My oh my, another week has come and gone! Although I was pretty exhausted after last weekend, time is passing fast :)
So, how come that my last blog post only went live on Monday? I'd mentioned that my weekend was pretty busy and here is the explanation :) But first check out the video I made :) I know, it's been a while!!
Amal, one of my friends from college, came to visit me this weekend. Since it was her first time in London, we covered all the basics. So if you read my blog regularly I'm afraid you'll read a lot of the same things I've covered already before. But please do read on, maybe you'll find something new anyway :)
99 comedy club and tourists by night
Amal, one of my friends from college, came to visit me :) Friday 13th February by 5 pm she arrived in St Pancras. As we had to be on Leicester Square by 7:30pm, we wanted to look for some food nearby. Since we had plenty of time, I suggested to get off a tube stop earlier so she could see Covent Garden as well. So first stop: Covent Garden. Next stop was a pub on the way from Covent Garden to Leicester Square. You can't go to London and not have eaten Fish and Chips. And what better place to eat Fish and Chips (besides in Brighton) than in a pub? :) By 7:30pm we made our way to Leicester Square to collect our tickets for the comedy show that started at 8:30pm.
The show finished at 10:30pm and the M&M store was still open so naturally we went in there. It was so nice and quiet! Best time to go for some M&M's I'd say :) After M&M, Piccadilly Circus, of course. Unfortunately Piccadilly tube station was closed, so we had to walk in the rain to Green Park to take the Victoria Line to Victoria station. It was quite late already so by the time we finally made it home it was passed midnight!! As we wanted to cover as much as possible, it is safe to say we didn't get that much sleep, because...
London Eye, Madame Tussaud, Notting Hill and Abbey Road
... We wanted to be at the London Eye by 10am! That's when the first tourists can go on the giant ferris wheel and being Valentine's weekend and the first weekend of half term, I just didn't want to take any risks. We arrived slightly later than planned because we made a stop at Krispy Kreme to buy breakfast. We took the Circle line to Westminster to gape at the Elizabeth Tower (aka Big Ben) :) Next stop was the ticket office for the London eye tickets. We went straight to the 4D experience and than, when we finally found cash money to buy coffees, we sat down to eat our Krispy Kreme breakfast. You can't go wrong with a Krispy Kreme donut ^^ And I am sooo glad Amal insisted on a coffee, because it wasn't that necessary for me anymore. I just wanted to eat my donut. But the coffee was the icing on the cake. Delicious :)
The line for the London Eye was not too short, but as expected the wait wasn't too bad and before we actually knew it we were on this 'crazy' ride for the next 20minutes. When I think back at the last time I was on the London Eye 3 years ago, my orientation has changed so much. I could place all the buildings so much better in my head and show Amal everything she needed to see :) Next to the London Eye there is also a Sea Life attraction, which might interest you, Tine (penguins!).
After the London Eye, we went to Notting Hill. Amal loves the movie and well, I do too :) I just discovered today that there is an actually Travel Book shop in Notting Hill and they've actually used that location in the movie. So I'll have to go back for a closer look on that one :) After we spotted a real Banksy, we bought falafels at one of the stands and Amal had a nice chat with the falafel men as she understands Arabic and they were communicating in Arabic :) Whilst eating our lunch we walked to Charlie Cafe's, but when we were there the cafe was closed. Such a bummer :( So on the way to the tube station we had a Bubble Tea and then we where on our way to Madame Tussauds. Whoop whoop!
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| Photo credits to Amal ! :) |
We had timed tickets for Madame Tussauds for 6pm so we had about an hour and 15min to kill. Since we were only a few tube stops from St John's Wood, we went to Abbey Road and Abbey Road Studios. Very touristic, but most tourists who are in London for the first time on a city trip don't make it that far out of city centre :) When we approached the road we heard cars honking at the tourists who tried to recreate the famous album cover of the Beatles x)
By 5:30pm we returned to Madame Tussauds on the lucky chance that maybe we could get in earlier and sure enough :) It was so much fun. I had my picture taken with Benedict Cumberbatch, Sean Connery, Colin Firth, Katniss Everdeen, Kate Winslet, Iron Man, Nic Fury and Hawkey. Casual Saturday evening x) I really want to compare the pictures I took now with the pictures of my first visit 6 years ago :) If you're curious about these pictures, I'm not gonna post them online. Just so you know :)
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| Mum, dad, this one's for you x) |
Breakfast Club and sight seeing
Our day started bright and early. I wanted to be on time at the Breakfast Club, so we didn't have to wait in line. Unfortunately we were a bit late, so a 15min wait was inevitable. The waiting wasn't too bad actually. We had a lot to look at and entertain ourselves with :) But then we were seated, coffees were ordered and the heavy decision was to be made: "what am I going to eat for breakfast?" Amal seatled for the pancakes with the berries and I choose for toast with avocado, bacon and pouched egg. Njam! Delicious :)
Spitalfield market is just around the corner so after breakfast that was our next stop. Believe it or not, but I meant to go back there ever since I went there with my parents back in November. I had my mind set on some gloves and books of course :) And yes, I did not leave that market without some purchases :) My gloves, which I'm obsessed with. I've worn them every day of the week. And no less than 3 books. 3 books for £10. Ain't that a bargain :D
From Spitalfield market we walked to Leadenhall Market so Amal could see the Leaky Cauldron entrance. From there we walked to London Bridge to see the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. On our way there we passed the Monument so she saw that as well.
From Monument we took the tube to St-James's Parkt to pay a visit to Buckingham Palace. And from there is was a short walk to Green Park tube station to Oxford Circus. Amal needed a dress for a wedding she was to attend. Safe to say we didn't find anything...
At 5:15pm we were meeting Celine, a girl from college who's currently studying in London, to catch an early dinner. Celine knows this amazing resaurant (Steak&Co) where they serve delicious steaks (duh) and pasta. Although the food was alright, the service wasn't exactly what it was supposed to be. We had to wait about 15min for our bill and then we had to wait again to actually pay. That 20min wait made Amal running late to catch her Eurostar train. Service was added automatically to the bill, but to be honest, I really didn't want to pay that one.
Anyway, Amal and I rushed to St Pancras. Amal still had 20min to go through check in and board the train, so we made in the end. But if the service in that place would have been ok, we probably wouldn't have to run as fast as we did... But, Amal got on the train on time and had a safe journey back home :) Huray!
So that was my very exciting weekend. I hope you didn't fall a sleep half way through this very very long blog post :)
Because it can be difficult to get an idea of where we've all been, here's a map. All the red dots are the sight seeing areas. We did a lot of walking :)
Oh yeah before I forget:
Movies I've watched.
This week was quite a slow week in the movie departement. I saw Tamara Drewe (yet again), Fever Pitch (again) and From the Rough. Ahah! A new movie :) And a beautiful one as well. It's based on a true story and it involves golf.
And on popular demand: new words! :)
Bleak: unhappy; flummoxed: confused and distracted; exasperation: frustrated, annoyance
Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara
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