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Life Well Wandered

Life Well Wandered

16 January 2015 · Leave a Comment

Last Day in London with the Family

School· Study Abroad

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New Years Day passed quickly in London. It was the last day my family would be in London and quite possibly the last time I would see them until June, so we tried to make the most of it!

The city was very quiet and most things were closed so we had a great time just walking around. I showed my mom what, in my opinion, are the best red photo booths in London. On a quiet street, not covered in graffiti, out of sight for when you take the embarrassing oh-so-touristy pictures. Perfect.

Michael didn’t get the whole phone booth thing, obviously. So we then headed along Fleet Street and walked along the river. My mom wanted to see Tower Bridge (which she thought was London Bridge, a common mistake many people make). Naturally they thought the walk was ridiculously long, a fact that had never crossed my mind since I walk everywhere here.

The areas around Tower Bridge and Tower of London weren’t crowded at all (since Tower of London was closed) so it was really nice to not get pushed by a humongous crowd while looking at the Tower. Probably the most empty I’ve seen it. And it was incredibly weird not to see the poppies there!!

After some more photos, we walked over to St. Catharine’s docks, since it was an area I thought my family would like. By that time, Michael was incredibly grumpy and no longer wanted to walk anywhere, so instead of searching for Indian food like my dad wanted, we ate at the Turkish restaurant, on one of the docks! The food was delicious and I convinced my parents to let us get like four courses so I had falafel (which was really good), lentil soup, some sort of potato cheese and veggie main course, and baclava (mmmmm) for dessert! Needless to say I was stuffed and naturally I forgot to take pictures of everything.

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Once we were thoroughly stuffed we caught a cab over to Harrods (I love having the luxury of taking cabs! No crowded or delayed tube queues. So nice.). Because of the streets closed off for the New Years Day Parade, we had to turn around once and backtrack but we eventually made it! This was my fourth time to Harrods so it didn’t have the same magic that it did the first time. We hit up the food sections and then dad wanted to head up to the top floor to the Barbour section because he’s now obsessed.

My dad was meeting a coworker and his wife at a pub near Harrods and was bringing us along. We had about a half hour to spare so we walked into Harvey Nichols and then headed straight on! The pub we went to was fantastic. Super tiny, things all over the walls, locals only, limited food served and no phones allowed. I wish I had taken pictures but alas, no phones allowed. If you’re interested, it’s called The Nags Head and it’s on Kinnerton Street, right in the middle of a beautiful neighborhood! I definitely want to go back one day!

After our drinks, we headed back to the hotel (again, thank god for cabs!) and got some dinner at the hotel restaurant. I wasn’t super hungry so my dinner consisted of a salad and a bowlful of colorful carrots. They were both good, but I never realised how easy it would be to get sick of carrots! Michael got a slab of meat. #classic

 

The best part of my meal was dessert. I wasn’t super hungry but I had to get a last nice dessert while my family was still in town  paying ;) I’m not exactly sure what it was, except that it was very apple-y and delicious!

It wasn’t until after dinner that I realised that it would be so soon that I would be leaving the lovely hotel the next day. We were staying at The Rosewood, which is a relatively new hotel. It was amazing and the bed was super comfy! I loved the feel of it and hope to go back to it one day :)

There were cute little birds by the lifts!

The hotel also had some really cool mini art installations.

 

Strawberries on forks

 

So pretty!!
The family had a long commute for their noon flight the next day, so I awoke early with them and grabbed one las breakfast. Thanks to late checkout, after they left, I got to stay in the room until 4pm, where I literally just watched horrible TV shows, Blue Planet, and took a really long shower.
My delicious blueberry pancake breakfast!
It was weird to say goodbye to my family because traveling with them and seeing them made me feel almost like I was in Tampa. Not to mention the wonderful food, normal sized showers and large beds. All of it was really hard to say goodbye to. After I got back to my dorm, I was sort of in denial about them being gone, my return to my microscopic cube of a shower, and small bed. It was weird how quickly the things that quickly began to feel normal to me switched and how what used to be normal to me (i.e. my dorm and student living) would quickly (and maybe reluctantly) become the new normal again. On this trip, I not only traveled to two different countries (I’m counting Wales as one) but also realised that it is nice to have a home to go back to after traveling. I don’t think I could ever be one of those full-time, drop-and-sell-all-your-belongings kind of traveler. I need a home base, be it Tampa, my dorm in London, of wherever I’ll end up in the world.

 

 

To look back on my adventures to Rome, click here.
To check out my amazing day in Florence, click here.
To see what it was like to ‘meet’ the first person in my family in Llandaff, Wales, click here!

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Welcome to Life Well Wandered

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Welcome to my corner of the internet! Life Well Wandered is a travel blog where you'll find a little bit of everything. I love sharing itineraries from past trips, secret spots I've discovered on my travels, histories of places I find fascinating, and stories about my mental health.

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Alex | Travel Blogger/Wanderer
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