London and Venice - when in the area

Lunch at a sea food restaurant: ‘La Palanca’ in Venice

2023-09-222025-05-22

The Hilton Venice is located on Giudecca Island, so you have to take the vaporetto to get to the main island, and this restaurant is right in front of Palanca, the vaporetto stop south of the hotel. Although it is not a place that attracts many tourists, it was still crowded with many customers at lunchtime. First, we had an assortment of carpaccio and boiled shrimp as appetizers, and toasted with Aperol. For the main dishes, we chose squid ink pasta, penne arrabiata, and gnocchi with mushrooms and shrimp. Although sushi and sashimi are readily available in London, unless you go to a really authentic place, you’ll only get tuna…

Review: Hilton Molino Stucky Venice

2023-09-222025-03-31

In Venice, we stayed at the Hilton Molino Stucky Venice. As you travel along the Giudecca Canal on the vaporetto, you’ll notice a large building on Giudecca Island that catches your eye: it’s a Hilton hotel that was renovated from a former flour mill. The inside of the hotel is so vast and labyrinthine that it is no exaggeration to say it’s easy to get lost. Contents AccessRoomObservation bar and restaurantExecutive LoungeBreakfasstUseful Information Access Hilton Molino Stucky Venice is located on Giudecca Island, far from the main island of Venice, so you will need to take a vaporetto. Please refer to the following for directions to the hotel. There are…

Explore the Venetian islands by vaporetto

2023-09-212025-05-31

I recommended Lost Property St. Paul’s London partly because it was convenient to get to Gatwick Airport. After talking with a friend, we decided to go on a short trip to Venice for the first time in four years. From Venice Airport, take a bus to the main island of Venice, and from there you can enjoy Venice’s famous vaporetto . Looking at the slowly changing cityscape from the vaporetto makes you feel like you’ve entered a dream-like world of aesthetic beauty. Especially along the Grand Canal, everything in view is so perfectly beautiful that you wonder if it is otherworldly. Near the Rialto Bridge, a gentleman wearing sunglasses and…

Review: Lost Property St Paul’s London

2023-09-202025-04-01

A dear friend from Japan came to London for the first time in four years, and I recommended a stay at Lost Property St. Paul’s London. If you use the Elizabeth Line, which opened last year, you can get to Farringdon Station near the hotel, which is very convenient. The hotel is just a stone’s throw from St. Paul’s Cathedral. Perhaps because it is a designated building, it has an unassuming exterior, but once you step inside, you’ll be captivated by the wonderful interiors. One of the most beautiful features is the lighting made from Murano glass. The chandelier hanging over the restaurant has many birds layered on top of…

Review: London Hilton on Park Lane

2023-09-042025-04-01

After a short trip to Venice, we returned to London. The accommodation I recommended to a friend was the London Hilton on Park Lane. There are now many Hilton hotels in London, but this was the first Hilton hotel in the UK, opened in 1963. (By the way, the Hilton opened in Tokyo in 1963.) To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the hotel’s opening, renovations were said to be underway for the autumn of 2023, although the lobby had already undergone its transformation when we visited. Contents AccessRoomExecutive LoungeUseful Information Access The easiest way is to take the Piccadilly line from Heathrow Airport, get off at Hyde Park Corner station,…