Izzy's London Blog

Adventure day: exploring all the City of London has to offer! Today was a very open day, so we had lots of free time to explore the city! We made the most of our day by taking the tube to Notting Hill. This is a cute little town outside of the City of London filled with street vendors. It is an outdoor market that lines the street for blocks covered with food, bags, watches, and trinkets from all over the world. It was so fun to see all of the different cultures represented there. I loved just walking by and sellers would give samples of their fresh food or show me their goods. I tried an egg and cheese paratha which is a traditional Indian dish that is similar to a flatbread filled with various toppings. I saw them making the dough from fresh flour, salt, and yeast which was cool! And I got some coffee -- an iced vanilla latte, not too sweet and reasonably priced, one of the best coffees yet. The quality of coffee just tastes so much better here! Handmade watches for sale From Notting...

 Food Day: Culinary Walking tour and Food Market Another busy day! We started the day with a culinary walking tour with a guide named Sophie that took us around the city. She explained the history of the city of London as it related to food and highlighted key features such as gin, beer, Indian cuisine, fish and chips, tea, and coffee that made the city as we know it today. The most interesting story to me took place in 1814 when a pipe burst in a brewery, leading to a 15 foot wave of beer flooding the city and killing eight people. I was also interested in how coffee evolved through time, from first being a drink for rich, white men to discuss business affairs to now being a drink enjoyed by 83% of people in London daily! On the tour, we stopped at a bakery that has been around for 150 years called Maison Bertaux where Hal treated us all to almond croissants! Thanks Hal!! We ended the tour at a food market called Spitalfield Market. It was a huge market with many shops and vendors...

 Historical Day: Westminster Abbey Today was very much a sight-seeing day of many important cultural and historical places that are significant to Britain. We started the day with a two hour long tour of Westminster Abbey. I had very little prior knowledge on the government in the UK and the rich history it encompassed. Our tour guide was a local and very passionate and knowledgeable about the site and its history, making the tour super engaging and informative. I really appreciated his British sense of humor! I had no idea about all of the famous people that were buried there. My favorite part was the burial of the unknown soldier that represented all of the lost soldiers in WW1. I have a class solely focused on WW1 where I learned about this memorial so seeing it in person was very cool! After the church, we went to a classic British lunch serving meat pies at the Red Lion Pub. Next, we then went to St. Martins in the Fields church and it's underground Cafe in the Crypt for coffe...

 The Borough Market Checking it off the bucket list: the Borough market definitely lived up to my expectations! This was a place I had seen all over social media before coming to London and it was 100% worth the hype. I have always enjoyed going to Farmer's markets back in Minnesota, specifically the Mill City Farmer's Market every Saturday in the summer. The Borough market was 3x the size of any farmer's market I have ever been to. It was covered with vendors selling fresh produce, hot and ready food items, and little trinkets and homemade goods. It was hard to move around with how crowded the streets were and the lines were crazy long. I started by getting a coffee (of course). I looked at many different places and most had very plain, basic coffee options. I settled for a Colombian-based coffee stand and got a hot mocha with oat milk. The chocolate flavor was very rich and delicious, however, it was pricey. It cost £6 for a small cup. I then went to find lunch. The optio...

  Day Trip to Greenwich Village! We started the day at Buckingham Palace watching the changing of the guards -- such an interesting custom that was very fun to see! The rest of the day was spent the day in Greenwich Village! Such a cute and fun town that is about a 45 minute tube ride from SoHo. There was a super cute outdoor market with street vendors selling food and homemade goods from different countries. We started by getting lunch -- I chose an Indian place and got some chicken tiki masala curry with potatoes and peas! They topped it with greek yogurt and cilantro. A little spicy but overall super delicious! We then went to a super cute local cafe called Monsoon cafe . It was a smaller place that had a few more options than most and specialized in pastries and ice cream as well. It was a bit chillier of a day and overcast so I went for a hot latte with caramel and oat milk! It came in a cute mug with latte art on the top. Also, cheaper than most places, my drink was £5.05 and...

 Exploring London Today was a very busy and touristy day! We started the day with a two-hour walking tour of the city of London. A few highlights include the National Gallery, the British Museum, SoHo Square, Chinatown, the Elizabeth Tower, St. Paul's Cathedral, and West Minster Abbey! Our very knowledgeable tour guide, Kevin, gave us a detailed history and background on each place we visited! At the conclusion of the tour, we were tired and hungry so we stopped at Founder's Arms where we tried a British tradition of a Sunday Roast meal. I chose the Roasted Chicken option which came with carrots, potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, and other root vegetables! It was very filling and delicious! We then recharged by getting some coffee from a little cafe in a nearby museum -- the Tate Modern museum, which had lots of interesting historical artifacts and a great view of the city! My friend Zoie and I visiting the Elizabeth Tower! Sunday Roast lunch at Founder's Arms . This place is s...