London

London, 15 July – 4 August

London

I had been wanting to visit London for as long as I can remember, so I am sure you can imagine my excitement when my husband asked me if I wanted to join him while he spent the summer working there. My response was a squeal sounding YESSSS!!!

I flew to London after attending my husband’s cousin wedding in Barcelona. It was mid-july, I was very excited to see London for the first time, and even more so because I had three weeks to explore the city.

We stayed at an Airbnb in a nice neighborhood, next to Battersea Park and close to Chelsea. My husband worked everyday, and although I’m a person who dislikes going out and discover new places alone, I had to do it because I had no choice. In the weekends he was free so we had time to do things together.

I spent the first days discovering the neighborhood and its surroundings. I spent most of my mornings at Battersea park, it was such a relaxing place to be. Then I would have lunch out at places such as a Lebanese restaurant called Comptoir Libanais and either working or walking around in my afternoons. The good weather also helped a lot, it was sunny almost everyday.

In the first weekend, my husband and I visited many places. On Friday he got out of work and then we went to have dinner in Soho at a Japanese restaurant called Shackfuyu, the food was so yummy. I ordered the Taco Tuna which was a great choice. Afterwards we went to a bunch of bars to get a drink, they were all full so we ended up in an ice cream place called Four Winters UK. we had a fruity ice cream, then we headed back home to get some sleep.

On Saturday morning, we woke up, had breakfast at home then we went out to explore London together. Since my husband had already visited London many times, he was kind off my guide, he was so cute. We took a bus to Victoria Station and walked towards Buckingham palace, it was crowded with people, we took a few photos then we moved to Trafalgar square where we saw many interesting sights including Nelson’s Column, The National Gallery, and St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

We could easily walk down Whitehall to Parliament Square to see the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and the London eye wheel. We stopped in Southbank of River Thames to snap some photos of the Wheel, then we stopped by a restaurant called Giraffe Southbank, food was ok, I wouldn’t recommend it. After lunch, we relaxed a bit then we continued exploring, we walked to the London bridge, again stopped there for a bit to watch it, and take some pictures. That was it for the day, we couldn’t walk more, we were very tired and we needed some rest. We took a bus  back to Battersea, arrived to the house, had a snack and chilled until it was dinner time. We decided to sleep early that night. 

On Sunday morning we had brunch at a restaurant located in Battersea square called Queenswood. The place was good. Then in the afternoon we went to run at Battersea park. It was a chill day. Later at night I made a list of the top sights in London that were left to see, and kind off planned my second week.

During the second week I went to visit different places. A funny thing about London was taking the well-known double decker red bus. It was a great way to explore different parts of the city.

On Wednesday, I met my friend Shante in Waterloo, at a bar called Elba, which has a very nice Rooftop, with loud music but cute. Afterwards her friend joined us and we went to a close bar, called Tonight Josephine, a great little venue for dancing and cocktails. The music was fantastic and got us all dancing! I highly recommend these two spots. Later I went back home because it was getting late. It was such a fun night!

The next days I kept visiting different sights. (See at the end of the post my recommendations of the best things to see in London)

On Friday I met my dear friend Rossini in Waterloo, it was a rainy day so we needed a place where we could hide. We had lunch and drinks at a Chinese restaurant called Ping Pong Southbank, we chatted for a long time. We decided to meet again before I left London. It was so lovely meeting her. We walked together to Waterloo station, where I took the bus to go back to Battersea.

My brother-in-law was visiting us that weekend, he arrived Friday afternoon. When I arrived home they were already out, so I changed quickly and went out to have dinner with them at an Italian restaurant called Limoncello and located in Soho. After dinner, we went to a pub called La Bodega Negra to have some fun. Music was good, great ambiance a bit crowded but fun. Later around midnight we left.

Saturday morning we went again to Queenswood restaurant to have a heavy breakfast. Then we rented bikes and rode to Regent´s park which was so pretty, it was such a sunny beautiful day. At the park there were many people doing picnic, it was so cute.

Afterwards we went to Camden, we walked around, and checked the market. It was an interesting place to see. Then we went from Camden town directly to visit the British Museum. Too much walking, we were so tired! The museum was so full that we couldn’t enjoy our visit. After one hour exploring the museum we headed back to the house to relax. Later in the evening we met my friend Shante and Zara at a club called The Cornershop Bar in Shoreditch. We had dinner there. I didn’t like the food at all, they didn’t even have options. At least music was top. We had so much fun, it was exactly the type of places I like, music was fantastic. If you like Afrobeats and Hip-Hop then you definitely must go there. We didn’t stop dancing until the dj stopped the music lol!

And my second weekend was over, only one week left in London and few sights left to visit.

On Monday, my plan was to visit Victoria & Albert Museum and the Natural History museum, but the lines were too long and I didn’t have much time to lose waiting in lines. FYI most of the museums in London are free. In the afternoon, my husband and I went to celebrate our Marriage anniversary in a French restaurant called Bandol, I highly recommend this restaurant: food is great, perfect service and the place looks so nice! After our celebration we headed back home.

I spent most of the days of my last week, visiting places such as Oxford Street, Piccadilly Circus, Palace of Westminster, St Paul Cathedral,  Hyde park. A cool neighborhood that I would suggest you to go to is Neal’s Yard, a colorful, joyful neighborhood surrounded by different kind of bars and restaurants located in Soho.

On Friday I met Rossini again, we spent the whole day together, walking and exploring Shoreditch streets, it was so much fun, Shoreditch is an arty area, full of stylish shops, cool bars, street art and great restaurants. I actually enjoyed being there more than any other parts of London, the vibe that Shoreditch offered matched mine. We had lunch at a Thai restaurant called Busaba, food was great, loved it! After lunch, we kept walking around until we got tired, then we stopped by a bar called Cargo to have a drink, we chilled there for a bit before walking around until was dinner time. We ate at a Japanese restaurant called Nanashi that I really recommend, and then went to party at the same place I partied the prior weekend: the Cornershop bar. It was a stunning day and night with Rossini. After the party we went out to take a bus to go back home to sleep. She was staying not far from where I was staying, so we took the same bus, but guess what we took the wrong one lol! We realized when the bus started to get out of the city, we were like wait whaaaat!! We had to stop the bus in the middle of nowhere to catch the right one. It was such a fun night, I already miss her!!

London was incredibly intensive and exciting! But as everything that has beginning has an ending, on Saturday morning my husband and I packed everything and headed to the airport to catch a flight to Barcelona.

PS: if you can choose, I would suggest you not to visit London in July-August, because there are too many tourists.I didn’t get to enjoy the city as calmed as I imagined.

Here are some restaurants that I went to and liked in London:

• Da Mario (Italian)
• Timmy Green ( Australian)
• Comptoir Libanais (Arab)
• Bar Elba (Drinks)
• Tonight Josephine (bar)
• Bandol (French)
• Queenswood “battersea brunch”
• Limoncello (Italian)
• Ping Pong Southbank (Chinese)
• The cornershop Bar (Party)
• Shack- Fuyu (Japanese) Order the Taco Tuna
• Udderlicious (Ice Cream)
• Busaba (Thai)
• Cargo (Bar shoreditch)
• Nanashi (Japanese)

Top things to see in London:

• London Eye
• Big Ben (construction)
• British Museum
• Buckingham palace
• Soho
• Shoreditch
• River Thames
• Tower Bridge
• Hyde Park
• St Paul’s Cathedral
• Trafalgar Square
• Palace of Westminster
• Covent Garden
• Westminster Abbey
• London Bridge
• Piccadilly Circus
• Oxford street
• Camden Town
• Regent´s Park
• Notting Hill

These were my 3 weeks in London. Many great memories, met wonderful people and loved the city so much!

Do you want to know where I’m headed next? Stay tuned!

Xoxo.

Outfits:

• TopShop Denim Jacket & Biker shorts.
• Finders Keepers The Label White Skirt & Red / Navy Floral set & Papaya Playsuit.
• Ego Official Trainers.
• Zara white shirt.