Pennsylvania Girl Abroad

What could be better than a new craft brewery specializing in unique, big, bold beers in London? Well, it could be in our neighborhood and relatively undiscovered for the moment – although surely a name that will be well known very soon. We visited Partizan Brewing with some friends last week and are already looking […]

London winter days are almost over. Milder than a typical winter back in the Northeast US, the weather has not been too cold or harsh.  Instead, the most difficult adjustment was the lack of daylight. By 3:30pm during the month of December, it was dark. And bright sun was usually not present during the short […]

Now that England has been my residence for over one full year, I’ve adapted the British attitude about the weather; the definition of a beautiful day is when it doesn’t rain and you’re lucky enough to catch one or two “sunny spells” (e.g. when the sun stays out for 20 minutes or so before it […]

With only 48 hours in Holland, day two was devoted to guess what……BEER!! We began the day at the Heineken Experience (recommended for museum-esque quality of Heineken’s history and brand marketing/packaging) and then made our way back through Amsterdam to the Central train station. Following in the footsteps of some great beer aficionados who already […]

Amsterdam is a city of beautiful canals, friendly faces, and a very liberal approach to societal norms. As we wandered from street to street and rode the city trams, there was an exciting vibe in the city – despite near freezing temperatures and gray February skies. While the coffee shops are well known for their […]

Known for its red light district and open drug laws that allow marijuana to be smoked legally, I wasn’t sure what to expect when we booked a cheap flight to Amsterdam for the weekend. I was not looking forward to walking past women displaying their barely clothed bodies like mannequins in shop windows, and though […]

Crate Brewery Where:  In Hackney, East London. See map. Why you should visit:  Crate entered the craft beer scene in July last year, perfect timing for the start of the 2012 London Olympics. Next to a picturesque canal at the site of an old factory, you can see the Olympic park in the distance.  A […]

You want to take in the London culture, therefore an immersion into the London pub scene is necessary. You’ve endured a long flight, made it to the hotel, and finally you set out to find that perfect British pub. But now it’s decision-making time: this pub or that pub? With approximately 6,000+ pubs in London, […]