I flew into London through Gatwick Airport, Easyjet doesn't fly to Heathrow. The Gatwick express was quick and easy and got me to Victoria station in around half an hour. From there I took a London cab to Waterloo where I took advantage of the left luggage service while I explored London for the day.
I spent the morning with a friend of mine from New Zealand who had just finished 2 tours with Expat Explore. I had caught up with her twice before on her travels; at the FEI World Cup Final in Lyon and for lunch in Geneva when her tour passed through.
After she departed to pack her luggage for the flights home I went wandering towards Buckingham Palace. On the way I found the horse guards, had to get a photo with the handsome gentleman (horse, that is).
London was experiencing uncharacteristically warm weather when. I was visiting so I made the most of it and enjoyed the sun in Hyde Park.
I am a big fan of Made in Chelsea, so naturally a visit to Chelsea was necessary. Fortunately, the friends I was staying with live in Wandsworth, almost directly across the river from the Chelsea Embankment. Chelsea has no tube station, but there is a direct bus from Wandsworth.
We wandered down Kings Road and opted to have lunch at the Bluebird. For those who don't watch the show, the Bluebird is one of the regular filming locations. Unfortunately there was no chance of us running into Jamie and Spencer as the cast were filming in New York while I was in London! The menu was reasonably priced. I had a delicious shrimp salad and a glass of rosé. Definitely one of the highlights of my time in London!
In the afternoon we experienced the madness of a Primark Summer Sale, window shopped in Harrods and finally made our way to the Royal National Hotel for my Contiki kick start meeting.
The meeting was not especially memorable. I didn't go to the London Pub afterwards, my host was 6 months pregnant at the time and I wanted to spend time with her and her hubby before being parents takes over their lives.
After farewelling my wonderful hosts on Sunday morning I got a car service to the Royal National for the start of my tour. I seriously over estimated the amount of time I needed in the morning. Probably not helped by the fact my taxi driver was going 70 km/h through the streets of London! I look back and can't believe that the strangers I met on that first day of tour became the closest of friends in such a short space of time.
A few tips from my time in London:
Get an Oyster Card. If you're going to be spending more than a day in London an Oyster card will become your best friend. It makes the public transport even easier to use. I suggest topping up your Oyster at smaller stations, I waited over 20 minutes to top up my Oyster at Waterloo station, while there was no line at Wandsworth town.
The plugs are different in the UK to Europe. Silly me completely forgot about this, I don't have a universal adaptor because I already have European chargers.
Primark! If you get to London and realise you've forgotten a crucial item of clothing or just want to grab a bargain then look no further than Primark. It was madness when we were in there. Forget trying stuff on in the changing rooms, the line went for miles. We tried on everything over our clothes and took photos of eachother. They cover the mirrors up, presumably in an attempt to stop people doing it. Finally, go to the second or third lot of tills, the first had a really long line, the others had no line.
I have two more trips to London planned before I leave Europe. I am so looking forward to seeing more of the city. We have booked the Harry Potter experience, a few shows and dinner at Jamie Oliver's.
Happy wandering ✈️
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