LONDON

Anna
Apr 9, 2018
4 min read

To all our 3 followers, apologies on not updating yet. London AND Paris came and went and we are currently in… well, we won’t give that away just yet. Guess you’ll have to keep checking in. ;) For now, a recap of London!

DAY ONE

We arrived in London on Monday and paraded around our ‘hood of Kensington desperate for sleep… or coffee. Kensington is absolutely gorgeous—quiet streets filled with beautiful homes, shops, and restaurants. And here we are, straight off the plane, on zero sleep, wearing the same clothes for over 24 hours, luggage in tow, backpacks on… we didn’t try, but I am pretty confident we would have been asked to leave if we walked into any of those boutiques (and understandably so).

Our flat was much smaller than anticipated but it was clean, the bed was comfortable, and the location was perfect—so no complaints. Well, other than that one elevator that had carpet for walls. After the most necessary nap of our lives, we headed back out to explore. We went to Piccadilly Circus (AKA, the London Times Square) and wandered around until we stumbled upon a small Indian restaurant on a quiet street. First meal in London: chicken tikka masala and veggie korma. So good. Day 1 concluded with a beer at a neighborhood pub and an early night… there was still SO much sleep to catch up on.

Pit of the day: Nearing delirium from sleep deprivation while we waited for our flat to be ready

Peak of the day: Arriving in London, duh!

DAY TWO

After so much good sleep, we kicked off the day with a running tour of London. (I know, I know, running on the second day? It’s the only way to eat ALL the food… we have a wedding to get ready for!) We ran to Buckingham Palace to hang out with every other tourist in London, through St. James’s Park, to Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament (OMG, the most extraordinary architecture!), Big Under Construction Ben, and along the Thames until we wound up back in our neighborhood. We grabbed a quick bite at an adorable café by our place before cleaning up and getting all fancy for our afternoon tea reservation at The Ritz (thank you Paul and Jess!!).

Afternoon tea felt SO London. We tried to look the part and I think we did a pretty good job… if you ignore the fact that Mike’s tie and suit jacket were rented from the hotel and I spilled my tea all over the table…while adjusting to pose for a picture…that we asked the waiter to take of us…sipping our tea… Anyway, it was a really unique (and tasty) experience and we were so excited to do it!

Afterward, we went on the London Eye for some great views of the city and headed back to Piccadilly Circus for a comedy show.

Pit of the day: Mike’s blistered toe from all the running

Peak of the day: Honestly… everything (aside from Mike’s blistered toe

DAY THREE

We woke up and decided to rent a car and road trip to Bath and Oxford. Driving on the opposite side of the road, in the opposite side of the car, was terrifying and felt so wrong. But we managed and enjoyed the vast verdant countryside along the way.

As soon as we arrived in Bath, we found a local pub to cross off a bucket list item (about 85% of our bucket list revolves around food): a traditional British meal of cottage pie and fish and chips (of course) washed down with a cask ale. (If you don’t know what cask ale is, let me save you the trouble—technically it’s an unfiltered and unpasteurized beer that is conditioned and has no additional nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure, but this all just means it tastes flat and warm. Mike appreciated it a little more than I did.) After lunch, we toured the Roman Baths. I am so embarrassed to admit that we were unsure if we needed to pack a bathing suit. (In our defense, it looks like you COULD until they discovered deadly bacteria in the 70s. And they now have the Thermae Bath Spa that looks AMAZING… Note to us: Do more research next time!)

On the way back to London we made a pit stop in Oxford and just wandered aimlessly around the gorgeous campus and center. Inspired by the prestigious university and historic surroundings, it was in Oxford that Mike’s Grand European Tour de McDonalds commenced… and quickly (after two bites) ended.

We got back to our flat around 10PM and very easily could have called it a night BUT it was our last night in London AND one of Mike’s former colleagues was in town. We went to The American Bar at The Savoy for a $25 cocktail. This seems a little unreasonable, yes, but when your drink comes with an entire ecosystem, which mine did, then it kinda, sorta, starts to make sense... (Jamie, thank you for the recommendation, you owe us $50).

Pit of the day: Mike getting McDonald’s in Oxford (this is mostly the pit for Anna)

Peak of the day: Stumbling upon a piano bar at the very end of the night (Well done, Lucas!)

All in all, London was a beautiful city and we had a lot of fun. (Also, could not be more impressed with the London Underground.) Because we chose to explore outside of London, we really needed just one more day in the city to see all the sites. But one more day in London would mean one less day in Paris and you guys, there’s just absolutely no way we’d make that trade off…