National Portrait Gallery | London, England

To be honest, before this trip, I had no idea that the National Portrait Gallery existed. Which is so strange, because everyone knows I'm obsessed with portraits. We have eight vintage oil portraits in our apartment. It's our goal to have a wall very similar to the one above. In my free time, I'm constantly looking for vintage oil portraits and don't think I'll ever stop. So it made perfect sense that we stop by.

If I had to choose between The National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, I would definitely pick the Portrait Gallery. It's not as busy and it's easier to spend time admiring any piece you want. There are so many different kinds of portraits and I was sad that we couldn't spend more time there. I'm so glad we went and it was perfect for me because it had heaps of portraits! 

The National Gallery & Trafalgar Square | London, England

Trafalgar Square and I are old friends. Even though we've been before, it's always lovely to see. Despite being mere feet from The National Gallery, we never ventured inside. Why? No clue, it's something that I would be all about. It's also free, which is my favorite price. Thank goodness our dongsaeng (Korean little brother) Junnie wanted to go, because it's possible, I would've missed out again. Below are my thoughts on Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery. 

The National Gallery is wonderful and full of great paintings, but you know me, I love paintings. Most of the tourists crowded around the famous paintings, like Van Gogh's Sunflowers, which is beautiful, but there were so many other Impressionist paintings that were more impressive. I didn't even get a chance to really stop and admire Sunflowers, because there were so many people. They were just all clamoring around to get a photo and I ended up doing the same. It's kinda sad when it becomes just another photo op and not something that can be admired. It's okay though, I was able to spend time with some other lesser known paintings.

Also, did you know that in the UK they pronounce it Van GOFF and not Van GOH? Apparently, we're both wrong and it's vun KHOKH. Well the more you know, I guess. I'll be spending the rest of my life saying it properly! 

I will say that the one thing that I didn't like about Trafalgar Square was the amount of street performers. It did take away a bit of the charm of the area. Walking inside and looking at all the beautiful old paintings and then seeing Yoda or Batman levitating is a bit strange. The square was obviously packed full of people, but it was to be expected given that it was the holiday season, so I guess it was prime money making time. Either way, it wasn't my favorite. 

Crewe Hall | Cheshire, England

While Markus and I were in Stokey Town, we were completely spoiled by our friend's parents. On Christmas Eve they took us to see a Christmas Pantomime, which is a wonderful British Christmas tradition. It's a bit hard to describe and can only be fully understood by experiencing it. I thought that was the epitome of our British Christmas experience, but of course they had more in store. On Boxing Day, our friends and their parents kept saying that we had somewhere to be at 1:30pm. I spent the whole morning trying to guess where they were taking us, but I never guessed it would be afternoon tea at Crewe Hall. I was honestly so surprised and really touched. I wanted to go to afternoon tea, but I didn't think it would be at such a classy and beautiful place. I felt like I as stepping into an Agatha Christie novel. I was seriously waiting for someone to walk in and tell me there had been a murder in the parlour. 

The afternoon tea was nothing short of spectacular and everything was so delicious. You might think it's hard to screw up sandwiches, cakes and scones, but it's possible. The last time we were in England, we went to a place that wasn't that great and it's haunted me ever since. After tea, Markus and I roamed around the beautiful estate.

Crewe Hall is an old Jacobean mansion that dates as far back as 1170 and this particular structure was finished in 1636. Currently, there are 117 rooms and all the rooms you would expect in an old estate such as this. We had access to the Reception Hall, Grand Library, Hall of Pillars, Chapel, Grand Staircase, East Hall, Dining Room, Carved Parlour, and Drawing Room. Apparently, Charles Dickens paternal grandparents were servants at Crewe Hall during the 18th century. In the past, many famous dignitaries and people have stayed there and it's also a popular wedding venue. Our friends told us that it is always sought after for weddings since it's the perfect twist of past and present. I loved everything about Crewe Hall and wished I could've seen it in it's heyday. I always love visiting places that are rich in history and have stories to tell. 

The Alchemist, Yard & Coop and More | Manchester, England

In the whirlwind 10 hours that we had in Manchester, we stopped at so many places. In part one, I covered the morning and here's the afternoon! One of the places that I knew we had to visit, was The Alchemist. We went in 2012 and it left such a strong impression on me. Before then, I never had a craft cocktail or been to a fancy bar. The mixologists at this bar were really knowledgable and never knew that cocktails could be so complex and delicious. This time around, I didn't care where else we went, just as long as I was able to have one drink at The Alchemist. That's all I wanted to do to be honest. 

There are two locations in Manchester and we decided to go to the same location in Spinningfields. It was great to see nothing had changed and the interior was still really impressive. I remember walking in the first time and loving the industrial and leather look. It's the perfect decor for this kind of bar. For our drinks, we ordered a Virgin Mojito with lime, apple and mint (£4.20); a Mango Shake with white chocolate cream foam, orange, apple, lemon, mango and passionfruit (£4.20);  a Drug Rummer with Mount Gay black barrel rum, winter sugars, citrus and toasted sage (£8.95); and a Smokey Number 2 with Ron Zacapa 23yr rum, winter sugars, apple and smoke (£12.95). All of the drinks were delicious and really creative, even the non-alcoholic drinks had a lot of depth and flavors. Still to this day, The Alchemist is one of my top five bars in the world. One day, I'll write that blog post! 

After The Alchemist, we walked around a bit, but quickly realized we were hungry and jet lag was starting to kick in for Markus and I. The drive back to Stokey Town was going an hour and half with holiday traffic, so we looked for a place to eat. We happened to be in a "hipstery" area of Manchester, so of course there was a fried chicken joint, the Yard & Coop. Our friends, James and Ari, don't eat fried chicken that often and definitely not American style. I know it was our first day in another country, but there's no way I'm going to say no to fried chicken, plus it was for our friends! 

Yard & Coop actually wasn't that bad, but a little light on the portions. I was afraid of over ordering and in the end, I don't think we ordered enough. The vibe of the place is definitely similar to a lot of popular places in Chicago. It's bright with amazing typography and tons of options, mostly fried. They were running a £5 lunch special, so we ordered the Thai Thighter Burger with a buttermilk fried chicken thigh in a brioche bun, slaw, peppers, lettuce, tomato and a homemade Seoul sauce. To share, we got the Monkey Balls which were buttermilk fried chicken breast, served with a cayenne pepper, lime and honey sauce as well as Bourbon BBQ sauce. I also checked into Yelp while I was there and was given a complimentary order of Amaizeballs, sweet corn balls with fresh chili and coriander. All the food was good, but it wasn't amazing. Overall, I think it was a good experience for our friends and that's all that matters.

Koffee Pot, Town Hall & More | Manchester, England

Even though Markus and I visited Manchester and other parts of the United Kingdom in 2012, we've always wanted to go back. I think we always will, it's such a wonderful and amazing place. On our previous trip, the three days we spent there were really great and something that we always reference when we talk about the U.K. When we were planning this trip, we had to fly into Manchester to meet our mates before we traveled on to Stokey Town for Christmas. I was ecstatic when our flight arrived early in the morning, that meant we had a full day in Manchester to revisit old haunts and find new ones as well! 

After 12 long hours of travel and an interminable wait at baggage claim, we spotted our friends, James and Ari at arrivals! Thankfully the first thing they had planned was breakfast at Koffee Pot. We ate there back in 2012 but it was worth a second trip. Markus ordered a Full Irish Breakfast and I ordered the Rarebit. The Full Irish came with sausage, bacon, bury black pudding, white pudding, tatty cake, beans, fried egg, hash brown and grilled tomato. The Rarebit was made of smoked haddock, cheese, mustard and Worcesteshire sauce on sourdough bread topped with poached egg and tabasco tomatoes on the side. Both meals were incredibly delicious. The haddock wasn't too fishy and worked extremely well with the cheese and other sauces. Everything on the plate for the Full Irish was so satisfying. It was greasy, tasty and the perfect beginning to seventeen days in the United Kingdom. 

After we ate breakfast, we walked around a bit trying to find a Christmas market, but for some reason we couldn't find a single one. Which was surprising considering it was December 23rd. You would think they would be all over the place. I did want to see something really Christmasy and while we were wandering around, we found the Santa monstrosity that was erected in front Town Hall. I know I wanted Christmasy, but that was kind of cheesy and not at all expected. We ventured inside hoping to see some grand ornaments and decorations, instead it was business as usual, but it was still quite pretty. After looking around a bit, we left and sought out other fun places in Manchester, which will be included in another post!