February 17, 2020

Travel Diary – What Happened In London

travel diary - what happened in london

London Travel Diary

Read about my travel journey to London and everything that happened there! I spend a whole week in London, which was totally amazing! I loved the city and meandering around its streets. Have you been there? What do you think?

Day One: Full Day Of Travels

12:00

I started my day by packing up for the trip and going to the grocery store for some food. Cheaper airlines usually won’t give you anything in the price of the flight, so it’s best to buy something with airplane-safe ingredients.

TIP: After a long day of preparations we then finally ordered a taxi (Bolt one, here’s the link for a discount, the discount code is: 3XCT2 ) and went to Bratislava airport!

We checked in our luggage and waited for our flight.

I travel a lot so I’m not as impressed with flights, clouds, and the views as I was before, so I just tuned my already downloaded crime case video and felt asleep.

18:00

After landing at Luton Airport we took our luggage and left to buy a ticket for the bus and the train. Traveling in the UK is quite expensive (as opposed to REALLY low-priced flight tickets) so it cost more than we expected.

After arriving at the Luton Parkway Train Station, we easily found our way to the right train and went to the part of London called Cricklewood! Thankfully I chose our hotel in the northern part, pretty close to the airport so we only traveled for approximately 40 minutes.

Cricklewood was a small station in a traveling Zone 3 of London. It greeted us with signs in various languages, such as Polish, Czech, Norwegian, German, and Slovak as well (even though it was spelled incorrectly). Those of you who follow me on Instagram know, if you like to see, check out my highlight called London on there!

Since we arrived pretty late, we just checked our hotel’s area. There were shops, stores, lots of restaurants, McDonald’s and a bakery shop.

Day Two: Coffee at St Paul's Cathedral

We quickly gathered our things and bought our travel tickets for the whole week. You can travel with two different tickets, an oyster card or a travel card.

TIP: The travel card is a cheaper option for 7 days so that’s what we chose.

We decided to get off the train near St Paul’s Cathedral. I admired its height, architecture and the beauty of the neighborhood.

There was a beautiful plaza nearby where I took a picture and my parents went for Starbucks coffee.

We then saw a really unusual bridge so we decided to check it out. And this is how we got to Tate Modern.

Turbine Hall of Tate Modern

The gallery impressed us with lots of collections but especially with a huge fountain indoors.

We saw many stimulating photos from demonstrations and protests, videos and films and also the British Library by Yinka Shonibare Cbe. The library consists of 2700 colorful books with spines that hold the names of first and second-generation immigrants to Britain that achieved an overall success in any specter of life.

We decided to then go on a double-decker bus across London to see the Tower and Tower Bridge.

We bought some caramelized hazelnuts from the street seller and continued to enjoy the beauty of the area.

After the long morning, we finally decided to look for a restaurant. We saw some signs saying “Fish and Chips for 7.99£” and came to the restaurant.

It had a really rustic feel and the whole design was inspired by old sailors, pirates and their ships.

In the afternoon we just walked around the harbor near the Tower Bridge (which is stunning, yet nobody goes there) and meander our way back to the hotel.

Day Three: Rainy Regent's Park

For the third day, I planned a really touristic trip around the city center of London.

We started at 221B Baker Street (tube: Baker Street), to see the Sherlock Holmes museum and shop. They both had an aesthetic that went really well with the books, so if you’re a fan I highly recommend it. The prices were quite high but they had some items that were high-quality and would make a great gift, even for someone who isn’t a fan.

Regent’s Park was just nearby, so we went to check it out! There were lots of flowers, animals and especially birds. If you’re a nature lover and want to see a bit of that, I highly recommend Regents or James Park.

In front of the Buckingham paLACE

Buckingham Palace is just a really big white building with nice gates. There isn’t much to see there in winter, as there are no flowers or anything there. The ceremony of guards changing wasn’t possible at that time for some technical difficulties.

After that, I decided we’re going to see Westminster and finalize our tour for today.

Westminster Abbey is obviously a beauty, the red bricks are traditional, nice and opulent in a way. If you are in London this is one of those must-see places.

However, there was a Supreme Court right next door. There was free admission and we decided to see how it looks like.

Drinking Cofee at Supreme Court

The courtrooms were really nice, they looked luxurious but minimal at the same time. They also had a gift shop with a copy of Magna Carta for example.

At this point, the London Eye was just behind the corner so we took some pictures and enjoyed the view.

Later we went to an Italian restaurant for a small Minestrone, which was also quite expensive. It cost 6.95£ just for a really little bowl and a piece of bread.

Day Four: Meeting the Impressionists in the National Gallery

I was in London before with my school and we also visited a National Gallery. I loved it there but we only had 15 minutes to check it out, which is a really small amount of time for any gallery, but it’s especially for a gallery as big as this.

After seeing Cezanne, Gogh, Gaugin, and Lautrec we found a beautiful cafe where we had an amazing tea.

Just across the street, there was this Lebanese restaurant that offered a meal that I love so much. Baba Chanoughe. It’s basically a smoked eggplant combined with tahini.

After that, we went to see Picadilly Circus. It wasn’t as much as Times Square but I liked it there. We then walked the Regent’s Street and took some photos.

I also wanted to see Chinatown and Chinatowntown Gate. We really enjoyed the beautiful scenery with red lanterns, pho soups everywhere and typical Asian food markets around.

Day Five: Pastel Houses in Notting Hill

In the morning we had breakfast in a bakery shop I mentioned earlier and then take the bus to Notting Hill.

If you know anything about London or watch some trends on blogs or Instagram, you probably know this place. The pastel houses are beautiful and great for pictures, but there are more to Notting Hill.

We shopped at Portobello Market, had a pancake and took a walk around the area. We went to a church, which a nice older lady opened for us, we saw beautiful streets with bicycles and flowers.

We headed to Selhurst in the afternoon because my dad went to see a match. There was this beautiful moody cafe where I had an afternoon English tea with milk.

Then I went to see the Kings Cross Station along with St Pancras International. They’ve also built a hotel next to the stunning station.

If you’ll ever be in the area, you should totally check it out.

Then we went to see the Shard and were quite shocked by how expensive it was. We talked a bit with a guy that sold tickets because he was Russian. And that was the end of our day.

I bought some guacamole for dinner and ate it with the bread from a local bakery.

Day Six: Taking photos at Platform 9 3/4

Our last full day in London was quite calming as we didn’t do much. In the morning we went to King’s Cross just to stand in the line for Harry Potter inspired photos. The line wasn’t as long as I expected so I was quite happy with it.

The Harry Potter shop was also very well arranged, they had nice, high-quality products, even though they were pretty pricey. They also had a Golden Snitch, the little golden ball with wings that is hard to catch during Quidditch. It was based on a simple levitation trick, with a wire behind the ears. It was pretty fun to watch the demonstration though!

Reading in British Library

We also visited the British Library, which is truly huge, listened to the Beatles’ samples there and watch students learn.

aDmiring the art in Victoria & Albert

After that, we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum to see some traditional non-European art. I was amazed by Indian and Chinese culture.

I sadly didn’t go to Tim Walker’s Wonderful Things Exhibition, because it was sold out that day.

However, we did see a Mary Quant one and I bought earrings in the shape of her significant flower daisy as well.

Natural History museum and the beautiful vault

Then we went to see a Natural History museum which is truly incredible for kids. I, as a 20-year-old, liked some of the exhibition and learned something new pretty easily through their interactive showrooms.

There was also a vault, that had beautiful diamonds and minerals.

Science Museum at 5 PM

After that, we went to see the Science Museum. There was a floor dedicated to the flying, universe, Apollo 11 and cosmonauts.

I was, however, more interested in the “Medicine” section of the museum, which was on the third floor. There were shown the origins of medications, gadgets as well as hospitals.

Welcome to covent garden!

We then headed to Covent Garden, which is the flowery urban part of London. It was really fascinating to meander around those streets and to see a market with a street opera singer!