Our London Trip
Since our last trip to Paris, France, I have been itching with the travel bug to want to do more international travel but Covid put a damper on that for a couple of years. Recently we decided, very last minute, that we wanted to do somethign that’s been on my bucket list; Christmas time in London. I’ve always wanted to experience London and it’s Christmas markets and holiday lights. We had such a great experience traveling in Paris during the winter so we were confident London was going to be a great time!
Jeffry and I spent a lot of time walking, with occasional uses of the Underground, to explore the City of London. We actually prefer walking instead of public transport, as it affords a bit more time and flexibility to experience a place with more immersion and opportunities to come across little hidden gems. We saw a lot of beautiful architecture, interior design, fashion, food, and much more!
Since I was a kid I’ve always wanted to see Big Ben in person; it’s just an iconic piece of history and architecture in London. Around five years ago, I learned that Big Ben was going through restoration to give it a complete makeover and it’s been covered up since. Last June, they finally unveiled Big Ben with a fresh look and I have to say, that it’s looking stunning and so GORGEOUS!!! It was so wonderful to see it in person to take in all of the details and the obvious loving work that was put into it to make it like-new again . I was in awe how beautiful it is in person compared to pictures I’ve seen of it in the past.
So, of course with Jeffry planning the trip, a lot of what we did in London revolved around food and food experiences. Our splurge-worthy dinner was at a one-michelin star restaurant Frog by Adam Handling. It was arguably one of the best meals we’ve ever had; with perfectly prepared artful plates, divine and surprising taste combinations, and relaxed and gracious service by the staff. Every moment and every dish was flawless. For a “fancy” restaurant it was a lot of fun as well and not stuffy as many of the dishes were quite playful and meant to be eaten with your hands and a little messy; like the heart-shaped waffle with caviar and drizzled with maple syrup. We sat at counters immediately in front of the kitchen and were able to watch the dinner service unfold in front of us and see how the chefs conducted themselves; which was really entertaining.
One evening when were walking around the city after dark we discovered something that was a real delight; these LED white roses in the middle of Grosvenor Square. I believe they were selling, at a little booth, the flowers for a charity cause as a remembrance for loved ones passed or those that you couldn’t be with during the holidays, and you could purchase one to have “planted” amidst the field. Every flower was accompanied by a little card that had a hand-written message on it. It was really dark out and the cards were tiny so we couldn’t really read any of them, but it gave each flower a little more special meaning. It was really a beautiful sight to walk through this field of flower lights.
Liberty London Department Store
London is famous for a few department stores; Harrod’s being world-renowned. We also went to this other one, called Liberty London, in a beautiful Tudor style architecture. It had a tons of character as the interior also was very Tudor with lower ceilings, exposed beams, and tons of ornate dark wood work. The crowds inside though were akin to walking around Disney Land during the summer…so I’d love to visit Liberty when it isn’t insane with Christmas shopping frenzy.
Notting Hill in London
We had some time to kill before our Holiday Afternoon Tea, so we decided to take a last minute quick trip to one of London’s famous neighborhoods, Notting Hill and it’s Portobello Road, famed for it’s street markets. We LOVED this neighborhood with lots of calm residential charm, row houses with fun pastel colors, and the art and craft vendors at the markets. We saw this one funky building that hat first glance just looks like charming peeling plaster exterior to expose brick underneath. Take a second look and notice the eyes in the design!
London is a truly a magical place for the holidays and all the holiday spirit and lights that I was hoping to see did not disappoint. The city and shops LOVE to decorate their famous streets and store fronts for the holidays with each shopping district having their own theme of lights! I would have to say that Regent Street seen above, Oxford Street, Bond Street, Covent Garden, and Carnaby Street were some of my favorites!
Windsor Castle
We took a train from London to the town of Windsor to see Windsor Castle. It was a beautiful castle and much larger than I expected it to be. Every aspect of the place from the exterior, to the grand halls in the interior and the church on the grounds were just gorgeous and so full of history. No photography is allowed in any of the interiors unfortunately but we were able to visit the resting place of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, and her parents in the church. You’re walking along and you look down at a different colored marble slab set in the floor and realize you’re walking over the vault and tomb of King Henry VIII!!! It was really weird feeling because I was so close to their bodies and an interesting experience for me to be so impacted by these larger-than-life figures.
Tower Bridge view taken from the Tower of London
We went to the Tower of London; an amazing old castle dating back to 1066. We learned so much about the place, early London and it’s history. The crown jewels are stored there; which were utterly spectacular and mind-blowing the size of some of those gems. In the vaults were also displayed a lot of the special serving pieces that are only used during the coronation festivities. There was a hugely ornate gold punch bowl that holds 144 bottles of wine!!
A fascinating tidbit of info about the Tower was that while it was a working prison and place of torture and execution, it was a museum open to the public and menagerie of exotic animals! One king had a polar bear that was on a leash long enough for it to go swimming and fishing in the Thames!
Holiday Cheer in Covent Garden
London takes this whole business of holiday decorations very seriously to really be at the top of their game in bringing the holiday cheer and magic! There are Christmas markets all over the place, especially along both banks of Thames, and we saw the most beautiful public Christmas tree ever right in the heart of Covent Garden. If you’re a Christmas person, like I am, I highly recommend making the effort to go to London during this time of year. Despite the cold, it is totally worth it.
Bodleian Library at Oxford University, Oxford, UK
The day before we returned home from our vacation, we rented a car and took a day trip. We had quite a mix-up at the car rental place, so we were upgraded for free to a fancy Audi A3! Woohoo! We stopped in Oxford, the home of one of the world’s oldest university campuses, Oxford University, comprising of 44 different colleges. There is so much beautiful old gothic archicture in this town! We originally only planned for a couple of hours and didn’t really realize how much there was to see. We definitely need to come back again and spend more time in the city to take in all the sights and join some tours of the campuses.
Does this castle look familiar?? If you’re fan of the TV show and movies of Downton Abbey, you’d recognize this castle immediately. As part of our day trip outside London, we scored some special evening Christmas Tours of Highclere Castle. While it was really cool to see many of the rooms frequently filmed in the shows, we really were fascinated by all the family history of the castle itself! It was a gorgeous home and very cozy, as it’s still an actual working family home for the Lord and Lady Carnarvon. One significant detail about this place was that the 5th Earl Carnarvon (currently the 8th Earl is in residence), and his business partner were the ones to unearth the tomb of King Tut! We were actually there one day before the 100th anniversary of the opening of the tomb! Of all the castles and palaces I’ve visits, though admittedly is not a lot, this is my favorite by far!
