Weekly Wrap-Up: Last Minute Crafts & Travel Diaries: London Calling! ~ Diane's Vintage Zest!

Weekly Wrap-Up: Last Minute Crafts & Travel Diaries: London Calling!

Here's my first weekly wrap-up from London! If you're only interested in that, skip down to Monday. I'm trying not to upload too many pictures, but it's hard!



Wednesday & Thursday

I worked on my craft for the International Craft Swap, but I don't want to give anything away since Erin hasn't received it yet! I'm nervous to see if she likes it. :)


Friday

I worked on my Black & White Challenge before I left, which I'll share tomorrow. I'm not happy with the results, so I'm going to fix it up after I arrive, just in time for the deadline!

For dinner, we went to a Mexican restaurant that serves an enormous amount of food. Check it out!








For dessert, we had yogurt from our fave yogurt place!









Saturday

I spent the day packing, naturally, so I don't have anything to share. However, I will most likely share my packing tips in the future in a travel tip miniseries I have planned!


Sunday

I lost most of the day to travel time, so nothing to report here. I watched Looper, Wreck It Ralph, and half of Skyfall on the plane and was tempted to watch more. However, I knew that I would need to have at least a bit of rest for the next morning!


Monday (Day 1 in London, 4/1)

  • Sights: Oxford Circus, Liberty, Big Ben, Parliament Square
  • Eats: Cornish Bakehouse, Troia


Now to the good stuff!

We arrived in London mid-morning and took a while to get to our accommodations, freshen up, and unpack. Then we hit the city!

Being the cheap resourceful girls that we are, we decided to forgo the hop-on, hop-off buses in favor of the public transportation. It worked okay, except we got lost a couple of times!

My friend really wanted to shop, so we decided to hit up a ton of stores along Oxford Street. But first, I spotted a Cornish Pasty shop, and we ate our first real meal of the day. It was almost 4 pm, so we were famished!




I got the steak, and she had chicken curry. They were sooo what we needed for the cold weather!




Then we stocked up on snacks from Marks & Spencer. I had my first Cadbury Creme egg!




Then, we went into some stores for a bit of shopping. I ended up buying thick, gray leggings, which I definitely need for this trip! I packed for cold weather, but I am still freezing the whole day! By the way, check out all the black and white offerings. :)




And of course, who could forget Liberty!




This room is filled with stationery!




Then, the scarf room!




And upstairs is the best part...




Fabric!




Notions!




Trims!




Yarn!




On our way home, we ended up missing our bus transfer stop by one, but found out that we were right near Big Ben and took some nice night pictures!




By the time we got home, we just decided to eat quick and went to Troia, a Turkish restaurant. I had a nice traditional lamb stew called Guvec, but they just called "Lamb" on the menu.




Baklava for dessert!




Tuesday - (Day 2 in London, 4/2)

  • Sights: Picadilly Circus, Admiralty Arch, Trafalgar Square, Horse Guards, Big Ben, Parliament Square, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Paddington Bear, Harrod's
  • Eats: Tattersall's Tavern


We totally slept in and missed the changing of the guards. Oh well!

We decided to start our day at Picadilly Circus. Then we walked down to Admiralty Arch.




We went through Trafalgar Square next and took lots of pictures!




We saw the Horse Guards too!




We tried to see 10 Downing Street, but only caught a glimpse through the fence. Next was Big Ben and Parliament Square during the day.




And Westminster Abbey right around the corner. The architecture on every building is so intricate and beautiful!




We walked down Birdcage Walk to Buckingham Palace, along the Jubilee walkway.




By now, it was getting late and we had to get to Paddington station for an errand. Luckily, we ran into an old friend. ;)




Next, we went to Harrod's. The picture of the interiors do it no justice. Simply beautiful!




Every room has its own unique style and flavor. This one was decorated with Egyptian motifs.




We were going to have some fish and chips here, but we were there at 6:10 pm when the kitchen closed at 6:15 pm. After being turned away, we were super hungry and instead decided to find the closest place to eat, which ended up being Tattersall's Tavern.

It was delish! Fish and chips of course, with breaded shrimp and mushy peas.




And roast chicken with amazing potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, green beans, etc.




For dessert, we wanted to try the treacle sponge, but they were out. :( Instead, we had apple pie with warm custard. It was so tart!




By the end of dinner, it was dark so we had no problem spotting Harrod's at all! I almost forgive them for dissing us earlier since the lights were so pretty.




Time for bed because we have a looong day tomorrow!

By the way, any tips for layering better? My hands are constantly freezing and I didn't bring gloves. I would buy some, but they only have spring apparel in the stores here. Believe me, we looked!


*Update: See the whole trip here!*















12 comments:

  1. Maybe you could find a second hand store nearby that may have some gloves or mittens. Your trip looks great! Can't wait for those packing tips.

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  2. How fun!! I'd go nuts with the fabric/trims/notions!! =) =) Have a great week!!


    Danielle
    SewMuchCrafting.com

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  3. I know! The only thing holding me back from buying the whole store was the fact that I still had 4 weeks to travel and .1% suitcase space!

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  4. Great photos! I would love to take this trip sometime too!

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  5. Great photos from London! Spring greeting from Australia♥ ~Pernilla

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  6. Your photos of London make me miss it even more. We were there over the summer and I just love it! Thanks for such beautiful pictures!

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  7. Great photos Diane - thanks for sharing them, sounds like you're having a wonderful trip!

    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!

    Hope you have a fabulous week!

    Jill @ Creating my way
    to Success

    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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  8. Thanks! Man, I WISH it was spring instead of fall here!

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  9. Of course! Don't forget to see Part 2 of my time in London too. :)

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  10. Great pictures Diane! I want to live in that craft shop and those meals look amazing. Thanks so much for sharing at the Krafty Inspiration Thursday party. I can’t wait to
    see what you’ve been up to this week, the party is live at 6 am est.

    Happy Thursday

    Maria @ Krafty Cards etc.

    http://kraftycardsetc.blogspot.com/

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  11. Thanks! I always feel silly taking pictures in a restaurant, but it's wonderful to look at and "enjoy" later on!

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  12. look nice.

    rewards;
    http://supervikingrivercruise.wordpress.com/

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I love to hear your comments! And putting in your two cents is always free. :)

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