Kennedy Williams

So, as I said before, crummy spending Christmas alone…solo trip to the UK...blah blah blah. Now that we’re all up-to-date on my life, we can talk about the London portion of my trip.

 This was my second trip to London and to be honest I didn’t have high hopes, 1) I was traveling solo and 2) it was a few days before Christmas, so I assumed it would be a ghost town. Boy, was I wrong! The city BLEW me away yet again! Food was delicious, the Christmas decorations were beautiful, the people were friendly, the men were fine as hell, AND it didn’t rain; the perfect concoction for a successful holiday. Before I go into how great London was, I do need to preface two “negatives”. I don’t really even want to call them negatives, maybe we’ll just call them minor inconveniences. First, London is expensive, a lot like any major city, but I was used to my Spanish euro prices, and London said, “swerve baby girl”. My plan was to only spend $300(USD) throughout my whole trip through the UK. I know it was a bit ambitious, but I really wanted to watch my spending. The USD to the GBP is just straight disrespectful. Once I converted my $300 to GBP, I was left with around £230. The disrespect.

Anyways, now on to the other, “minor inconvenience”, public transportation. Before my trip, many people heeded the warning that public transportation would cost you your first born. I was prepared and knew it was going to be an expense that I needed to factor into my budget, but when I travel, I love walking. I love to take in the sights of everyday things and just see the beauty of a city that isn’t advertised. Bruh, I have walked and plan to walk through many a cities across God’s green Earth and my friend, London is not one of them. The good thing about public transportation in London is that, even though it is expensive, there is a cap to how much they charge you per day, around £8. Luckily, they allow you to use contactless cards or e-wallets to pay your way instead of having to pay the £5 for the Oyster card and continuously having to top it up.

Done with the minor inconveniences, now onto the fun.

The most attractive quality London had over any other city I was thinking about venturing to, was the dirt-cheap ticket from Barcelona. My flight was only 9€ on Ryanair! I saw it as a sign; as my destiny. I wasn’t so hyped on the cold, but after tons of research, I was impressed on the amount of things to do in London, even during the harsh winter (I know i’m being dramatic). 

When I arrived to the city center, I felt like I had walked into a hustling and bustling winter wonderland. Everything was decorated to the nines and it just felt like the holidays! I took a walk through the Covent Garden at night and it was gorgeous! There were decorated Christmas trees, flashy, over the top decorations, and lights everywhere. It was everything I could have asked for! 

The following morning, fairly early, I went to the Westminster area to see the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, and the Big Ben. To literally no one’s surprise, it was packed, but to MY surprise you couldn’t even see the Big Ben! Apparently Ben was getting a little face lift. Luckily, all those attractions are in a cluster, so it’s not hard to hop around. 

From there, I walked about 25 minutes to Buckingham Palace. The walk was nice and I really recommend it. It’s flat, not too congested, and the scenery is lush. Now, I may sound like a hater, but Buckingham Palace was extremely underwhelming. Nothing happens! Its just a big crowd of people creepily watching the guards doing diddly squat. Fortunately enough for me, my friend Shinai, is a London native, so she took me on a little tour and saved me from the touristy, lame things to do in London.

 We first went to refuel at Nando’s, then we walked through Oxford Street, Regent Street, and Carnaby Street. This area is full of shops and decorations, so it’s a nice place to stroll and window shop. The streets were decorated with overhanging lights and decor and they were all designed around the theme of protecting the sea. We went into the Liberty department store on Regent Street, and whew, that place screams luxury! The store was founded 140 years ago and from the outside you can tell (not in a bad way). They have everything from high-end eyewear to artisanal teas. Everything in that store was the best of the best, even the shopping bags. I so badly wanted to buy SOMETHING…ANYTHING, just to get that beautiful, regal, purple bag! After our stroll I had to admit, window shopping during the holidays is 100% one of my new favorite things to do in London.

We soon found our way to Hyde Parks’ Winter Wonderland and a wonderland it was! This place was massive and filled with people, rides, activities, food, and my favorite; mulled wine. The park is free to enter and is divided into different themed sections. In some sections there was entertainment and in others, the drunks were the entertainment. My favorite was, no surprise, the Bavarian Village, with the beer garden and delicious Bratwursts. 

Another one of my new found favorite things to do in London, is stroll through the Camden Market. It’s an eclectic little market area with amazing food and quirky shops! This is nothing like Covent Garden, it’s more of a hipster, laid-back vibe. There are lots of small food stalls all throughout the market that can cure any craving you could possibly have. We decided to share a dessert from Dirty Plate. Dirty Plate offers a variety of different dessert plates that you break open with a hammer, swarming in dry ice. Very insta-worthy and very tasty.

If you are looking for a nice walk and you have nothing but time, I suggest walking along the River Thames. We started at the Shakespeare Globe (another semi-underwhelming experience…sorry), all the way to the Tower Bridge, which is only around a 20-30 min walk, but there are so many cute shops, restaurants, and sights tucked in the alleys and side streets along the way, I would definitely give yourself at least 45 minutes to take in everything and enjoy the walk.

Of course a major highlight of my trip in London is food related. My angel of a friend, introduced me to carveries. We went to Toby Carvery and it was like a Sunday dinner every day! For less than 10£ per person you get this marvelously fulling buffet style comfort food. With the normal meal, you get one serving of meat of your choosing, turkey, beef, or pork, a Yorkshire Pudding, and unlimited sides. If you are a baller on a budget like me, but you like to eat good, please get yourself to a carvery the next time you’re in London.

This definitely won’t be my last trip to London, so stay tuned for more and let me know if you have any recommendations for things to do in London. I’d love to hear them!