Twelve years ago, I embarked on a journey that set my life on its present course. My first time in London was filled with wonder, learning, curiosity and a desire to see more of the world. It’s truly the greatest city in the world and was the perfect jumping-off-point for my formative college years. I went back 5 years ago and felt a contentment with my current life that made me love my memories that much more. 

I’ve wanted to show Sean this special place for a number of years and this trip was finally it. I showed him the city through my eyes and I think it actually was a disservice to him as he didn’t necessarily get to have his own unique experience. But 4 days isn’t much time and in the end we did a lot, saw a lot and made some great memories. 

Thursday, March 24th:

The weather was pretty dreary, which didn’t help. My first experience with London was with sunny and warm summer days – this helped me get through all the rainy days that would come. We didn’t have that luxury this time. But we never let the weather stop us on any of our travels so we had lunch at The Muffin Man in Kensington after checking into our hotel, walked down High Street Kensington, through Hyde Park while passing Kensington Palace, and then over to The Royal Albert Hall. Kensington is the most beautiful part of London and is filled with magnificent history.

The rain got pretty intense so I took Sean to one of the neighborhood pubs we frequented – The Queens Arms. Sean had his first pint in a traditional English pub and was pretty happy about it. 

We continued our walk around Kensington, even stopping in the local Sainsbury’s to see all the different foods. We went back to the hotel to rest for a bit and change our clothes. The Park Grand Kensington Hotel was very nice. I had LOW expectations given that London hotels are notoriously tiny but this room was very modern and while small, was well-laid out to maximize space. We did not feel cramped at all for our 4 night stay.

We had dinner at The Builder’s Arms, another local pub, and I surprised even myself at remembering the complicated back streets to get there. A quick drink at The Gloucester Arms – I have so many memories at this pub – and we were off to our nighttime bus tour of London – See London By Night.

The tour was perfect for us – 90 minutes around all the London sights lit up at night. I had not wanted to do a hop-on, hop-off tour because I had so many other, off-the-beaten-path things planned. I still wanted Sean to see the famous landmarks and this tour was incredible. The guide was funny, entertaining and knowledgeable and even though it was raining and we didn’t get any good pictures, the things we saw were magnificent.

We stopped at my favorite local haunt Ashbee’s Wine Bar for a nightcap before crashing. 

Friday, March 25th:

We were up super early the next day for our trip out to Stonehenge and Bath, which I’ll cover in another post. 

When we got back from the tour at about 7pm, we headed over to Chinatown, walking through Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square on the way. 

There was a plethora of food options and we ended up being really happy with the one we chose. Our pre-fixe menu included hot-and-sour soup, crispy duck with a plum sauce and thin wraps (this was incredible!), a veggie stir-fry, sweet and sour pork, a beef stir-fry, and rice. Yum!

After dinner we walked around Soho and I managed to find the bar me and my friends Jen and Tara used to go to where they rolled their own cigars in house and sold Cuban cigars. I also took my friend Eric here. It’s changed, of course, but we stopped in for a cocktail anyway. I also found the super tucked-away spot of what had been an incredible vodka bar that had also changed. I was feeling proud of myself for still knowing my way around, like I’d never left.

All this walking led us to Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club for their late show of Pee Wee Ellis / Fred Wesley Jazz Big Band. I’ve seen many shows here over the years and it’s such a great and intimate venue for experiencing live jazz. There are so many shows one can see in London but ultimately this is the experience I chose for us and I’m glad I did. The music was phenomenal. And I got share with Sean the journey home on the night bus since the Tube had been long closed by that point. So fun!

Saturday, March 26th:

This was a big day. We did A LOT between breakfast and dinner, and were pretty darn exhausted. But we saw great things so it was worth it. We also learned that despite our efforts to walk more before the trip, there is really NO amount of walking that can be done in our driving and sitting-at-a-desk culture that could have prepared us. We just had to do it.

We headed out for Borough Market but exited the Tube at Mansion House station to walk through some of the City of London and cross London Bridge. We had great views of Tower Bridge, Tower of London, and The Strand, The Gherkin and The Walkie-Talkie buildings. 

Borough Market is an amazing outdoor food market offering up a huge variety of, well, just about everything you can imagine. From local specialties like English cheeses to imported goods like Iberian ham from Spain, it is a true melting pot of yummy-ness.

We had an amazing toasted cheese sandwich with four different types of English cheese on rustic bread and we shared a delicious kangaroo burger. (Sean is holding that below.) All in all, this is a must-do for anyone visiting London. But note that they are closed on Sundays!

Our next stop was Camdentown, the eclectic and gritty neighborhood with a huge maze of stalls selling crafts, souvenirs, art, music, clothing, antiques, food…you name it and you can probably find it here.

This place was PACKED. I had expected Borough Market to be packed like this but Camdentown was by far the most crowded place we visited on our trip. The rain held off so we could enjoy the market and we walked around many of the stalls, peeking at all the goods. 

We ended up in this beautiful shop with Turkish lamps and decided to purchase one for our home. With the shipping, the amount was the same as the budget I’d had in my head for a light fixture so it all worked out! And the store owner was friendly and helpful – be sure to check out TurkishDe-Light if you’re in Camdentown.

After shoving our way onto the Tube at Camdentown, we headed a few stops down towards The British Museum. We were in bad need of a rest at this point and the hard floor of museum was unforgiving on our feet, but we marched on.

There are so many incredible museums in London that it was hard for me to pick which one to take Sean to. I personally love The Victoria and Albert Museum and the Tate Modern, but I felt that if there was only ONE to show someone that it had to be The British Museum. The building itself is stunning, both outside and inside. The African art in the lower level remains one of my favorite parts of the museum. Oh, that and the Rosetta Stone. Duh! 😉

The British Museum was less than one block my alma matter, so we hopped over there so I could show Sean where I’d gone to school. Huron University was a fantastic place and I’m so lucky to have ended up at the perfect school for me that was focused on learning and diversity of thought, rather than the creativity-crippling priority on memorization and multiple-choice testing of so many US universities.

Huron had been acquired by HULT International Business School shortly after I graduated with my MBA, and I had seen the renovated campus on my last trip in 2011. I had hoped to show Sean that, but it turns out they moved. And I didn’t know. The building was empty and up for lease so all we could do we peek in the windows and take photos outside. 

We walked through beautiful Russell Square and stopped at the bench where the plaque had been put in memory of a great teacher who was taken from us far too soon. 

I wanted to stay in the area longer and reminisce but we had dinner reservations in Chelsea so we had to head back to our hotel in Earl’s Court to get ready.

I read reviews of upscale Indian restaurants on Time Out London’s site and chose The Painted Heron. London has great Indian food, which both Sean and I love, and we have some in Atlanta but not upscale. This was a new experience for us. And it was delicious. 

We uber’d from our hotel to the restaurant and were immediately seated with our reservation. Our starter, pictured below, was a dish of paneer (Indian cheese) with eggplant and starfruit with curry. It was phenomenal – great variety of textures and flavors. Our main dishes were bone-in lamb curry with crispy okra and wild mushrooms with red onions, coconut, sorrel and spices. The mushroom dish was the standout of the meal. So good. We had a green chili and coriander naan bread and basmati rice to go with everything.

After dinner, we walked along the Thames for a while, which was lovely with all the bridges lit up. This was the only walk we did along the river mostly due to the crappy weather.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at what used to be O’Neill’s – the pub I worked at. Alas, it has changed and it’s now got a sleeker look and new staff. However, the space is still incredible and the bartenders were so friendly that we ended up staying for quite awhile and having a really lovely time. Sean finally became a fan of the pub experience. Yay!

Sunday, March 27th:

This was probably our most relaxed day. We slept in a little and then headed out to Kew to meet Ray, the former Provost of Huron University who is also my teacher, mentor and friend, for Easter supper. It rained so hard that we were drenched on the Tube ride out there, but once in Kew it was sunny and so we walked for a bit to dry off. Kew is a beautiful neighborhood a bit outside of the center of London and Sean really loved it. It’s quieter and has beautiful homes and gardens that give it a quaint feel.

Our supper with Ray was wonderful. We had good food – baked Camembert to start, roasted duck for the main and sticky toffee pudding for dessert – good wine, and great conversation. I think if not for Ray’s shoulder injury causing him some discomfort, we’d have stayed there for far longer. I’m grateful to have been able to introduce him to Sean and for us to all be together like that. (I’d hoped to meet up with a couple more friends but most were out of town for the Easter holiday.)

After supper (which was more like a later lunch), Sean and I went to Kew Gardens, London’s Royal Botanical Gardens. It is such a beautiful place and massive, so we didn’t see everything but had a nice time exploring all the same.

And we got some bunny ears since it was Easter. 🙂

On the way back to our hotel, we stopped in The Hereford Arms, yet another pub that I frequented during my years here. Sean was tired and went back to the hotel but I stayed longer and then took the scenic walk home, passing by familiar streets and the site of my old flat at 6 Knaresborough Place.

I wanted to dine at Ashbee’s Wine Bar and have the delicious cheese fondue that I loved so much. I feared that Elizabeth, the owner, may close up shop before I get the chance to go to London again. She did say while we were there that she’s getting older and won’t be able to keep up with it for much longer. This makes me sad. This place is such a gem. 

Dine on delicious cheese fondue and drink wine, we did. And, as she does every time I’ve ever gone there, she offered us complimentary port at the end of our meal. So lovely.

This is the little alley where the wine bar is located, along with a French restaurant and a little pub. It’s beyond charming and was just around the corner from where I used to live and also where our hotel was on this trip. It was fitting to end our 4-day stay in London here and I’m so very glad I was able to share this city, my memories of it and my favorite places in it with my husband.