MY CUP OF TEA
What can I say about London??? It was quite the surprise of cultural cuisines, European history and just a plain ole good time. This trip consisted of London, Paris and Amsterdam, in that order, I've written about Paris and Amsterdam in previous blog posts. Check them out here:
https://www.bagsstaypackedtravel.com/paris and https://www.bagsstaypackedtravel.com/amsterdam
London was a new stop for me. And I didn't expect to love it so much. It's almost as fun as Amsterdam. Full of friendly people and medieval architecture, depending on where you are in the city.
On the first day, we grabbed lunch near the hotel in the Ealing area. I wouldn't recommend that area or Hotel Xanadu. The room was small and actually free of leftover human hair and dust. However, it wasn't well maintained. There were carpet stains everywhere. And it wasn't close to the happenings. London is so big, so I would think Central London is probably the best area to stay. We were all over London though.
We went to Tigerbay for dinner. It was Indian and Indo-Chinese food. Soooo good. But, the drinks were even better. The Rose Lychee martini had a girl feeling like I could walk on water. You can make a restaurant reservation or a shisha lounge reservation. We started in the restaurant and moved over to the lounge. It was packed with good music and plenty of places to sit, Perfect setting for a 40 plus woman who is allergic to clubs.
We had afternoon tea at Tea Darling. Afternoon tea was cool. The sandwiches were fancy and bland. The desserts were delectable. But, the scones with clotted cream (whipped butter) were everything. The trick was to put the jam on first and then a dollop of clotted cream on top. Changed the whole experience. The hosts were lovely as well.
We went to a gin making class at Serata Hall. It's actually a restaurant and they sectioned off an area to accommodate us. It was cute. The guy went over the history of gin. He also explained the different flavorings we could include to make our own custom flavored gin with the gin that is distilled on the property. We wax sealed our bottles and gave each concoction a personalized name. After, we headed over to Ma Petite Jamaica, in the Shoreditch area, for Jamaican food. It was within walking distance from Serata Hall. Super convenient, I would say the food was good, not the best. But the host (maybe owner) made the experience top notch. You know when someone loves what they do, the feeling rubs off on you. That's how it was. He was just so upbeat, nice, welcoming and accommodating. Unlike The Sir Michael Balcon, which is a pub. We walked in and they stared at us like we each had three heads. We know what that was about. Side eye. Nevertheless, we stayed and partook in a traditional English breakfast of toast, ham, sausage, hash brown, fried egg and beans. Everything was nasty to me. Not one piece of salt, pepper or love was put into that food. Now, I can say that I have tried it. But, I won't try it again. Side note: You have to seat yourself in a pub. First come first serve. We did have a better pub experience at The Golden Lion. We had the traditional fish and chips there. It comes with fried cod, steak fries and peas. The peas came straight out of a freezer, The fish is super bland and the batter does not cure the tastelessness. But, the fish come out piping hot and fried to perfection. We tried Italian food, as well. The Asian owner joked with us that the Italian restaurant was owned by Asian people. But they had a good handle on the flavor profile of Italian food. I enjoyed it.
We did most of the touristy London things. We saw the changing of the guards. It wasn't a remarkable experience. The men on horses come out, stare down the new crew, and change shifts, It's a big deal there. We saw Buckingham Palace from the outside. We saw the foot guards marching with their red coats and black furry hats. We decided to use the hop on hop off bus. First stop was Harrod's. That's one of the places you have to see to believe. I thought Macy's in NY was big. It has nothing on Harrod's. Harrod's has anything and everything you could possibly want. From gourmet chocolates to vintage cars. They had AirPods in a platinum case with diamonds for $80k. It was a whole floor dedicated to shoes. And the floor looked like a mall by itself with shoe store after shoe store. I bought some unisex perfume that was exclusive to Harrod's and only available in the store. It smells so good. Almost every high end brand is in the store. There are a few restaurants inside. And there is a Moët bar with specialty Moet cocktails. That spoke to the bougie side of me, for sure. I had to have one. After Harrod's, we stayed on the bus and toured the whole city. It was so convenient. Such a good use of time. And it was freezing outside so, staying warm was a benefit too. Of course, we saw Big Ben, the London Bridge and the London Eye. We also passed by an area that looked like NY's Broadway. They actually have a theater district with some great plays going on. I had no idea.
I can't wait for one of my favorite artists to go on tour and have a stop in London. I will be using that as an excuse to go back. I absolutely loved London.
By the way, I have designed some travel inspired t-shirts. Click the link to purchase: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BagsStayPackedTravel
