We’re late, late, late. The Greyhound leaves in a hour; I’m still trying to construct a sandwich from the hostel’s breakfast buffet; we don’t actually know how to get to the station; and MY GOD, how has my backpack put on 7 lbs? Somehow we manage to make it with 15 minutes to spare –Continue reading “Day Four: Gateway to the South”
Category Archives: Travel
Day Three: Frank Lloyd Wright
Completely alone on the 10am train heading out to the suburbs. Hattie is taking a self-guided tour of The Loop and I’m leaving the metropolis in search of architectural genius in Oak Park, the home of Frank Lloyd Wright. I excitedly join a tour of his house and studio but am devastated to discover thatContinue reading “Day Three: Frank Lloyd Wright”
Day Two: The Loop
Oatmeal for breakfast and an early start. We emerge from Monroe subway station into a street shadowed on either side by skyscrapers. There’s an instant likeness to Manhattan, except here the elevated train – the L – rumbles off the ground and mirrored high rises elbow their neo-gothic neighbours. We enter the Chicago Art InstituteContinue reading “Day Two: The Loop”
Day One: Chicago
We wake at 6am to a bedroom of bleary morning light. The District Line rumbles past my window; the radio alarm shrieks into action. Up, dressed, on the tube to Heathrow. It’s Hattie and I and the promise of an adventure, just beyond Gate 29. Plane food is worse than I remember (although IContinue reading “Day One: Chicago”
Borough does Bastille
We curve around a stall selling some of the finest French brie, then left, past a boulangerie decked out with fairy lights. The shoulders I’m holding onto suddenly accelerate away from me. I run to catch up. Louis Armstrong is caught up with the laughter of the conga line as we speed through Borough Market.Continue reading “Borough does Bastille”
Lemon and blueberry swirl cake (and Highgate cemetery)
It’s bloody cold here. It’s so cold that when you’re on a tour of Highgate cemetery, you huddle next to a hard tomb to soften the icy wind that scrapes across the marble. You dance on top of graves to reawaken any inklings of feeling in your toes, and apologise as you do so. EvenContinue reading “Lemon and blueberry swirl cake (and Highgate cemetery)”
Budapest
As all of my friends and family know, I love Christmas. In fact, to say I love it is an understatement. Every year I throw myself into the festivities until I resemble a mince pie eating, carol singing, mulled wine glugging, deranged vision of The Ghost of Christmas Present, bulging waistline included. So to me,Continue reading “Budapest”
Prague: A Patchwork City
Prague really is a magnificent city. Dark spires scream of the gothic and the flowing lines of a concert hall hint toward musty champagne and Art Nouveau. Medieval castles rub shoulders with communist scars and everything glints in an aging European glory . However, even Prague can be sidelined when Bruce Springsteen isContinue reading “Prague: A Patchwork City”
Venice: 24 Cappuccino Days
Like a prodigal daughter I’ve returned home, spent and spoilt by my travels. I’ve slotted back into Bungay life in the usual way: initial joy at unlimited internet access and my own bed and then restlessness as the itch returns to my toes and I feel the urge to pack my suitcase and leg it to StanstedContinue reading “Venice: 24 Cappuccino Days”
Amsterdam
I’m alive! Just wanted to throw that one out there in case anyone was wondering. I’ve managed to escape drowning in a Venetian canal, being mowed down by unruly cyclists in Amsterdam and fingers crossed, I’ll avoid being crushed by demented Bruce Springsteen fans when I head to Prague tomorrow to see The Boss himself.Continue reading “Amsterdam”
To The Table 