Victoria's Secret Hits London

Glossy black, lacquered fuchsia, and sparkling chandeliers - Victoria Secret epitomizes everything girly (positive body images excluded). However, their new European flagship store in London kicks everything up a hundred thousand notches or so. With floor to ceiling damask wallpaper in a velvet texture, faceted glass-pained banisters, leopard print rugs, four story spiral staircase, and private rooftop suite reserved for A-listers needing a glass of champagne to go along with their private fitting, the store redefines the word glamorous.

The stunning staircase (via)

However, as beautiful as it is inside, the store is equally stunning outside with large window displays featuring the nearly-there runway costumes donned by the Angels in the brand's annual runway show. Getting up close to these costumes you can easily see the hundreds of tiny gemstones, delicate lace, silky satin fabric, and tiny bow embellishments that make up these intricate costumes, as well as an accompanying photo from the runway show and short description. 

Doutzen Kroes on the runway...    (via)

...and her outfit on display in the store.

Another outfit

And one more!

Hate the lingerie mogul if you will, this store is definitely worth a walk-by when in London, as is the whole of Bond Street where it's located.

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Travis Eats His Way Through Europe (Part 2 - The Adriatic Coast)

For the second installment of "reading about, looking at pictures, and becoming insanely jealous of the various foods we ate in Europe" I have decided to write about the food we consumed while traveling along the Adriatic Coast - namely in Montenegro and Croatia.

While I was fairly familiar with the cuisine we encountered in Greece, I really had no idea what to expect in Montenegro and Croatia. I thought (and Calli hoped) that it might be similar to Greek food (it wasn't) or Italian food (kind of...I guess), however in the end we found an abundance of fresh fish and local favorites to fill our bellies.

Italian inspired dishes with local twists are very common.

As you may expect, given the locations we traveled to (mainly along the coast), Croatian and Montenegrin cuisine revolves extensively around the fresh daily seafood catch from the Adriatic. Squid and octopus, mussels and clams, and fish of all imaginable shapes and size are featured on menus everywhere. 

Fried squids and grilled fish at Buffet Fife in Split

Being from British Columbia, we are definitely seafood lovers and took every available opportunity to try the local variations, including Dalmatian fish soup (Dalmatinska riblja juha); fried, deep-fried, and grilled squids; flavourful fish soups; and a wide array of grilled fresh fish. 

Seafood risotto and grilled squids with fresh greens at Cesarica in Kotor

Squids galore at Lokanda Peskarija in Dubrovnik

Our culinary experiences were not limited to seafood,however, and a few of our top food experiences in Croatia and Montenegro came from more traditional inland recipes. Pasticada (a flavourful stewed beef dish often served with hand-rolled gnocchi), fresh local greens known for their immense health benefits (like chard and spinach), and amazing hand-made pastries can be found in traditional konobas - small restaurants that started as wine cellars and are now home to some of the most traditional meals in these two countries. 

Pasticada with gnocchi

Freshly baked traditional pastries

Additionally, we were very surprised at the immense influence that Italian traditions has had on the region. Gnocchi, pizza, and risotto - all with local twists or variations - were found on nearly every menu, and almost all that we tried were very, very good (much better, in fact, than most of what we had in Italy). 

Delicious pizza with fresh local prosciutto

If you are interested in some of our favourite restaurants, we would recommend Dalmatinska Konoba Cesarica in Kotor (wonderful traditional Montenegrin dishes at affordable prices), Lokanda Peskarija in Dubrovnik (great seafood right by the water at very reasonable prices), and Buffet Fife (no website but here is a review) in Split (great traditional Croatian dishes like fish soup and pasticada).

If you missed the last part of this series (or can't remember it because it was months and months ago) you can find it here!

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Where We've Been Hiding

Coming home has been quite the adjustment. Not only did we have to adapt our sleeping patterns to the Pacific Standard Time Zone, which took longer than either of us expected after being away for four months, we had to get back into the swing of a daily routine and try to slide back into social situations after being alone for so long. As it turns out, after being each others primary sounding board for so long our conversation skills and interpretations of social situations were a bit rusty, much to our embarrassment around the dinner table Christmas day. 

After the gifts were opened, Christmas decorations put away, and our winter clothes pulled out of storage, we easily slipped into a daily routine of waking late, lounging in our pajamas, and showering a bit too infrequently, for which I will not apologize. As it turns out, the reason people secure full time employment, in addition to paying their bills and for the sheer joy of working forty hours a week, is to avoid falling into this sedentary lifestyle of horrible daytime television, matted greasy hair, and insomnia resulting from the act of sleeping until two in the afternoon. 

Without rules or responsibilities, it appears the only way back to a world of cleanliness, where blog posts get written and the dished get washed, may be to pull ourselves up by the ol' bootstraps, or at least start holding each other more accountable. With that in mind, our intention is to get back into the swing of things here, finish up our outstanding posts on the marvelous things we saw and did in England during the last week of our trip, and follow that up with all the juicy details you've been dying to know; What would we do differently next time? How did we manage to pay for all of it? Where are we off to next? Who got gifts and what did we bring them? 

Yes, all this and more coming your way over the next few weeks - so long as we don't relapse into our pajamas.

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Relaxing in Salisbury

After 116 days, 5 night buses, a night train, and, well, everything else that goes with traveling for an extended length of time, we were ready to head home. Our clothes stunk no matter how many times we washed them, our bags were laden-down with gifts for awaiting family and friends, and our hair was in need of a good cut. But we still had 4 days left! Fortunately for us we had planned for this very moment at the half-way point of our trip, and were now in-store for 4 days of rest and relaxation in England's West Country.

The John Constable-inspiring scenery surrounding Salisbury

After some research and debate on where to spend our remaining days in the UK, we eventually settled on heading west from London to the cathedral city of Salisbury in Wiltshire County. With its proximity to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Stonhenge and Bath, as well as the numerous interesting sites in the city, we figured we would have the perfect mix of relaxation and adventure for the end of our journey.

Beautiful architecture in Salisbury

The stunning Salisbury Cathedral

Thankfully, Salisbury delivered exactly what we expected. Looking like it was straight out of Hot Fuzz, Salisbury simply oozes character and old British charm. With a magnificent cathedral and cathedral close, a great market, some wonderful architecture, and Constable-inspiring surroundings, the city is the perfect spot to spend a few days (or even more if you can spare it), and also provides a great base for exploring the surrounding regions (more on that to come).

St. Edmund's Church, just one of the many amazing old churches and buildings found in Salisbury

Making our stay even more enjoyable was our lovely hostess, Trish, and the comfort of the Old Rectory B&B. We rarely mention the places we stay (preferring to leave feedback on other sites), but we would be remiss if we didn't make mention of the Old Rectory, as its warmth and comfort was a large contributor to our enjoyment of the city and the region. Built immediately following WWI, its name comes from serving as the rectory for nearby St. Edmund's Church. Each room is named after a rector that lived in the house before its eventual conversion to a B&B by Trish's family. It was the perfect place to escape the rain and cold with a hot cup of tea, and provided us four of the best sleeps of our trip.

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