00:00Hello sir. How do you do? Is that normal? Oh my gosh. That's a grown man.
00:17I'm Genevieve Gorder, interior designer, TV host, traveler, professional full-time doer.
00:23I travel all the time for work, for design, for deadlines. This is Christian, my husband,
00:29my best friend, and also a designer. We've logged a lot of miles together and he's my favorite excuse
00:34to go off script. This challenge from afar is different. No itinerary, no to-do list, just 72
00:41hours to be spontaneous and rediscover a city I've been to more times than I can count. Christian.
00:47Yeah. Remember I told you about that potential project with afar? Yeah. It's happening in London
00:54and you're invited to come with me. Can you do it tomorrow? Yeah. Let's just make it happen. Let's
01:01just go. I haven't been to London in 25 years. And we've never done it together. Let's go.
01:09We packed our bags, ditched the schedule, and flew into London with nothing but curiosity
01:13and our Chase Aeroplan cards. We're following instinct instead of an agenda because sometimes
01:19the best design happens when you don't sketch it out first.
01:33First stop, finding a place that doesn't feel like anywhere else.
01:36Hi guys, good afternoon. Hey Claire. Welcome. We have a reservation for Gorder. Wonderful.
01:41We were a little jet-lagged, so naturally we went looking for coffee. And maybe a little magic.
01:58No schedule, just a loose plan to follow our instincts and see where London leads.
02:03This is how beautiful the markets were in 1881. Yeah. I feel like we had a cement strip or a brick strip.
02:23But just, you know, all they sold here was meat and fish and they built this temple. It's pretty
02:28spectacular. Like 150 years ago. Oh yeah, did you look at us? Very cool. I did a little research.
02:34Coffee? Yeah. Coffee. You've looked here before. I've been here a million times. But I haven't been here
02:41in a long time. I know it's been forever. I think we, I think we definitely forget to do new things
02:47without being super planned out. I think we do forget that. But travel forces you to do it. Yeah. We need
02:53to do it more at home too. But I think travel forces you out of your comfort zone. I completely agree.
02:58And out of like, this is what we do. Yeah. Let's see and do beautiful things.
03:05London's full of beautiful chaos. But sometimes you need to press pause. So we follow the plants.
03:13I mean, we've been to so many greenhouses, but this is spectacular. I mean, just like just the
03:18proportions for Victorian times. Like they didn't really have. How did they build all this? How did
03:23they do this? It's a church of plants.
03:36Oh, this is all cast iron. This is stunning, right? Yeah. This was them like kind of showing off their
03:42industrial flex. Yeah. They don't make glass houses like this anymore. If you walk around,
03:50just look at the exterior. You know, it's fantastic. Lots of art, lots of love put into this place.
03:55Trust your heart. Trust your eyes. Just, just wander around and see where you end up in this beautiful
04:00labyrinth. Oh, you're one of us. Yeah. Wander and lead with your heart. Have an adventure. Yes. Be
04:05spontaneous and have an adventure. This feels healing to me. It absolutely is. I think people
04:16come and they leave a bit of their energy here in a good way. And when you enter Kew Gardens,
04:19always say there's something in the air here. What do you think of this?
04:35Yeah. That's clean. Yeah. Okay. And with no foreign transaction fees,
04:41I just can't help but do a little shopping.
04:52From wild greenery to golden tea cups, I wanted to make a special surprise for Christian.
04:56Have you been to a formal tea service before? No. Never in your life? Never in my life. Growing
05:07up in the South. Never. Only at my grandmother's. This is your first time? Completely new to me.
05:11Aww. So cool. But this is even more interesting for me because this is an Indian tea service,
05:18which I haven't done before. So I'm expecting great food. What's unique about it? Do you know? I will find out.
05:24So as you know, the opportunity started in England and way back in London, in fact, in 1800s,
05:29late 1800s. So we being the Indian company and the Indian tradition, we've blended together and we
05:34presented the service in front of you. I think cheese, you've said many times,
05:37quite possibly the world's most perfect food. It's up there.
05:40It's good.
05:46Hello. I hope you enjoyed the first course. Here is the second course for you guys. So the first thing
05:56that you see on your lettuce is called Kima Pinwheel Sandwich. So it's a sandwich, but it has like
06:01mutton inside. The second thing that you see is called Tokla Sandwich. The next thing that you see to
06:04yourself is called Khandwi tart. It's a tart, basically an English thing, but we mix it with Khandwi.
06:09Then you moved on to paneer. It wrapped up in a fillet and then we have the Indian version of American
06:15cider. We call it Bhandas. It's compressed into two buns. That's great. That's great.
06:20Now for the grand finale, we have the Charlie. Who all is coming over? Jeez.
06:25So these, again, desserts mixed of Indian and European desserts fusion together. So the first
06:30dessert that you see is called Chum Chum Eclair. It's an eclair, but it's filled with an Indian
06:34sweets called Chum Chum. The second dessert that you see is called Carrot Halver Cotta Cake. It's
06:39Carrot Halver is an Indian pudding made up of carrots and we blended with the cake in England.
06:43Then the third dessert you see is called Gulab Jamun Malfoy. I think it's one of the desserts that
06:47have been very popular. One of your favorites.
06:48And then we have a raspberry cheesecake, so on Papri Floss. Everyone loves cheesecake. And then the last one
06:53that you see on this is called Shri Khandan Mothichur cup. So basically it's sweetened yogurt. On top
06:58of it it's Mothichur Rattu. After desserts we go for scones. Of course, England is very famous for scones. So
07:03these again, Indian flavor. These are flavored with saffron and cardamom with clotted cream and mixed
07:08berry and rose jam. And then it's served with rasmalai, which is an Indian dessert mixed in as a trifle.
07:13We did that. We did it.
07:17This one's on me. Oh. This was your first tea service. It was a pleasure to do with you. Well, thank you.
07:23Biggish, thank you so much. Well, it's been a pleasure to have with you.
07:28That was incredible. I'm officially a tea time guy.
07:39Woke up with a little jet lag and a lot of inspiration.
07:53It's always my favorite day when we have a bike day somewhere.
08:00Oh yeah. Bikes and boats. You know how we kept hearing about Hyde Park before we came?
08:05Hyde Park is beautiful. I mean, it's great. Don't get me wrong.
08:08It's their central park. But this is huge.
08:10No. It's just, it's a painting. Like you're biking for a painting.
08:15Yeah. You see the deer?
08:18No, do you?
08:24Look at him, look at him.
08:24I mean, we see deer not in the middle of the city.
08:31No, not just like right there.
08:33We're in the middle of London.
08:34Yeah, it's incredible.
08:35This is so incredible.
08:53Hello, sir. How do you do?
08:55Is that normal?
08:58Oh my God. That's a grown man.
09:11After a morning in the wild, weaving through trees and dodging deer,
09:15we were ready for something a little more refined and a lot more flavorful.
09:20I don't really want to touch it because it's so beautiful. But I'm so...
09:28I'm okay with touching it, even though it's so beautiful.
09:31Let's do it.
09:32Hello, how are you?
09:32Hello, how are you, sir?
09:33How are you?
09:34Good, thank you.
09:35Oh, I smell the salt.
09:35Oh.
09:36We have some rice. It's a smoked rice with lobster custard.
09:41Some fermented pickled carrots and some seasonal bread frilled mustard.
09:46Yes.
09:46Hope you enjoy it.
09:48Thank you so much.
09:49Thank you so much, stunning.
09:49Beautiful.
09:50What an experience.
10:03Did you have a hand in the design?
10:05100%, yeah.
10:06Well, the cuisine is meant to be timeless, almost cultureless.
10:11Something simple, but with many memories and ideas and theories and concepts
10:16like compressed into a dish.
10:18Right.
10:19And so the space follows the same ethos as the cooking.
10:23So there's no artwork, there's no...
10:26It's pure.
10:26It's decoration.
10:27Very pure, very minimal.
10:28It's all about materials.
10:29So the food is the art.
10:31The food is the art.
10:32It's the framework.
10:32But also like the space is meant to be like a sculpture.
10:36We appreciate the details very much.
10:38And when food becomes this theater of sorts with our world, we get really excited.
10:46What I really love though is that with our Chase Aeroplan card, we get three times the points for every
10:52dollar spent on restaurants like this.
11:01It was one of those rare sun-soaked London afternoons.
11:04So naturally, we went umbrella shopping.
11:11So you're taking me to look at umbrellas?
11:13Yeah.
11:14It's like we're in London.
11:15Why wouldn't we?
11:16This is like what they do best.
11:18I want a beautiful umbrella.
11:19Oh, this is special.
11:21Hello.
11:21Good morning.
11:22Look at all these beautiful walking sticks.
11:25Incredible.
11:26I think we're just more curious about umbrellas.
11:29I need something kind of magical.
11:31I do like this one, but I don't want to open it inside because I'm a little...
11:35I mean, is that a superstition?
11:36Well, we've got a lot of people who say about that.
11:38So we have horseshoe hanging from the ceiling.
11:41So it's just over the other side up there.
11:44Nice.
11:45May I?
11:45It's huge.
11:46Okay.
11:47I don't know what that superstition came from.
11:48I love all the details.
11:49Well, a lot of people say it.
11:51The salesmen used to say that.
11:53So when the canopies were made from silk, they say it was bad luck.
11:56Then you let it...
11:57They didn't want them to ruin the silk.
11:58You leave it rolled up, the silk would rot.
12:00This is beautiful.
12:01Then you come back and buy another one.
12:03It's a little, it's a little lady too.
12:04She's not a big...
12:05So traditional, the ladies would be for one person.
12:08Right.
12:09And the gents would be for two people.
12:10Oh.
12:11Oh, okay.
12:12But this one, I'm going to show you...
12:14I love that one.
12:15Yeah.
12:16Inside, we do it all the traditional way.
12:19So...
12:20And it's maple.
12:21So this is maple that's been stained.
12:22All the way up.
12:23So we've got the slotting done downstairs.
12:25The springs are made by hand.
12:27And the umbrella makers will know who made this because the springs are formed around their thumbs.
12:33So each one's made the traditional way.
12:35Incredible.
12:36I think this is the one, Phil.
12:39Beautiful.
12:39The tassel, and you had me.
12:41You had me at tassel.
12:42I think the colors really suit you.
12:44Thank you so much.
12:45This is going to be a good memory.
12:46Amazing.
12:50All right.
12:52Let's do it, Phil.
12:54And no foreign transaction fees.
12:57Really appreciate it.
12:58Have a wonderful day.
12:59Take care.
12:59Thanks, Phil.
13:00I don't know if it's stopping, but if it is, we should get on.
13:04I think we should take it.
13:04Of course.
13:06Oh, let's do it.
13:09All right.
13:28Turns out you don't need a time machine to hear echoes of the past.
13:31Sometimes you just need a good guitar shop.
13:34What did we just walk into?
13:44What is this?
13:45I mean, it's a guitar shop.
13:46It's guitar heaven, I think.
13:48Wow.
13:48I'm Genevieve.
13:49Nice to meet you.
13:50Nice to meet you.
13:50I'm Noah.
13:51You're just playing casually, like all day?
13:53This is the end of the day, so yeah, I'm playing a little bit now.
13:55It's been a guitar shop here for about 40 years.
13:57We've had it for about 15.
13:58But the street's been the music street since about the 19th century.
14:01Everyone you can think of at some point has probably been through the door, bought a guitar.
14:04This used to be all the record company offices in the 60s, so they probably signed record deals
14:08on the street or publishing deals.
14:10It's always been the music business, not even just guitar chants.
14:12It's like their son records kind of thing.
14:15We don't play, but we have a friend who is obsessed.
14:19So as a guitarist, what would you say is a little piece of here that we should take home?
14:25Well, I think you should get something that you can pretty much only buy here,
14:27which is one of these guitar straps, which is handmade by our friend Rupert,
14:31just down the road in South London.
14:34This is great.
14:35There we are.
14:36And we're earning points everywhere.
14:38Nice.
14:39Thank you, Noah.
14:40Have a great day.
14:40Thanks, man.
14:41Have a great day, guys.
14:43I like this guy.
14:45A hound dog.
14:46Oh, yeah.
14:47That's totally your style.
14:54New day.
14:55Fresh eyes.
14:56We're chasing ideas now.
14:57Big ones.
14:58Small ones.
14:59And the ones hiding in plain sight.
15:00This is always one of my favorite things to do wherever we go.
15:04Look at the building.
15:05So cool.
15:06Yeah.
15:06This is beautiful.
15:07I had no idea how magnificent this was going to be when we walked in,
15:11so it's very unassuming.
15:27When the Design Museum moved to this building, we wanted to do a free exhibition for anyone to enjoy.
15:33So to come to the museum and experience our collections of 20th and 21st century design,
15:39and we thought the most immediate way of doing that was to focus on the designer,
15:42the maker, and the user.
15:44I love it.
15:45That's how most people experience design from one of those disciplines.
15:48Either they are the designer, or they are a manufacturer, or they're the end user.
15:53Right.
15:53Right.
15:54Normally, we find ourselves as the end user.
15:56Yeah.
15:56But of course, those other steps are super important.
15:59Design is an important profession.
16:01It's something that touches all of our lives.
16:03Everything we do.
16:04Exactly.
16:04And it's something that needs to be invested in,
16:06that needs to be proper education, and it needs to be proper appreciation for it.
16:11Exactly.
16:11The toot is cute.
16:22That's really funny to me.
16:25And for Babel.
16:26Oh, yeah.
16:27That's cute.
16:27She'll love it.
16:28She would love that.
16:31After all that design talk, we needed something simple, comforting,
16:34and preferably served on a boat.
16:36This is so nice.
16:37This is beautiful.
16:38I know.
16:39Boat days.
16:40We've had boats and bikes.
16:40Boats and bikes.
16:41Our favorite thing.
16:42Here we go.
16:43Here we go.
16:44Your cheeses.
16:46This is going to be one of the highlights of my life.
16:48This is the cloth-bound cheddar with the pickled cucumber.
16:53Whoa.
16:54That cheddar.
16:56Wow.
16:57And then we have the driftwood.
16:58It's an ashed goat cheese from Somerset.
17:02That's the best goat cheese I've ever had.
17:04And then this is one of my favorite British cheeses.
17:06This is caffili, and it was a cheese that they made for the miners to eat when they went down
17:10mining.
17:11And then this, this is made by a Stilton maker, but it's a little bit of a twist on a classic
17:15Stilton.
17:15It's more kind of going down the route of like a gorgonzola.
17:18Yeah.
17:18That board never had a chance.
17:20I'm not with you.
17:20I'll say a salad.
17:23It's obviously with cheese.
17:25Yeah.
17:25We're going to top round one.
17:26And then we put the burrata with the heirloom tomatoes and a pepper salsa.
17:32The burrata is super fresh as well.
17:33It's made up in North London every morning, so.
17:35This is all I really ever need in a meal.
17:40I love that I can just pay yourself back and redeem the points and help cover the cost of this.
17:43This trip flipped my whole idea of travel on its head in the best way.
17:58Just spontaneity, curiosity, and our chase aeroplan cards that made saying yes ridiculously easy.
18:05This trip changed more than how I travel.
18:07It changed how I see.
18:09When I let go of the plan, London opened up in ways I never expected.
18:13Points from teas and taxis.
18:15Basically, this trip is going to help us pay for the next one.
18:18Nice.
18:19And those points?
18:20They're already helping us fuel our next adventure with access to over 1,300 destinations
18:25through more than 45 global airline partners.
18:28Can I just say, I think this is the best thing we've done in a long time.
18:31You like the spontaneous stuff?
18:32Yes!
18:33It's way more fun, isn't it?
18:34We got to do things like we were kids again.
18:39Where do you want to go next?
19:04Where do you want to go next?
19:05Where do you want to go next?
19:07Where do you want to go next?
19:09Where do you want to go next?
19:11Where do you want to go next?
19:13Where do you want to go next?
19:15Where do you want to go next?
19:17Where do you want to go next?
19:19Where do you want to go next?
19:21Where do you want to go next?
19:23Where do you want to go next?
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