London Calling!

Sorry about the mini gap in my blogging again, but it was for a valid reason…last week was my trip to London! Me and James both had an amazing time and I thought I would share a mini round-up of my trip with you all!

We have both been to London before so we decided to do less of the regular touristy things this time and have a look at some other attractions that we haven’t visited before.

Monday 24th June:

Luckily we didn’t have too much of an early morning on our first day as it was cheaper to get an off-peak train ticket, but since we couldn’t check-in to the hotel until 3 anyway, it didn’t matter very much. Our train rolled into Kings Cross Station at 1 o’clock in the afternoon, which still gave us plenty of time to make the most out of our first day. We kicked off out trip by heading to Tower Hill tube station (bags and all!) to jump on our boat tour – the present that I bought for James for his 21st birthday.

As we got off the tube, we had a wonderful view of the Tower of London:

 

And we saw some of London’s most famous landmarks on a leisurely ride along the Thames, including this spectacular view of Tower Bridge:

And as we were docking at Westminster,  Big Ben chimed three o’clock…good timing!

 

After disembarking the boat we had a twenty minute walk to our hotel which was over Westminster Bridge in Waterloo. I was happy to finally be able to get rid of my heavy bag!

After a quick rest at the hotel we were off again to explore the area around the hotel. We were staying on the Southbank and were only a 10 minute walk from the riverside, which had loads of fantastic things to see! There was a really friendly, community feel to the area, and it was easy to forget that you were in the capital city! We had a look at the Southbank Book Market which takes place under the Waterloo Bridge…look how amazing it is!

 

We also had a look at the British Film Institute and wandered down to Shakespeare’s Globe where I did some shopping (more of that later!) We ended the evening with a meal in Giraffe and a rest at the hotel, ready for a busy next day!

Tuesday 25th June:

This was the busiest day we had planned for the holiday and boy did we fit a lot in! We kicked off the day with trip to Covent Garden, one of my favourite places in London 🙂 I even found an adorable Moomin shop! We also had a quick photo stop at Neil’s yard…how colourful is it here!

 

We then went to the brand new M&M World! I have visited the New York shop and James couldn’t understand why I wanted to go until we got there! Here is the infamous wall of M&Ms:

 

I don’t even like M&Ms but this place is just amazing! The shop even had a full-sized M&M London bus in it! It is really a unique experience!

From there we swiftly went on to the National Gallery. I had previously visited the gallery on a Photography trip in sixth form but we hadn’t had much time there so I wanted to explore it properly. We spent the remainder of the morning strolling around the gallery.

 

After a much needed sit down and some dinner, we took the underground to Hyde Park Corner where we made a trip to the Hard Rock Cafe as I collect their pins and then we darted up to Regent Street to pay the Liberty haberdashery department a visit! On Tuesday evening we went to watch Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap at Saint Martin’s Theatre:

 

It is the West End’s (and the world’s) longest running play and it is currently celebrating its 60th Anniversary year!

 

The play was fantastic and had me hooked until the end! Definitely one I would see over and over again and I know my Nanna would approve of how I spent her money 🙂

Wednesday 26th June:

I was up early this morning…really early…because it was results day…eek! However, the day started off well as I discovered that I will be graduating next Tuesday with a high 2.1!

After results were out of the way I could breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy another jam packed day in London! We kicked it off with a trip to the Sherlock Holmes museum at 221B Baker Street! It is a bit mad that there is a museum dedicated to a fictional character, but it was a fascinating experience entering a traditional Victorian house and experiencing how the detective may have lived – had he lived!

 

We then had some dinner in an Italian pasta cafe on Baker Street before returning to the Southbank. We had some time to kill before our afternoon trip to the Globe, so we wandered along the riverside again, starting at the London Eye:

 

Due to my fear of heights, I haven’t quite manage to get on it yet…maybe one day! We then wandered to The Globe where we saw the performance of my favourite Shakespeare play, Macbeth. The whole experience was amazing, being in the theatre and the quality of the acting, it was certainly the highlight of the trip! I loved every minute of it! Here I am outside, excited for the performance to begin:

 

After the Globe we crossed the river again to go on a Jack the Ripper tour. It was really interesting to hear about the unsolved crimes and physically see where they were committed…something a bit different for us to do while we were there!

Thursday 27th June:

This was our last day so we spent most of the morning packing but we said goodbye to London in style…with cocktails and a three course meal at the Hilton!

 

Starter of mozzarella and tomato:

 

Main of chicken tikka and James’ stuffed chicken in the background:

 

My lemon tart for pudding:

 

And James’ Eton Mess!

 

I had an amazing time in London and I was so sad to leave again! I hope that we can visit again soon and see even more of the capital!  But I have plenty to remind me of my trip…take a look at my shopping!

Here are my souvenirs from the Globe:

I got a pin of the Globe to add to my growing collection of souvenir pins, a postcard, a Macbeth programme, a poster with the following quote by Bernard Levin,

‘If you cannot understand my argument, and declare “It’s Greek to me”, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger; if your wish is farther to the thought; if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a fool’s paradise -why, be that as it may, the more fool you , for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare; if you think it is early days and clear out bag and baggage, if you think it is high time and that that is the long and short of it, if you believe that the game is up and that truth will out even if it involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the crack of doom because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge (at one fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then – to give the devil his due – if the truth were known (for surely you have a tongue in your head) you are quoting Shakespeare; even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing, if you wish I was dead as a door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded or a blinking idiot, then – by Jove! O Lord! Tut tut! For goodness’ sake! What the dickens! But me no buts! – it is all one to me, for you are quoting Shakespeare.’

The book in the background is a photocopy of the original folio version of Macbeth that was published in 1623! Here is a look inside:

 

And here are some more touristy souvenirs:

 

There is my programme from The Mousetrap, my Hard Rock Cafe pin, a fabric patch to sew onto my blanket which is becoming covered in patches from around the world! There is also a print of Big Ben that I bought from Covent Garden. You can see the artist’s Etsy shop here 🙂

And finally, a collection of the other bits and pieces that I bought:

 

The Rowan magazine came from Liberty! I picked up the Moomin postcard to add to my collection from the shop in Covent Garden, the Alice in Wonderland postcards came from the BFI, one of which is travelling to a new home as part of one of my swaps! I found some really cute shops around St. Martin’s while we were waiting to go into the theatre, and the porcelain owl beads came from a bead shop nearby, and the little deco tapes came from a fantastic Chinese market that was crammed full of Kawaii-style goodies…if we didn’t have to go and see the play I could have spent the entire evening in there!

So as you can see, I had an amazing time and I have got some amazing goodies too!

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