5 Days in London
After landing in London (my second out of the country trip), I was stuck waiting there as the luggage belt continued to wrap around and around. Pretty soon the reality hit that I had made it to London, but one of my bags had not. Like a noob, I packed a lot of my shoes and personal items in one bag and all clothes in the other bag (of course the one that got lost). I have learned 2 things from this experience: 1) ALWAYS separate your items and put full outfits in each bag, that way if they lose 1 bag, you still have a few outfits to last you. 2) I probably won't be traveling in a yoga tank and workout pants again, just in case all of my luggage gets lost. Instead I will bring my makeup on my carry on and throw on a comfy jumpsuit or something that is still cute. Nonetheless, I put my big girl pants on (figuratively of course- since I was in the same leggings) and let it go, because I was in London baby.
Below is a breakdown of our day-by-day itinerary.
CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL OF THE FOOD WE ATE WITH LOCATIONS LINKED.
AirBnB: We stayed in the Covent Garden area and would highly recommend it.
There's a lot of good food and things to walk to and the over all vibe was great.
Day 1
First thing was first, I needed some food. We stopped in Wahaca to enjoy some tacos and chips and salsa. Their restaurant was so cute and Instagramable. After the luggage debacle, we had to make our way to Oxford Street, so that I could grab some outfits to wear, since it was going to be a few days until I got my bag.
Once we got a few items and dropped them off at the AirBnb we finally had some time to walk around. We walked over near Big Ben and rode the London Eye, which was insane. Finally ending our first night in London with a nice bowl of Ramen and some Sake, that had gold flakes, from Shoryu.
Day 2
We woke up bright and early to catch the sunrise on Millennium Bridge, as well as, walk around the area taking pretty shots. One of my favorites was the shot below of St. Paul's Cathedral from the bridge. We made our way over to the Breakfast Club where we enjoyed our first breakfast and Buck's Fizz (that's what they call Mimosas). Next on the list was the Tower Bridge, where we did the glass floor walkway tour, which was extremely nerve racking, but still a cool experience once I got comfortable with it.
Once we worked up an appetite, we headed to Duck & Waffle- highly recommend (make sure to make reservations in advanced so that you can ask for a window seat. We didn't get reservations and were in the middle of the restaurant, which is still beautiful but I was being picky and would have preferred a window seat).
We then went to Westminster Abbey and did a walk through tour there. Although you can't take pictures inside, you are able to take pictures once you get to the end and I'm a sucker for some pretty stained glass, so this made up for it.
Dinner: Sagar
Our night activities included going to Ministry of Sound- this club was sectioned into 6 different rooms, all with different vibes and music (LOVED IT)
Day 3
With my luggage finally being delivered to the AirBnB, we were off to a good Day 3. We woke up early and headed over to Buckingham Palace and watched the changing of the guards. Although, being 5'1" I mostly got to watch it on people's phone screens as they recorded over their heads. I would love to go back here during the Spring time when there are flowers everywhere, as I feel like the entire experience would have been a little bit different.
October 2, 2016: Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts (this was what brought us to London in the first place and what an experience it was... not to mention we won that game 30-27). For lunch, we had massive chili & mac n cheese hot dogs and some beer, as we cheered on our home team.
After the game, we wound up walking a little bit in order to get a taxi in the crowd of people. By the time we did, it was time for some more food to satisfy our cravings... what other than more ramen? Ippudo Ramen was the one we chose and it had actual squares of the instant ramen on their bar top. I just love how creative people can be when decorating restaurants.
Full bellies meant now we can continue adventuring. We got out our cameras and started exploring and looking for prime spots for night photography, such as the London Eye, Tower Bridge and London Bridge. We stumbled upon a small convenient store and decided to buy some beer and bottles of champagne (one which I popped off of the Tower Bridge). This is a moment I will never forget- pure happiness.
Day 4
Day 4 consisted of art, art and more art! We started in Shoreditch and enjoyed the amazing district and all that came with it. From the awesome wall art everywhere you turned, to the food. I made it a point to put Cereal Killer on our to-do list and I was not disappointed. The amount of Pop Tart and cereal options they have is a little overwhelming for someone as indecisive as myself, but still amazing to see it all.
After getting some food in our system just to hold us over, we made our way back towards Big Ben, where we took the infamous telephone booth picture. Then we actually stopped in and found another place to eat (go figure). We finally tried the 'Fish & Chips' that you hear about and to me it was very bland, but that's all everyone told me it would be, so I didn't have high hopes. I think it's something you should try once since it's what England is famous for, but I won't get it again!
Dinner & Dessert: Benihana & Amorino (Sorbet Flowers)
Night activities: Since this was our last night we decided to bar hop a little bit. Starting at the Ice Bar, and then making our way to Picadilly Institute (a bar, where I had my first shot of Absinthe and will never forget the feeling of that moment as it burned it's way down), and ending at Tiger Tiger (bar/night club).
Late Night Food: VQ
Day 5
Our last day started with us getting up late and almost missing check out time due to the festivities of the night before. We made sure to stop by Neal's Yard to get one of Homeslice's HUGE pizza's before the long flight back home.
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