London Nostalgia // Travel Diary 001

London.
The first time I set my eyes on you, breathed your air, walked your ground, I only had 24 hours. 24 hours of dizzying madness full of running, shameless selfies, british accents, and way too little tea for my liking. 
Word of advice: London can't be conquered in 24 hours.

A year and 4 months later- I'm back!
For this trip, my travel entourage (aka my family + my best friend's family) and I decided to make me plan everything plan everything ourselves instead of following a tour group. If there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I love traveling. Welcome to Entry #1 where our first stop is the buzzing city of London.

-- Day 1 --
August 17, 2015

We were staying at the lovely Ace Hotel in Shoreditch which is quite far from the airport. 
What was supposed to be a quick 5-10 minutes walk ended up being a long 20 minutes. The hotel was, of course, on the other side of the road that we were walking on. But with that being said, when I saw the hotel room...woah. I felt like I had been blessed because holy cow if it wasn't the most beautiful hotel room that I've ever stayed at.

They had a record player and provided some records that we could use which is how I discovered this AMAZING singer who goes by the name Twin Shadow. YO. You need to listen to his music. I'll even make it easy for you and link it right HERE. 
After settling down for a quick break, we regrouped and headed to find some grub. There was a food festival right by the hotel, and I had some subpar wraps, but OH WELL.
After learning more about the absolute BEAUTY, of Oyster cards (seriously they are amazing, bless), we hopped on a bus to London Bridge. 
My personal favorite is the Tower Bridge. Not only did One Direction film in it (cue the heart eyes), but it just looks beautiful! We strolled along that area for a couple of hours before heading back for the night.

-- Day 2 --
August 18, 2015

We hit all of the tourist spots today. Starting with a tour of the inside of Buckingham Palace (yes it is every bit as glamorous as you'd imagine), stopping for some food at Chinatown, and ending with a visit to the Big Ben area, which includes the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, 10 Downing Street, etc etc. 
At the end though, we went on the London Eye! The first time I visited London, I only saw the London Eye...as well as the line. But luckily, it moved pretty quickly! The view was GORGEOUS. I'd highly recommend going on it! I have some pictures up on my instagram, as well as one that can be seen below.

because of course, when in London, it's pretty much mandatory to take at least one picture in front of a red telephone booth.

-- Day 3 --
August 19, 2015

This was the only day where I didn't have anything specific planned. We decided to go watch the changing of the guards back at Buckingham Palace then headed to Covent Garden. Ahh the first time I went to CG, I loved it so much! It was nice to show my family+ around. The other day, we saw that a restaurant along the Thames River offered High tea for a reasonable price. 
Spoiler Alert: Though the tea was great, it was less than ok.

 Then, as we were walking towards Shakespeare's Globe, the rain started. We took shelter inside the Globe for a bit, but then, as true Londoners would (note: this is said with 5% confidence), we decided to brave the rain and go across the Millennium Bridge. As we walked to the bus stop, we were able to look at St. Paul's Cathedral, which was so pretty! I really wish we had time to visit. 

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It was only fitting that we ended our last full day in London with rain. And with that, we have reached the end of travel entry #1.

I worked so hard on this post so I really hope you enjoyed it! It took four times longer than usual because of all the images I edited. It's a little different than the posts I normally do, but I really love how it turned out and can't wait to be able to look back at this someday.

See you guys in a few days!

Click HERE to see my previous posts from London in 2014.