Travel Diaries: London
Excerpts from a 5-day layover.
My jet-set life drags me into travel itineraries so elaborate they make Taylor’s Eras tour look like a fieldtrip. After numerous complaints from my impatient overseas friends, and being long overdue for a visit to Europe, I tacked on a 5-day layover in London through Halloweekend (how convenient) on my casual journey from Rio de Janeiro to Mombassa. I mean, how do I get myself into these situations?
Friday, October 27
Landing in Heathrow set me into full main-character mode. After some quick post-flight beauty (thank you, Moroccanoil dry shampoo) I capitalised on my anonymity to ask every dark-haired, Northface black puffer-wearing boy for help in navigating the Elizabeth line to reach Holland Park. I sipped on my Pumpkin Pie Latte from Pret (where else?) watching the tube pass a Waitrose and houses reminiscent of Mr. and Mrs. Dursley’s, while unironically listening to Skepta for the entire ride. Smooth arrival.
After what can only be described as ‘girl dinner’ (microwave pizza, red bull, Joe & the Juice smoothie, and Smirnoff vodka – delicious), The Girls got ready into our respective costumes of Something Sexy ft. animal ears and/or fake blood. Me? I adopted what Cady described as the ‘Hardcore Girls’ Halloween uniform in Mean Girls. After a mere 457 group photos and detailed catch up on everything we had missed since our last reunion, The Girls finally migrated from the pre to a brief pitstop at a house party, before finally reaching the event we had actually booked tickets for.
Saturday, October 28
Against overwhelming odds of oversleeping due to a brutal jet-lag & hangover combo, I made it up and into a cashmere by noon as my girlfriends showed me the streets of London. On my third coffee of the day and poised to casually run into a Hugh Grant-lookalike, The Girls & I set off to brunch, making our way from Holland Park to Notting Hill, before finally settling down at Cocotte in Westbourne Green.
The evening plans progressed only after a crucial power nap, which consisted of a birthday dinner party for one of my best friends at her place in Kensington. Notably, this was the night the clocks went backwards in the UK – meaning that when we finally passed out at 4 in the morning, we could feel a smidge less guilty about actually passing out at 5.
Sunday, October 29
Sunday brought me to my favourite neighbourhood in London: Marylebone, in which we walked around long enough for our hangovers to subside. Our stops included Hagen for a coffee, Ortigia for the knick-knacks, Consigned Sealed Delivered for the vintage spotting, Ottolenghi for something sweet, and finally, Le Labo for me to top up my signature scent.
The evening involved a warm bowl of soup, Friends marathon, thick layer of Summer Fridays jet lag facemask, and bedtime of 9pm.
Monday, October 30
By far my least inspiring day in London, Monday was spent primarily tackling some of the (remote) work I had been ignoring the second I stepped foot on the plane. I snuck out briefly for a walk and to dig into my new read at this quaint, unheard of coffee shop. And, of course, I had to give my Maje boots a sense of purpose… they were collecting dust in Rio.
Tuesday, October 31
Halloween! My favourite holiday since childhood (that’s what growing up in America teaches you). I had a long day under the city’s infamously grey skies, starting with another Main Character Moment as I strutted solo through Hyde Park to reach a guy friend near Imperial College. We went to lunch at Rocca Di Papa – potentially a date? – wasn’t clear to me then, still isn’t clear to me now. I dissected this mystery with Serena (@h3donism) while we weaved our way through Ba&sh, Rouje, and Selfridges.
Obviously, Halloween meant going out. My costume was, “I really want to wear this new top” with some fake blood on my neck to complete. The barman in Camden loved it.
Wednesday, November 1
The turn of the new month meant my departure from London was imminent. I got up as early as I could, given the quantity of pub beer in my bloodstream, to have lunch with a cousin in Fitzrovia – spicy Vietnamese food does amazing things for a pounding headache. I showed off my new sneakers and toured the British Museum solo (not a lot of British things in there… hmmm…) before settling down in yet another bookstore.
The day ended with a group dinner, lots of wine, and tearful goodbyes. I went to bed a whole 3 hours and 47 minutes before I had to be up for my next flight, which I, of course, boarded with a significantly heavier suitcase.