Bill Was Here

On the news this morning I heard an interesting statistic: If Germans were allowed to vote in the American election, over 75 percent of them would vote for Barack Obama. Indeed, everyone I've met — from friends and colleagues to shopkeepers and random people in my travel — tells me to vote for Obama as soon as they discover that I am American.

But still, there's another American politician that the Europeans enjoy talking about. Not W of course. They get angry when they talk about him. They get excited when talking about Bill Clinton.

What's interesting is that I rarely hear about Bill's policies or political legacy. Instead everyone wants to point out where Clinton ate, drank, slept, and partied. I'm not sure how many times he traveled to Europe during his eight years in office. But it seems that everywhere I go, Bill Clinton was there too.

Bill Clinton was in Berlin. Yup. He made a speech at the Brandenburg Gate. But I also saw were he had lunch. Of course he visited London and Brussels, but do you know what hotels he slept in? He even visited the small German city of Aachen. Naturally he had a snack there too.

In Lisbon I saw the cafe where he was serenaded by one of the city's most famous Fado singers. He ate pizza on the same piazza as I did in Naples. I also know where he had pasta in Rome. There's even a story about a coffee shop in Amsterdam where he smoke some hash with Christopher Walken.

As a matter of fact, from the balcony of my apartment I can see the Petersburg Hotel, where he stayed while visiting Bonn.

Most recently, this trend continued in Dublin. The tour guide on the hop-on, hop-off bus pointed out a restaurant saying, "Clinton ate a steak there." Later in the weekend, one of the locals at Sheehan's Pub wanted to take us to a place where, "Clinton drank a pint."

Tea for Two

After a long day of shopping, what better way can a girl fortify herself then with a spot of tea? And when in London, that means more then just a cup of Earl Gray.

Offered at most of the city's nice hotels, some restaurants, and teahouses, Afternoon Tea is a veritable institution in London. Served between three and five, the meal consists of a variety of small finger sandwiches, scones, and sweet pastries or petit fours.

The tradition of having Afternoon Tea dates to the 1800s, and its invention is credited to the Duchess of Bedford. Because her lunch was served around noon and dinner around 8:00 PM, the Duchess found herself hungry in the afternoons. What started as some bread and butter with a cup of tea, soon turned into a social event. Though often used interchangeably, Afternoon Tea differs from High Tea. High Tea is served later in the day, is akin to supper, and typically includes meat or fish.

Learn from my mistake: If you know in advance that you want to have Afternoon Tea, make a reservation. If you didn't make a reservation though, you may not be at a total loss. We went to The Lanesborough Hotel to have tea but the restaurant, The Conservatory,* was fully booked. The staff, however, was very accommodating and served us Afternoon Tea in the hotel's library.

With its dark wood paneling, fireplace, and plush sofas I can't imagine that the restaurant could have been any better. The sandwiches – salmon on mini brioche, cucumber, egg, tuna, and coronation chicken salad** – were perfect and delicious. So were the scones, which were served with clotted cream, jam, and lemon curd.

* The Conservatory, The Lanesborough Hotel, Hyde Park Corner, London SW1X 7TA. For reservations call, (44)(20) 7259 5599.
** Coronation chicken salad — a curried chicken salad with almonds and raisins — was created in honor the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II.

Marketing Strategy

With over 40 open air markets, London is a great city for anyone who loves to wander, brows, and shop. From organic produce to designs by emerging artists, high-end antiques, and bric-a-brac, all sorts of treasures are just waiting to be found.

Among the city's – and the world's – most famous markets, Portobello Market rambles along the two miles of Portobello Road in Notting Hill. It began as a fruit and vegetable market in the early 1900s. Then, antique dealers and sellers of all things vintage started setting up businesses in the 1960s. Shops are opened six day a week, but the real action is on Saturday mornings when vendors also open stalls on the streets.

Visited by locals and tourists alike, the market is big, crowded, and packed to the gills will all sorts of goodies. To navigate more then one block in a morning, we needed to focus our adventure this Saturday. Our criteria: vintage items (excluding clothing) that were small enough to pack in a suitcase.

Skipping furniture, fixtures, and frocks, we still only managed too make it half way though the market before our stamina and budgets gave out. Prized loot: antique wall paper samples, a silver plated toast caddy, sailor trading cards, and a glass eyeball that we nicknamed "The London Eye."

Answering London's Call

Friday's post, with bullets about why I looked forward to being in an English speaking country, neglected one hugely important point: In England I was able to chat with everyone.

Granted, I was traveling with an outgoing friend, whose energetic spirit encouraged friendly banter. But I think that even her personality was not soley responsible for the wonderfully warm and welcoming spirit of (almost*) ever Londoner we met.

Bar tenders were happy to give samples and recommendations. Venders at Portobello Market offered the providence of their wares, explain markings and techniques, and in one case regaled us with stories about famous clients. When we weren't able to get a table at one restaurant, the hostess looked up the address and information about other places that we should try. At the Lanesborough Hotel, they weren't able to seat us in the dinning room for high tea, but served us in their lovely library instead.

But perhaps the best example of the friendly experience we had was, after being allowed to use the restroom in a restaurant were we didn't eat or order a drink, a waitress came out on the street with us to give directions to the nearest tube stop.

* There was one horrible woman at dinner on Friday night who didn't have one nice thing to say about Germany, and an apparently crazy lady yelled at us for walking to slowly.

London Calling

Today I'm headed to London for the weekend. This will be the first time since October that I'll be in an English speaking country. I am looking forward to:

• Navigating the transportation system without making up crazy pneumatic devises to remember the stop
• Not feeling guilty about using English while ordering a meal or checking in to a hotel
• Ease dropping
• Reading the menu
• Not having to hand the taxi driver a card with the destination's address
• Movies and plays are an optional activity
• Newspapers everywhere

England Travel Guide

London

Restaurants and Pubs

• The Abingdon, 54 Abingdon Road, London W8, Phone: 4420 7937 3339. Love this place. Great food, great atmosophere. Well worth the trip.
  
• Tea Palace, 175 Westbourne Grove, London W11 2SB, Phone: 020 7727 2600 175. Open for breakfast, lunch, brunch, and afternoon tea. Reservations recommended. The shop sells over 160 varieties of tea and infusions from all over the world. Great, helpful service.
• 202 Cafe, inside Nicole Fahri, 202 Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill, London W11 2RH. Written up in The London News in March 2008 as one of the best breakfasts in London. By the looks of things they must be right — we couldn't get anywhere near a table on a Saturday in April.
• The Princess Victoria, 25 Earls Court Road, Kensington, London W8 6EB, Phone: 020 7937 4534. Cozy pub, friendly service. Try the John Smith's beer.
  

Accommodations

• The Rockwell, 181 - 183 Cromwell Road, London SW5 0SF, Phone: +44 (0)20 7244 2000. A lovely, independent hotel located in Kensington, conveniently located near multiple tube stops. Not in the "budget accommodations" category, the double rooms at The Rockwell are larger and more well appointed then most European hotels. Nice garden.
  
• The Kensington Close Hotel, Wrights Lane, London W8 5 SP, Phone: 0870 751 7770. Small, but nice rooms. Large hotel, but a good value.