Three Days in London

One of the main perks of becoming freelance is the freedom it's given me to accept opportunities that in the past I may never had time for. Bringing in a source of income is obviously important but along the way I have been giving the opportunity to work with brands, develop ideas and of course be involved in the blogging community, but the most rewarding aspect is the travel.

Recently I was invited down to Westfield London shopping centre, to check out their stores and enjoy a day relaxing, with a clear mind from any work. When staying in London I usually get a cheap room at Tune Hotel but this time we decided to book in at our favourite hotel, CitizenM on Bankside; having previously stayed at their Glasgow location. Seriously folks, this is just the coolest hotel I've ever stayed at. Top marks to the genuinely lovely staff, gadget-centric rooms (crazy mood lighting), quirky extra touches and strong craft beer selection. Just 5 minute's walk from the Tate too, perfect.

 

After a quick check-in at the hotel we started our three days off with a trip around the shops down at Westfield. We were pretty tired after four hours of travelling so we took five with a peanut butter and chocolate frozen yogurt from "Snog" (who thinks of these names?!) and planned out the next few days.

The plan was to avoid the busy high streets after the first day so we hit all the places we wanted while at Westfield; Uniqlo, Nike, COS, Levi's Lee, Anthropologie, Longchamp - sorted. I bought a bottle green Down Jacket and socks from Uniqlo (similar here), Hollie predictably topped up on the rails at COS. We also added a couple of The Simpsons LEGO mini-figures to our collection.

 

A coffee hit and walk down the living boulevard (best way I can describe it) we went for dinner at Jamie's Italian. We skipped a meal earlier so we were both ready for it, and man what a meal. The food was mega. We started with Melon Prosciutto, Fried Ravioli Nachos and Iced Olives.  For mains I had the day's special of Pulled Pork Stuffed Chicken Legs + Truffle Potatoes and Hollie had a giant bowl of creamy Carbonara.

We washed it down with Jamie's own beer, Liberta, which was pretty refreshing but possibly overshadowed by the cool label design. I've had a couple of so-so visits to Jamie's Italian recently but this time our food was perfect, the service was impeccable and we left as two extremely satisfied customers.

 

Day two was a combinations of meetings (while Hollie went off down Regent Street), wondering the streets of Soho and taking cover in galleries around Trafalgar Square to avoid the hourly downpours. Slightly uneventful day in the end but we did start off with breakfast at Albion Cafe, just a few minutes walk from the hotel, opposite the Tate Modern. We both had the standard stuff of eggs, bacon and toast, in a setting which has been designed by Terence Conran. I enjoyed it but for breakfast I think I preferred Canteen, where you get more of it.

We ended the day with Chicken + Waffles at Stax and few pints of Brew Dog + Sam Adams back at the hotel - with the added bonus of two free drinks at the bar because we booked the hotel in advance!

I was determined for day three to be a museum day. As the Tate Modern was just five minutes from the hotel we headed their pretty sharpish to get our daily quota of modern art. Turns out there was a big Surrealism exhibition on, which included paintings, sculpture and graphic design. Well worth a visit for anytone into that stuff; we spent a good three hours in there and we only really covered two floors.

Avoiding the tube, we walked along the river to The Design Museum, which gave me the opportunity to try out my floral RayBan specs c/o SmartBuyGlasses. We checked out the Louis Khan Archiecture Exhibition + Design of The Year 2014, the latter has now become a yearly tradition of ours; it's always chocked full of curious, interest and fun products/concepts. We even spotted the LEGO co-working calender which I blogged about a few weeks back!

Every time I visit London I only really seem to scratch the surface, always leaving me wanting more. I imagine I'd be thinking differently if I lived there but it's nice to be a tourist every once in a while. Until next time.

We were invited to Westfield as guests and were given gift vouchers to spend in any store of our choice. All words and opinion are honest and from my own personal experience.

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