I always look forward to a day trip to London with my family. We only go a couple of times a year, but it gives me time to spend time with my parents, doing something different from our everyday routine. We got the train at 8.45am to ensure that we got to London in plenty of time so we could make the most of the day.
The first thing on our agenda was to hop on the tube to Oxford Street. I still haven’t mastered the whole tubing map; I would be very lost without my dad’s instructions of which lines to take! We stopped off in Costa so we could grab a drink before heading off to visit everything on our list.
When we were walking down Oxford Street, we stopped off in a few shops to have a browse: Pull & Bear and & Other Stories were just two on my list of stores to visit. I do not have either of these in my home town or university city so I always make sure I take a quick look while in London. The shops and streets were very busy, filled with people who looked to be tourists and people doing their Christmas shopping. We had to constantly weave in and out of people when walking down the pavements, however in a weird way I feel that this adds to the London experience. I did really enjoy looking at all of the Christmassy window displays when I walked past each store and I often found myself gazing at all of the decorations sporadically hung in the street.
Every time I visit London, I make sure I take a visit to Deliciously Ella’s deli on Weighhouse Street which is just off Oxford Street. My mum and I love it in there! We always go in to grab some of the most delicious indulgent treats to take home with us; this is definitely the best part of any trip to London. This time me and mum picked up a ginger cookie, a peanut fudge slice and my mum’s favourite, the fudge brownie. I was slightly disappointed that they didn’t have the peanut cookie on the menu this time; this one is definitely one of my favourites. However I was very satisfied with the choices we opted for; I couldn’t wait to get home and share them.
For lunch, me and mum went into Whole Foods in Piccadilly Circus. We opted for the self-service lunch box service, helping ourselves to a desired selection of hot cooked or cold foods. They have a great choice of all sorts of tasty meals in a takeaway buffet and also have excellent salads at the salad bar with multiple mixed platters. They have a bakery similarly filled with fresh sandwiches, pizzas and pastries for example. I really like how all of the dishes are paired with a clear sign that shows all of the ingredients, helping people with dietary requirements. The boxes are weighed at the counter and so I feel that the food is not overpriced, you pay for exactly what you put in your box. In mine, I opted for a selection of maple roasted veg, falafel, tofu, veg, tomato rice, boiled eggs, etc. We sat upstairs in the store to eat; they have bar stools overlooking the shop. The food was very delicious and I would definitely recommend grabbing lunch from here if you are in hurry or looking for a more nutritious option with lots of variety.
I always like to have a wonder round Whole Foods looking at all of the delicious snacks and nut butter selves in particular. The store offers so much more variety of the snacks that I love so I enjoy walking up and down the isles admiring the selections on offer. My parents kindly brought me a couple of my favourite snacks and also a few that I wanted to try out. These included: Rude Health Brown Rice milk, Kookie Kat cookies, Livia’s Kitchen Biccy Bombs and Pip & Nut cocoa hazelnut butter.
When we came out of the Somerset House North: Fashioning Identity exhibition, (I shared my experience of this in my previous post) it was getting dark in London so we headed to see the Christmas lights, first heading to Covent Garden. I have never witnessed London at night at this time of the year so it was enjoyable seeing London and its inhabitants getting ready for the festive season. The streets sparkled with magical-looking Christmas lights and decorations. There were colours and bright lights everywhere we looked and I loved seeing each passer-by admiring the displays above them. I took a few photos of the lights that we saw, however they don’t do them justice, I would definitely say go and take a trip into the city to experience the sights for yourselves.
We got the train back home in the evening. It was a long day, we were constantly walking around the streets of London in the rain, but in my opinion it was definitely worth it. I had such a lovely day with my family doing a bit of Christmas shopping and visiting the exhibition. The trip definitely made me feel very Christmassy and festive, seeing all of the lights, store displays, decoration and especially the huge ice rink outside Somerset House.
What is your favourite thing to do in London?
Rachel
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