Christmas and New Year travel

Lillie’s Victorian Establishment: One of the Best Christmas Bars in NYC!

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It’s Christmas in New York City, and time to review another one of my favorite holiday spots in New York City – Lillie’s Victorian Establishment! Lillie’s is one of those over-the-top Christmassey bars/restaurants, where everyone wants an Instagram picture. This post details a visit to Lillie’s Victorian around the holidays and how to get inside, even without a reservation!

Lillie’s Victorian Establishment decorated for Christmas. Even if you cannot get inside, this window at the Union Square location is a fantastic spot for a photograph (there may be a line).

Very fun decorations at the Union Square location starting mid-November.

With two locations, Lillie’s Victorian Establishment is a year-round Victorian-era British Pub named for late British actress Lillie Langtry. The restaurant’s namesake immigrated from Britain to the US in 1882. Her acting debut, at the New York Theatre, resulted in the building burning to the ground, leaving only a sign reading Lillie Langtry. Very interesting story. In any case, for your purposes, Lillie’s is most famous for its elaborate Christmas decorations, which go up in mid-November.

Dan and I at Lillie’s Victorian in mid-November.

Lillie’s Victorian Establishment, Union Square in November 2025.

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48 Fast Hours in Londontown in Early January!

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Last New Year, we spent the week between Christmas and New Year’s—also known as my birthday week—in the United Kingdom! Our trip began in Scotland, where we celebrated Hogmanay, and wrapped up in London, our departure city for the flight home. In this post, I’m sharing how we spent three very fast days exploring London in January.

DAY ONE: A TRAIN FROM GLASGOW, LUNCH AT THE PRADA CAFFÈ, A GUINNESS, AND ONE OF OUR FAVORITE DINNERS

Our first day in London actually began in Glasgow, Scotland, where we boarded a train from Glasgow Central to London Kings Cross station. We were lucky that we boarded early and had seats, as another train on the same line broke down, and many, many passengers joined our train. It was largely standing room only for most of the ride to London (which is over 4 hours!). As we very luckily had seats, it didn’t bother us too much. We arrived in London just a bit behind schedule. We took a Black Cab to our hotel in Kensington, the Kensington Marriott.

Early departure from Glasgow, and it was snowing in Scotland when we left! 

We didn’t have too much time at our hotel, as we had a late lunch reservation at the Prada Caffè, located inside Harrods department store! I convinced my husband and my friend’s husband to go with be under the guise of a “Birthday lunch.” And, I had so much fun! The Prada Caffè is very Prada, very cute, and the food was shockingly quite good. The menu was Italian, inspired by Prada’s flagship in Milano, and while I am super picky about Italian food (being a citizen and all), this meal was legit. We, of course, also did a bit of shopping at Harrods before heading back to the hotel. If you are considering going to Harrods the weekend after New Years, known that Harrods decorations were still up almost a week out (although I think they came down the next day) and it was SUPER crowded.

Harrods still decorated for Christmas on January 3rd.

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Highlights of Glasgow, Scotland during Hogmanay

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After spending Hogmanay in Edinburgh last year, we spent New Year’s Day and January 2nd (also a holiday in Scotland!) in Glasgow, Scotland. And while Glasgow may have somewhat of a “rough reputation”, especially compared to other Scottish destinations, we spent two nights here because (1) we needed to take the train from Glasgow to London to catch our flight home, (2) many things are closed in Scotland on January 2nd (in addition to the 1st!), and (3) our friend’s grandparents met in Glasgow, so he wanted to see a bit of the city. Glasgow surprised me in a good way in that it had much more to offer than I expected, and I wish that we’d had a more time (or more normal time when things weren’t closed for Hogmanay) to explore the city. This post highlights my favorite things that we did in Glasgow, in no particular order. It, however, excludes our a wonderful food tour that we took, which you can read about here!

THE IRISH INFLUENCE IN GLASGOW (& KITTY O’SHEA’S PUB)

The most interesting thing that I learned about Glasgow is that there is a very strong Irish presence there. In fact, I learned that my friend’s Irish grandparents met in Glasgow, despite being from Ireland (and no, not Northern Ireland), and we were in town for the show down between the local Celtics (Catholic/Irish) football team and the local Rangers (Protestant/Unionist) football team.  That match was a big deal, with lots of police out and about to deter the inevitable bar fights. And, we visited an authentic Irish pub called Kitty O’Shea’s, which is right next to Glasgow Central station. Kitty O’Sheas is extremely Irish, and it pours a delicious Guinness. Our waitress was even from Ireland and provided some more background on Irish influence and culture in Glasgow. Super fascinating.

Kitty O’Shea’s Irish pub.

A great Guinness pour at Kitty O’Shea’s.

Lots of Irish snugs in Kitty O’Shea’s. Just like Ireland. This one was pretty funny.

Irish fans outside a pub watching football match.

GLASGOW’S DUKE OF WELLINGTON STATUTE

Another fun thing about Glasgow is its infamous Duke of Wellington statute.  The Duke of Wellington is a statute of the First Duke of Wellington on a horse outside Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art. Since the 1980s, the Duke always finds himself with an orange traffic cone on his head, compliments on drunk passers-by. The Duke is unofficially the mascot of Glasgow. You can find him on magnets, t-shirts, etc., LOL.

The Duke of Ellington, himself.

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Lunching at the Fabulous Prada Caffè in Harrods!

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Prada, yes the Italian fashion company, opened a “temporary” restaurant and pastry shop inside Harrods department store in London in 2023. As I found myself in London to celebrate my birthday in January (2025), and as I LOVE Prada (I know, so basic), I had to make a lunch reservation during my stay. This post reviews my lunch at the Prada Caffè, including how to make a reservation, cost and food quality,

How to Find the Prada Caffè in Harrods

Prada Caffè is technically located “inside” Harrods main department store in Knightsbridge, London, but the restaurant actually has its own fabulous entrance that is street level. And while you can access the cafe from inside Harrods, entering via the street is more exciting, at least for the photos, LOL. There is no security or anything of the like, so you can just walk in, even to take a photograph.

Welcome to the “pop up” Prada Caffè!

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Restaurant Review: Dishoom Breakfast, Kensington, London

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Loving our Dishoom Edinburgh experience so much, we returned to Dishoom in London (Kensington, specifically) for brunch on the last day of our trip. This post reviews our excellent brunch at Dishoom Kensington.

Rainy Kensington – we even saw a real Dalmatian!

Dishoom Kensington

There are numerous Dishoom restaurants in London, and there is a great one right in the heart of Kensington. We made a brunch reservation a few weeks in advance, but we probably didn’t need it on this wet, January Sunday. In fact, numerous parties walked in around the same time without a reservations and were seated without issue. Dishoom Kensington’s interior, and sign, has an art deco vibe that I absolutely love.

Dishoom Kensington.

The main bar area of Dishoom Kensington.

I was loving these lights.

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