Les Brassins Restaurant, Brussels

Written about in the New York Times a few months ago, Les Brassins is no secret. I was a little worried that it’d be Florence redux, and I’d be sitting among a million other tourists eating mediocre food at inflated prices. Well, it turns out our meal at Les Brassins was with locals, eating delicious [...]

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Back from Brussels

Because it’s the overrated statue that spawned the world’s tackiest souvenirs, the Mannekin Pis is something I debated as the “lead” photo for this post, but I figured it’s not my fault the city of Brussels has affiliated itself with such a lame mascot. So I’ll perpetuate its lame convenience as an instantly-recognizable symbol of [...]

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Early Morning Visit to the New Eurostar Terminal

The new Eurostar terminal opened at St. Pancras-King’s Cross station last week, and Jon and I were pretty excited about it because it puts us just 10 minutes away from hopping on speedy trains to Paris and Brussels. Thinking we were going to Brussels this weekend, we arrived at the new Eurostar terminal at 7 [...]

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Dining in Florence – eh.

Jon and I ate only three meals in Florence during our last trip. The best of the three was at Trattoria dei 13 Gobbi, and even there our meal was not without a few issues, so it’s fair to say I was disappointed by the restaurants we tried in the city. It wasn’t a good [...]

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Il Canto Restaurant in Siena

You don’t need to travel to Italy very often to know that there’s a lot of deliciousness to be had there. The trick, though, is that like any other country, Italy has its share of really mediocre restaurants, and as a non-Italian speaker, I’m always challenged to find the restos that hit all the sweet [...]

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The Regent Pub: Pizza!

On the corner of Liverpool Road and Richmond Avenue, businesses have come and gone. In the past 12 months, the space has changed from forgettable pub to art gallery and now back to pub, the Regent. Jon and I have been eyeing the latest renovations for weeks, especially after we saw a wood-burning oven installed. [...]

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Hot Ticket in Town: Terracotta Warriors at the British Museum

In case you haven’t heard, between 13 September 2007 and 6 April 2008, you can go to the British Museum to see terracotta warriors from China’s First Emperor’s tomb at Xi’an. The good news is that I thought the exhibit was worth the £12 admission fee. The bad news is that the British Museum, a [...]

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Chianti and Brunello: The Drinking and the Buying of the Wine

In a way, traveling to Tuscany is just one big shopping trip, because what’s super beautiful about the region are its vineyards, and what’s super tempting to do at vineyards is to taste and buy wines. Every now and then, we’d admire a sight like the Abbey of Sant’Antimo (see above), but I’ll admit that [...]

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