As I may have previously mentioned, I'm British, UK born and bred (I even have the commemorative plate from when Wills & Kate got married to prove it) and my hailing from the UK means my capital city is Laanndaan. Woo. It's a two and a half hour drive from Derby and about an hour and a half on a relatively fast train so we manage to get down there a couple of times a year.
It's a wonderfully diverse and beautiful city and very very big although that's not to say you can't walk from one place to another, as everything is nearer than you might think. If you want to immerse yourself in the whole British culture, both new and old, London is definitely the place to go and the best thing about it in my opinion is that there's just so much to do from shopping, exploring, eating (my fave), chilling in one of the many parks and so much more.
Therefore I wanted to share with you a few of the fun things I've done whilst in London, that I think you just might like to do to, as well as including some rather groovy photographs taken by yours truly
and links for you to follow too! Yay, saaach faaaaan.
So here we go:
Head to the Serpentine Cafe & Bar in Hyde Park for a nice little cheeky
warm (or cool) drink and sit in the deck chairs and admire the view of the lake
or pond or whatever it is.
Stock up on £1 (they were last time I went!) macaroons from Whole
Foods on Picadilly which come in loads of flavours and colours <3
Get down to Carnaby Street where there are lots of groovy different
coloured shops and an atmosphere resonant of the whole 60's Mod scene
to check out, and you'll normally find some pretty awesome street
performers too.
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre is a must if you want to take the whole
'going to the theatre' thing to a whole new level. It's in Regent's Park, it's outside, and is
just simply divine and an amazing treat what with the splendid selection of shows and
the gorgeous fairy lights too...
Rough Trade is pretty awesome if you love music and also want to explore East London
and the whole Brick Lane scene which I would defo recommend doing. It's stocked full of
records, CD's etc., has live bands performing and it's own cafe and photo booth for £3 a go!
How cool is that?!
Admire Tower Bridge albeit hopefully on a sunnier day than the one when this
photo was taken because when the sun is shining, it's pretty spectacular.
Another Thames related past time is sitting on these funky little chairs on the river bank
on the way to tower bridge on the left of the photo taken above. They're so cute and a nice
little place to stop and take a seat and soak in the London vibes before heading off to your
next destination.
Aldgate and Shoreditch are areas of East London which will appeal to the souls
of all creative, arty types as well as those who love seeing the more urban sides of a city.
It's filled with lots of quirky shops, bars, cafes etc. and the most splendid artwork and
artistic ideas, such as these lockets on the fence as you come out of Shoreditch tube station
and is a really fun, unique place to visit.
An example of some of the street art found in East London. It's just amazing to view it all,
almost like being in an open air art museum or exhibition and I guarantee you that when you leave,
you'll feel somewhat invigorated and fueled with life because of all the amazing creativity
on offer, well I did anyway ;)
Next up is the fabulous Spitalfields Market that I stumbled across on my way
out of Brick Lane last year and can't believe I didn't stumble across sooner.
To put it simply, it's amazing, I've never seen anything like it. It's massive and filled with
so many interesting stores selling so many different things from the most delicious red velvet
cookies to records and cd's, artwork, clothes, random vintage knick knacks and it's got the most
wonderful selection of food stores to try as well so get yourself down there!
Camden Lock and Camden Town in general are both wonderful in their own unique,
arty, creative way. You can literally spend hours there, exploring all the little shops and stalls,
admiring the lock and all the picturesque willow trees and trying all the different cultural foods
on offer too. It's always bustling with people and is a real gem of a place.
At some point in the day a thoroughly British rest stop is required.
My bezzie and I found this cute and super friendly cafe in between the Covent Garden back
streets and Shaftsbury Avenue. I don't remember the name of it but the guy who served
us was so nice, as were these scones caked with jam and butter (heaven) and much needed cuppa.
A selfie outside her majesty's residence, Buckingham Palace, where we presume she and Philip
play the Wii and watch Coronation Street and get wasted, is always needed.
Here's me and my family partaking in one. Looking around the Palace is also something
you should probably do as I bet it's amazing!!! (I haven't been yet *sad face*)
Me and my sister love St. James' Park and when it's a beautiful day, any time of year,
then you really really need to go and in particular stand on the blue bridge, where this particularly
gloomy photo was taken on my birthday, because you can see the London Eye, something else you
need to visit fo' sure. You really can't beat St James' on a sunny day and it's literally right next
to Buckingham Palace too!
Next up is firstly visit Trafalgar Square and see Nelson's Column and pop into the National
Portrait Gallery which is free and actually rather interesting and not as dull as you might think, so
I'd defo recommend it (it's also nice and warm too). The second venture is treat yourself
to a little picnic from Whole Foods because they have so much to choose from and you it's like
having lunch from Boots but 10 x better and eat it in a park of your choice.
Wahaca is a creation of the Gods sent to planet Earth for us mere mortals to enjoy.
I went for my 18th and literally all my family left absolutely raving about it. It's like a
Mexican tapas restaurant where you pick different delicious Mexican dishes to try and share
and it's such a quirky, unique place to go to both for food and drink. We went to the one near
Southbank on Embankment which is made out of old shipping containers (wowzerz) and a quick
Google shows you that all the other Wahaca restaurants around London are equally amazing to
look at so go go go!!
Explore around Southbank where there is usually amazing art, like this one I found,
and events, performances, exhibits etc. going on especially in summer. Walking along
Embankment around the Southbank area, from the Tower Bridge, near the Tate Modern,
up to the London Eye is also quite simply wonderful.
Cross Waterloo Bridge (and all the other bridges too) because the views on both sides are
amazing and also you need have no fear of them falling down because all the new technology
has prevented it (hopefully) so walk all sassy and confident and free and with camera in hand
like you go girl/ dude/ whatever!
Save ya pennies and watch a show in the West End because they're all incredible, whether
they be theatre or musicals. I've been very fortunate to have seen a few, the last being Wicked which
was honestly the most spectacular thing to watch ever and seriously, you won't regret going to see a show. They're just so good an TKTS on Leicester Square does tickets cheap if you get in line quick!
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I hope you enjoyed this little guide, which is just the tip of the gigantanormous iceberg of things that London has to offer, and if you have any suggestions please let me know!
And now for The Clash, London Calling to see us out...
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