Things I neeed to do in London - update!
So, I'm well under way making progress with getting the things on my London list ticked off, with 9 out of 30 done I want to tell you all about what I've been up to! I'm going to try and be systematic about the time order I've done this in...
#2 Go on a Boris Bike ride and #24 Eat at the 'Feng Shang Princess' - floating Chinese restaurant on Regents Canal
After starting my list I was so excited about the thought of doing so much I told my boyfriend we had to get started right away, he came up to London after finishing college for the day and after a lot of persuading he agreed to go on a Boris Bike ride with me around Hyde Park.. I've got to say after being really quite reluctant to get on one, I think he secretly loved it... ha!
After cycling round the park for half an hour and nearly crashing into the fencing we decided it was about time to go and get dinner. We took the tube up to Mornington Crescent and wandered round trying to find this floating Chinese restaurant on Regents Canal I'd read about online and was desperate to try! Walking along the river it was easy to spot, so beautifully lit up... I'm sorry the photos really don't do justice!
Inside was just as nice, dinner was amazing, definitely money well spent and worth a visit to...
#3 Go ice skating at Somerset House
Being a 2 hour journey away from my boyfriend up at university we saw very little of each other before Christmas time, which sucked incredibly, but whenever he did get the chance to come up and visit I'd always have something planned and somewhere new to drag him to. The next thing I was determined to cross of my list was ice skating at Somerset House. I'd heard how nice it was there and the year before tickets sold out for Somerset House skating so quickly it was unbelievable. As soon as he arrived in the afternoon we went over to Knightsbridge to get a couple of Christmas presents in Harrods, grabbed hot chocolates and made our way over to The Strand.
If you're in London next winter ice skating at Somerset House is the thing to do, whether you're with friends, boyfriend, girlfriend or even your mum. The venue was beautiful and it was so so much fun.
#1 Go to Winterville and #26 Go shopping at Westfield Stratford - My sister rarely has the opportunity to come up to London with working full time, so at the start of December her and one of our oldest family friends came up and met me at Winterville in East London's Victoria Park. We were told it was like an alternative to Hyde Parks Winter Wonderland so thought it'd be worth a visit. It was a nice day out but definitely go in the evening, drinking at the ski chalet themed bars is more acceptable then and seeing it all lit up at night would be a much better atmosphere. Not being far at all from Stratford shopping mall we jumped on the tube after Winterville and made our way round the shops before having dinner. Sad to say I don't have any photos for this day, but it's even sadder having to say goodbye to family after perfect days out and going back to your uni flat all alone.. :(
#12 Go to Borough Market and #10 See the view of St.Pauls from the Millennium Bridge
The day after my sister came to visit my mum came up on the Monday. We spent early part of the day wandering round Borough Market at London Bridge, spotting more 'Paddington's' on the trail that launched in London over December after the release of the film. After having lunch at one of the nicest steakhouses in the area we went for a walk along the Thames and over the Millennium Bridge. It was beyond cold up on the bridge but it was still sunny and the view of St.Pauls was amazing. I had another completely perfect day up in London with mum.
#13 Go to Kew Gardens at Christmas time
I was lucky enough to have a visit from my mum, sister and Nic all in one week at the start of December and when he came back up to visit after college midweek I had tickets booked to go over to West London to visit Kew Gardens. The gardens looked amazing lit up at night but I have to say it was absolutely freezing, if you go next winter, LAYER UP. As cute as it was walking through the gardens at night and spending time with Nic Kew Gardens at Christmas seemed to be an event more aimed towards families and there was a mini fairground for younger children and live performances from actors telling fairytales in the middle of the grounds. Still worth a visit but it doesn't take up a whole evening..
#27 Madhatters afternoon tea at the Sanderson hotel
#2 Go on a Boris Bike ride and #24 Eat at the 'Feng Shang Princess' - floating Chinese restaurant on Regents Canal
After starting my list I was so excited about the thought of doing so much I told my boyfriend we had to get started right away, he came up to London after finishing college for the day and after a lot of persuading he agreed to go on a Boris Bike ride with me around Hyde Park.. I've got to say after being really quite reluctant to get on one, I think he secretly loved it... ha!
After cycling round the park for half an hour and nearly crashing into the fencing we decided it was about time to go and get dinner. We took the tube up to Mornington Crescent and wandered round trying to find this floating Chinese restaurant on Regents Canal I'd read about online and was desperate to try! Walking along the river it was easy to spot, so beautifully lit up... I'm sorry the photos really don't do justice!
Inside was just as nice, dinner was amazing, definitely money well spent and worth a visit to...
#3 Go ice skating at Somerset House
Being a 2 hour journey away from my boyfriend up at university we saw very little of each other before Christmas time, which sucked incredibly, but whenever he did get the chance to come up and visit I'd always have something planned and somewhere new to drag him to. The next thing I was determined to cross of my list was ice skating at Somerset House. I'd heard how nice it was there and the year before tickets sold out for Somerset House skating so quickly it was unbelievable. As soon as he arrived in the afternoon we went over to Knightsbridge to get a couple of Christmas presents in Harrods, grabbed hot chocolates and made our way over to The Strand.
If you're in London next winter ice skating at Somerset House is the thing to do, whether you're with friends, boyfriend, girlfriend or even your mum. The venue was beautiful and it was so so much fun.
#1 Go to Winterville and #26 Go shopping at Westfield Stratford - My sister rarely has the opportunity to come up to London with working full time, so at the start of December her and one of our oldest family friends came up and met me at Winterville in East London's Victoria Park. We were told it was like an alternative to Hyde Parks Winter Wonderland so thought it'd be worth a visit. It was a nice day out but definitely go in the evening, drinking at the ski chalet themed bars is more acceptable then and seeing it all lit up at night would be a much better atmosphere. Not being far at all from Stratford shopping mall we jumped on the tube after Winterville and made our way round the shops before having dinner. Sad to say I don't have any photos for this day, but it's even sadder having to say goodbye to family after perfect days out and going back to your uni flat all alone.. :(
#12 Go to Borough Market and #10 See the view of St.Pauls from the Millennium Bridge
The day after my sister came to visit my mum came up on the Monday. We spent early part of the day wandering round Borough Market at London Bridge, spotting more 'Paddington's' on the trail that launched in London over December after the release of the film. After having lunch at one of the nicest steakhouses in the area we went for a walk along the Thames and over the Millennium Bridge. It was beyond cold up on the bridge but it was still sunny and the view of St.Pauls was amazing. I had another completely perfect day up in London with mum.
#13 Go to Kew Gardens at Christmas time
I was lucky enough to have a visit from my mum, sister and Nic all in one week at the start of December and when he came back up to visit after college midweek I had tickets booked to go over to West London to visit Kew Gardens. The gardens looked amazing lit up at night but I have to say it was absolutely freezing, if you go next winter, LAYER UP. As cute as it was walking through the gardens at night and spending time with Nic Kew Gardens at Christmas seemed to be an event more aimed towards families and there was a mini fairground for younger children and live performances from actors telling fairytales in the middle of the grounds. Still worth a visit but it doesn't take up a whole evening..
#27 Madhatters afternoon tea at the Sanderson hotel
Last but certainly not least, one my latest things I've got up to in London recently.. The Madhatters afternoon tea! After hearing about this amazing themed tea while working on an Alice in Wonderland themed project at university I was intrigued and started my research online, the menu was crazy and the whole experience sounded like one I had to have and who better to take to afternoon tea than your mum? I made reservations for mid January and surprised my mum at Christmas with news that we were going!
The Sanderson Hotel is located just off of Oxford street, so after spending the morning shopping we made our way over to have a look around the hotel before sitting down to tea. The whole hotel was a mix of weird and wonderful! From the outside it just looks like any normal hotel but the decoration on the inside is something you have to see for yourself. There were high plush bar stools but with eyes printed on the back, huge chairs with animal fur and antlers, sofas in the shape of lips and hanging egg chairs...
The afternoon tea itself was also very weird and wonderful and so on point with the theme! The mini victoria sponge cakes were shaped as clocks, there were marshmallow mushrooms, carrot shaped meringues, mini bottles of 'Drink me potion', a variety of strange teas from apple pie to mint chocolate chip all served on custom tableware designed by the creators of the tea Luna & Curious. This experience was like no other, I don't want to go into too much detail on everything there because it's definitely something you have to experience for yourselves! but here's a few more photos to give you an even better idea of how they managed to put it all together...
And so there it all is, my progress so far on completing my Things I need to do in London list!
I promise I won't leave it so long before updating you all on what I get up to next...
Thanks for reading!
Little Izzie x
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