Europe Trip Recap Part 2: London

May 12, 2020

Hello friends! Well, another long overdue post is here! I went on a girls’ trip to Europe (Paris & London) back in November, and I finally got around to recapping the Paris leg of the trip back in February (you can click here to read that post if you missed it!). I had the best of intentions to follow up with the London recap shortly after, but, well…it didn’t happen, lol! One of the things I find valuable about my blog is that it is essentially a digital diary of sorts, and allows me to document special memories in which I will always be able to reflect. So, while this is quite a bit delayed (six months to be exact!), and it is not exactly a “travel guide”, it is a great way for us to look back on the trip and re-live all of the amazing experiences that we had during our European adventure!

I was asked several times which city I liked the most – Paris or London – and that is an impossible question to answer. They were both so different and I loved them both. London felt more “familiar”, probably because everyone speaks English and it felt more modern, but I would totally travel to both cities again!

We traveled from Paris to London via the Eurostar, which was maybe about a 2 hour ride. As I mentioned, we visited London in November, so fall was in full swing…in fact, Christmas decorations were starting to go up by the time we left! All of the fall foliage was so pretty, but the weather was quite cold and rainy. Nevertheless, we still ventured out every day and tried to make the most of our time there. We rented a flat in Notting Hill from AirBnb and it was so adorable (this is the exact one). Notting Hill is the most charming neighborhood! Our flat had a small terrace, which is where I shot the below photo. The terrace next door had so many beautiful plants and even vegetables, and look at the adorable orange car down on the street! You KNOW that was a photo opp waiting to happen (see second photo ;)).

The love affair with doors continued in London (I had lots of pictures from all the doors in Paris too!).

Our flat in Notting Hill was in walking distance to Portobello Road, and on Saturdays, there is the Portobello Road Market full of all sorts of vendors. The street is full of hustle and bustle during the market, and it is so fun to experience! Below are a couple of photos…the hot apple cider from this street vendor was SO good. The next photo was taken at the “insta-famous” Alice’s Antiques – look at those beautiful pieces! And of course, we had to take a basic blogger photo there too…we went early one morning before the crowds and had a quick photo shoot!

And when in London, I guess you have to ride the London Eye 😉 – never mind those of us who are afraid of heights (sigh). Brittany (shown in the photo below and you can find her blog here) and I had a case of wobbly knees by the time we made it to the top, but our fearless friend, Brit, had no problems!

One of my most favorite things about London was the incredible restaurant interiors and storefronts. So much thought and effort goes into each and every one – I have never seen anything like it! Every where you turned, they just kept getting even prettier and more creative. Definitely a flower lovers dream!

The next three photos were taken inside the restaurant, Circolo Popolare . We had lunch here one day, but beware, the wait is very long and it is packed inside…while the food and drinks were good, it is definitely more about the atmosphere/interior than anything else.

Another restaurant I did want to mention and would definitely recommend was Maggie Jones. We had dinner here one night and from the atmosphere, the service, the comfort food, the wine…it was fantastic. I don’t have any photos, but it was still worth a mention!

And of course we had to check out Buckingham Palace, and we even got to see the Changing of the Guards. We were actually in London over Veteran’s Day weekend, and they have a Day of Remembrance where the Royals have a parade and they make an appearance (we did not see them – the area was packed and you literally could not move because the crowd was shoulder to shoulder – HOLY ANXIETY! – we got out of there quickly!). After visiting London and seeing the palace, I became very fascinated by the Royals and realized I had so many questions about them and the history. When we came back home, I binge-watched The Crown on Netflix and it was soooo good and I felt it was informative and gave good background on the events leading up to Queen Elizabeth taking the throne, and her rein since. It was very interesting and I highly recommend watching it if you have any interest in the Royals – can’t wait for Season 4, which will focus more on Prince Charles & Princess Diana.

A few snaps of some of the beautiful storefronts that I mentioned earlier…

Can’t go to London without taking a photo by the red telephone booths!

Brittany and me living our best blogger lives, HA!

Hyde Park in the fall was pretty special!

Got to stop by the famous Peggy Porschen and have a cupcake and cup of tea!

We found out at the end of our trip that the ice skating rink had just opened at the London National History Museum, so we decided to go ice skating on our last night! The Christmas decor was pretty magical, and definitely helped us get in the Christmas spirit! Brittany and I were cowards again though…we could barely make it off the side rail, while Brit looked like she was ready to join a hockey team, lol…good times!!