My London Whirlwind

Dear Fashionistas,

I am in London!!!!! It is beautiful here, the antique buildings and streets, all the history, the weather, and the shopping could not be any better. Since my flight connects in London, I decided to stay one night to try and see as much of the city as I could before jetting off to Mauritius. I love traveling to Europe because it is so different from the US, but still has all the luxury appeal. I just fall more in love every time I see the cobblestone streets and the massive Victorian buildings. I wish the US had some of those historic beauties. Why do I specifically love London? Besides the best shopping, cough cough Harrods, the food is incredible. The little cafes on every street corner remind me of Paris. If you have never been to London, I would compare it to an English speaking Paris or a Stockholm on steroids. We made the most of the time we had and did a full on tourist crash course in a little less than 48 hours, managing to hit all of the most desirable and famous spots. Here is a little timeline of how we made the most of our short trip.

9:00- landed in London and arrived at the fabulous Rosewood Hotel.

11:00- after showering, getting dressed, and eating breakfast at the hotel, we jumped in our ride to take us around town for the day.

11:30- arrive excitedly to Harrods. I spent much of my time in the luxury accessories section, admiring all of the fabulous handbags from the super brands. I saw this vintage Chanel that I fell in love with. Surprise right? I’m always super impressed with Chanel’s new collections, but I did not expect the new Prada, Gucci, and YSL bags to be right up there as well. While still exploring Harrods, I went to the gown and women’s designer sections. I swear I could buy that whole store and marry it. One of our last stops in Harrods reminds me of Rodeo Drive. Walking down the sleek marbled hall with a big time brand on the left and then an ever bigger on the right. Many new collections caught my eye, especially Dolce and Gabana’s new tropical tones, Balmain’s glittery gold themed blazers and cocktail dresses, and Givenchy’s sporty sneakers and slides. There were a pair of black slides that had “Givenchy Paris” written across band in bold, white letters. I just couldn’t resist. Chanel was at the end of the hall, with many one of a kind bags taking center stage in the windows. The coats, the boots, the bags😍😍 could it get any better? Nope. Their travel collection reigns in practicality, the ankle boots have a lower heel and you can walk in them all day. The new trench coats are light weight and also shield from rain. Of course the bags are always perfect. The new backpacks are kind off worth dying for along with the mini boy cross body bags. Every time I walk through the glass doors, I tell myself- “no buying anything, nope not today, you are just here to window shop.” It never really works once I tried on the matte metallic grey trench and black leather ankle boots. The last stop at Harrods was the sweets section. We saved the best for last apparently. Truffles, fudge, chocolate covered strawberries, ice cream, and exotic cakes, pies, and cookies covered half of the first floor. Great, so not only did I spend money but also a weeks worth of calories too. Does carrying more shopping bags burn calories faster? Guess I need to go get more things to put in my shopping bags to carry around for the day after inhaling the decadent chocolate fudge;)

14:30- Starving. I was in a rush this morning so just had time to eat a bowl of berries while doing my make up. I didn’t want to spend a long time in a restaurant because as much as I love some good food, I love some stylish clothes even more. We saw this little cafe on the corner across from Harrods. It looked quaint and cute with pastries lining the windows and bold gold chandeliers.
Restaurant: Cafe Concerto
Order: Bruschetta and sea bass with potato wedges

15:30- Right across the street was a gigantic Topshop. Of course I wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity in there!

16:30- We arrive back at the hotel and start to get ready for dinner.

19:00- Sit down at dinner to have the famous Goring beef wellington. I ordered the Dover sole which was the to die for!

21:30- Walk into the hotel room. I packed up all my things in preparation for the flight to Mauritius tomorrow afternoon. As soon as I was finished packing, I collapsed onto what felt like a cloud and dreamt about Chanel…haha just kidding but I wish that was my dream!

Our final hours in London
7:00- I wake up and start getting ready for the day. My first challenge to tackle was to pick out my outfit (will show you guys the finished product soon)! My next challenge was to finish these amazing pancakes. Not very hard.

9:00- Leave the hotel. Today is all about sight-seeing and and doing all the cheesy tourist things like going to Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, and Hyde Park.

Our first stop was Buckingham Palace (our driver parked on the side of the road right outside the gates to let us out, which is obviously illegal, and then a cop came and threatened to take his license away, never dull)! It was just as beautiful as in all the pictures I have seen and I can’t imagine getting to live in such a grand palace!

10:00- Since traffic is very heavy today we thought out the plan of which routes who save us the most time. (When I me we, I mean our awesome driver Carlo)! So we headed from Buckingham Palace to Big Ben.

12:30- Several million pictures and two hours later we were finished roaming around Big Ben. The best part about this visit? I saw the prettiest bride taking her wedding photos on the bridge. Sorry Big Ben, looks like someone else stole the show!

13:00- Selfridges was the next destination. If I had to compare it to something in the US it would be….sorry I can’t compare it to anything because it would be an injustice. Imagine ten Neiman Marcus’s combined with a Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Hermes, and every other name brand store all confined in one space. In addition to all the luxury brands, there was also an abundance of the trendy up-an-comers as well.

Must Visit: the Chanel section (but you already knew that), the Gucci and Louboutin shoe departments- yes, a whole shoe department featuring the new Gucci slides and latest red-soled beauties, and the Self Potrait, J Brand, and Wildfox sections.

16:00- Of course we were running late, forgot to eat lunch, and needed to get back to the hotel to pick up our luggage to jet off to the airport but we just had to drive by the London Eye.

16:45- In the car, headed to the airport, our 48 hours in London has ended. 🙁

Be back soon London,

KT💋