London, Baby

'ello London!

If you're looking for a post about the hidden gems of London this is not it. I packed all the touristy bits into a 2 day London extravaganza. Maybe you've seen that episode of Friends, the one where they all go to London (minus Phoebe), well, I was Joey.

Or 'the tube' as the cool kids say

While London is  massive city seeing all the tourist sights within 2 days was a breeze. Here's a run down of how I saw (almost) all the sights in 2 days.

Day 1
Following too many cups of coffee, we took the tube from Hampstead to Green Park. At this point I was skipping through the park as I got my first glimpse of Buckingham Palace.

I'd like to stop here and thank the London Police for being the friendliest bunch of police officers. We got to Buckingham Palace shortly before the changing of the guards meaning it was getting VERY crowded. A police officer reminded me to keep my bag in front of me as pickpockets are common. But even more fantastic were the two police officers that took epic pictures with me. It was a general win for the city of London that day.

Once at Buckingham Palace we were walking distance to everything. We took a path from Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square then onto Westminster Abbey. We opted not to go into Westminster Abbey as it was a little too expensive. *Pro tip: you can get in free when you attend Mass*

From Westminster Abbey you can walk to the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Big Ben was the big attraction for me and we got there just in time to hear the bell ring at noon. The view from Westminster Bridge is everything. The Thames, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and the city of London it's all there. And if you don't mind making a fool of yourself you can find the perfect angle on the bridge to take pictures with Big Ben. I went with the "somebody to lean on" pose.

Gangsta Lean on Big Ben

At this point in my London Tour Extravaganza we needed lunch. We slowly worked our way to Chinatown by way of Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square. Post lunch coma we headed to Piccadilly Circus and did a little browsing in the nearby shops. After a glass of bubbly at a shop that shall remain nameless, I was ready to take on the rest of London. We made our way back to the Thames and crossed over the Millennium Bridge, taking us by the Tate Modern, the Globe Theater and the London Bridge.

Those London Views 

For our mid afternoon snack we stopped by the Borough Market, located in a rebuilt part of South London. The market has literally everything from apple juice to zebra meat. We stuck to brownies and pretzels.

Isn't she lovely? 

We were almost finished with our marathon loop of London as we marched on to Tower Bridge. We crossed Tower Bridge just before sunset so we marveled at the Tower of London while we waited for the sun to set. I highly recommend getting a glimpse of Tower Bridge at night, it really is magnificent.

Day 2
We brunched and we brunched hard. There's really not too much you can or want to do after a booze filled brunch but we did manage to wander around Soho and Shoreditch. Shoreditch is definitely on my list for my next visit to London.

Street Art in Shoreditch

After a rest and change of shoes we continued on to Abbey Road and Oxford Street. Even though I love shopping and the Beatles, Abbey Road and Oxford Street were so overrun with people that they were difficult to enjoy.

Cheerio for now

I was pleasantly surprised by how much of London I could see in just two days. If you've only got a couple days seeing don't be overwhelmed by the size of the city it is a manageable and quite friendly city. Cheers x