Travel Photo Journal- London

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Hi!! Happy Friday!

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- From Tower Bridge

I have no new recipe for you today. Instead, I have lots of photos from our recent trip to London. If you’ve been around for a while, you know that my husband and I spent 2 weeks in Europe in February. It was a blast, to say the least!

Today, I’m sharing the first of 3 series of my travel photo journal- LONDON. Next Friday, I’ll share my Paris photos. (<- You don’t want to miss that. Be sure to come back next Friday!) 🙂

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- From London Eye

Ok, without further ado, let’s get started.

London has been on my bucket list for very, VERY long time (before I had even had a word “bucket list” in my vocabulary). I think I was like 10 or something, when my mom’s friend went to London. Upon her return, she gave my mom a photo of her sitting in the iconic red double-decker bus. She looked super cool in that photo and I dreamed of London, that red double decker, ever since!

Besides that, all of my English textbooks were British english. I memorized words like trousers (not pants), autumn (not fall), aubergine (not eggplant). I spelled theatre (not theater), centre (not center). And according to my sister, I pronounced “can’t” in a funny way. 🙂 Plus, those textbooks were full of major London attractions, like Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, London Bridge, you name it. No wonder I wanted to go to London so badly!

We spent 5 days in London, taking in everything this beautiful, fast-paced city had to offer.

Day 1. We didn’t do much, just relaxed after a long flight to get over the jet lag.

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Downtown

We had a short walk in downtown near our hotel and checked out Cafe Nero, very common coffee shop chain, just like Starbucks. That caramel shortbread bar was amazing!

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON

Day 2.

We had a great Lebanese breakfast at Arabica Bar & Kitchen in Borough market. Garrat had Arabica fry up (2 eggs with grilled spicy beef Sujuk, mushrooms and mini flatbreads), which was absolutely delicious. I had Za’atr Man’ousheh, scrambled eggs with mushrooms on a Lebanese flatbread, which was equally delicious, if not more. The cozy environment, friendly service and delicious food. Highly recommend this place!

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Lebanese breakfast

After breakfast, we headed straight to famous Notting Hill district. We first walked along Portobello Road with thousands of other tourists, checking out fun antique shops in popular Portobello Road Market. Then we strolled through peaceful quiet neighborhood with pretty, colorful houses.

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Notting Hill

Before heading back to hotel, we enjoyed a late lunch and relaxed with a cup of cappuchino.

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON

For dinner, we returned to Borough Market, which was like 5 minutes from our hotel, and walked around to find a place to eat. We settled on Fish!, and boy, was it a WINNER! Clean, modern interior, superior service and the impressive seafood menu. Both of us ordered the same whole grilled lobster with chips (aka fries). No words, just look at my face. What does it say?

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON

After dinner, we met up with my high school friend, Sola (now talented designer living in London) for a few drinks in Piccalilli Circus. We had a great time!

Day 3.

A full day of sightseeing! It was a gorgeous sunny day. We started at the iconic Tower Bridge.

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Tower Bridge Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Tower Bridge

Then we headed to Tower of London, where we checked out Crown Jewels. OMG, those diamonds! Photography isn’t allowed inside, so you’ll have to visit yourself. The park is so nice and relaxing too, I just wanted to lay on the lawn and take a nap. But we had to keep going, so much to see!

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Tower of London

So we hopped on the Tube (underground) to go to Big Ben and London Eye. After carefully studying the Tube map,  we decided that Victoria station was the closest to where we were going. Oh, man, were we wrong! We had to walk extra 2 miles, but it wasn’t too bad. Along the way, we came across classic red phone booths and, of course, we needed to capture it. That’s my hubs, say “Hi!” 🙂

Travel Photo Journal- LONDONBy the time we reached London Eye, it was about an hour before the sunset, which is absolutely perfect timing. Magic hour is the best hour for photography! Since we didn’t have tickets, we got into the queue, which was a bit long. Nonetheless, it went quickly and we were boarding the capsules in no time! I couldn’t have asked for more. We witnessed the most MAGICAL sunset from the 2nd highest points of London!

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Big BenTravel Photo Journal- LONDON Travel Photo Journal- LONDON at Sunset Travel Photo Journal- LONDON at Sunset Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Big Ben at Sunset Travel Photo Journal- LONDON at Sunset

Absolutely breath-taking 360° view of London!

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Big Ben at Sunset Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- London Eye at Sunset

It was a great day!

Day 4.

How can we leave London without a little shopping? Luckily, One New Change Mall wasn’t too far from our hotel. Not only they have great selection of shops, but there are also other hidden gems. Like this stunning view of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON -St Paul's Cathedral

And roof-top view! Simply serene!

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- St Paul's Cathedral

After some shopping, we went to Buckingham Palace, then walked through Hyde Park to Burlington Arcade Shopping Center. I wanted to get my macaron fix from Laduree, which is located in this extremely fancy shopping center.

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON

From there we leisurely walked to Trafalgar Square, then headed all the way to Covent Garden, where we had a reservation for Afternoon Tea.

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Trafalgar Square
Pretty View of Big Ben.

Since we are in London, we ought to experience authentic Afternoon Tea, right? We had Thames Foyer Afternoon Tea at Savoy, a beautiful, elegant and extraordinary place! With live piano music on the background, we enjoyed deliciously light and fluffy English scones (the best!) and dainty tea sandwiches.

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Afternoon Tea at Savoy

For the 4th course, I had an assortment of mini pastries, while my husband enjoyed his smoked salmon with an egg on a toast (doesn’t sound much, but it looked awesome), as he had selected High Tea.

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Afternoon Tea at Savoy

After eating for about 2 hours straight, we decided to walk back to the hotel. We, again, witnessed a stunning sunset over Thames River.

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Sunset over Thames River

And this night view of St. Paul’s Cathedral and Southwark Bridge is just beautiful, isn’t it?

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- St. Paul's Cathedral at night

Day 5.

It was almost a little ritual of ours to grab a quick breakfast at Pret a Manger, a fast food chain in UK. But unlike McDonald’s, they offered natural, freshly prepared and healthy food. I was hooked on their fresh juices and smoothies!

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON

After breakfast, we casually walked around Borough Market for like 5th time! This place is simply foodie’s dream market. You can find anything and everything from freshly baked bread to variety of cheeses, from thousands of mushroom varieties to wide selection of fresh seafood.

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Borough Market

We sniffed the jar full of truffles and tasted a sliver. Slightly funky, but irresistibly delicious!

Our last attraction was The View from the Shard, the tallest building in London! We went in half hour before the sunset and hung around to see the night view of London one more time. It was spectacular, as expected.

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- The View from the Shard

That same night, we headed to Chinatown for dinner. There were literally thousands of amazing eateries side-by-side. We settled on Leong’s Legends, a Taiwanese restaurant. We got our dim sum fix and enjoyed their delicious food.

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Chinatown

Are you still with me? Kudos for you for sticking around. I’m almost done.

There is one thing that we ate more than anything. Yes, you guessed it. Oysters! One of the nights, we had dinner at Wright Brothers Oyster and Porter House, an award-winning oyster house in Borough Market. They had the largest selection of oysters from all over. It was quite a treat!

Travel Photo Journal- LONDON- Oysters

London, we love you!

That’s it for now! Next Friday, PARIS!

Oh and one more thing. If you’re curious, we stayed at Novotel London City South. Great location, friendly service, comfortable and clean rooms!

Hi, I’m Shinee!

Welcome! I’m so happy you’re here! I believe anyone can cook restaurant-quality food at home! And my goal is to help you to become a confident cook with my easy-to-follow recipes with lots of tips and step-by-step photos.

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26 Comments

  1. Your pictures look so good! I love reading travel posts because I wouldn’t be able to see these places other wise. I’m stopping by from Lou Lou’s, I hope your having a great day!

  2. What gorgeous photo’s of a gorgeous city !
    I’ve been a couple of times on business – always taking a few days to explore – and I  don’t have one photo to show for it ( if that’s not the saddest commentary lol ) 
    Thanks for sharing !

    1. I’m sure you had captured the beautiful moments in your heard, Suzan. Sometimes, I feel like traveling without camera is refreshing, cuz I can fully be present in the moment without distraction. 🙂 Thank you for stopping by.

  3. I’m so jealous. Honestly, London was further down on my travel bucket list, but your photos are so amazing I think I’m going to need to bump it up a few spots! Your sunset views from the London Eye are breathtaking. I can’t wait to see your photos from Paris!

    1. London totally needs a bump, girl! I had the best time there, especially in Borough Market (aka foodies’ heaven!). The Paris post has been published. You can check it out here.

  4. Lovely photos, Shinee! It’s been my dream to go to London, and your photos just proves why. I love the culture, the beauty, and all that food! Thank you for sharing this with us!

  5. I loved reading this post too! I’m from near London and I love visiting at the weekends to walk around Borough Market and the food festivals at South Bank! London is definitely a beautiful and vibrant city! 😀 

    1. Oh my gosh, I’m so jealous! I wish I could visit Borough Market every weekend, fine once a month at least! Haha Miss that place. 🙂

  6. Wow…your photography is amazing! If you even need a second career, I think that’s it! I love London and it looks like you had a great time!

  7. Loved the pictures Shinee – thank you for sharing another part of your life with us. I love your recipes and  your travel photos are outstanding. Really loved the food ones – all that fresh bread and beautiful high tea pastries and scones- AMAZING!! 

  8. Shinee, 
     Great travelog and pictures. I have not been to London for a long time – makes me want to go back. You all are great explorers, I remember when Garrat visited DC as a teenager, he hiked all over downtown.

    1. Thank you, Richard! Garrat told me about his DC trip. We definitely need to go there together some day! 🙂