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A Day In The Life In London

Things To Know When Moving To London - Nothing beats the beautiful views over the London cityscape at sunset.

I’m so excited to be part of the ‘A Day in the Life..’ series by Lauren from Diary of a Spanglish Girl! Lauren is collaborating alongside bloggers across the globe, documenting a day in their home city and comparing their usual routines with her own. I’m thrilled to be a part of the series, and honoured to be able to share a sample of my London life. You’ll be getting a small snippet into my weekends of living in London, this time with a very special Kiwi joining me!

Don’t forget to see how Lauren spent her day, and how it compares to my own!

Saturday, 27th October 2018 – Documentation Day

Up and at ’em

You might think it eye-twitchingly hard to get a lie in living in central London, however, my top floor flat in Regent’s Park is fortunate enough to back onto a peaceful residential courtyard, a small haven in an otherwise hectic city!

I’m usually up earlyish anyway and will immediately binge watch some Netflix or work on the blog during the first part of the morning, deciding to venture out for some fresh air (and also dignity of not being a total couch potato) later in the day. This was no usual London day however, as the sun was out in full force and Kazimir was in the UK for just a couple more days! Instead of the standard lazy Saturday morning, we decided this would be the perfect opportunity to head out and explore some new wonders in London right away.

Embankment London

Embankment

Visiting the Hayward Gallery

After a quick shower we had a simple Cheerios and tea for breakfast before we headed out to catch the tube to our first stop of the day. Aiming for the Southbank, we hopped off at Embankment to enjoy the day’s sunshine walking across the river. It seems autumn has finally hit London, so we were glad to be wrapped up warm.

On most weekends I’ll try and find something unusual to do, be it finding a new market, a new park, a cafe, or my personal favourite, a new art exhibition. I’m a big fan of galleries and the Hayward Gallery on the Southbank is my all-time top choice. Often exhibiting contemporary, light-hearted, and interactive works, it’s pretty much a big kid’s playground!

Cracked neon mirror selfie at Hayward Gallery exhibition in London

New album coming soon

Narcissus Garden by Yayoi Kusama at Hayward Gallery London

Narcissus Garden by Yayoi Kusama

We visited the Space Shifters exhibition (on until the 6th of January 2019 – check it out!), which was a full-gallery exhibition on perception, illusory installations, and space-bending sculptures. It’s right up my street, I find art spaces so relaxing (when they’re not too busy), and this was perfect. We spent the morning working our way through the many installations, and even queued for the famous 20:50 by Richard Wilson – a pin-drop quiet room only accessed one person at a time filled with engine oil creating a dark, eery reflection.

Richard Wilson's 20:50 at Hayward Gallery London

Richard Wilson’s 20:50

Food stall lunch on the Southbank

After seeing so many illusory works and exploring the gallery, we were pretty hungry! When I’m out at the weekend I prefer to grab something quick and easy from an independent place, and food stalls are the perfect stop for tasty, filling, and affordable food. The food market at the Southbank is always a firm favourite of mine; I love the variety of it all and I always find something new to try. On this occasion, we grabbed a portion of paella each (not nearly as good as that found in Spain though, I’m sure!) coming to a neat £10 in total. Thank goodness they took card payments too, I rarely carry cash anymore as it’s way more common to use contactless!

We picked a bench a little further along the river and people watched while we ate – another of my favourite pastimes!

View across the city of London from Embankment Bridge

Walking to the Southbank

Explore Borough Market & hunt for sweet treats

To let our food go down and maybe burn off some of that delicious paella, we ambled along the Jubilee Walk taking us from our lunch spot on the Southbank, past the Globe Theatre, and towards Borough Market.

It’s surprisingly easy to get around London simply by walking, provided you don’t mind spending a little more time on your journey, and are happy to dart around the many, many tourists! Walking around the city (particularly along the river) is also a great way to see some of the sights. We could see St Paul’s Cathedral, The Shard, the Oxo Tower, and many more points of interest along the way. Despite having always lived very close to, and now in, central London, I do still enjoy the cliche touristy things from time to time. That’s why when Kazimir is in the UK I get the chance to let out my inner tourist!

Borough Market

Exploring Borough Market

We finally reached Borough Market, a haven for discovering food from all over the world! We were decidedly on a mission for something sweet after our lunch, and stumbled across 3Bis, which served us up a real treat topped with chocolate sauce on tap!

Running errands around Covent Garden & Soho

After all that art and food, it was time to actually get some things done. Running a couple of errands makes for a good excuse to head slowly back towards my area via Soho (for essential treats later this evening), and to Covent Garden to collect a pair of shiny new glasses.

We first stopped by Ace & Tate in Seven Dials as I was waiting on a pair of new glasses to be ready, and I’m thrilled with them! The weekend is usually my time to do such small errands and I always look forward to ticking them off my to-do list!

Ace & Tate glasses

My new Ace & Tate glasses

We meandered through the streets full of tourists (me giving Kazimir the speediest guided tour in the world as we go) to reach Soho, and as we passed Maitre Choux it suddenly occurred to me I hadn’t given Kazimir a birthday cake! His birthday was two days prior, but I couldn’t resist the idea of getting a couple of naughty pastries to enjoy in celebration.

Maitre Choux shop window Soho London

Maitre Choux Soho

Errands done, we continued our way through vibrant Carnaby Street, adorable Kingly Court, and were eventually at our penultimate stop for the day.

Carnaby Street


Carnaby Street lights

Carnaby Street London illuminations above the street at night

There’s always a surprise to find in Carnaby Street

Kingly Court London with fairy lights and old style sreet lamps

Kingly Court

Feel fancy at Sketch

London is a thriving city of bars any day of the week, but what else are weekends for if not for a little bit of indulgence? We visited the infamously quirky Sketch, just a 5 minute walk from Oxford Circus, for a drink in their bar. They don’t take bookings but by pure luck they had space for us.

Sketch London toilets

Sketch – the toilets are the best bit!

The prices of their cocktails are steep, even for London (think £15+ per cocktail, plus the 12.5% service!). But the experience of visiting this arty space is well worth it, and it served as a little extra birthday treat for Kazimir (even if he did order the smallest drink on the menu by mistake)!

Regent’s Park rose garden & Primrose Hill sunset

One of London’s many benefits is its parks. Living so close to one is a real treat, and catching the end of the day’s light with a gentle stroll through the rose garden and sitting by the duck pond is such a great way to finish a busy Saturday, perch for a bite to eat, or simply watch the world go by!

Regent's Park with fountain at centre of footpath

Regent’s Park

London isn’t exactly known for it’s charming weather, so when it does so happen to be a nice evening, I’ll head to Primrose Hill to enjoy a peaceful sunset (well, with about 150 people joining me). Seeing the golden wave of light wash over the skyscraper offices and towering cranes makes London seem suddenly very small, and even more gorgeous than ever.

Smiling couple watching the sunset at Primrose Hill

Sunset smiles

I love to take time in the evenings to reflect and sit quietly, and doing so in a bit of green open space is ideal. After the chill got too much for us to bear, and as the light turned to dusk, we walked our way 20 minutes down the road to my flat by walking back through Regent’s Park.

Sunset over London city skyline

Sunset from Primrose Hill

Deliveroo dinner

Back to the warmth and cosy comfort of the flat, it’s time to replenish our tummies after a busy afternoon. A speedy Deliveroo order means within a few clicks we’ve got a tasty Thai on the way. I always say London is a city of convenience, and whilst such delivery services are very common elsewhere, you really can get ANYTHING your heart desires within minutes here. It can make choosing pretty overwhelming, but satisfies nearly any craving!

Comedies, cakes, and chill

After running around London all day, we felt ready for some down time at last. I usually like to catch up on whichever series I’m currently watching (at the moment it’s Community), eat something yummy, and generally just relax. The weekends go so fast so I like to make the most of dedicated relaxation time – it’s seriously needed to combat busy London life!

Close up of Maitre Choux pastries

Maitre Choux pastires

After watching a few episodes, we’ll usually end our day by looking through the photos taken from whichever excursion we’ve enjoyed. I have a habit of taking way too many photos whenever we go out somewhere new, so we’ll flick through and pick out a few good ones and reflect on the day we’ve had.

Sharing a laugh about the day’s events before going to sleep always makes me feel thankful for a good day, so it’s important to me to enjoy that quality time!

 

And that sums up my day in the life in London! London is so incredibly rich in culture, history, experiences, cuisine, and much more that I realistically could have done a million different things with my day, but this somewhat reflects how I like to spend my Saturdays in the big city.

Don’t forget to check out Lauren’s post from her day over on her blog!

 

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8 Comments

  • Reply
    ellieslondon
    11/04/2018 at 10:03 pm

    ?? I love this – I am so SAME! Living in London everyone just goes about their lives every day but it’s so much fun to do the tourist stuff every now and again and just take in our City. I love Kingly Court especially at this time of year, and Sketch! X

    • Reply
      suzystories
      11/05/2018 at 8:44 pm

      Exactly! There’s so much I don’t bother with because of the crowds and tourists but it can actually be a lot of fun. Me too, love that autumnal cosy vibe in Kingly Court!

  • Reply
    Art Exhibition Review: Space Shifters At Hayward Gallery - Southbank London | Suzy Stories
    11/06/2018 at 8:02 pm

    […] Theatre and British Film Institute are sat right alongside the Southbank Centre, surrounded by food stalls, benches, and street performers at every stop. Topped off with incredible views across the River […]

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    New Years Resolution Ideas Inspired By Travel | Suzy Stories
    12/28/2018 at 8:55 pm

    […] so share your suggestions if you have any! I also want to see more of London’s green spaces. Living right by Regent’s Park is wonderful, and a walk through the gardens makes me eager to explore even […]

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    Sarah
    01/01/2019 at 5:33 pm

    Wow, you packed quite a bit into your day! Sounds like there is an endless supply of things to do in London.

    • Reply
      suzystories
      01/01/2019 at 8:19 pm

      We certainly did! It’s so easy to fit lots of activities in if you plan the day right 🙂

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