London Part 4: Farewell!

On my last morning in London, Michelle escorted me to the MASSIVE park near their apartment. It was sooooooo beautiful.

And we went to the Kensington Palace, where Will and Kate will be moving in soon. Apparently, I've been here before.

So I believe that I've been on the London Eye when I haven't, but that I haven't been to Kensington Palace when I have.

Nevertheless, it was still really awesome. I wonder what it would be like to have hundreds of tourists milling around outside your home every day...

These guys are vicious! They will do anything for a piece of bread.

These birds were funny looking. So I took a picture.

Michelle then took me to King's Cross to get on my train to Edinburgh! I tried to do the classic Harry Potter picture where it looks like you're going through the brick wall to Platform 9 and 3/4, but I was too late.

And then I was off to Edinburgh!

More stories to come about my adventures in Scotland.

-Meri

London Part 2: Where Sam Finds the Love of Her Life

I always wanted a picture like that.

Yes, on my second day in London, Sam and Michelle took me on a wonderful sight-seeing tour.

But first, a bit of blasphemy on my part. I went to Starbucks. I know. I'm in Europe and I went to Starbucks.

But let me just say, it was great. In London, you can get a drink "for here" or "to go." That means that I got a MASSIVE venti mug of tea. I could not have been happier.

First, we saw Potted Potter. I had wanted to see this show when it was showing in New York, but I didn't get to. Luckily, they happened to be in town while I was!

The show was silly and adorable, run by two dorky guys that I would totally be best friends with.

Next, lunchtime.

We went to Pizza Express. I got the "Da Morire" (To Die For) pizza. Soooooo good. With leeks, pancetta, blue cheese, and other goodies.

Michelle had Margherita Pizza and a side salad.

And Sam had a pizza I can't remember and a salad.

Michelle looked like the chefs. It was funny. But she wouldn't pose with them, so I had to take a sneaky picture.

Next, we went to the street that Diagon Allley is based on!

I think this is Trafalgar Square.

These guys were there.

The London Eye! I thought I had been on this when I was younger, but my mommy told me I made that up.

Big Ben!

Then Westminster Abbey.

Awesome selfie picture.

Sam mocking people's poses right in front of their faces.

This is the bridge that got ripped up by Death Eaters in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!

That's my scared face.

They sell candied nuts on each end of the bridge. Yum.

Dinner time! We went to Las Iguanas. I haven't had Mexican food in forever. Being in London was like being at home, in terms of food at least--not in terms of the random palaces you find on every corner.

I wasn't super happy with my mojito. But I drank it anyway.

Sam had a wonderfully fruity drink.

For an appetizer we had these fried potatoes that came with a delicious hot sauce that I could have eaten with a spoon it was so good.

Dinner was delicious. I got two tortillas filled with a black bean thing and topped with a spicy coconut and butternut squash concoction. And a side of my favorite corn dish--corn on the cob coated with queso fresco and delicious spices.

Sam also found her future husband/love of her life there. The table next to us were being assholes so we left comment cards apologizing for them. Then I left my souvenirs there by accident. When Sam called the restaurant, the manager--Stewart--answered and recognized us as the "Americans that left the comment cards."

Long story short, when Sam and I arrived to collect my souvenirs, he gave us a hug and said "thanks for the kind words."

Long story short, Sam is currently preparing her wedding to Stewart.

Next time on the blog, we go to Oxford! And I eat porridge. It was a big deal.

-Meri

Green Cards, Hot Chocolate, and Harry Potter

Today I went to ACLI to start the process for getting my "permesso di soggiorno" (a green card sort of thing). I successfully got to the building (which I was proud of) only to find out that I then had to go to il Poste (post office).

You know how waiting at the post office is kind of horrible when there are a lot of people? Well, Italy might just be worse. It's one of those take-a-number systems--I was 223 and they were on 200. They started with four people taking customers. Slowly but surely three of them got up to leave. Great.

Street in the University area

Anyways, I was eventually successful and must get my fingerprints taken on April 15th. I feel like they might have wanted those prints a little earlier since there was such a rush to get the ACLI and post office stuff done today...

Part of my success was buying Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Italian. I inherited this buying trait from my mom. She will buy anything Phillies-related at the drop of a hat. For me, it's Harry Potter stuff.

And I mustered up the courage to go into a food establishment by myself! I got a piece of Margherita pizza. It was soooooo good. The crust was amazing, as were the toppings.

And then I had a HUGE craving for hot chocolate. So I went and found some.

This is the best hot chocolate I ever had. It was like drinking melted chocolate.

And guess what! It came with little cookies (they called them biscuits). When I dipped a cookie in the chocolate, it was completely coated as if I had dipped it in melting chocolate.

Random note: you pay AFTER you eat/drink in Italy.

I find this odd.

-Meri

A Bloody Brilliant Meal

Anyone who has talked to me for longer than ten minutes knows that I have a minor obsession with Harry Potter.

Okay, it's major.

Fine, it's a seriously major obsession.

It all started with the first movie. I wasn't much of a reader, but when I saw Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, I knew I had to start the series. Since then, Harry Potter has become a permanent part of my life. And most recently with the release of the last movie and the creation of Pottermore, my obsession could only flourish. And flourish it has.

The relatives that received my Christmas list this year caught another glimpse of my insanity as at least half the list consisted of Harry Potter-related materials. I won't go into the details, but suffice it to say that I receive the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook from my aunt.



The recipes inside are fantastic. Not that I would ever think of eating some of them (Beef Casserole, Veal Pies, Melton Mowbray Pork Pies, etc), but I love to see the recipes. Then there are ones that sound ridiculous that I just have to try like the Treacle Tart (I mean, it's Harry's favorite!) which is basically a tart shell filled with corn syrup and bread crumbs. But there are also fantastic looking dishes that I've bookmarked and cannot wait to try.



My friend Melanie, who goes back to college on Monday (yick), is my frequent baking buddy and I knew that we had to try some of these recipes out before she left. Plus, she just got the last Harry Potter movie for Christmas so we had food and entertainment for the night. We chose recipes that didn't require too much time or effort, seeing as we wanted time for the movie and cooking dinner and dessert.



We decided on: Vol-au-Vents with a tomato-feta filling, Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts, Roast Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary, and for dessert, 1-2-3 Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bonbons for Kids. And they were all delicious! I'm including the recipe for the Vol-au-Vents because I've never made anything like them and they turned out so well.



The Vol-au-Vents filling was really salty but was offset nicely by the puff pastry surrounding it (frozen puff pastry is one of my new favorite things). I usually like my brussels sprouts crispy (these were boiled and then warmed through in a skillet) but I still really enjoyed them. And, I also have an obsession with potatoes, so that couldn't go wrong. The bonbons are basically buckeyes with a crunch and they were also delightful (and very rich).



Overall, it was a fantastic-or, as Ron would say, "a bloody brilliant"-meal. And then Melanie and I cried through the entire movie. Good day.



Recipe Courtesy of the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook

Vol-au-Vents with a tomato-feta filling

Ingredients:

1 package of frozen puff pastry shells (my package had 6 shells)

Filling:
8 ounces of feta in brine, sliced into small cubes
1 1/2 cups of grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
2-3 tsp olive oil
2-3 tsp balsamic vinegar
3/4 tsp dried basil
pinch of salt (we suggest you leave this out, there is plenty of salt in the feta)
ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Bake the pastry shells according to the package instructions.
2. Stir all of the filling ingredients together.
3. Once the shells have cooled slightly, pull out the tops and some of the filling to make room for the tomato and feta.
4. Fill each shell with the tomato-feta filling and top each with the pastry top. Place back in the oven for about 7 minutes to warm the filling slightly.
5. Enjoy!

-Meri