We arrived in London Thursday night after flying out of Eindhoven. After a long day of traveling, we were anxious to get into bed and get a good night's rest. Unfortunately, the hotel we stayed at was not in the best area so I highly suggest doing extensive research before booking your housing for weekend trips! Friday morning we went to the Cereal Killer Cafe which was a cute cafe with tons of old cereal boxes and portraits made out of cereal! It was such a fun place to get breakfast, and the seats were actually beds! We then made our way to Harrods to check out the famous department store. Although it was a bit out of my price range, we were able to get a delicious lunch there! If you're in London, you MUST go to Harrods, even if its just to walk around. We then made our way to see the house where the Parent Trap was filmed! This was only a 10 minute walk from Harrods and definitely worth seeing, especially if you're a fan of the movie like me. After a long day of shopping, we got dinner at the Southbank Centre Market in Waterloo. This was such a great place for dinner because it has a great view of the London Eye (as you can see above). Markets are always a great food option because they are cheap, and there is always something for everyone. We went to a bar that night called BallieBallerson which was a bit expensive to get into, but had 2 huge ball-pits! If you're feeling nostalgic and want to feel like a kid again, this was definitely the place to go! Our first day in London was a success!
On Saturday we started our day at Camden Market which is a huge market filled with food trucks, clothing stands, jewelry stands, art stands- you name it! There were so many delicious foods to choose from! I chose to get a wrap with falafel, which was delicious and cheap! We then shopped around and I bought a necklace for myself and a gift for my mom! There was so much to see, but unfortunately we had limited time because we wanted to take a bus tour. We got tickets for The Original Tour which is a hop on/hop off bus. Although the tickets were a bit pricey, it was worth it because we could use them for 24 hours so we did it Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning as well. This is a great way to see the city without having to buy multiple tickets to each place. Speaking of tickets, London's public transportation is super easy to use as long as you buy an Oyster card. You buy a card for £5 and then you load as much money on the card as you'd like. Each time you get on public transportation, you scan the card in and out, and it deducts an amount corresponding to how far you've traveled. At the end of your trip, if you have leftover money on your card, you can get a refund for the card itself and the money that was on it! Anyways, to continue with the bus tour, it was really great to listen to a live tour guide explain what different things were as we passed! We went to Trafalgar Square which is in the city of Westminster. It was built to remember the victory for the British in the Battle of Trafalgar. There is a legend that if Big Ben were to strike 13 times in a row, the lions would come to life! We explored the area, but unfortunately Big Ben was under construction and so we could not see the great clock. We did however get to see Kensington Palace which is currently home to Prince Harry and Meghan! It was such a beautiful area, with a huge pond in the front that had tons of swans that would come right up to you! There is also a great memorial for Queen Victoria that sits in the front of the Palace (as pictured above). We got lots of site-seeing done on Saturday, but there was still plenty to see in London, so we continued our site-seeing the next day!
On Sunday we started off our day the best way possible- with cupcakes and tea! We went to the most adorable place called Peggy Porschen. The building was decorated with sugarplums, flowers, and everything was pink! The cupcakes were absolutely delicious and the there were tons of options for tea! After breakfast, we walked to Buckingham Palace and were lucky enough to watch the changing of the guards! This was such a cool experience and my favorite part of the whole weekend. It happens everyday at 11 am but if you plan on going, make sure you get there early enough to get a good spot! I happened to stumble in at 11:05 and so my view wasn't great, but I was able to wiggle my way up to the front of the crowd! Afterward we continued our bus tour and stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral and the London Bridge. It was such an incredible experience to see the London Bridge and almost made me feel at home because it reminded me of the George Washington Bridge. We continued to explore London by foot, stopping into stores and taking in all there was to see. We ended our trip the way one should- with dinner at a British Pub! We ordered chips as an appetizer, and completely forgot that they were French fries, but we enjoyed them anyway! London was a great city, with tons to see! I am so happy I had 3 full days to take it all in, and I am sure there is even more to see.