The National Gallery
One of the great things about London is that the museums are free to the public (althought you do have to pay to enter any special exhibitions). We had a few hours to kill before our train, so we headed to The National Gallery, “the story of European art, masterpiece by masterpiece”.
As I mentioned in the Dishoom and Ghymkhana posts, this trip to London is all about Indian food! A few months ago I was at a lunch with an Indian family living in London and I asked for her list of best Indian restaurants. She gave me a list of 10 and I couldn’t wait for my next trip to London! Second to check off the list – Indian Accent!
Our home for the weekend
I love that every time we’re in London we stay in a different neighborhood – this time in Richmond! Richmond is all the way west, almost in Surrey and borders the River Thames. Most famous in the district is Kew Gardens and Palace, but unfortunately we didn’t have time this visit to go (definitely on the list for next time!). Our friends live here and recommended if we have time to go for a walk along the river. So beautiful and peaceful – hard to believe we were still in London!
Fashioned from Nature at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Koen and I love visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum. The permanent collection is free to explore and there are always very interesting exhibits throughout the year that you can pay to explore. To be honest, we originally went to the V&A to visit Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up, but it was sold out for three straight weeks! Fashioned by from Nature seemed interesting to me because I studied textiles and work in fashion. Luckily Koen was interested as well, so we decided to buy tickets for this exhibit instead. l.ucky us! If you’re in London any time between now and January 27th, 2019, I recommend you check it out!
St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London
The last few times I’ve been in London have been for work, not really for sight-seeing. But this time Koen needed to go London for work, so I tagged along and was able to do some exploring – including the neighborhood where we stayed – King’s Cross, while Koen was in meetings and conferences.
Bagpipes at George Square
For our May vacation, Koen and I headed to Scotland with our friends Chris and Hannah. Our main destination was the Isle of Islay, but to start and finish the trip we spent some time in Glasgow.
Lunch at Ottolenghi in Notting Hill
Day Five was our last full day together in London. We started off with breakfast at The Butter Bakery in Notting Hill. The bakery is located across from our apartment, so it was an easy walk across the street for our hand pies and coffee.
Freezing, but happy to have my red velvet whoopie pie!
One of the reasons we decided to stay in Notting Hill is because we love the movie Notting Hill. Do you remember the scene in the movie, that in order to show how much time has passed by, you see Hugh Grant walking through a market? Well that market is the Portobello Market and we visited it during Day Four, enjoying a big brunch and sweets.
Strolling through Notting Hill
To start our first real day together in London, we walked from Notting Hill through Hyde Park to get to Chelsea for the most delicious brunch at The Ivy Chelsea Garden.
Piccadilly Circus
Koen and I spent last week in London. The last time I was in London with time to really explore was 10 years ago! So although I’d been before, it was really like visiting for the first time.
An American in Antwerp 