London Calling

This trip took place prior to Covid. And due to my tendency to procrastinate, and life, I’m just getting around to posting about my whirlwind, years in the making, check off the bucket list, trip of a lifetime to Europe. Where to begin…

As any self respecting Anglophile will tell you, a trip to London is that dream vacation we obsess over. And every year, we say next year. For the more die hard Anglophiles, we devour every guidebook and watch every Rick Steve’s special to plan out the entire trip to the minutiae details.

Last year was the year I decided to finally do the thing. Around 8 months before, on a cold January day, I was notified by a google travel alert that tickets to London were cheap. I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t the time or the year for a big trip; having just purchased a new home, it’s not the responsible thing to do, I told myself. In the end, I decided to ignore my hesitations, and instead, I jumped! I was done waiting for the “right time,” and saying, “next year.”

I bought my airline ticket through a discount travel website using Affirm to pay, which lets you pay for your trip over several months if you can’t pay it all upfront (not a paid advertisement). Over the next 8 months, I began booking my hotel rooms, museum passes, and train tickets. Spreading out the cost over 8 months made this trip doable. And that’s how I made the impossible, possible.

The Trip:

I took a non-stop red eye from Las Vegas to London’s Heathrow Airport on British Airways, opting for Comfort Plus, because why the hell not. The flight was long, I mean really really long, but the upgraded amenities available through Comfort Plus were well worth the extra cost and legroom, and surprisingly, affordable.

The second we landed, I was ushered off to customs for a quick automated check-in, using a face recognition machine, after which I was free to go. The only downside to this quick and easy technology is that they no longer stamp your passport.

My next stop was to the restroom to freshenup.

Note: European bathrooms rock! THEY HAVE NO CRACKS BETWEEN THE DOOR AND WALL! Some restrooms are even completely enclosed. Someone needs to tell America about these asap…

I opted to take the Heathrow Rail to Little Paddington Station where I grabbed a cab to my hotel. My cabbie took us on a circuitous route through London. Notable sights seen: Buckingham Palace, St James Park, a surprising amount of bike riders everywhere sharing the same roads my cab barreled down, a Muslim neighborhood, and, well, I’ll just say it, A LOT of white people. This may seem silly, but I honestly wasn’t expecting so many white people. I thought London would be more diverse like New York where every other person is a POC. But in retrospect, of course there were white people everywhere, this is where they all come from, after all. And as for the Muslim neighborhood, I could not help but people watch as we drove through it. I loved the Muslim womens’ sense of style, which was fashionable, sophisticated, and modest. It made me question my suitcase full of comfortable and stretchy clothing.

The other thing I have to note is how close Buckingham Palace is to the road. You can literally drive right next to it! I was expecting 10 foot hedges and having to peek through thick iron gates from a mile away.

By the time I checked into my hotel it was already around 7pm. I was tired from the flight and decided to just order room service for dinner and leave the adventuring for tomorrow when I was well rested and refreshed.

My first stop on day 2 was the Victoria & Albert Museum. While I love art, I was only here for one thing, fashion. My mom taught me to sew when I was around 7, and since then, I’ve been fascinated by clothing construction, historical sewing techniques, and haute couture fashion (Note: I’m not at all a fashionable person. I’m more fascinated by how it’s made than the actually wearing of it). First task of the day was to stand in a ridiculously long line to try my hand at getting a ticket to the sold out Dior Exhibit. I was lucky that day and was able to get a day of ticket for later that day. I spent a few hours meandering around the museum, admiring their historical clothing collection and the many statues, throughout the museum.

Since my ticket to the Dior exhibit wasn’t until later, I left for a few hours to have afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason Diamond Jubilee Tea House. I arrived by bus and a bit overheated because the bus had no air conditioner, which seriously left me regretting not having just taken a cab. After stopping in the restrooms to freshen up, I made my way to the tea house where I had their famous Royal blend, a cucumber sandwich, and an assortment of other pastries which I can’t name. Afterwards, I spent another hour shopping in Fortnum & Masons for souvenirs for my family and co-workers, which included a cookbook, box of tea, and some biscuits.

Eventually, I made my way back to the Victoria & Albert museum (via cab as I was done taking the bus and opted to be bougie instead) for the Dior Exhibit, which left me in awe of the Dior designers and ateliers craftsmanship. Beautiful is all I can say to sum up the exhibit, just beautiful. After the show, I stopped at the gift shop to pick up a few more souvenirs: a Frida Kahlo tote bag, postcards, and some magnets before heading back to the hotel.

Having had a full day, I opted for room service again for dinner and called it a night. As I would have to wake up super early the next day for something even more spectacular than today.

You see, the next day was my birthday; this whole trip was a birthday present to myself. Every year, I go somewhere to celebrate one year older. This year, I kind of gave myself two birthday presents: the trip and Hogwarts.

Y’all, I finally made it to Hogwarts!

Okay, as close to Hogwarts as a muggle like me can get. I visited the Warner brothers Harry Potter Studios. Basically a huge warehouse where they have set up all the props from the movie. It was amazing!

A couple of notes should you wish to visit the studios: Book your tickets early, they sell out months in advance. The studios are also located outside of London, so you will need to find transportation. I made the mistake of not booking my tickets early. I ended up having to book through a third party seller. The package included a bus ride two and from the studios and it cost me an arm and a leg. With that being said, I don’t regret the side trip. As a die hard Harry Potter fan, I wasn’t going to miss the chance to visit the studios for anything.

I did the early morning tour and was back in London by 2pm. I spent the rest of the day meandering around the hotel area, which had a few smaller museums, like a garden museum, art gallery, and Lambeth palace. I stopped in at this funny little boat restaurant on the Thames River that shared the same view as my hotel of the river and Big Ben in the background. I ate a burger with fries (I know, how could I) before heading back to the hotel across the street to rest, as part 2 of my trip was to begin tomorrow.

Part 1 of my trip was a short stay in London. I definitely didn’t see and experience everything I wanted to see, but that is okay, since I plan to return. Well not right away, of course; I still have yet to recover from this trip.