For today’s post, I’m taking it wayyyy back to the Summer of 2012. I went on a great trip through Europe with a group of college kids. One of our stops was London, and THE single most epic day of our London rendezvous started with a double-decker bus tour that led us to seeing THE QUEEN, and ended with the Harry Potter studio tour.
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Upon arriving in London, my spirits are lifted and I immediately become happy. I’ve been 3 times, and the beauty of the city still floors me every time. I really just love everything about it.
I realize that I may have a romanticised view of London. But I don’t care. I just love the hustle and bustle, and how there’s always something to do there. It’s a place I could definitely see myself living.
And whether you like London or not, you can’t deny that it is an iconic city, with numerous world-famous landmarks, and scenes and images that are just quintessentially “London.”
The first time I went to London, I shot some images with my old Pentax film camera with 35mm color film. I love photos taken on film because they have a certain graininess and rawness to them. And, it’s such a surprise when you get them developed and see them for the first time. Sometimes you find they came out horribly, and sometimes you end up with amazing photos.
Since I recently got that film roll developed, I thought I’d share some of the good ones. These photos capture what is, to me, the quintessential look London. Some of the most iconic London scenes and landmarks including Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and the iconic red telephone boxes.
The first time I did a post like this, it was about my now-home, Dublin. This time, I wanted to highlight what is one of my favorite cities I visited last summer – Edinburgh, Scotland.
I was only there for a little over 72 hours, but Edinburgh blew me away. I was so pleasantly surprised by how beautiful it was, how much you can do in a short amount of time, AND how many of the awesome things we did were FREE! Plus, we got super lucky with the weather — it was warm and sunny and beautiful!
You can definitely see the best of what Edinburgh has to offer in just a few days. Obviously, I would’ve loved more time there, but I was able to squeeze in tons of beautiful views, history, and bar hopping in my busy weekend.
So if you ever want to pop on over to Edinburgh for the weekend, or even just want to get a taste of the city, these are my top 5 recommendations!
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If I had a ridiculous amount of money, I think I’d spend all of my time at music festivals. There’s just something so wonderful about spending a gorgeous day/weekend outside listening to great live acts, surrounded by people who are (usually) friendly and have the same interests. When planning my post-grad Europe trip last summer, I knew that I really wanted to attend a foreign music festival. So once we had our dates I started to research music festivals and found Isle of Wight Festival in England. A music festival on an island off the southern coast of England? Um….sign me up please!
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“Hey, look! It’s Abbey Road! We should go check it out!” I said to my friends while pointing to the tube map in my hands.
That’s how it all started. I saw a stop on the DLR line called “Abbey Road.” We were all the way in Belgravia area, by the Victoria Station, which was pretty far from the Abbey Road station, even on the tube.
But, I convinced my friends to come check it out with me. After all, I’m a huge fan of The Beatles. How cool would it be to see the real Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles recorded the legendary album? And to take a (super touristy) picture on that same corner of the road as the Abbey Road album cover??
Besides, it wouldn’t be that hard, right? We could just take the tube to the station and check it out. WRONG.
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Do you love London? Do you love farmer’s markets? Do you love food? I’ll answer all of these for you: YES. Well, those happen to be 3 of my favorite things. Although I haven’t posted too much about it (because I honestly don’t even know where to begin) I’m OBSESSED with London. Plus I LOVE markets of all kind – whether that be food, produce, secondhand, flea, etc. And, obviously, this gal loves to eat too! And I’m really good at it. #moretolove
One of the (many) reasons London my favorite city is because it has TONS of markets. I haven’t been to all of them yet, but I have absolutely LOVED the ones I have been to! And one of the best London markets I’ve been to is Borough Market.
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The historical and picturesque town of Stratford-Upon-Avon lies upon the River Avon (hence the name) and is most well-known for being the home of Shakespeare. Ever heard of him? It was the perfect little pit stop before heading to the hustle and bustle of my beloved London. We were able to stop for a delicious lunch and tour some of the main sights. Stratford will not only make you fall in love with Shakespeare all over again, but will make you fall in love with its beautiful gardens and quaint cotswolds architecture.
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My friends and I area little weird, especially when we’re together. Which is why we often find ourselves/put ourselves in funny, outright ridiculous situations when we get together. I have some great memories and hilarious stories with my friends. Even more so when we’re on vacation or somewhere new. One event that sticks out the most to me was when we were in London and we were visiting Buckingham Palace…
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Its currently soooo cold here right now in South Louisiana. I know, CRAZY right?! And although I love it, I can’t help but daydream to the times I spent wandering aimlessly around one of my favorite areas of London – Hyde Park – on an absolutely BEAUTIFUL summer day. Taking a bike ride through Hyde Park allows you to explore more of the park than by foot. It’s such a fun and cheap thing to do in London (because let’s face it, London can be PRICEY)!
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I absolutely love cold and rainy weather. Let me repeat that: I absolutely LOVE cold and rainy weather. I know when asked about their favorite weather, most people would start talking about a sunny day on the beach. And don’t get me wrong… I do love annual trips to the beach. BUT there’s just something special to me about a chilly, overcast day. Which I think is one of the (many) reasons why I love traveling in the UK so much!
Enter my perfect little rainy day pit-stop on the Island of Anglesey in Wales.
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