shell chic’d Abroad: London

We went to London in February. Today is July 1st. I started writing this post three months ago, just as I started writing about our California road trip a year ago and our new now dated bathroom two years ago. It is no longer 20 degrees outside in Boston, however I am still currently eating a burrito. 

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Oh oh OH. We had the dreamiest trip to London last month. I’m half smiling just thinking about it. Half crying thinking of the terrible things I would do to trade my current status of sweatpants, a burrito, and 20-degree temperatures outside for another high tea on a 55-degree day in South Kensington.

I had spent but two days in London before, just shy of a decade ago, on the heels of my study abroad program. It was the first (and only) place in Europe I traveled alone…assuming you disregard the fact that my entire family showed up 6 hours later to meet me for the remainder. Still high on my semester of art history and photography, I spent my solo portion at The National Portrait Gallery and small studio galleries (finding my pre-iPhone way around only by ducking into souvenir shops every few blocks to steal a look at their maps instead of investing 3 pounds into one of my own). This was followed by a whirlwind checklist of tourist traps sites: London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Harrods, a show in the theater district…I regret nothing, especially because my parents paid for everything that whirlwind of a weekend gave us the opportunity to plan just about zip on this trip, and explore at our own pace with no itinerary. Only requirements were, obviously, Warner Brothers Making of Harry Potter studio tour (I booked these tickets long before finding a hotel), some door hunting, and a lot of cuc & cream cheese sandwiches.

If you want a guide to the traditional sites, this isn’t it. But if you trust my slightly quirkier taste AND are headed over the pond mid-winter, bookmark this now. Here’s how to do London in February::

[ stay ]

We tend to go the Airbnb route when traveling to Europe, but being pregnant, I was down for a slight splurge if it meant chocolates on my pillow extra comfort and peace of mind knowing we’d have lots of help around should anything go wrong. I received SO many great suggestions for boutique hotels, finally settling on The Kensington Hotel, and we couldn’t have loved it more. The hospitality was second to none, from accommodating us early after a grueling red eye, to helping my sweet baby daddy with some Valentine’s Day / birthday treats. Should we be lucky enough to find ourselves in Londontown again, I can’t imagine staying anywhere else.

Just for kicks, other South Kensington recommendations we received were The Bailey’s, Ampersand Hotel, and Nadler. I trust my sources wholeheartedly.

[ play ]

I do not exaggerate when I say 80% of our time was spent either walking around or eating. The other 20% was split between shopping at Liberty London {If you’re going to buy yourself a London souvenir, do it here} and the Harry Potter studio tour, of which I wept tears of joy and nostalgia through a large portion.

Hot tip: If tickets are sold out through the Warner Brothers website, you can almost always find them through an outside tour group with a minimal upcharge. Since the lot is outside of London and requires planes, trains, and automobiles a train and shuttle ride, I’m relieved that we opted for this choice anyway; Evan Evans Tours provided coach service right from London to the front doors.

As for the other three days, what else besides colorful door and wall hunting??? MJF gave me the best birthday present in mapping out the most colorful streets in London ahead of time. Because I stole his phone he’s feeling generous, here you go:

Atherstone Mews, South Kensington
Bywater Street, Chelsea
Calcott Street, Notting Hill
Chalcot Crescent & Chalcot Square, Primrose Hill
Elizabeth Street, Belgravia
Farm Place, Notting Hill
Hillgate Place, Notting Hill
Holland Park Mews, Kensingon
Kynance Mews, Kensington
Stanhope Mews, South Kensington
Uxbridge Street, London

[ eat ]
I wouldn’t dare attempt to offer you any sort of foodie guide to London, but I can tell you we did not have one bad meal in town. Unless you could the pub dinner in which I was a raging hormonal b*tch pregnant woman because I couldn’t find anything on the menu I wanted or was allowed to eat. Still sorry about that, hubs.

breakfast //
 The Cambridge St. Kitchen | We just couldn’t pull the trigger on staying at the gorgeous Artist Residence hotel, so compromised by fitting in the yummiest, most colorful breakfast at its on-site restaurant.

Muriel’s Kitchen | Smoothies, fresh juice, creative egg dishes, and traditional English breakfast. I’d do terrible things for another morning here.

lunch & dinner //
Apero | Located in the Ampersand Hotel, this Mediterranean restaurant is really a don’t-miss because of its cocktail bar. If I had to ring in my 30th birthday with a mocktail, I’m so glad it was here, with its seriously talented bartenders and creative cocktail menu.

Khan’s of Kensington &  ZeeZain  | Because one Indian meal in London just wasn’t enough. I was part of the clean plate club at both of these neighborhood gems.

tea //
Fait Maison Salon de Thé | Did I select this café solely based on its grammable exterior? Absolutely. But to be fair, I was still dreaming about its scones days later. It also offers classic and Middle Eastern breakfast dishes. Yes. Middle Eastern breakfast at a Parisian-themed café in London. No further questions please.

The Lanesborough | I think it’s fair to say this was a pretty traditional high-tea-in-a-hotel experience. Extra props to their staff for not treating me like a crazy person for requesting a swap out of the un-preggo-friendly smoked salmon sandwiches, even if they did roll their eyes at my obsessive American ways from the kitchen. Or so I assume.

Peggy Porschen Cakes | If you’ve never seen the flower-frosted exterior of this bakery, have you ever even been on Instagram? I can now confirm that the cakes are even more worth the trip than the photo opp. Note that this isn’t a destination for full afternoon tea; rather, just, a pot of tea.

Town House | Our jet-lagged selves were very grateful for the Kensington Hotel’s on-site restaurant on night 1, but what’s really not to be missed is their afternoon tea, with a constantly rotating theme. We missed Beauty & the Beast by less than two weeks. I don’t want to talk about it.

And while my procrastinating self did not get to enjoy it on account of failing to make a reservation in time, I happen to know that high tea at Fortnum & Mason is also not to be missed. Oh the irony.

Welp now my stomach is grumbling and my heart aching. Sure hope this baby is as good of a traveler as my 18-month-old self was because we certainly won’t be able to wait to long to go back!

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WHAT I WORE::