Welcome to Shields Notes, where we will take you through our 5 month journey!
marykate@shieldsnotes.com patrick@shieldsnotes.com
Welcome to Shields Notes, where we will take you through our 5 month journey!
marykate@shieldsnotes.com patrick@shieldsnotes.com
Once in the UK, we headed straight to the Oxfordshire countryside, about 90 minutes outside of London. We were visiting Soho Farmhouse, a Soho House property built on 100 acres. Getting a reservation is nearly impossible even for members - we booked 6 months in advance. We had heard a lot about Soho Farmhouse and had high expectations. All we can say is that our experience absolutely blew us away!
As we drove up to the property, our cab driver pointed out David BEckham and Prince Harry & Meghan's houses. Marykate stopped breathing at this moment. We pulled beyond the gate of the property and were greeted by a refurbished milk truck that was to take us to our cabin. We quickly realized how cool this place was. The property holds 31 individual cabins, a main farmhouse with restaurant and store, a boathouse with a restaurant and pool, spa, gym, horse stables, and tennis courts. We had amazing days filled with lots of bike and horseback riding, incredible farm-to-table dinners and hanging out in our cozy cabin. There were no photos allowed - standard Soho House policy - but we managed to sneak and share a few. We were so sad to leave but felt great heading back to London after some R+R!
The QUEEN HAS ARRIVED! Once in London, we met MK's youngest sister, Genevieve Green, who just graduated from Marquette and joined us for our last two stops: London and Dublin! We were staying at Soho House's newest London digs, White City House. It just opened in April 2018 and inhabits the old BBC building. The whole place had a 70s funky decor look to it. The house was amazing - insane gym, great rooftop, and amazing food - but a bit outside the city. For future reference, we will stay closer to the actual Soho area or even City center.
We started off the trip with our own version of the Royals Tour -- walking from Kensington Palace through Hyde Park to Buckingham Palace. Remember, we arrived 3 days after the Royal Wedding, so a lot of the decorations were still up. We were all so excited to be in the city and could not get over how big London was! As explained to us, London used to be all separate villages, which is why each area has its own look and feel. We loved taking the tube everywhere, walking around the different parts and discovering all of the great shops and restaurants. Just being in a city as cool as London was so much fun!
A bike tour along the River Thames was a great way to see so much of the city. Some of the highlights included London Eye, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, and the Borough Market. There is so much to see and do in London, it was incredible! We feel like we barely scratched the surface. MK's mom's cousins, Ted and Stephanie Capuano, live in London with their three kids. We met up for lunch and had the best the best time catching up and picking Stephanie's brain about what to see and do in the city. They have lived in London for 20+ years but spend their summers in Nantucket with the Green & Baisley family. This was the first time Marykate and Genevieve got to see them on their home turf!
We met up for dinner with Byron, who lives in London now, and Devin and Bridget Vrabil (best friends of MK's brother, Gavin). Devin and Bridget were in town for a long weekend and it was fortunate that we crossed paths with them. We had a fun dinner with the newlyweds doing a "Soho House Bar Crawl!"
Four days in London was not enough to see and do everything that we wanted to. It was shocking to all of us how big the city it. You can travel an hour and still not get across it. We made the most of our time exploring the neighborhoods and sites and we could have easily spent a few more days here. There is no doubt we will be back!
