think of has a restaurant in Vegas.

I was also surprised at how good the shopping was. I never want to spend much time shopping when I travel, given that my area on Long Island, or New York City, has every shopping option you could ever want. But the shopping areas in Vegas are plentiful, beautiful and well appointed. And so I ended up shopping quite a bit...

First three nights we stayed at the Mandalay Bay, a huge complex with countless restaurants, a "beach" and a somewhat quieter location at the end of the Strip. 

I had to take a selfie with this four story wine tower  at the Aureole restaurant in Mandalay Bay.  OMG. 

Mandalay Bay had some interesting art. This mural is by a Puerto Rican artist Alexis Diaz. The mural is a bunny with wings, with human body parts sticking out from openings in the wall. 

The statue of Liberty outside the New York New York casino. 

The weather was on the cool side, but we were able to enjoy lounging by the pool on our first day in Vegas. Mama sipped some white wine while the kiddos splashed in the pool. aaaah.  

I picked Mandalay Bay for the pool area, which is amazing. However, due to the somewhat cool weather, the main pool area was closed and only one pool open... 

A lot of live music in Las Vegas. This was a street concert outside the New York, with Brooklyn bridge as the back drop. 

The Fattburger is a Las Vegas holdout of the old times, complete with cocktail service. Of course we had to try its legendary burgers if not the cocktails. 

We're not in Egypt despite the giant Sphinx

We walked so much I got 7 miles on my tracker the first day! 

Some parts reminded me of Disney World (this is Excalibur)

Hubby and I went out for drinks on our first night in Vegas. 

Mandalay Bay has two roof top lounges, the Foundation Room, and the Skyfall in the Delano building. We checked out both, and had amazing views of the Strip from each. 

Memories of Summer: Hanko