Fun travels: London May 2017

London May 2017

Back to London after 20 years!
How much has changed, I wonder.

Nadler Hotel Soho
Dishoom Carnaby
National Gallery
Big Ben
St James Park
Fortnum and Mason
Phantom of the Opera
Borough Market
Camden Town
Georgian House
Pimlico Fresh
Tea and Tattle
Street Scenes

From LHR, we took a car service(Blackberry cars) to the Soho area.
We had to wait a while about 15 mins for the driver to show up.
Then about an hour ride to the Nadler Hotel Soho

Nadler Hotel Soho

Nadler Hotel had super tiny rooms!
The location was fantastic, right in Soho and close to various tube (subway) stations.
It is also at one end of shopping street Oxford Street.
Importantly, Nadler Hotel is at the end of a quiet street so there was no noise from the outside at night.

The staff were very nice and friendly, very good service.

Dishoom Carnaby

First meal at London was at Dishoom Carnaby, a popular Indian restaurant
The food is very good and highly recommended.
Love the chai tea too!

This is a Mango lassi
Sort of like a mango yogurt drink.
Delicious!

Outside of the Queens Theatre
One thing I love about central London is that it is so easy to walk around.

National Gallery

Little Melody at the National Gallery
Free entry too!
National Gallery is huge!
It was actually a bit tiring to look at so many paintings. haha
All worth it though!
Highly recommend the National Gallery.

Big Ben

Little Melody making an appearance at Big Ben!

St James Park

St James Park, a really nice oasis in the middle of the city.
So relaxing just to walk through it.
Really looks like the English countryside and not at all like in the middle of a big city.

Fortnum and Mason

Afternoon Tea at Fortnum and Mason!
Really recommended and reservations are required.
The sandwiches and scones are very tasty and I really like the clotted cream.
However, I dont recommend the tea tasting.
It was very short and not many teas to taste.
Also, they only allowed one cup of tasting and the rest of the tea was taken away, which was a real waste, imo.

Great selection of teas from all over the world!
The Queen's favorite tea was a smoky type of tea, a bit similar to lapsang souchong tea from China.
It has a very distinct smoky heavy flavour.
Not really my cup of tea(no pun). :)

We got a white tea leaf(very good) selection as well as Chai tea (which isnt that great)

Phantom of the Opera

In London, one needs to watch "The Phantom of the Opera"!
Highly recommend getting the tickets themselves from See.
They are part of Her Majesty's Theatre(which hosts the musical) and cheaper than other ticket agencies.
Ticket prices have increased a LOT! since the last time I watched this musical(20+ years ago)
Back then, 40 GBP would get you the best seats.
Now 71 GBP only got me mid tier seats.
Awesome musical though, very worth it.
Les Miserables is very good too but too depressing. :)

Borough Market

Next stop
Borough Market!
Even though I had been to London many times, this was my first trip to Borough Market.
It is located south of the Thames, not far from London Bridge tube station.

Highly recommend Borough Market.
Very good place for a bite and also to get local products.

This pie shop has yummy pies!

This might look messy but the Chicken combo is excellent!
Not expensive either.

Oysters were good but pricey!

Little Melody at Tower Bridge.
We walked there from Borough Market which wasnt too far away and took a bus across the bridge.
Many people walked across though.

Camden Town

Camden Town is really fun to visit!
It is in the northern part of London and very easy to get to with a tube stop just there.

The orange juice here is so cheap and fresh too!
2 GBP for a large.

Lots of food stalls and many knick knacks for shopping.
Great place to visit!

The fish and chips were really good at Poppies!
Bonus is that the staff and interior was all retro like.
Very cool.

Georgian House

After Soho, we moved to the Victoria Station area and stayed at a BnB named
Georgian House

This BnB has been around for a long time.
Remembered staying there back when I was a student over 20 years ago.
Glad to see it is still around!
They serve a really good breakfast!

There is even a "Wizard room" modeled after Harry Potter, that guests can stay in.
Apparently, it is very popular.

Pimlico Fresh

Nearby Victoria Station is a really good brunch type cafe called
Pimlico Fresh.
The menu is written on a chalkboard and the tables are mostly communal tables.

Their omelettes and entrees are really tasty!

Tea and Tattle

Near the National Gallery is a very small and cute bookshop cum afternoon tea cafe
The upper floor is a bookstore and the basement cafe serves a very good afternoon tea.
Due to the small amount of space, there are not many seats and reservations are required.
Much cheaper than Fortnum and Mason too!