Bon Voyage & Bon Appétit

  Today was our last full day visiting London! The next time we’re here will be to catch our flight home. We had a rather chill day going from one snack to another. We were planning on maybe visiting some museums… but the whole town of London is so beautiful, it’s kind of its own museum.  Cool London buildings Our first treat was something we had back in May… William Curley’s Hot Chocolate. This is the most delicious hot chocolate in the world and I was so happy to have another taste. The Mayan Spiced Hot Chocolate - my absolute favourite We then spent about one hour in Foyles Bookstore, a five story building in central London. It was lots of fun looking through their incredible selection of books… and we only bought a few. Just a few new books… While walking around town we stumbled across a bakery that we loved in Stockholm: Fabrique Bakery. Apparently they opened this London location after being appointed as a supplier to the Royal Court of Sweden. And I can see why, their s...

  Yesterday was a day to remember - we left the EU after 89 days! Our flight from Gdańsk to London was smooth, but the border guard couldn’t believe how long Liam had been away for! After double-checking Liam wasn’t lying, the guard gave him an admiring nod.  Beautiful sunny day for our flight This time, we’re staying in the south of London with Liam’s family. We got in quite late yesterday, but after sleeping in, we still managed to get some sight-seeing in today.  Our goal was to see the Tower of London, something we missed in May.  First views of Tower Bridge We crossed the iconic tower bridge, and made our way into the Tower complex. I was surprised by how much there was to see inside!  Walking across the bridge We had to start with the most famous items - the Crown Jewels! It was such a unique experience to see these huge gemstones and ornate regalia which are still worn and used to this day. Photos aren’t allowed inside, so you’ll just have to imagine the ...

  Here’s a little recap of our last day and a half in London! Yesterday evening we went to see Romeo and Juliet in the Globe Theatre, as it was meant to be seen! We got some cheap standing seats, which got a little tiring but we had a nice wall to lean on. An evening at the Globe The play itself was so good! Neither of us knew  it was an updated adaptation which was Western themed.. so we had actors in cowboy hats with pistols speaking in Shakespearean dialect. This actually worked quite well and made for a funny, yet still tragic play. The next morning we walked through Chelsea to the Natural History Museum. On the way to the museum we passed by 23 Egerton Terrace, which was one of the London filming locations for the 1998 version of The Parent Trap. This is my all time favourite movie so we had to stop and take a picture! “The Parent Trap house” The Natural History Museum did not disappoint! They had lots of interesting exhibits, from an earthquake simulator to dinosaur skel...

 A shorter post today because man am I tired! We’ve been doing 15 000 to 23 000 steps per day and my legs are feeling it. We visited a classic London landmark today - St. Paul’s Cathedral. This cathedral was built in 1668 after the fire of London destroyed the original cathedral, which had stood there for over a thousand years. On a whim we decided to go inside and it was well worth it. St. Paul’s Cathedral It is absolutely breathtaking inside St. Paul’s. The mosaics adorning the roof, added in the 19th century, were my absolute favourite part. It is so incredible to look up at this architectural masterpiece and know it was built in a time without modern construction machinery… the amount of effort it must have taken is insane.  Mosaics in St. Paul’s Outside of St. Paul’s And of course we climbed at 528 steps to the top of St. Paul’s for a wonderful 360 view of London. Panoramic views from the top of St. Paul’s We also explored the British Museum today and saw so many artifact...

 Day two in London was a blast! We spent the day in central London  walking around Westminster, Mayfair, and Covent Gardens. We started by checking out the London Eye and Big Ben, some classics. It was incredibly packed everywhere we went, but understandably so. This city is such a cool mixture between the old and the new. London truly is the gateway drug to Europe, there everyone speaks English and yet you still hear so many other languages and get the “European vibe”. London Eye Big Ben Obviously we had to go and say hi to the King at Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace And then we remembered the Broad Street Pump and detoured towards Soho district for a visit. This felt like a true fan-girl moment for me, as it would for anyone who’s studied epidemiology. In 1854 John Snow conducted one of the first known epidemiological investigations and determined that a cholera epidemic in London was clustered around this pump, showing it to be the cause of the outbreak. John Snow’s B...