Citizens of the World: A Stoic Podcast for Curious Travelers - London Best: Your Ultimate Travel Guide to Pubs, Gigs, Restaurants, and More

Episode Date: December 29, 2018

Best of London episode! I realized recently that even though I’ve been an American expat in London for nearly eight years, I hardly ever talk about my favorite city. My website — postcardacademy.co — is filled with photos and travel guides for other places I've visited around the world. I want to share more about London with you, starting with this episode.    Today I’m the interviewee. My friend Cristal Dyer, who you’ve heard on other Postcard Academy episodes, including the ones on Travel Deals; Oaxaca, Mexico; and Volunteering at an Animal Sanctuary; kindly volunteered to play host. I’ll share my very best insider London tips, from restaurants to theatre to live music. Enjoy! *** I’m your host, Sarah Mikutel. Ready to travel? Sign up for my newsletter and get your free guide to cheap airfare.    Thank you so much for listening to this show. I know you’re busy and have many listening options, so it means a lot to me that you’re here. You are the best.   This podcast is brought to you by Audible. Not a member yet? Postcard Academy listeners can get a FREE audiobook and a 30-day free trial if you sign up via audibletrial.com/postcard   This podcast is also brought to you by World Nomads. Need simple and flexible travel insurance? Get a cost estimate from World Nomads using their handy calculator at postcardacademy.co/insuranceDo you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free Conversation Cheat Sheet with simple formulas you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you’re in a meeting or just talking with friends.Download it at sarahmikutel.com/blanknomore and start feeling more confident in your conversations today.

Welcome to the Postcard Academy. I'm your host, Sarah Micatel. Back in 2008, I had a good job at a publishing company in New York. I lived with my sister and another flatmate in Park Slope, Brooklyn, which is a neighborhood filled with boutiques and great restaurants and cafes and indie performers. Every weekend, I would go jogging in Prospect Park, and then I would go shopping at the farmer's market and the food co-op. Then I would go shopping at the farmer's market and the food co-op. Then I would eat a warm muffin and flip through the newspaper at Blue Sky Bakery. So I was living a pretty charmed life, which felt fairly secure, despite the financial crisis that was unfolding. But I was ready to try something else. I had moved from Boston to New York a few years earlier, and as soon as I arrived, I knew that I should have left Boston earlier. And now I was feeling that way about New York. I knew that my home was elsewhere, somewhere in Europe. Plus, the daily grind of commuting into Manhattan was really starting to take its toll on me. So, despite protests from friends and family and colleagues that I was throwing my life away,

I quit my job, started a blog called Flood the Cube, and headed to Italy, where I had already spent a summer back in 2003. So Flood the Cube was more or less private. It was something that I only shared with friends and family, so they could see what I was up to, know that I was still alive. And over the years, I would sporadically write about life in Rome or Brooklyn or wherever I happened to be at the moment. And at some point, I stopped writing on that blog. But recently, I've been thinking that I've been living in London for nearly eight years, and I almost never talk about this city, which I really love. On my website, postcardacademy.com,

I share photos and recommendations about my travels to other countries, and and share travel guides based on local tips from my guests on this podcast. But I don't really talk about London, and I really would like to change this, beginning with this episode. So my friend Crystal Dyer, who you know from the Travel Deals and Animal Sanctuary episodes of the Postcard Academy, she agreed to interview me. So on this episode, you'll be getting all of my best insider advice on London. And I hope you enjoy.

So Sarah, we thought that it would be a good idea for us to swap roles a little bit and have me asking you some questions all about your life, how you got to where you are, and why you decided to live in London. I am looking forward to this conversation. I always love talking to you, Crystal, so let's give it a go. Okay, so first things first, you're an American living in London. Where did you actually grow up? So I was born in a tiny town in the state of Connecticut, which is between Boston and New York City. And then I pretty much spent my whole adult life in major cities, including Boston and New York. And what was your first trip abroad? So I went to Canada once with my family when my father had a work trip there. But growing up, we mostly stayed in New England.

We went to Disney World a few times. But my first trip on my own was when I was 18, I spent the summer in England's Lake District, and I was a waitress slash chambermaid at a hotel there. And it was the most grueling job I have ever done in my life. But I really fell in love with England. And I knew that I wanted to live there eventually. So how did you end up in London? So after that summer, In the Lake District, I studied abroad in London for a semester, which was amazing. My classes were in museums and walking tours, and we went to see plays. So that was probably the most significant months of my formal education. And I really didn't want to leave, but it's, well, first of all, I went home to finish school.

And then I couldn't figure out a way to go back and live in the UK as an American because it's really hard. visa-wise. But then eventually, like years later, I figured out that I was eligible for dual citizenship with Italy because of my Italian heritage. So I actually moved to Italy and got EU citizenship and stayed there for about a year in this small town called Reggio Emilia because I loved it so much. But eventually the money ran out. And for me, London was always the ultimate goal to live and to work there. So with an Italian passport, I've been able to live and work in London and I've been here since 2011. And I hope to stay with Brexit. Everybody's so confused about what's going on. But that's how I ended up here. I think you're pretty lucky. You're definitely living the

dream with that dual citizenship. I feel so fortunate. And for years, for like the first few years that I had it, I would physically shake every time I went through border control. because I thought they would take away my passport and say, hang on, you actually don't, you know, don't deserve this. This doesn't belong to you. But so far it's worked and I feel more at ease. And also over here, the modern passports have these little chips in them. And so you don't even have to talk to anybody at border control, which is great. You just scan your passport and you're in. So another thing that might change. post-Brexit. Okay, so can you give me a bit of a visual snapshot of what London is like? London is in the southeast of England, and England is in the island. When I think of London, I definitely think of the River Thames, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, which looks like a castle, and it's where the well-to-do were imprisoned back in the day. Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben, which is technically the bell in the clock tower and not the clock tower, but I think most of us, when we talk about Big Ben, we're talking about the tower.

There are so many historical sites. And then things like the London Eye, there's so many parks here. London is a very green city. There are massive parks everywhere. Would you say London's a good place to live as an expad? Definitely. I think, you know, London is such an interesting. international city and there is so much going on. It's often compared to New York. I actually like

London a little bit better than New York because I just think it's a little bit more laid back. It's so well connected to the rest of Europe. So if you're an expat who wants to travel around, it's just so easy and the trains and the planes are pretty reasonable. It's not a cheap city. It's not a cheap city. And so I would say that's probably the biggest negative. Like most of my friends now are in their, you know, like late 20s to mid-40s or so. And we're all living with flatmates unless we're living with a significant other. So it's not the cheapest city. Okay.

Well, what would you say is the best thing? The best thing about London is for me, the history. I'm so interested in not only the architecture, but the stories you hear. If you go on walking tours, there's a walking tour place called London Walks, which I would highly recommend to anyone. They do like 10 different tours a day. There's just something for everyone. The museums are great.

And, you know, the British Museum and to the National Portrait Gallery are two of my favorites. and their descriptions for different paintings and different objects are so interesting and they really tell you more of a story than I guess I'm going a little bit on a tangent here but this is like related to history like I just I find it so interesting sometimes you go into a museum and the description for the object is so boring or theatrical or there's no description at all And so I just really like the cultural aspect of the city. There's something for everyone, music, theater, ballet, everything. It really does sound like a great city to live in culturally, but I get the expensive part.

Okay, so let's say I'm actually coming to London to visit you for a long weekend. It'll happen one day. Okay. In the summer, for sure. What are our must sees? There are so many. So I'm going to just have to hold myself back. But I would say, if you like museums, the National Portrait Gallery is my favorite.

And right next to that is the National Gallery. And these are both in Trafalgar Square, so super, super central. British Museum is fantastic. That's where you're going to find the Rosetta Stone. Victoria and Albert Museum is really great. The Tate Britain and Tate Modern. And these museums are all free. They have some paid exhibits that switch out, you know, periodically.

But for the most part, all the major museums are free. And some of them are open late in the evenings, either like Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. So those are definitely must-sees. I would say the Tower of London, for sure. You can go there and see graffiti etched into the stone walls that's hundreds of years old, dying wishes of people. So that's really cool. And you can get free tickets to the ceremony of the keys. This is like their ritual closing of the tower at night ceremony. But you have to apply for that months in advance. But that's something pretty cool to check out. Buckingham Palace. Everyone walks by Buckingham Palace. And so that's fun to take pictures of. And if you're there in the summer when the queen is away, you can actually go into the state rooms and check those out. So that's definitely worth a ticket price, I think.

And then I love walking tours. So I mentioned London walks is fantastic. I've taken quite a few of those, and they offer several a day. And then touring parliament is also very fun if you enjoy history. And you need to book that one in advance too. But that's really fun because they take you around inside Parliament. So you learn that history, but then it's really fun if you have people, on your tour who are from other countries like Scotland or Spain. And it's just like I went and

I heard like this one of a Scottish man on our tour sort of challenging the tour guide as to historical facts because there are some, you know, ancient rivalries and bitterness. Sometimes that comes out and it's just, I don't know, it was fascinating to hear that other perspective. Okay, well you've given me some, sounds like some things that are not always on different itineraries. Have you got any other secret hidden gems that you take me to? Yes. So if it's a Saturday, I would take you to this little indie market called Cabbages and Frocks. And that's outside St. Marlebone Parish Church.

I used to live in this neighborhood called Marlebone, and I loved it. And it's not that touristy. Not many tourists go there. It's right near Regents Park. But starting from the market, cabbages and frocks, that will put you on one end of Marleybun High Street, which is this very charming, you know, classically British street. And so if you really want to get away from the tourists and just see something darling, I would walk down Marleybun High Street, check out some of the shops. There's a bookshop called Daunt Books that I really like. And then about a quarter of a mile down, you would take a left onto Marley Bond Lane, so some more cute shops.

And then you're going to hit a big street called Wigmore Street. And to the right of that, that is St. Christopher's Place. And that's kind of like this secret little alleyway with more shops. And on the other side of that is Oxford Street, which is kind of a nightmare. It's like all of these massive chains, shopping stores, and there's people everywhere. So if you're actually coming down Oxford Street, you would not even notice this little pathway to Christopher's Place, St. Christopher's Place. And so I guess it's more of like a hidden gym if you're coming down Oxford Street.

But it's definitely worth checking out. So I like that little route. And then there are so many great food markets and designer markets in London. That's something else that I really like. There's definitely like a creative vibe in the city. And so one of the markets that not too many people know about, I think, is Mercato, Metropolitan. And it's an Italian market, food hall. So they have these different restaurants and

indoors seating, but they also have special events there. So I just saw that. They're having like a how to make Panetone workshop coming up. And that's near the Imperial War Museum, which is another museum, or just another thing, I guess. That's a little off the beaten path. I'm not sure how many tourists make it down there. But those are two good things to hit up together. There is a very tall building. So London doesn't have a ton of skyscrapers, but adds a few. And one of them is the shard, as in like a glass shard, because supposedly that's what it looks like. And if you want to go all the way to the top, you have to pay for that.

But if you want to just get a drink at one of the bars like Aquashard, you can just take the elevator up and have a drink so you don't have to pay to go up. And so that's a cheaper way to have a very nice view of London. Another market that I really love is called Maltby Market. That's only open on the weekends. And so there's like a massive food market called Borough Market, which, everyone should go to. I love that one. There's just food everywhere, cheeses, vegetables, but also like stuff to get for lunch. But Maltby is on a smaller scale and you could actually

hit both of them. You could start at Maltby and then walk to Borrow and just eat your way through London. It sounds like you could possibly write a whole book about things to do in London. Have you thought about doing that? I thought about doing another podcast London focused. So yeah, well, I'm just so interested in the people here. There's so many people doing, uh, really cool things like pop up markets everywhere. Yeah, just people from all over the world creating art and making music. It's a really nice, um, environment to be in. And then, you know, there's something called little Venice, which is the, this canal that we have here. So that's always a nice walk.

Yeah, so many things to do. Well, so one of my favorite things that we did together when you visited me in Oaxaca was just hanging out one afternoon, walking around, showing you some of the sites, having lots and lots of little snacks along the way. So how would you recommend we spend a leisurely afternoon in London? Okay. This is something that I do all the time because I really enjoy it, but just walking along the river Thames.

So you can do it in either direction. So I usually start around Waterloo. And this is a, so you head toward London Bridge on the same side of the river where the London Eye is. And the London Eye is the Ferris wheel. So you start over there. And on the weekends, I think it's Friday through Sunday at South Bank Center. They have a really delicious food market. So I would get something to eat there

and then I would start walking along the river toward London Bridge. And so you're going to pass the Tate Modern Museum so you could pop in there if you wanted to. You'll pass a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, so they have performances there. You'll pass lots of restaurants and little bars. There's something called the Oxo Tower. Outside you'll see OXO, and there are a ton of independent designers all in one place. My favorite shop there is called Snowden Flood. And you'll just find like plates and tea towels and just really cool things designed by

local people there. Eventually you'll end up at Borough Market, which I mentioned, which is one of the best food markets in London. And then from there, you can either go over a tower bridge and go to, see the Tower of London, or you can stay on the same side of the river and go to Maltby Market, that market that I mentioned. And over there, you'll be in, like, the area of Bermenzee, which is another cool neighborhood. I also love spending time in parks. London is very green as I mentioned. So Regents Park and Hyde Park are two of my favorites. And if you're in Hyde Park, you can actually walk down to Kensington Palace Gardens. And that's London's most expensive.

street and you'll see all of these mansions, which is very cool. And then you'll also be at Kensington Palace. So if you want to explore that, then you can check out the exhibits there. It sounds like I'm going to need a lot of time when I visit London. How many days would you recommend for a first time visit? At least a week, at least minimum. And you mentioned before, was it Marlebone? Marlebon. Yes, yes. How do you pronounce it? Marlebon. Marlebon. It sounds like a cute neighborhood. Do you have any other favorite neighborhoods that you'd recommend to wander around it? Oh, gosh. Yeah, there's just never ending. Clarkinwell is really cool. So once upon a time, it was like this Italian slum. I think even Dodger from Charles Dickens stories.

I think he was based in Clark. Well, because once upon a time, like the Italian artisans and I think glassmakers and things like that, they lived in Holborn. But then when the poor Italians started to come to London, they moved to this area called Clarkinwell. But today, there's still like some of that Italianness to it, my favorite, one of my favorite cafes. slash restaurants there. It's called Teroni. And there's a church there that has services in Italian. But for the most part, it's now more, I think a lot of designers are working out of there. And it's just, it's a really cool neighborhood. Not too many tourists go there. They have a little street called X-Smith Market that has a lot of

indie shops and restaurants. And that's cool to check out. Yeah, it's just fun to walk around there. And how would you recommend getting around London? Is it a walkable city or would we need to get public transport? Well, if you want to walk for hours, which is something that I actually enjoy doing, then you can walk. But I think you would definitely need to take public transportation, which is fantastic. Like the signs are great. Usually when you're on the bus, it'll tell you where you are, what the stop is. And you can get something called an oyster card, which is the sign.

electric ticket. I think you pay five pounds to get it and then you can add like, then you can get like a weekly pass. And if you turn in the card when you leave, you'll get your five pound deposit back. But that's probably the cheapest way and easiest way to get around the city. There's also black cabs. And for now we have Uber. That's another thing that's sort of like, I guess, being fought about. But a lot of people I know really like taking Uber around as for ease. But yeah, the tube, which is what they called the subway and the bus that are really easy to navigate. So where do you go if you're in the mood for some culture like theater or live music or you mentioned a whole bunch of museums as well already?

Yes. Have you got any recommendations? For live music, there is a place called the Harrison near Kings Cross that I love. They play a lot of folk music. Every other Wednesday they have a folk night and that's free to go in. They have some paid concerts to you, but that's like a really. tiny music venue in the basement of a pub. So that's the Harrison. And then for slightly bigger shows, there's Brixton Academy. I saw the Lumineers there, which was really cool. For like really big shows,

there's the O2 Arena. There's a famous old building called Royal Albert Hall. And they have a lot of shows there. In the summertime, they have something called prompts, which is classical music. And you can get cheap tickets to go to that, too. I'm not as much into theater as I once was. I like Soho Theater because they have more indie productions that I feel like are just more natural and less theatrical, I guess. But then there's some of my friends like theater a ton. And so I actually went to see Antony and Cleopatra at the National Theater with a friend who wanted to go. And they have a lottery that you can enter.

And so if you want to get cheap tickets, that's a good tip. And then also London has a ticket booth similar to New York and Lester Square to get half-price tickets. And then another friend of mine is going to see the Harry Potter show with a friend of hers. And they have a lottery too for cheaper tickets. And so if you want to come, I guess, enter that lottery as early as you can because they're not going for another six months. Wow. And then I thought I've not that into dance, but I saw a fantastic show recently at a place called Sadler's Wells. And they have really, really good performances of all kinds.

So we saw this modern interpretation of like the story that led up to Medusa. And it was just brilliant. The music, the dancing, the set. It was really, really cool. Okay. So pretend that I'm not a person who like. to be in bed by 10 o'clock. What would you suggest that we do in the evening?

Well, first of all, Crystal, London would be perfect for you because I also like to go to bed early, but the nights start early here. And so, you know, historically the pubs closed at 11. I guess during like World War I, they wanted to make sure that the guys who had to work in the factories wouldn't show up drunk like the munitions factory workers. and so they enacted this law where the pubs had to close on the earlier side. And I think that changed, I don't know, a little over 10 years ago, where bars, pubs could apply for an extension license to stay up,

like stay open later. But most of them still close on the earlier side, like 11, 1130. And for me, that's perfect. So people will get out of work and go right to the pub, hang out, have some drinks, and then you can have like a full night and be home in bed at 11. It's wonderful. But so going back to your question about where we should go. So there's a place called the Ned, and that's sort of several bars and restaurants all under one roof, very old world style looking, and there's live music in the center of all of that. So that, I really really,

like the Ned a lot. And then there is a whiskey bar called Milroyce, which is quite small. That's in Soho. But then if you go through a bookshelf, you can get to like this little secret bar downstairs called The Vault. And that's a cool little cocktail bar. It gets way too loud later in the night. But if you go on the earlier side, that's a cool place to have a drink. And then I mentioned the Harrison, the music venue that I liked. I recently went to this place called the Orile, which is in Clarkinwell. That neighborhood that I said used to be the Italian slum. And Oriole has live music. I saw it really good sort of like French jazz show the other night. The cocktails there are crazy expensive. So just be prepared. But the service is bizarrely,

like a little over the top. It was kind of cool, but we had like this sort of drink consultants come over and ask us what we liked and wanted to create the perfect cocktail for us. So that was like very, very personal service. So that was cool. But you will pay for it. And then there's a place called Dinorama in Shortwich, which is more of like the hipster, like young area. And that's sort of like a food hall bar scene. And I think it's open Wednesday to Sunday in the summer and might be open around noon on the weekends. But that's a cool thing to go to as well.

And then one more I want to mention is there is this very tiny museum called the Brunel Museum. And that's dedicated to England's most important engineer. And I wouldn't say it's worth making the trek for the museum itself because it's really small. But they hold these really cool events there, including like cocktail nights and movie nights and things like that. And it's next to one of London's oldest remaining pubs called the Mayflower. And I would definitely try to do those if you can, if there's something going on at that museum when you're here. Are there any day trips that you'd recommend? Yes.

So on top of your week in London, add these some of the... these day trips. Winter Castle is very easy to get to. It's a simple train ride. You can go inside and tour the castle. It's just beautiful. If you like castles, that's 100% worth it. And then Bath is this little stone village that's famous for its Georgian architecture and Roman baths. It's really nice at Christmas. Really nice any time of the year. And that's easy to get by train. Everything is well connected. And then Hampton Court Palace, if you want to see where Henry V. 8th spent his time, I would definitely take a train ride out there. So let's talk about my favorite topic. Yes. What foods do I have to try when I'm in London? Okay. So I would say you definitely have to have

Sunday roast if you're there on a Sunday. And that's just like a cozy, um, meal that's traditionally like meat and some vegetables and potato and a little yorkshire pudding. But you can get vegetarian version. London is such a vegetarian-friendly city. And so pretty much any pub you go to will have a veggie version now, especially at the gastro pubs. And then there's high tea. And so that's when you get tea. And then a delicious scone with jam and clouded cream and other, you know, sweet trees. I don't even have that much of a sweet tooth, but I think high tea is very fun.

And there's a place called Bees of Bloomsbury, which does a really affordable one and probably the most delicious one. And then if you want something a little bit more old world, I like the Woolsey, which is near Green Park. What else? And then Fish and Chips is quite famous. And if you want a veggie version,

I found one at this place called the George N. Vulture near Bank. Dickens used to go there, apparently. Their hours are a little bit bizarre. It's just like noon to 2.30 during the week, closed on the weekends. But they have a veggie version of fish and chips where the fish is halomi, fried hulumi. So if you want to try fish and chips and your veg, I would recommend going there. And then there's a ton of food markets, as I'm mentioned. Oh, and the full English breakfast is pretty famous. So that's usually bacon, sausages, eggs, mushrooms, tomato, beans, toast. But you can get a veggie version that will usually come with like avocado or halumi and then, you know, maybe veggie versions of meat. So full English

breakfast is a is another one. Okay. And what in the world is your sure pudding? You know, I'm not exactly sure. Like, you would think it would be like a pudding, like a sort of gooey pudding, but it just seems like a little fried bread. Okay. Let me look this up. I was wondering myself the other day. I thought it was just fried bread. That doesn't sound that appetizing. It's not. It's more like the vegetables and whatever sort of like veggie, sort of pastry that they dream up. That's really good. According to Wikipedia, Yorkshire pudding is a common English side dish consisting of a baked pudding made from batter consisting of eggs, flour, milk, and water. So, yeah, like that, it's nothing special.

But then if your meal has a lot of gravy, what you do is you dip the Yorkshire pudding into the gravy. It's like dipping bread into gravy, essentially. Okay. Because I guess in my head I was thinking like bread and butter. of pudding, but that's sweet. So I guess this is more savory. It's definitely a savory, yeah, a savory meal. So in my mind, and from what you've told me, I guess, drinking culture in London sounds a lot like people going to pubs, eating curries. Do you eat curries in pubs? Or am I just making this up in my head? What can you tell me about the drinking

culture? It's definitely family-friendly. Well, it can be. I would say the pub culture is one of my favorite things about England. And I don't even like beer. But you can actually get pretty good wine in pubs these days. But I mentioned that when I was 18, I worked in the Lake District. And that was my first experience of pubs. And I just loved that everyone went there. It was just the center of the community.

I saw like grandmothers drinking with their, you know, young adult grandsons, which I just thought it was really cool that everyone was hanging out together. Compared to America, I feel like ages, people in different age groups mix more, which I think is really nice. I think in the States, a lot of times you go out and it's like a lot of young people hanging out at the bar. And I just like that people of different generations go out here. And so, you know, you go to the pub after work or on the weekends. A lot of them have really good food, maybe a fireplace. Sadly, a lot of pubs have closed.

I was just reading an article recently about what, because I think over the last few years, London's pubs went from like 4,000 to 3,000 something. And, you know, you have these big corporations. that buy up a bunch of classic, like historical ones. And so I don't know. I hope that London routines its pub culture because it's just such a big part of what it is. Well, what would you say is the best time of year to visit? In my head, I'm thinking summer, of course, because I'm terrified of the cold. But maybe you can change my mind.

Well, summer probably is the best time to visit because the weather is great and everybody is in a happy mood. But for me, coming from, you know, spending most of my life in New England and New York, where the seasons are a lot more extreme, summers, you know, quite hot in the winters, especially in Boston, are just brutal. I actually really like London weather because it's kind of mild all year. And so, you know, the winters get cold, especially last year was, you know, unusually cold. But it's really not that bad, you know. I don't mind the weather here at all. People are often surprised when I say that. But yeah, I would say summer is a great time to visit. And then also Christmas, I know you recommend traveling in the shoulder season, which makes sense. So, yeah, maybe even around mid-November could be a good time because you can get cheaper prices and still experience the holiday spirit.

And places like Herod's, which is this very famous old department store, they will have like a very, a huge, huge Christmas display that I think goes out in July. I actually read today that they're planning on opening a Harrods in Brisbane, which is crazy. Really? I didn't know that they were expanding into other places. Neither did I. I wonder if they have it anywhere else in the world. I don't know.

But that's a, yeah, if you're in the area, that's a cool little department store to have a wander around in. They have a really cool food hall, not food hall in the sense that it's a bunch of different restaurants, but different products from around the world, which is fun to check out. Well, so speaking about spending, what is something that you'd recommend that I buy to remember London? Well, for your little niece, a Paddington Bear, for sure. My nephew has one and he loves him. For adults, at Tea is great. There's a company called Fortnum and Mason that's quite old.

And supposedly, that's where the queen does her shopping at Fortinham and Mason. Like it's one of the, I guess, Royal Approved Shops. I mean, she's not personally shopping there, but I think they get products from Portnum and Mason. So they make really good teas. And they have a really beautiful multi-floor shop, not too far from Piccadilly Circus. So that's fun to check out. It's also near the Royal Academy. If you want to pop in and see whatever special.

The Royal Academy of Art, if you want to go in there and see whatever exhibit. they have going on there. So you can pick up your tea there. It's not that far from Buckingham Palace if you wanted to go there after that. But if you don't make it, you can also pick up Fortnome and Mason tea at the airport. Oh, that makes it easy. Do you have any favorite artisan shops or designer markets that you'd recommend? So I mentioned the oxo tower that has a ton of indie markets.

And my favorite shop there is Snowden Flood. There's also Spittlefields, Spittal Fields market, which is really cool. That's near Shortage, which is the very hipster area. And a lot of Indian restaurants are over there. It's near like this old brewery that now has a lot of different events happening. There are a lot of sample sales. So this is my favorite part of your podcast. And I'm really excited I'm getting to do it with you.

The Lightning Round. Okay. So for any new listeners, basically I'm going to quickly go through some of the topics that I would like you to recommend your favorite place in London. Okay. So are you ready? I'm ready. Okay.

Bakery. Okay. There is a chain called Gales and they make really great breads. They have something called a crustless keesh that I really like. And you can just find them sprinkled around the city. So if you're looking for a place for like a quick but nice lunch, you can go to Gales. There's also, I'm not going to say this right, Bejurit. It's a Swedish bakery on Rose Street.

So this is this tiny little street tucked away in Covent Garden, which is another quite popular place to visit, I guess. I didn't mention that, but Covent Garden, which is near Soho. So they make very nice Swedish pastries. And then if you are a cupcake lover, Hummingbird Bakery makes. delicious cupcakes and I really like the cheesecake brownie one. Coffee shop. So if you're in Hyde Park, I would recommend going to the Italian Gardens Cafe. When I used to live closer to Paddington, I would go there all the time and it's overlooking

the Italian gardens. And so that's a really nice view and a nice environment. And then actually, sticking to Hyde Park, there's another cafe deeper inside of the park called Velito. And that's a nice place to just have a quiet coffee. And then in Soho, there's a place called Bar Italia, where you can sit outside and do some people watching. So you can get a cappuccino there and just sit outside. Lunch spot. I love eating at the food markets, especially South Bank food markets. Chinese. London actually has a Chinatown. And my favorite Chinese place there is Beijing Dumpling. There's a pub that I like called.

the Mayflower, which is near that Brunel Museum I said to check out. And they make a mushroom beef version of Beef Wellington. It's so, so delicious. One of the best meals I've ever had. So definitely Sunday roast. Okay. What about your favorite dinner spot? Okay. So there is a place near King's Cross called the German Gymnasium. And I'm not like mad for German food, but I love this environment and they do have a few veggie options that are really, really delicious. And again, when I lived near Paddington, this is especially helpful if you're going to go to Heathrow from Paddington Station. There's a pizza place right nearby called Bizarro. And you know, you might think, I don't want to eat at a pizza place named Bizarro.

But the guys there are super friendly. I used to live around the corner from there. And the pizza is really good. And in nice weather, you can sit outside. So I used to go there always. Okay. What about your favorite vegetarian-friendly restaurant? I would say the gate. And they have a couple now.

I really like the one closer to Angel, in Angel. And they, it's just like a very, it's a nice restaurant. It's kind of like upscale vegetarian. And I think it was one of the first ones. that I went into that had like a creative menu rather than just, you know, back in the day, vegetarian restaurants were a lot of just Asian dishes, like a lot of hippie, like, patchuli burning. And I like that kind of stuff.

But this was kind of like, oh, the gay is like the grown-up when I want to have a nice meal and when you can convince your non-vegetarian friends to come out with you to like a veggie exclusive restaurant. So the gate for sure. Okay. What's your favorite wine or cocktail bar? The Ned, which is the old world place that has a few different bars under its umbrella and all in one place. And your top museum? The National Portrait Gallery.

I love seeing faces in paintings. I have a friend who is like really likes the more abstract stuff. And so I'll go along for the ride with that. But I really like I like the classics, which you can find at the National Portrait Gallery. And also the British Museum, I guess, just because it's just a world of history under one roof. And it's really well put together and really informative. What about your favorite food or artisan market? I would say I really like Barrow Market.

and I know that's the biggest one probably most well known, but for a reason. They have great food and it's just fun to walk around. It's really big. And then from there, you know, you could walk to South Bank, to like the Waterloo area. Just walk along the Thames. Such a beautiful walk and then you can eat again when you get to the South Bank market. And what culture tips should we know about before we get to London? Well, they're very good at queuing. So lining up, which I really appreciate, I really like the calm order of everything. I used to work in the financial district of Canary Wharf. And the tube was like way deep into the ground. So you had to go down these massive escalators. And as you're going down, you just see hundreds and hundreds of people. And you think, oh my gosh, how am I ever going to get onto?

this subway. But it's such an orderly queue system that it's actually no problem at all. It's shocking. I don't know if it would work in any other city. If you decide you want to go grocery shopping, you have to bag your own groceries, which I think can come as a surprise to some people, or at least from America, who go and then they're just standing there. It's like, yeah, roll up your sleeves and put those groceries in a bag. And is tipping a thing in London? How much should we tip at like bars or for a taxi? Tipping is so confusing to everyone here. I'm not sure why. It's still like people don't know what they should be doing. I think in the past tipping was not a thing, but now it is. So a lot of restaurants will just add 12.5% onto your bill. So you can just look to see if that's there. And if it's not, then I guess 12.5%. percent could be a good measure to go by never at a bar if you're ordering your drinks at a bar like nobody tips it's just not the custom and then taxi you know i think whatever you want not 20 percent

like in new york or i think the taxis in new york default now to like 20 or 30 percent i think maybe it's crazy um but here i don't know maybe 10 percent or even just one or like a few pounds I've been using Uber, so I don't know. I can't remember. And what's your number one neighborhood that we should stay in if we're visiting? I think some of the neighborhoods that I've lived in. So Marley Bonn and Paddington, you know, Marley Bonn is just beautiful. And you'll have fewer tourists and you'll be right near to Regent's Park. And the Baker Street tube is just so well connected. It's really easy to get everywhere. And then Paddington, There's loads, Paddington and Bayeswater, there's loads and loads of boutique hotels.

So you could probably find something on the cheaper side, but it's also near Hyde Park. And Paddington Station is really, is well connected. And now that you're an expat and you've got all this experience in London, what advice would you give to someone who's interested in moving to London? Well, I found my almost all of my apartments on a website called Spareroom.com. UK. And I actually found my first place before I even arrived in England. So I would recommend living with other people because one, potential, like, cool people to hang out with.

Two, you'll be saving money. And, you know, London is a really expensive city. So just come with an open mind. consider living with other people and just finding a room through that website and just make life easier for yourself, even if it's just for a few months just to get your bearings. Okay, so this is going to be a tough question, knowing what I know about your crazy lifestyle. Okay. What are you actually doing in London?

Well, at present, I am burning through my savings and traveling around while I get my little podcast business off the ground. But I'm also looking for new contract work. And this is something that I never did in New York. In New York, I just had, you know, the regular permanent jobs. But when I first moved to London, I immediately registered at the job center. I got my national insurance number so I could start working. And then I went to a bunch of different recruitment agencies for communications and marketing.

That's what I do. And they all said, well, you've never worked in the UK, so you should really, you need to do some contract work to get your foot in the door. And I kind of was like, what? I've been working in New York for years. Like they were acting like I like fell off a turnip truck or something. But it ended up being the best thing for me because these contract jobs that could go from like three months to two years, they pay better than normal jobs. And also because they can be short term, like when one finishes, then you can just travel in between your next contract. So for my lifestyle, it has worked out perfectly. Okay.

Well, thank you, Sarah. You've actually answered all of my questions somehow. I wanted to just let you know that I'm super grateful that you let me switch places with you and pretend to be an interviewer. I didn't realize London was such a vegetarian-friendly place. And, you know, I had like these probably five places in my head. that I should visit when I'm in London, but it sounds like there is so much more to see so many great places to eat that you've recommended that it's making me hungry. It's like almost 10 o'clock at night here, but now I'm seeing about what's in my fridge right now.

Oh gosh, I cannot wait to take you around. So when you're here in Europe over the summer, definitely we're going to do a London trip. And yeah, it's so veggie friendly. And one of the first, one of the first veggie burgers I ever had, I guess the first one was in Orlando, Florida when I was like 13. But when I was working in the Lake District when I was 18, I took like a weekend to go to London and had a veggie burger. I think it was either at Burger King or McDonald's, but I was like, this is incredible. A chain, like one of these mega fast food chains, they've already got veggie burgers. And I just thought, yeah, this is the place. Well, before we go, you definitely need to tell everybody where they can find out more about you.

Well, you can find out more about me and this podcast at postcardacademy.co. Thank you for listening to this episode. If you haven't subscribed to the Postcard Academy yet, I would love it if you did so. And if you told a friend about it, because that is the best way to grow the show. Sounds great. Thank you, Sarah. Thank you, Crystal. This has been really nice talking to you. Until next time.

I knew I was going to accidentally leave out some of my favorite places. You can find a roundup of everything we talked about here and more, including where to find a pub that serves as very good curry at postcardacademy.co. Apologies if you could hear my neighbor talking on the phone for part of this interview. Just one of the charms of urban life. I tried to cut him out the best that I could. I actually cut out a big section of my favorite lunch places, but I will include this in my roundup of great places to eat in lunch.

on Postcardacademy.co. By the way, back in 2008, I hadn't planned on living abroad long term. So after two months in Rome, I actually returned to Brooklyn. My boss asked me to come back and my job actually gave me a pay raise and a promotion. And I really don't think this would have happened had I stayed in my cubicle. So that experience really showed me the value of taking risks. And it also prepared me for my expat life, which began a few years later in 2010.

If you are an expat or an aspiring expat, I would love to hear your story. You can email me at sarah at postcardacademy.co. If you would like to support the show and access bonus content from today's episode, head on over to patreon.com slash postcard academy. That's all for now. Thanks for listening and have a beautiful week wherever you are.

Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free conversation cheat sheet with simple formulas that you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you're in a meeting or just talking with friends. Download it at sarah mygatel.com slash blank no more.