This past weekend I made the trip up to the wonderful city of London, England.
We arrived Thursday Night and grabbed a train from the airport to our hostel. But that would be to simple of a trip and lack any excitement, so the travel gods decided to mix it up for us and catch Victoria Station (one of the main station and the direction we were heading) on fire. Luckily, everyone in England speaks English so it made our long and roundabout travel a little bit easier to figure out. We finally arrived at our stop only to find out the tickets we had wouldn't work and required us to buy a new ticket to leave the station.
We grabbed dinner at a really cool pub not far from our hostel which prided itself on it's unique beer selection and original food choices. I settled for a really good beer that was brewed just four miles up the road. We got a free sample of Cracklin, which is fried or seared bacon fat and it is absolutely amazing. Then for dinner I had a rib dog, coca cola sauced barbeque on a toasted honey bun with fries and coleslaw that according to Kerry was really good. Overall, it was a really good dinner.
The next morning we rose bright and early to take a bike tour of London through the royal parks. We saw a lot of the main sites such as Kessington Palace (home of Will and Kate), Hyde Park, Wellington Arch, Admiral Arch, Building and Square, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Parliament Building, and of course Big Ben. Our guide was a local London guy who was really informative and quite funny, he was a big fan of pointing out why London is so much better than Paris. We grabbed lunch in the Crypt of the Saint Martin Church right off Trafalgar Square.
 |
| Wellington Arch |
 |
| Admiral Arch |
 |
| Westminster Abbey |
 |
| Big Ben |
 |
| Buckingham Palace |
Following the bike tour we made our way to Kings Cross Station and Platform 9 and 3/4. It was a super convenient way to get to Hogwarts for the night. But actually, we got on our train and headed to the Warner Brother Harry Potter Studio Tour for the night. We entered through the front doors of the castle into the Great Hall before exploring the entirety of the set. All of the animal actors were there so we got to meet Hedwig, Crookshanks, Mrs. Norris, Scabbers, Trevor, Ningini and Fang. It was really cool to see the way everything was set up and filmed. We also sampled Butterbeer which is AMAZING. We spent about four hours exploring all the different sets and costumes. It was by far one of the coolest things I have done and my inner nerd was estatic.
 |
| Embracing my Inner Luna and Heading to Hogwarts |
 |
| Yule Ball |
 |
| Still waiting on my letter |
 |
| Buttterbeer |
 |
| Catching a ride on the Knight Bus |
 |
| Hanging out with Hedwig |
 |
| Hogwarts Castle |
 |
| Diagon Alley |
 |
| The Great Hall |
Once again we woke bright and early on Saturday morning, we had to allow proper time to get all dolled up for the event I have been so excited about for ever, London Fashion Weekend at the Somerset House. The only aspect of the big four fashion weeks that allows non press, buyers, and celebs to attend. We checked in and got our Julien Macdonald tote bags filled with goodies from the various sponsors including Essie Nail Polish, Maybeline baby lips, Beauty in snacks, label m. hair products, coupons for free goodies in London shops, and more. We browsed through the shops and looked longingly at the designer clothes that didn't quite fit in my study abroad budget. We then attended our first catwalk show, which was a Trend Show. It featured outfits from various designers falling into the top four trends for this spring and summer, Precious Metals (jewel tones and shiny), Lace Embrace (daytime lace), Flower Power (bold florals and head to toe floral), and Good Sport (athletic and varsity sport inspired). After out first show we returned to lounge and grabbed a glass of pink champagne, because it doesn't get more posh than that. We hit up some more shops and browsed the lounge which also housed VIP talks from major industry professionals. Then we went to the show I was most excited about, the Julien MacDonald catwalk. He has dressed basically anyone is anyone, we are talking Beyonce, Heidi Klum, Taylor Swift, and so so many more. He was introduced by the amazing Hillary Alexander, a major british fashion force as she is the Fashion Director for the Daily Telegraph and has been around the industry for ever. Julien MacDonald makes beautiful dresses that are glittery and fun but sheer and edgy all while remaining tasteful. I fell in love with his Spring/Summer collection and have decided that if I ever get to buy a major designer dress for some reason I would want him to dress me.
 |
| Hillary Alexander |
 |
| Trend Catwalk - Good Sport |
 |
| Julien MacDonald Show |
 |
| Julien MacDonald Show |
After the fashion show we met at the Gore Hotel for a late afternoon traditional British Tea. I had a rose tea that was really good. The tea was served with finger sandwiches, scones, macaroons, sweets, and lots of pastries. It was a really neat experience and the food was really good.
We then spent the night walking the the River Thames, seeing the London Eye, crossing the Waterloo Bridge, and sightseeing. As it started to get darker we made our way via the London Underground (we were masters of the tube) to Picadilly Circus. This is a really cool area of town that is filled with pubs, restaurants, bars, clubs, theaters, and lots and lots of people. We grabbed dinner at a place that claims that it might just be the best fish and chips, maybe. Since I was still full of tea, I simply got potato soup but stole a bite of the fish and chips and they were quite good. We walked the streets of Picadilly Circus after dinner before calling it a night.
We then headed over to the Sunday Up Market held in the Old Truman Brewery. It was a really cool place, there are tons of booths selling art, clothing, jewelry, and other eclectic items. My favorite part of the market was the food section, tons of booths make fresh food from every culture right there and give out free samples; Londoners really know what they are doing with Indian food, and the Malaysian pancakes were one for the book, I actually bought a banana and nutella crepe made from scratch right in front of me that was phenomenal.
Then I sadly had to board a train back to the airport and head on back to the good old Madrid, but London was an amazing trip and city and who knows, maybe I'll be back someday.
P.S. If anyone is curious, I was put on a British Fashion Blog for my style at London Fashion Weekend. Here is a link:
http://www.chiqueuniquecritique.com/2014/02/ss14-street-style-14-in-this-case-yes.html
No comments:
Post a Comment