London Cru Urban Winery

A few weeks ago, Sunny in London and I were invited to visit

London's first and only urban winery, London Cru for a tour and tasting.

You know I love wine, so I was happy to visit.

Close to Earl's Court, the winery is a small space in a building that once housed a gin distillery.

The gleaming equipment was quiet the day that we visited.

All of the hard work was done in the fall when they created their first batches of wine.

But the process was explained from the handpicking of the grapes to the barreling.

The wine is now resting in the magic oak barrels and maturing into something wonderful.

They plan to bottle it later this year.  We were then treated to a tasting.

We tasted a Syrah, Cabernet Savignon, Barbera and a Rose.

They've also created a Chardonnay, but as it's more delicate they don't want to disturb it before bottling.

The red wines were robust and flavorful.  I don't have the most advanced palate,

but I could taste that it wasn't quite ready yet.  The potential for a lovely, enjoyable wine was certainly there.
I can't wait to taste it again after it's been bottled.

 This first year they plan to produce 1,250 cases of liquid gold

and next harvest they hope to double that volume.

Soon you may see it on the menu at your favorite London restaurant.

 Making wine in the heart of London is a labor of love for this London wine crew.

 If you would like to learn more, check out their website to schedule your own visit.

They offer 45-50 minute Meet the Cru tours each Saturday for £15.

They also offer the more advanced Winemaker for a Day events for £125. 

 Have you ever visited an urban winery?

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*I was a guest of London Cru 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.  

High Atlas Part 1

Greeting you with an enthusiastic hug!  I've missed you and this little blog of mine.

Going from spending about 8 hours a day blogging and everything that goes with it

to full-time accounting again has been quite the adjustment.

I'm still loving my new job (I've even started dreaming in debits and credits again),

however, when I get home after a long day I just want NetFlix and wine before bed.

We were also traveling the past two weekends, so I just haven't had any time to blog.

Obviously, the blog will be changing a bit and I'm fine with that.

Less pressure to grow my stats and network,  it's once again my scrapbook scrapblog.
 I love travel, photography, blogging and exploring so none of that will change.

I hope that you will stick around.  As I've said before the best thing about blogging

is the connections I've made.

I'm editing hundreds of photos from Dunkirk, Gravelines, Bruges and Ghent

that I can't wait to show you.  But in the mean time, I really want to finish up with our Moroccan holiday. 

While we were in Marrakesh, we had an optional day trip up into the High Atlas Mountains.

Here are the photos from the first half of that day.

We stopped at a small cooperative where Berber women make Argon Oil by crushing argon nuts.

It's one of the rarest oils on earth and is used medicinally, cosmetically and in cooking.

We didn't get close to any camels during our time in Morocco, but hopefully on future travels.

We took a bus to a small town at the base of the mountains and stopped for some mint tea.

It was such a beautiful little spot full of children and families.

The primary mode of transportation changes from cars to donkeys the higher up you go.

If only I could have rented one of these beasts of burden to get me to our next stop.

Later this week I'll tell you about our walk hike up to the next village. 

Have you ever ridden a camel or a donkey?

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Cruising 101 - Shore Excursions

In previous Cruising 101 posts, I’ve talked about selecting and booking a cruise.
Today I’m going to talk about shore excursions. 

One of the best things about cruising is pulling into a new port each morning and setting out to explore.  How you spend your time off the ship can certainly make or break your vacation.  There are three ways to approach shore excursions.

1.  Book directly with the cruise line

Each cruise line will have a long list of excursions for each port.  Once you’ve booked your cruise, go through the list to see all of the exciting ways to spend your time on shore.  They offer a large variety at various activity levels.

There are several Pros to dealing directly with the cruise line.  Everything is planned for you.  Just show up at the assigned spot, get your numbered sticker and off you go.  You’re typically dealing with reputable tour companies that have a professional relationship with the cruise line.  In addition, if there are any problems along the way it will be handled by the cruise line.  Most importantly, if the tour is delayed the ship will wait for you to get back on board.

But, there are some Cons also.  To be honest, Matt and I often scorn the massive, shuffling groups of “paddle people.”  The groups can be very large and plodding.  The cruise excursions offered by the ships are sometimes the most expensive option.  

We rarely go this route, but the few times that we have turned out fine.  On a Caribbean cruise, we booked a last minute Dolphin Experience for my birthday which was fantastic.  On my recent MSC Cruise, I was pleasantly surprised with our city tour excursions in Genoa and Aix-en-Provence.  The groups were a comfortable size and the tour guides were terrific.  We also will sometimes use the cruise line's airport transfers for convenience.  

2.  Book with a local tour company

A little more risky, but we’ve had great results with this approach.  The biggest risk is that if you’re delayed, the cruise ship WILL leave without you.  It’s great sport on a cruise ship to head to the upper decks and watch the stragglers run for the boat as the horn blares its imminent departure.   But cruise passengers are the bed and butter for these local tour groups.  They are well informed and will get you back to the ship in plenty of time. 

We love this option for several reasons.  We’re directly supporting the local economy.  The groups are usually smaller.  With a smaller group, you are able to make the most of your time.  In fact, we often go with a private tour with just us and a guide, offering flexibility and individual attention.  You would think this option would be the most expensive, but it’s usually not.  We’ve actually saved money this way.  This is what we did in St. Petersburg, Athens and Ephesus.

I don’t recommend just walking off the ship and going off with one of the last minute operators vying for your business in the port.  It’s critical to select a reputable and professional tour company with great word of mouth referrals.  CruiseCritic.com is the best place to start.  We always book online well ahead of time and take advantage of the protection that comes with using a credit card.

3.  Strike out on your own. 

Depending on the port this is a pretty easy option.  But typically the ports are some distance from the city, so don’t expect to be dropped of at the city center.  It’s important to research your transportation options.  Buses or taxis will usually get you from the port to the city.  Public transport might also be an option.

This one also requires research so that you spend your time wisely and are prepared.   And keep an eye on the time.  You don’t want to arrive back at the port to see your cruise ship sailing away.  If you’re using public transport, be sure to have a Plan B.  In Stockholm, we were depending on a bus to get us back to the port only to realize that the bus didn’t run on Sundays.  That was a long (and grumpy) walk back to the ship. 

Here are some questions to consider when you’re deciding which option to go with?

What is the size of the city? 

Is it walkable? 

How usable is the public transport?

How far is the port from the city?

How safe is the city?

What’s your budget?

How big is your group?

What are the ages and activity levels of your group?

How much travel experience do you have?

How much research are you willing to do?

How much risk are you willing to accept?

Different itineraries also lend themselves to a specific option.  In the Caribbean, we usually head to a beach on our own or pre-book a water excursion.   Each stop on our Baltic Cruise was a city that we could easily explore on foot or with public transport.  (The exception was St. Petersburg where you can’t leave the ship without being part of a tour.)  Our Med cruise ended up being the most expensive because we booked excursions at almost every port. 

Two last points. 

1.  Be sure to consider the additional expense of shore excursions when budgeting for your cruise.  Costs can add up very quickly and even double the price of your cruise. 

2.  Pay attention to transfer times.  That excursion may sound wonderful but if it means three hours on a bus, you might want to pass.  Shore time is limited so make the best of it.

 So much to consider, isn’t it?  But, I promise it’s worth it.  

 

What about you?  How do you approach shore excursions?

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Cruising 101 - The Pilot Boat

Next time you're on a cruise ship entering or leaving a port, go outside and look over the railing.

You might be lucky enough to see the Pilot Boat ferrying the local pilot.

Each Port has licensed pilots that will board a cruise ship to help the captain safely navigate the local waters.

He or she will know all of the secrets of the tides, sandbars and local conditions for that port.

And he is most certainly a daredevil.   Take a look at this series of photos.

In a matter of minutes, the tiny Pilot Boat pulls up along the massive cruise ship,

the pilot jumps onto the ladder and then the boat speeds off into the sunset.

Pretty cool, huh?

Have you ever spotted a Pilot Boat?

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The Souk of Marrakesh

After two months without travel, we're hitting the road today!

So happy, I can't even tell you.  We're taking the car over to France on DFDS ferries

and spending the weekend in Dunkirk.

I'll be tweeting and instagraming if you want to follow along.

I had bigger plans for my posts this week,

but I'm still struggling to find the blog vs. full-time job balance.

So, today is a bit of a cheat, as I'm going to let the photos tell the story. 

If you can believe it, I'm still not finished talking about our Morocco trip.

Today, I'm going to share my photos from our exploration of the souk in Marrakesh.

After our struggles with the square, it felt wonderful to get lost in the souk.

It was much more relaxed and authentic.

This is where I tried my luck at haggling.  The shopkeeper was so encouraging and patient.

I brought home the most beautiful silver teapot.

Such a cliche, but Morocco is a feast for the senses.

And the camera lens.  Take a look.

 Pretty amazing place.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

I haven't said it enough lately but thank you so much for reading my blog.

It means the world to me to have these connections.  Thank you.

What do you think of the souk?

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