Wildflower Cafe in Notting Hill

What a busy and fun weekend I had.

Saturday I went on a Street Photography Tour at Camden Market that really stretched

my camera comfort zone.  Sunday started off tense with another UK driving lesson.  Ugh.

(I might have let the F-bomb slip in front of my very patient instructor.)

In the afternoon, all of that tenseness was washed away amid new friends and champagne

at the second #LDNBloggersTea.

I can't wait to tell you more about all of this, not to mention Iceland!

And I'm still not even halfway through our trip to Morocco.

I'm so confused.  My linear brain says that I should finish up Morocco before writing about Iceland.

But, I don't wanna.  What do you think?

Will it be confusing if I just hop from one to the other with all of this other stuff sprinkled in?

What do you want to read about?

While I'm figuring it all out, today I'm going to tell you about a nice little dinner I had a few weeks ago.

When we first moved here two years ago, we were lucky enough to find reasonably priced,

temporary accommodation in Notting Hill.  And now I'm spoiled forever.  I so want to get back to Notting Hill.
We've lived in three other London rentals since then and none have compared to our time in Notting Hill.

So, of course, I said yes with a friend invited me back to the neighborhood to try out The Wildflower Cafe.

By day, a popular place for breakfast, brunch and lunch.  Everyone raves about their coffee.

In the evening, it transforms from a cafe into "an intimate bistro" featuring three-course dinners.

Whether you visit during the day or after dark, you will be served wonderful food,
freshly cooked on site and served by a friendly staff.

The supper menu changes seasonally and features three choices of starters, three mains and three desserts.
There is always a vegetarian option on offer.

I started with the Roasted Shallot & Chestnut Soup served with Toasted Sour Dough.  I almost asked for more of the bread.  You could taste the freshness.  It was the perfect way to warm up on a rainy night.  Fiona had the Panko Fried Calamari with homemade Tartar Sauce and declared it a great choice.

For our main course, she chose the Proscuitto-Wrapped Cod Loin with Cannellini Bean, Tomato and Oregano.
The thick, firm cod loin looked a good match for the hearty beans.  It smelled wonderful.

True to form, I chose the 28-Day Aged Sirloin Steak, with Handcut Chips and Bernaise.

There was a small glitch when it initially came out a little too rare, but it was quickly and happily remedied.

Second attempt was perfect and the chef even popped out to make sure I was happy.

I just had to smile and nod, as my mouth was full.

If you can believe it, we actually had room for dessert.  I had the Bread & Butter Pudding served with my own little jug of cream.  It was sweet and scrumptious.  It was a toss up between that and the 70% Valrhona Chocolate Brownie with Cardamom Cream that Fiona chose.   Appropriately decadent.

It's a great little place with a charming atmosphere, serving

beautifully simple comfort food.  It was hard to leave the warmth and venture back

out into the chilly, wet London streets.

Hopefully after our next London move, I'll be able to just pop around the corner for coffee and brunch.  One can hope.

What's your favorite London neighborhood?

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 *I was a guest of The Wildflower Cafe for the purposes of review.  All photos, writing and opinions are my own.
As always, I promise to be open, honest and transparent with my readers.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

 You can find this review and many others in my
London Attraction Guide.

Cruising 101 - Booking Your Cruise

It's time to talk about cruising again!
Even though we don't currently have one booked, a cruise is never far from my mind.

So far in my Cruising 101 Series, I've given you some enticing reasons why you should cruise.
We've talked about Brits and cruising. I've given you some basic things to consider when selecting a cruise.

Matt has talked to you about solo cruising and I've compared a US cruise line with a European cruise line.

Now that you're convinced that a cruise is for you and you've selected the perfect cruise,

it's time to take the big step of booking that cruise!

There are a few things to consider when it's time to book that cruise. 

The first is should you use a travel agent or just book online?  

For my first cruise, I was booking for a family group of six and I was pretty clueless as to how it all worked.  A trusted travel agent that specialized in cruising was immensely helpful in figuring out all of the details.  She got us the best rates, made sure we took advantage of a last minute price drop and helped us with travel insurance.  I would recommend finding a Cruise Specialist with a really solid, word-of-mouth reputation and letting them help you out, especially with that first time booking. 

Another option is to book through a third party discount cruise website.  I've never actually tried this, but if the deal is right, you can check out the reputation of the company and you read the fine print, it might be a good option. 

 

Since that first cruise, I now book everything directly with the cruise line's website.  Once you are booked, you can log in to the passenger section of the website to complete all of your pre-cruise paperwork, find answers to frequently asked questions and get information about extras and excursions (which we will talk about next time.)  Between the booking and the cruise, there are often phone calls to customer service with various questions and I've had really good luck with the customer service.

When should you book?

If you've picked out your cruise, it's best to book as early as possible as they do often sell out.  (Last minute bookings are for people who can be a little more flexible and chase the bargains.)  Typically, a 10% deposit is required to book a cruise with payment in full about 90 days out.  The further out you book, the more time you have to make payments.  

Be sure to read the cancellation policy for any cruise that you book.  And consider cruise insurance, should anything go wrong with the booking.  Once I'm booked, I monitor the prices for any drops or deals that I might be able to take advantage of prior to the cruise.

You also have some very important decisions to make at the time of booking involving eating and sleeping.

Two of my favorite things to do on a cruise.

What time would you like to have dinner each night?

Many cruise lines offer two dinner seatings in the main dining room(s), early or late seating.  The nightly shows are scheduled around these seatings.  So you may eat first and then go check out the show or eat after the show.  It's purely a matter of personal preference.  We usually pick the late seating as it gives us time to get back on the ship after a long day in port with plenty of time to relax and get ready for dinner.  If you don't get the seating that you requested upon booking, or if you change your mind, a visit to the Maitre d' will often solve the problem.

Most cruise lines are also now offering a more flexible dining option where you select the time that is best for you.  Then you just reserve a table the night before.  We tried this on our Baltic Cruise and were happy with it.  Although, we did kind of miss having a set table, wait staff and companions for the entire cruise.  It's part of cruising that we really enjoy.  We are still in contact with dinner mates that we've met while cruising and we enjoy the social aspect of a scheduled dinner seating. 

Which cabin will be your home for the cruise?

There are basically four types of cabins:  inside cabin with no view, outside cabin with a view (window/porthole), outside cabin with a balcony or a suite.  I've never stayed in a suite, but I have stayed in the other three types.  Obviously, a balcony is always my first choice.  It just depends on the prices.

The Baltic Cruise that we went on was more expensive so we opted for an outside cabin with a window and were completely happy with that.  The inside cabins are the same size and just as nice, but you never know what's happening with the weather and sea conditions outside.  And I want to experience the ocean as much as possible on a cruise.  But, if that's what I can afford then that's what I'm taking.

Each cruise ship then has a larger variety of cabin categories based on the room type, size and the deck where they are situated.  You can make a decision on the category of cabin that you want and book a "Guarantee."  This means that you will at least get a room in that category (or you may even get really lucky and get an upgrade.)  But, the cruise line will select the location of your cabin and you don't have any say in where you will end up on the ship.

This was the option that I picked for that first cruise.  I ended up in the very front tip of the ship at the lowest passenger level, which meant three things.  I really felt the movement of the ship.  I heard the constant loud smack of the water against the hull of the ship as it sliced through the water.  And each morning when we docked, I was awoken very early with the sound of the massive metal anchors sliding to to the seabed on their massive chains.  Do you know how long it takes them?  It seemed like forever.  Don't get me wrong, I had an amazing cruise.  But, since then, I've selected the actual cabin that I will be staying in for the cruise.  

I study the deck plans, compare pricing and book a specific cabin number.  I prefer to be mid-ship, mid-level which is where I feel the least movement.  (I've only experienced seasickness once during really rough seas, but I still prefer to be in a more stable area of the ship.)  I also look at the deck plans to see if I'm over or under a nightclub or dining room that might affect the noise levels.  And I chose a cabin that is close to a set of stairs and bank of elevators which makes getting around easier.  Some of those long hallways can seem endless.

We always use the cruise line website to book a specific cabin.  But, you can also do this if you book over the phone.   They will tell you which cabins are available and you can cross reference with the deck plans to make the right choice.  

If you go this route be sure to pay close attention to the details on the deck plan.  Does the room have an actual window or it just a porthole?  Is there an obstructed view?  Is it a family room with pull-down beds?  Is it adjoined with another room?  There is a chance that you could be asked to switch if there is another passenger that needs that specific type of cabin. 

 I guess, it all boils down to how much control you want to have.

(I've never denied having control issues.)

You can relax, make some basic decisions and just go with the flow.

Or you can do some research and make some more specific choices.  

 I'm a big researcher and I find that the more I know ahead of time,

the more relaxed I am during the actual cruise. 

If you are considering or planning a cruise, I can't recommend www.cruisecritic.com enough.

You can find out more than you will ever want to know about cruising.

You can even ask about a specific cabin on the forums to see if anyone can send you pictures.

It's been invaluable to us.  (They are in no way endorsing my recommendation,

I just really think it's a great website.)

My next post in the Cruising 101 Series will cover some of the extras that come along with a cruise

such as drinks packages and excursions.

I'm also going to put together a post of Best Tips.  So if you are a cruiser,

I would love to include your tips in that post.  Send me an email at selena_jones@me.com.

 

Do you have any tips or questions for booking a cruise?

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Instagram Iceland

Y'all are incredibly sweet to indulge me with my whining yesterday.

I'm feeling better today.  The weather today is as up and down as I am.
Sunshine one minute and sleet the next.  Crazy!

Matt says "Thank You" for all of the wishes for a speedy recovery.

We are both ready for him to get back to work. Very. Ready.

While we were in Iceland, wifi was a bit hit or miss.
 But, I couldn't wait to post my instagram photos at the end of each day.
It's my favorite of all of the social media options.
And I loved all of the Likes and comments.  Thanks so much for following along.

Since I'm not quite ready to start posting about Iceland,
today I'm going to share some instagrams shots from our wonderful trip.


I've decided to link up with Instagram Travel Thursday for the very first time.
Skimbaco Lifestyle online magazine came up with the #IGTravelThursday hashtag
to answer travel questions and give travel inspiration for others.
I'm very excited to participate in the weekly link up.

Iceland was the Perfect Winter Getaway from London.  The flight is less than three hours.

We were there for just over three days and were able to fit so much in without rushing at all.

This is how we scheduled our time:

We flew out Wednesday night arriving late and stayed at a airport hotel.

We awoke early the next morning, picked up the rental car and headed out to explore the South Coast.

 This was our longest day and we stayed on Route 1 about an hour outside of Reykjavik.

Next day we slept in a little later and had plenty of time to tour the Golden Circle and visit a spa.

That night we stayed in Reykjavik and had dinner out on the town.

Saturday we toured the city in the morning, when to Blue Lagoon in the afternoon,

and did a Northern Lights Tour that evening.

We checked out of the hotel early Sunday morning, dropped off the car and caught an early flight.

We were home by 2pm on Sunday.

I'm amazed at how well it all worked out with a bit of planning.

 I have many more posts scheduled going into greater detail and with a ton of photos.

If you have any specific questions, just let me know. 

I hope you will check out some of the links below to share some love and maybe even link up.

 Here are the rules for participating:

- Link to a new Instagram travel post and use the permalink of your post, not the homepage URL.
- Only new posts from the week of the linky and no giveaways, other linkys or sales pitch posts.
- Don’t add links to your Instagram profile in the linky, only links to your blog.
- Link back to one of the Instagram Travel Thursday hosts.
- Visit a few other posts in the linky and show them some love (comment, tweet, Pin etc.).
- Links that do not follow the guidelines will be removed.

If you want to connect with me on Instagram, I'd love to follow back. 

Are you on instagram?

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An InLinkz Link-up