Good Monday morning all!! I can’t even
tell you how good it feels to be back and writing! While traveling is
a dream and this vacation was just that – there’s nothing quite
like being home! Gary and I got home on Saturday and had the rest of
the weekend to unwind and get back in the swing of things!!
I’m so excited to re-cap both London and
Paris! I’ll try to let the pictures do most of the talking & will
recap by day! Off we go…
Thursday: We arrived in London bright
and (errr it was actually really chilly and overcast) early on
Thursday morning! Our flight
was real quick, just over 5 hours, which put us in London at 7 AM (2
AM our time). We were hopeful our room would be ready because we were
really in need of sleep, but it wasn’t, so we tried our best to stay
awake and explore. Gary lived in England after college and the one thing
he missed most was the English breakfast’s! First thing on his agenda
was getting one!
{not my cup of tea at all…}
We had bought a few Fast Pass tickets
to some attractions before leaving and the London Eye was one of
them. (I can’t even stress enough how amazing it is to skip the 2-3
hour lines at some of these attractions just by spending a few extra
dollars – totally worth it)!
I’m pretty sure I was in a drunk
stupor going because when we got out at Westminster Abbey – I had
to ask if that was Big Ben in front of me.
We were pretty much toast after the
London Eye and had to get back to the hotel to take a nap. We really
thought we’d have the whole day to explore, but our bodies didn’t
adjust as well as we thought and ended up going to sleep at 8:00 PM
after a quick dinner near our hotel.
{wasn’t too tired to get this photo}
The Digs:
We stayed at The Eccleston Square Hotel near
Victoria Station. I found a great deal on JetSetter and the hotel was
amazing!! Everything was super hi-tech and Gary was in heaven, it’s actually been called the “007 hotel!” Aside
from wanting the hotel to be nice – I wanted it to be really
central to transportation as well as walking distance to some
attractions, which both of our hotels were!!
{the shower was super fancy and would frost over with the touch of a button}
Eccelston Square has this beautiful
garden in the center that guests as well as residents of the area
have access to and we obviously had to have a photo shoot one of the
days.
Friday: The weather still wasn’t what
we had hoped for, but it’s London and rain is pretty much in the
forecast every single day and it was also a lot colder than expected,
but that jean jacketI bought really paid for itself on this trip!
After the Tower of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral we decided
to use the hop on and off bus as a way to see more of the city and
also as our taxi for the rest of the day/next day.
After a day full of sightseeing we were ready for our first night out in London!!
London is packed day & night – it’s
like New York on speed, at least Oxford Circus and the Picadilly area
are like that!
{very reminiscent of Times Square}
Saturday: Included in the bus tour was
a guided walking tour to take you through the changing of the guards. We thought it was going to be a stand and view sort of thing, but instead we had signed up for a
5-miler road race!! In the end it turned out to be
great because we saw not only the changing of the guard but all the
background that goes into the new guards coming in!
{our finish line}
As someone that prefers tea to coffee –
a proper English Tea was on my list of things to do! Camellia’s Tea House was recommended to us by one of Gary’s friends who is living in
London and she, her husband and precious little baby joined us there!
{probably our best meal in London}
After tea we ventured to Notting Hill & Portobello Market.
Sunday: For our final full day in England we decided we’d do a day trip to see some of the neighboring must see sights. We booked a tour on Friday from Golden Tours to see Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath!
The highlight of the day was most
certainly Bath. It’s a little bit of Italy right in the English
Countryside! It probably helped that we had a beautiful day to see
the city, but we’d totally go back for a weekend trip if we’re in
London again!
The tour was well worth the money and
time spent! I do wish we had more time in Bath, but that just means
we’ll get to visit again!!
Onto the fashion of London:
Sadly I wasn’t able to do any shopping
at any of the stores on Oxford street or even make it to Harrods, but
after hearing that a banana in their cafe cost 20 pounds, I think my
wallet was thanking me. I noticed the women wearing a TON of
black, there was little to no color in their wardrobes and everyone
smokes – which I found to be really odd. The men are incredibly well dressed
with tailored suits on most of the time. I also found that they wore
sport jackets with jeans just about everywhere.
{window display at Selfridges}
We weren’t able to cross everything off our to-do list, which is probably due to the fact the city is so large and expansive, but Gary is hopeful we’ll be back!
I’ll leave you with a photo of what our nights looked like in London!
I hope you’ll come back tomorrow for the first half of my Paris re-cap…it was that good that I had to split it into 2 days!!
Have you ever been to London?
‘);
xo,
Welcome home, sweet lady!
Looks like you had an amazing time!! Welcome back!
Ahhh welcome back! What gorgeous pictures 🙂 So glad you had a good time, I can't wait to read about Paris!
Welcome back!! What a wonderful trip!! I am so jealous that you got to wear fall clothing! I also hope you got to see some of the ladies of London!! haha I hope you had a blast 🙂
Maggie
PolishedClosets.com
What an amazing trip! Looks like despite the weather you got to see some really great sites. The jean jacket was totally worth it.
Welcome back! What an incredible trip you had – I can't wait to see all your photos from Paris, too. Happy Monday! xo
What an AWESOME trip through London! You look fantastic! Love that hotel you stayed in as well! xo
What a beautiful trip! You guys are the most adorable couple. Glad you had a wonderful time, but I missed you girl! Can't wait too see more pics! XO
Welcome home! Everything looks so divine and lovely… I can't wait to hear your Paris recap as we are thinking of doing part of our honeymoon there 🙂
Welcome home dear! Your pictures are amazing and I am so jealous! I would love to go to Paris!! LUCKY LUCKY LUCKY!!!
london is one of the cities on my "must visit" list! i love all the pictures 🙂
-kathy
Vodka and Soda
Yay! So glad you're home and that yall had a fabulous time! Isn't the London Eye amazing?! I went my last night in London and got to see the sun start setting. Breathtaking!
Welcome home!! So glad to have you back and I loved reading your recap of London! Totally jealous… I want to go back again already! I've never been out to Stonehenge or Bath but those are definitely on my must do list next time I go! LOVE your pictures! Glad you had an amazing trip, can't wait to hear about Paris!!
<3, Pamela
sequinsandseabreezes.blogspot.com
Welcome home. Love this post. I absolutely love London. You did so much. I've never bene to Stonehenge or Bath but hope to visit on my next trip. Great pictures!! Hope you aren't to jet lagged this week.
Best, Mree
Welcome back! I missed you! 🙂 Great recap of your time in London, and love your pictures too! Nice job on that hotel, beautiful looking property. Chris is super particular about hotels and he would approve haha. I liked Bath a lot too, so pretty. Can't wait to hear your recap on Paris!! Have a wonderful day lady!!
I'm so jealous of all your travels! London looks so fun and great history everywhere! Can't wait to see more of your trip!
Welcome back! Looks like such an amazing trip and I now have MAJOR travel envy! These pictures are just beautiful! Can't wait for the next post! xo
Welcome back! Your hotel looks awesome! Ours is near that arch thing you have a picture of here. Great pictures! You've convinced me that we need to do the London Eye 🙂 I went back and forth on it this weekend.
Welcome home! I loved London & your pics definitely made me want to go back! We were there 3 years ago, and stayed @ Claridges which was absolutely beautiful, but also really stuffy and made me feel SO out of place lol! Can't wait to see the rest of your photos! xx
I have not been to London because whenever I cross "the pond" I go to Italy but I watch Ladies of London hahaha
I want to visit London so badly! While I love wearing color, when it's cold I love sticking to all black ensembles.
London looks amazing and I'm so glad you fit in some tea time 😉 Can't wait for the Paris recaps!
Looks like such an amazing trip! I would love to visit there one day.
Welcome home!! I was living vicariously through all of your pictures and was so excited to see this recap! Everything looks like it was so much fun and now I'm really dying to plan a trip! Can't wait to hear about Paris!
Love your photos, London looks so gorgeous despite the rainy weather! Also love that you went to Stonehenge!! So cool! I know exactly what you mean about being super tired after the flight out there, that is how we were when we got to Rome. The whole first day of sightseeing was a daze!
In love with all of your photos. London is such an amazing and fun city. And you looked so dang cute!! glad to have you back!
Your pictures turned out so pretty! I loved hearing this recap! I can't wait to see the Paris pictures!
madeintheshadeblog.com
great photos! i really want to visit london someday and im so glad that you had a great time! xo jillian – stop by cornflake dreams, I'm hosting a giveaway!
What an adventure! 🙂 that's the way life should be.
Looks like you had a great trip to London! I studied abroad there in college and LOVED it. They have the best shopping 🙂
London looks amazing!! I had so much fun reading this post! I'm not a big fan of tea but I think I would love a proper english tea! So cool to see Stonehenge & Bath too! I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!
Oh my gosh! Your trip looks amazing! Heading over to London is definitely on my bucket list! I'm glad you guys had such a good time! I love your pictures!
I have never been but it's definitely on my bucket list. Looks Amazing!!!!! High tea looks yummy!
i really never had the desire to visit London but your post has changed my mind seriously now i want to book a ticket!
OH my, your trip looks amazing!!!! I have England on my MUST TRAVEL list but I think this post just bumped it up
a couple slots! xoxo
Glad you're home safely, Biana! Your trip looked AMAZING!! Thanks for sharing all of the pics! Sounds like you got a great tour of London and all it has to offer. My trip was so short there and I didn't get that awesome food that you did. Funny story…we went to see the changing of the guard and it happened to be the queen's birthday so they were doing something huge there and we got to see the entire royal family! Glad you had fun!!
GREAT photos! I'd say England suits you…you look so pretty in all the pics!
Sounds like you had the most amazing trip and everything looks amazing! We are with though, we'll take english tea over an english breakfast any day 🙂
xx 365hangers
don't mind me… just over here living through your photos. these are awesome!!
Oh girl! Your trip looks amazing!!!! Love all the pictures! You look so pretty in the first pic you posted from Friday! Well hell, you look pretty all the time! 🙂 And I love your jean jacket! Welcome home! Looking forward to the next recap posts! 🙂
Wow. I am so jealous!
I LOVED reading this post, I felt like I was experiencing a bit of London (so thank you for sharing!) I cannot wait for the recaps to continue, you look absolutely beautiful in these photos by the way Biana xo
You two are just too cute for words! This is such a great review of London. I can't wait to see your Paris posts!! It makes me so excited about our trip in December!! : )
english breakfast isnt your cup of tea?! oh my i'm drooling just looking at it, haha. its very similar to food at home 🙂 i cant wait to see your paris recap! so jealous 🙂 loving the denim jacket!
Welcome back! As much as I adore Boston, I am envious of your trip!
I'm so glad you are back! I absolutely adore London! The shopping is crazy expensive I agree. You looked gorgeous throughout all your adventures. I need to hear more about this travel deal you found!
Amazing pictures! I'd love to go to London someday. Can't wait to read about your Paris adventure!
I love that picture of you overlooking the city… gorgeous!!!
So weird that everyone smokes! In Michigan you can't even smoke inside of bars anymore. It's pretty awesome. I mean, do what you want… I couldn't care less – but in a crowded bar or a restaurant… blech!
Ahhh so glad you had a great time! That hotel does look amazing, I love anything high-tech and modern. And I am obsessed with tea and would absolutely love that little tea house… so cute! Can't wait to see Paris 🙂
Such pretty photos! Your hotel looks awesome, every time I've been to London we're in more traditional English hotels… so boring.
What an amazing trip!! And could you be any more gorgeous?! Thanks for sharing all these awesome pictures. You've made me so excited for our trip in Sept. 🙂
XOXO
Wonderful pictures! Loved reading your first recap. I am so impressed at how good your hair looks in the London weather!
I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to London. Personally I can't stand the place, and it saddens me that so many visitors to our beuatiful country start and finish with just one city when we have soooo much more to offer. I love Bath though, there's an amazing sausage shop there that I always visit! Maybe next time you could venture even further afield…? 🙂
making me miss london so badly!!! i didn't like the brekkie either–it's the same in australia when i visited there. and the proper english tea–a must!! so glad you got to do that. i did go to harrods–this was when the al fayed family owned it still. i went at xmas, so it was cool to see decorated, but you didn't miss anything. i can't shop when i travel. i'm usually too tired!
love it all. you guys look great and seemed to really have enjoyed this trip!! i would love to go to london/paris one day. i will surely come back here for suggestions if that ever happens! that jean jacket was a great purchase 😉
the tiered plates (and goodies on them) are so cute! i would love to have tea in london!
Ahhhh looks like you had an amazing time!!!! Love this!!! Next time take a pit stop to Manchester!!!
Oh my gosh, it's all so beautiful and so…it's just so British! Tea time in London is definitely on my bucket list. Love the fashion report too — once again, I am so a fan of the neutrals favored by some northern European cities!
Looks like you had a wonderful trip! I went to London back in 2007, and it was such an amazing time!
So, so, sooooo beautiful! I went to Paris and London in high school so I'm clearly long overdue for a trip back. Loved all these photos, especially the Versailles gardens – brought back some great memories!
I'm going to have to write down that hotel! I used to live in London for school and want to go back next year! I'm loving your photos!