We drive back home today! After stops at Pret a Manger for sandwiches and Krispy Kreme for a box of donuts we’re off. There’s a lot of traffic out of town so we miss our check-in slot at the Channel tunnel terminal in Folkestone by some minutes. This wouldn’t be so bad if we weren’t put on the next but one train only. I use [Weiterlesen]

On our last day in London, we drive to Shoreditch in east London. As they had no clue about a new Nike shoe I’m interested in at the huge Nike Town flagship store, I hope to find it at Nike Lab, a store for special Nike items in a remote location. And yes, I spot the orange Nike ‘Doc Brown’ vandals shoes from afar; they [Weiterlesen]

We sleep in on our second to last day in London. That feels good as the all of the fresh air yesterday made us really sleepy. We head into town around noon and meet Sheridan, Clare and Amy at the Hotel Chocolat branch we had these amazing hot chocolates last week. They are eager to try them, too. Then, we go to Fortnum & Mason [Weiterlesen]

This sunny morning, we drive past our old place and through our neighborhood into town. We make another attempt to visit the Japan Center. It has been exactly one week since they told us that the broken lift would be repaired “the same day”. The “Out of order” sign is still in place though. We complain to the manager and can finally use the goods [Weiterlesen]

The hotel room keeps causing problems. As soon as the heating is repaired, the room starts to warm up. At the same time, Gabi gets trouble breathing. The guy at the front desk believes that it’s the chemicals in the heating rather than cats in other rooms (we found out that there was a cat show going on at the NEC today; Gabi is allergic [Weiterlesen]

We slept well but wake up in a freezing room we haven’t been satisfied with anyway. The Hilton room is far worse than any budget hotel we’ve stayed in during the last five years. Very disappointing. We barely had a choice here, though, as the convention we’re attending takes place in this hotel. After breakfast, we start the ‘Sherlocked’ Convention with a photo with Lou [Weiterlesen]

We get up earliert than usual today to order the new iPhone X. At 8.01am local time, Apple’s online store will let you buy it. You need to order really quickly to get one soon. So the whole world will try to simultaneously log in to the store and order one. While I only get the ‘come back soon’ page, Gabi succeeds in logging in [Weiterlesen]

This morning, we visit our friend Jess and her father Ray near Liverpool. They showed us the Beatles’ hometown two years ago. Now, they invited us to their house in a charming, calm suburb. It’s exciting to catch a glimpse of what living in different countries looks like! We enjoy our conversations about British and Swiss habits, the local area’s history and everything and anything. [Weiterlesen]

After a short stop at Liberty (their Advent calendar was released this morning), we leave London and drive North to Chester. There’s a well-known zoo that was on telly recently with a TV series showing the life behind the scenes of the zoo, which was beautiful, surprising and sometimes really sad. We liked it a lot and therefore it’s about time we have a look [Weiterlesen]

On our last day in London so far, we visit our favourite department store, Liberty of London. It’s always worth a visit with its beautifully selected clothes, fabrics, furniture, interiour decoration accessories, jewellery and mach more. The building itself is absolutely stunning. And their Christmas department is always a joy to look through. We then make our way down Regent Street and past Piccadilly Circus. [Weiterlesen]