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Finding well-being through travel and books. |
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Hello and welcome! I have two great passions in life. The first one is travel. After a series of life-changing events, my husband and I decided to spend the kids’ inheritance and see as much of the world as possible (I’m still bitter about Damascus). Our bible? A Thousand Places to See Before You Die. Please join us on our adventures seeing new places, meeting fascinating people and trying new, exciting, and sometimes just plain weird, food. My second great passion is books. Reading expands my interior world in the same way travel expands my external one. And, books are a great way to armchair travel - not only through distance but through time as well. My tastes are eclectic, so we’ll be looking at a wide range of writing in a possibly haphazard fashion. Come along for the ride! My best, Kirsten ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| I love the food hall at Fortnum's. It reminds me so much of an earlier time and the British Raj. My father used to tell me stories about his adolescence in India, and the "desiccated memsahibs" gossiping on their wide verandas over endless cups of tea. Somehow, I always imagined the tea coming in fabulous baskets from Fortnum and Mason, even though it was grown locally in Darjeeling and Ceylon. Fortnum and Mason has a a long and distinguished history. It began in the early 1700's when William Fortnum, a young footman to Queen Anne, discovered that the Royal family required fresh candles every night. The enterprising (and cheeky) youth set up a profitable side business in 'gently used' candles which gave him, and his landlord, grocer Hugh Mason, the funds to begin Fortnum and Mason. Soon afterward, the store established close ties with the British East India Company which enabled them to import exotic and unique items to serve the broadening tastes of the growing middle class as well as the aristocracy. Their hampers, shipped by Fortnum's own mail service (until 1839 when the GPO was formed creating a postal monopoly), are, to this day, shipped far and wide. As later in the trip we will be visiting friends who recently welcomed twins, we needed to shop for baby clothes (I swear that Rene's "grandpa gene" has kicked in - there was no other reason why we had to do this shopping first!). Fortnum's has a fairly small children's section but the shoes looked just the thing for fashion-forward tots. Stumped in our quest for the perfect baby clothes at Fortnum's, we walked down Picadilly, past Hyde Park, and on into Harrods, which is located in Knightsbridge. There, we found a huge children's sections with some eye-watering prices. Eventually, we did settle on an adorable outfit for each child. Later, Rene said," it's too bad they're going to grow out of them in a few months. Oh well, then they will be able to dress their teddies in the clothes." You could almost see the lightbulb go off! Before I knew it, I was in Hambley's shopping for teddy bears! And this was the final result ... Read it and see the photos here  |
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