I honestly don't know where to start with this post. It's been a crazy last 24 hours from landing here in Heathrow from LAX and finalizing all of my plans when I arrived. I had this whole page filled with what stations I needed to get off and on using the tube. (That is the name of the subway here in London)
Anyways, before I even go into extreme detail of all that went down in Central London, on my flight I met an amazing person named, Maxine, she works in the fashion industry in London and coincidentally is from Italy, lives in London and has family in the San Fernando Valley of all places. What are the odds? She gave me some really great advice on where to eat in Italy and London and I'm so grateful to have met her.
Once we landed in Heathrow we picked up our luggage and parted ways after getting each other's contact info. After getting my sim card and dropping off my excess luggage I headed to the Heathrow express and arrived in Paddington station in about 15 minutes. Right after I got off I headed straight to the tube and to Regent's Park. It was absolutely breathtaking. I've never seen a park kept so well with such beautiful garden designs.
I walked around for about an hour and a half and stumbled upon the Queen's garden and admired the Japanese style garden. Walking around gave me a little relating check that I was actually in London. I was still in a bit of denial. A few minutes later I decided to head to the next thing on my planned itinerary. I went to Oxford circus and explored the shopping area of London. It was busy and reminded me a lot of when I was in New York, except the while double decker bus thing ofcourse.
I just kept walking until I hit Leicester square and since my new friend Max gave me a few recommendations in this area I headed to Fortnum & Mason, a famous tea and delicacies shop. It was like Teavana & David's Tea & Neiman Marcus on crack. I honestly don't know how to describe this place, but I did get to take a little exploration break and have some tea and scones.
I had a Royal breakfast English tea with some amazing scones and clotted cream and their famous jam. I was basically in heaven. After the appropriate amount of photos were taken of my food (just kidding) I embraced this beautiful little cafe and this glorious tea I ordered and finished within 10 minutes or less.
Once I finished I headed to the tube once again because it was almost 5 o' clock and I had to make time for Tate Modern one of the most beautiful museums I have ever visited. All of the art was so unique and really spoke to me. The installations alone definitely caught my eye.
There was this indoor bar cafe that had the most beautiful view of the city. I grinding need to come back and spend more time here. I stopped into a Starbucks to settle down for a bit until the next stop on my list: Shakespeares Globe. It was definitely amazing seeing where history happened in the theatre world. As a lover of the theatre (think of a strong Shakespearean way of saying this) I appreciated every aspect of this place.
I walked up and down the area of Borough market to London bridge and by the river until I couldn't anymore. I stopped in a few shops and talked to some friendly locals about where are some good places to explore as a first timer. They pointed me in the direction of where Big Ben and Buckingham palace was and so I headed there because they were on my list anyways. Big Ben in all its glory still surprised me the moment I laid eyes on it. Walking around the area was a nice brisk walk where I ended up seeing the London Eye and Buckingham palace 30 minutes late right before sunset.
Buckingham palace was definitely a sight I wouldn't want anyone to miss if they're visiting London. I stayed there for almost an hour admiring its beauty. I was also exhausted, but hey who's keeping track. I ended up walking through a park nearby and headed to the tube again. I went straight to Kings Cross and visited the infamous Harry Potter Platform 9 3/4. The line was pretty long, but this was the last thing on my list anyways so I decided to stand in line for my picture.
After a quick snack break after that long line I headed to a local pub to relax and enjoy my last few hours in London. It was near King's Cross tube station and right next to Google hq and YouTube space London. The drinks were great and the staff was pretty accommodating. It was a definitely a nice end to an exciting and eventful day exploring. I headed to Paddington station around 11 and took the Heathrow express again back to the airport and slept in the airport for about 5-6 hours. I wonder I'm around 5:30 and tried to washer myself nectar my flight was at 8 am. I picked up my excess baggage that I dropped off and headed to my terminal to Rome.