An Afternoon Adventure 2.0

Another free trip to London.... do you really think I'd say no to that? 

On a rather summery but windy day about 2 weeks ago I ventured down to London again, is time to explore Tower Bridge and the surrounding area as, despite it being a tourist hotspot, I've never really explored it. 

I took the Metropolitan line to Baker Street where I then changed to the Jubilee line and got off at Waterloo for what I was told would be a quick walk before reaching the Thames. It might have been shorter had I not started walking in the opposite direction to start with but the walk ended up taking me around half an hour through some rather dodgy streets! Eventually I found London Bridge, completely missing Borough Market, a place I've wanted to visit for so long, and wandered down through Southwark to Tower Bridge. 

One of the main reasons I wanted to visit this area was to visit one of the Team GB fanzones. The day I visited was one of the bigger rowing days of the Olympics and I thought it would be nice to watch some of the rowing on the bank of the Thames with a big group of people. So after walking as fast as I could and working up quite a sweat (nice) I got to the fanzone to find the screen wasn't working. Disappointed, I ventured to Leon and ordered none other than the halloumi wrap of course, took it to a bench on the side of the river and watched the rowing on my phone. It was a struggle not to get really excited when I watched Katherine Grainger and Vicky Thornley bring home a silver medal in the women's double. A few races later and a lot of iced tea later and I needed the loo (TMI? sorry). Now usually I'd have thought this issue was easy to resolve, hundreds of coffee shops and restaurants in London there must be a toilet in one of them? Well you'd be wrong. A 2-3 mile walk and 20 coffee shops later, I found a Costa near St Pauls Cathedral which had a toilet. By this point me feet were starting to really hurt and I was so dehydrated I was thankful to find a coffee shop anyway!

Feeling relieved and refreshed I walked back over London Bridge and smelt the most incredible food smells and realised I was near Borough Market so I decided to see what all the fuss was about. There is little I love more in the world than food so subsequently there's little more I'd love to stumble across than a food market as extravagant as Borough Market. Some of the food I saw (and smelt) made me want to buy the entire stall. But I knew I was going for a meal soon and not wanting to ruin my meal I decided just to stick to tasters, including a venison burger which was delicious. What I enjoyed more was that this burger stall was directly next to a vegan stall, the irony. 

Unfortunately my time in Borough Market was cut short and I could almost definitely have spent an entire day there trying everything from every stall but I was on to my next adventure. I walked (yes more walking) back to Tower Bridge and bought tickets to go up to the glass viewing point. Because I'm quite an active person and perhaps slightly crazy (and extremely impatient) I decided we would walk up the stairs to the top instead of waiting for the lift, something I would not recommend after a heavy week of training. At the point I thought was half way up I could feel my legs burning, at the actual half way point I wondered why I didn't have more patience but at the top I realised the view was worth it. From one side I could see all the way down to Greenwich where the O2 arena was sticking up above Canary Wharf. On the other side, the London Eye, St Pauls and HMS Belfast. Both sides have a glass floor which allow you to see down to the river and the road below, when tall boats come under it is the prime view to see the bridge open and close, something we were lucky enough to see. 

Just a selfie above the Thames

By this time we were hungry so made our way to Shad Thames to scope out the options. In the end we chose Ask Italian, mainly because we had a discount code, we're not cheap at all! An Aperol Spritz and mozzarella sticks later I actually felt like I was in a foreign country it was such a beautiful evening! The food was delicious and the evening sky was turning a beautiful shade of purple/pink so we wandered down the river bank slowly. 

Back at the fanzone the screen was finally working and a review of the day's Olympic competitions was on. Of course when the rowing was on I was completely engrossed and totally oblivious to the changing evening sky, the increasing wind and the loud music coming from the bar area. By this time it was around 10pm and definitely time to leave as we had a long drive home but it was another one of those moments which made me fall deeper in love with this magical city. 

I'm so excited to be moving closer this year (YES I GOT INTO UNI PEOPLE, more on that if people are interested to hear about it) AND I'm going to make sure I visit even more and I'll keep you updated on my afternoon adventures!

Thanks for Reading

Charlotte

XO

An Afternoon Adventure

When you're offered a free trip to London it doesn't really take a lot of thinking before you say YES. So without so much as a plan I headed off to my favourite place in the world. 

The one place I knew I wanted to explore was Covent Garden as, somehow, I'd never actually been there before. Walking out of the tube station I pretty much instantly fell in love with it. While it was busy, it didn't feel crowded but instead felt calm, just quietly buzzing. I had no idea where to go so I simply started walking without much purpose or agenda. I wandered around the shops and stumbled upon Apple Market. I spent a short time surveying the vintage stalls before browsing through some of the shops.

Blue sky over Covent Garden

By then it was around 2pm and my stomach was beginning to rumble so, using google maps, I found a Leon restaurant and headed there to gorge on halloumi. Sat in the window overlooking the bustling London street I felt completely content eating on my own, something I've never felt before. 

From Leon my plan was to head back to the shops but I somehow got diverted to Victoria Embankment, definitely not a bad diversion. Using the ever helpful maps situated around London, I decided to walk towards Trafalgar Square. Walking along the Thames was lovely until the heavens opened and rained like it hadn't rained all year. I quickly altered my route in search of shelter and somehow found Horse Guards Parade. I walked through to the other side (after I had admired the gorgeous horses of course) and into St James Park but not before I stopped to admire the beauty of the buildings surrounding Horse Guard's parade.

Trust me to find the horses!

It's been years since I explored this area of London and I forgot how beautiful it all is. There is a special quality to the Royal Parks in London, despite being in a huge, crowded city full of cars and buses, when you're in the parks you don't hear a thing. All you can see is greenery, pretty floral arrangements and wildlife, it's what makes London such a perfect city. Wandering through the park I saw signs for Buckingham Palace so of course that's where I decided to head for the next stage of my solo walking tour of London. This was where I found it got really busy, multiple school and tourist groups visiting one of the most famous London sights, it was no surprise. I was lucky enough to get there just as the changing of the guards took place so I stayed to watch that and just as I did, the sun came out and blue sky shone over the palace, it truly felt like summer in London. 

Buckingham Palace looking majestic

As Green Park is adjacent to the palace it was, obviously, my next adventure and it was a lovely walk through rows of trees which led me towards Piccadilly where I then ventured to Hyde Park corner, stopping of at a few war memorials on the way. I've never been the kind of person to take a whole lot of notice to war memorials, I failed and subsequently quit history in year 9 so my knowledge of all things war related is pretty slim and for a while I wasn't really all that interested. Yet I found it strangely comforting to read these names of random people who gave their lives for our country, one that now seems to sadly be falling apart. 

On my way to Hyde Park I found an exhibition of a car but it wasn't your standard car. This exact vehicle had been driven by a young man when he was hit by a driver speeding at 80mph in a residential street in Leeds. The young man lost his life and the car was totalled. The display of the awfully dismantled car was part of a campaign known as #RoadstoJustice. Seeing this car in such an awful state really hit home how dangerous speeding is and how fragile cars actually are. 

Not even half of the damage done to the car!

Onwards into Hyde Park I walked to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, a place where I have a lot of fond childhood memories with my nan and little brother. Again, just like walking along the Thames, I found the water and the sound of it flowing around the fountain so calming, I could've stayed there for hours. My adventure then took me to Kensington Gardens to see the Peter Pan statue, the palace, a surprise wedding photoshoot and a bird whisperer handing out bird food to passers by. After some hesitation, I took some bird feed and parakeets soon flocked to me (pardon the pun). Surprisingly they were really gentle and their claws didn't hurt at all, only when the hundreds of pigeons also surrounding us and scavenging for food decided to fly up did I get slightly scared (probably more about being pooed on). 

My new bird pals

After leaving the birds, I walked towards the palace to see the prime position of the sun creating the perfect silhouette of the palace standing tall over the pond in front. A brief sit down in the last of the day's sun, watching a group of rather attractive guys playing rugby, a cute dog running through the grass and endless groups of people enjoying London in summer, it has been a while since I've felt as content and relaxed as I did then. 

Kensington Palace Gardens bathed in the dusky sun

By now it was around 7pm and I was hungryyyyy so, I decided to wander around Kensington High Street and found a cute little Mexican restaurant called Lupita. Here I ate one of the best meals I have ever eaten in my life. Starter was literally rolled cheese on the most insane guacamole EVER. Then my main was pure mouth-watering heaven. I chose Steak Tortas which was made up of steak, Chihuahua cheese , tomatoes, lettuce and avocado in a really soft bun and a side of Mexican rice topped with even more avocado. One bite of the tortas and I fell into a food paradise, no words can explain the feelings that food gave me. It didn't look like much but in one bite I discovered how incredible it tasted. The tortas was fresh, cheesy, meaty and full of flavour with every bite. I certainly felt like I'd reached a food paradise. Dessert was, of course, churros with Mexican chocolate, I don't think I need to tell you how good these were, all I can say is visit for yourself! 

FOOD

The last stop before heading home was my heaven on earth, Whole Foods. There is nothing more I love than good quality, slightly exotic/different food (minus the ridiculous prices). I bought two fresh juices, two fancy-flavoured marshmallows, mint choc chip and strawberries and cream (because what else should I buy in a one-off trip to whole foods?) and two alcoholic iced teas (what a combination!). I could've easily bought the entire store. Walking down Kensington High Street in the dusky evening light was the perfect way to end my 8 hours in London. 

My love for this city grows every time I visit, and exploring it with no direction or real purpose was definitely the best way to see it and find the real London. I learnt a lot and had a lot of thinking time when I was exploring on my own and I am certainly not done exploring London, never mind all the other cities in the world! 

Originally I was nervous about being on my own but I loved it, I felt safe and at home and I didn't care about anything else. I really encourage exploring somewhere on your own, even if it's just for a few hours! 

Wow it's good to be writing again! 

Thanks for Reading

Charlotte
XO

An Explanation/Apology/Promise

I feel like I have a lot of explaining to do...... I haven't posted since March, almost 3 months ago. It's not that I haven't written anything, I have it's just never been finished or posted. I've started 2 favourites posts, 3 lifestyle posts and  a throwback style post. And nothing posted since March.

I love blogging, I started it as a little hobby to keep me entertained and I loved it. I still do but I've had to prioritise. A part-time-but-feels-like-full-time-job, intense training and revision for exam resits have taken top priority. Training and work I don't mind prioritising but revision..... no thanks. 

Once my exams are over I should be back into regular uploads (hopefully) full of inspiration for nice summery posts before I head off on my next adventures in September!!

I can't wait to start blogging more!!!!

Thanks for reading 

Charlotte

XO