A Very Fun And Very Chaotic 48+ Hours In London

Day One

The first thing my friends and I did after meeting up was grab coffee and sandwiches to eat in the park because we were hungry, jet lagged, and needed sustenance immediately. The park ended up being the perfect spot for the beginning-of-the-trip essentials: laughing, catching up, and calling our moms to tell them that we had made it.

Up next, we checked into our first hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Café Royal in Piccadilly Circus and it was dreamy! Not only was everyone kind and accommodating, but the room itself was absolutely gorgeous. There was a good deal of natural light, a large bathroom, and a very comfortable bed.

After we got settled in our room, we really took our time exploring and seeing the sites. We roamed through the city, past iconic telephone booths and a variety of pubs until we made it to Big Ben (which is finally no longer under construction!). But the first scheduled item on our agenda came in the evening, when we grabbed finger foods and drinks at Green Bar inside the hotel.

I am a tried-and-true girly girl so if there is one thing on this earth I love, it's dressing up for cocktails. I got the Velvet Essence cocktail (which features matcha, apple, and elderflower) and it was genuinely one of the best drinks I've ever had. The chicken, fried courgettes, and salmon blini made for the perfect shareable bites, and with so many flavors, textures, and temperatures, the whole experience was so much fun (and delicious).

Then, in true vacation fashion, we all headed to local grocery store Tesco for desserts, took long showers, turned on the TV, and fell asleep.

Day Two

Our second day in the city started off on a very good food with coffee, porridge, and eggs Benedict at the hotel. It was such a big portion I couldn't even finish it! The highlight of the entire day came next and was a complete accident: seeing the Royal Family on our way to St. James' Park.

We were headed to my favorite café in the park when we stumbled across a huge crowd and police officers. I asked a nearby worker what was happening (to which she looked somewhat confused and responded, "It's the King's birthday."), and by the time we found a spot in the crowd, King Charles and the entire Royal Family (minus Harry and Meghan) passed by us. We barely had to wait at all! The rest of the afternoon was filled with fly-overs, parades, and other celebrations we hadn't anticipated. Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis once again stole the show.

After grabbing coffee from St. James Café (which I'd dreamt of since June of 2019) and walking past Buckingham Palace, we spent the afternoon in South Kensington. This is one of my favorite areas of London, and includes a number of places where I spent a lot of time, including HTB Onslow Square and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

In addition to historical garments, the V&A now has Harry Styles' Patchwork Cardigan, which might just be one of the most iconic clothing items of the 2020s.

After South Kensington, we moved into our new hotel (and failed to grab spontaneous tickets to Harry Styles' Wembley Stadium show), and decided to check off a major bucket list item — getting fish and chips in a pub.

Considering it was already closing in on 9 o'clock, it took us longer than expected to find a pub that was still serving food, but we made it just in time. We got cider! We got mushy peas! Our server kicked a pickpocketer out of the restaurant! It was quite an exciting experience.

Day Three

Our flight to France was scheduled for the afternoon at the Luton airport, so we took our time getting ready and packing up. But it wasn't until we got to the airport that things really took a turn for the chaotic. Just bear with me.

On the bus, one of my friends and I went to check in for our flight and realized that it had already closed, meaning that now, there was a chance we wouldn't be allowed on the plane. Well, we didn't even get up to the counter to ask because as soon as we got into the airport, we started having passport issues that took up the next four hours — meaning that we did end up missing our flight while our other friend went ahead. On top of everything, because of a storm, the airline was cancelling a bunch of flights and hotels around the area were filling up fast.

After panic texting our families and crying over the phone, we *finally* found a flight and made our way to a nearby inn. We ended up staying in Luton because neither one of us had the energy or the headspace to make our way back into the city. Once we got checked in, ate dinner, and finally felt like we could take a deep breath, we settled into our room.

A movie I loved in high school ended up being on TV, which gave me a surprising amount of comfort, but a fair warning for anyone staying in an old English inn: the room ended up being over 85 degrees. I have never in my life felt as hot inside a room as I did that night. But, if anything, it's a bonding experience my friend and I will be telling our grandkids about.

Day Four

The adventure continued on our last day in England, when we got stuck in rush-hour traffic on the way to Heathrow Airport. We immediately checked our bags and made sure everything with our flight was good to go, and then realized the spontaneous (and expensive) airline tickets we bought gave us access to the Air France lounge.

I had never been in an airport lounge before, but I can safely say it was very cool — and not just because as soon as we walked in, we saw Joanne Frogatt from Downton Abbey. After grabbing some breakfast and a chocolate croissant for the plane, we made it to our gate during the last call (even though we were early? I will never understand this). *Finally* by the grace of all things good, and after three separate hotels, lots of English food, and an extra plane ticket, we made it to France. Bonjour!