London – Travel Diary

After almost two years I finally made it to London again. 

This time I went with my mum, so that meant a lot of shopping and musicals, yeahi!

On Monday we had our flight at 10 am, that meant landing in London after 11 am. The landing was fabulous, great views over the whole city. We took the underground into central London and headed to our hotel in Seven Dials. We have been staying at the same hotel for years, it’s just the perfect location. We had lunch at the hotel restaurant (Monmouth Kitchen), where they served yummy tapas. It was delicious. Then we explored the shops in and around Covent Garden. Reiss, Ted Baker, Karen Millen etc. We were surprised to see a lot oft he shops gone. I found some lovely things at Karen Millen though. Covent garden is always a great place to explore, take pictures and just enjoy. At 5 pm we went back tot he hotel and got changed, before heading to Rosso Pomodoro, one of our fave restaurants. Then it was time fort he first musical: Company at the Gielgud Theatre. It was an amazing show! The main character Bobbie was done by a woman and they turned some other things around as well, it was absolutely fantastic. 

On Tuesday, our path took us down to Knightsbridge and the South Kensington area, after having the best coffee I’ve ever had at Monmouth Coffee. I love this area. We first headed to the Victoria and Albert Museum, because we really wanted to see the Dior exhibition. The first open spot was at 3.15 pm, so we changed our plans and went to Harrods and the surrounding shops first. Time passes so quickly when you’re having fun, so we found ourselves hangry in Harrods, not really in the mood for shopping. I bought a pretty Apron, but then we want to the restaurants down there to have some chicken. It was sooo good. Then we continued to check out some shops, before stopping at Caffé Concerto for a smoothie and a tea. Then it was time for the museum and the exhibition. It was fascinating to see all these dresses, by all the different Dior designers, to see how it all developed and of course picking a favourite. It was very interesting. After the exhibition it was already time to head back to the hotel, have a quick nap and then get ready. We had dinner at Monmouth Kitchen again and then went to the Adelphi theatre to see Waitress with Katherine McPhee. I loved her from the first moment I saw her in Smash (a fab tv show) and was so excited when it was announced she is coming to London. She was absolutely brilliant in the role of Jenna, her voice is amazing! The show was awesome on so many levels, I would go and see it again any time! 

Wednesday was another shopping day. We walked down Shaftesbury Avenue to Piccadilly Circus and then browsed through the shops on Regent Street. There are just the best shops there and the buildings are so pretty. I bought some sneakers at Pepe Jeans (on sale), a shirt in Massimo Dutti and my mum bought things too. In between we headed to Carnaby street, looked at the shops there and had lunch at Dehesa, one of our faves. We spent a long time in Ted Baker, where we even met some people from our home town and then Karen Millen again, I found a fab wallet. We even got served Prosecco. After walking through Liberty, it was time to go back tot he hotel, get changed and go to the National Theatre. Third night and our third musical. We booked a package to have dinner as well, it was at the Terrace restaurant, a kind of Tapas menu again, but the food was terrible. We left as fast as possible and ate some snacks we brought. At the Olivier Theatre we then got to see Follies. It’s a very modern theatre and it looked great with the scenery and everything. Even though the songs of the musical are great, the spark didn’t fly. I just couldn’t connect to the way they did it. The orchestra and the singing were not one and some oft he actors didn’t really meet my expectations. That was a bit of a disappointment. We had a lovely wine at the hotel afterwards, so we still had a great evening. 

Thursday was already our last day, I wasn’t feeling too well though, so we didn’t do much. We checked out some more stores in Covent Garden (didn’t have enough time the first day), enjoyed Neal’s Yard and just chilled, before heading to Heathrow airport, where we did some more shopping. 

There were many more things we wanted to do this time, like going down to King’s road and Sloane Square and other things, but there is never enough time. We had a fabulous few days though and London always feels like going home, I can’t wait to get back again.