LONDON

Thursday Feb 2nd:
Tough morning, but I fought through it and made it to the airport still tipsy. I absolutely love Norwegian Air, they play the cutest cartoons during the flight.  I arrived in London and took a train and tube to meet Jazz at Gloucestor Rd. (at a Starbucks). It took me a very long time to adjust to cars on the opposite side of the road but we walked around Kensington Gardens and I saw a ton of dogs off leash and pigeons (who knew there were so many birds in London?). I saw Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Palace, Jazz's place (right next to The Netherlands' Embassy), and met a couple of her roommates. We then proceeded to Coco Momo for a brunch. I ordered the Eggs Royale and enjoyed a pot of tea and it was amazing. We then Tubed (took me a while to stop calling it the metro) to Camden and I learned about Tube Courtesy such as reading the newspaper and being quiet. We walked around the neighborhood and entered the Camden Market walking through record booths and other cool vendors. We went to Chin Chin for their famous hot chocolate. It was sooooo oooooozy with amazing marshmallow on top and the chocolate was so bitter- wow. In typical Jazz and Cam fashion (as we were on the loose), we then found some mulled wine and Jazz has never had it before so we obviously had to get it and that's when her life changed. A couple of weeks ago Jazz went on a bar crawl around Camden so she showed me the bars and we stayed at this one called Apres Ski and enjoyed some live music, Moscow Mules, and the atmosphere. I also saw these cool horse stables that were VIP rooms (maybe one day?) and the bathroom was serviced by a cool lady named Mama. Jazz also showed me the Amy Statue and we walked to Brew Dog for a flight of beer and some fries. We then walked to Shoreditch and looked at street art. I learned about the Guerilla Girls and Camile Walala. We walked to Brick Lane for some Indian food- this was Jazz's first Indian experience and it was so good. We ate at a place called Cinnamon and a customer gave us flowers. I then lost a bet at dinner so we walked to get a red velvet cupcake, walked by street dancers, got lost but then found our way home and fell asleep to music.

Friday Feb 3rd:
We woke up Friday morning and it was so beautiful outside so we went for a walk through Kensington Garden and I saw the Italian Garden and a fun statue of two bears hugging each other. We then went to Candella for a traditional english breakfast and tea. I tried a scon with clotted cream and jam and it was so delicious. We then tubed to Westminster and I saw the Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Church. We then grabbed some macaroons and tea after walking around and walked to Buckingham Palace kind of high from the tea. There was the best shubbery at the Palace, I was truly impressed. We then walked to the National Gallery and looked at Monet, Pissarro, and Van Gogh. We walked to Piccadilly Circus and tried Paxton and Whitfield Cheese in Soho. We had to get home to get ready and eat dinner before going to see DVSN at Koko. While pregaming, I find holiness in G&Ts. Koko was a really cool theater turned into concert venue and nightclub. DVSN was incredible. After the concert, we went to Trufflesco and enjoyed some prosecco, truffle mac n cheese, and truffle cheesecake. We then went back to Koko for latin night and danced the night away, eventually finding our way back home.

Saturday, Feb 4th:
Jazz had a field trip this day so I had the entire day to myself. I ended up going to the Design Museum, for a stroll through Holland Park and Kyoto Garden (met a peacock and named him Karl), walked through Notting Hill without realizing it, walked around the Portobello Market, got a tea in a vinyl cafe, walked through the Acklam Village Food Market and Bar 58,  ate an esfirra, and realized I needed to make it to more museums that day. I then got lost on the tube for an hour and eventually ended up at the Natural Museum and learned about volcanoes and lived through a virtual earthquake. I was there until it closed and then tubed to Soho. I then walked around really cool streets like Carnaby Street, Kingly St, and walked around one of the best Whole Foods for 45 minutes that I have ever been in. At that point, I had to return home to meet Jazz for dinner at Princess Diana's favorite pizza place called Da Mario. We got a bottle of wine, garlic bread, a caprese salad, pizza, and pasta, sombucca and pistachio ice cream. It was all amazing! Earlier that night, Jazz also gave me a beer from the Old Dairy Brewery and it was great. We then walked to Harrods and around South Kensington, eventually taking the bus home.

Sunday, Feb 5th:
We made breakfast at home and then rode on the top of a double decker bus to the Borough Market which turned out to be closed. We walked to the Tate Modern and spent almost 3 hours in the museum looking at impressionism painting, among other art. I think i really grew a love for impressionism- but maybe thats because what Jazz loves. We finished up at the Tate and sat down at Founders Arms for a traditional fish and chips and cider (we also had a fig, beet, and goat cheese salad). Our table was overlooking the Thames River and St. Paul's Cathedral and it was so pretty. We then walked to Southwark Market and got a crepe and a rum toddy. We found this really cool area near the London Eye and got a hot chocolate with baileys and watched the most beautiful sunset. It covered the entire sky in pink and blue and lit up the Eye, Big Ben, and Westminster. We then walked across a bridge to London's oldest wine bar called Gordon's Wine Bar. We got a couple of glasses of wine and enjoyed some cheese in a cellar.  Our cheese plate included a gruyere from switzerland, a stilton from nottinghamshire, and I believe a taleggio from Italy. I tried the Chateau Canevelle from Bordeaux and the Cabernet Franc No. 2 The Avery from the USA. I also learned I really love Branston Pickle Jam. All of it was so so so good. We then walked around Picadilly Circus and ended the night at an airbnb with some chocolate cake and super good bottles of wine- one was from Jazz's field trip and other was organic or biodynamic.

Monday, Feb 6th:
We made it to the Breakfast Club for brunch and got an amazing feast of pancakes and eggs royale. We then walked around Borough Market (saw a Slow Food certified vendor), and continued to the London Bridge and saw the Tower Bridge. We walked across the Tower Bridge to the Towers of London. We then hopped on the Tube and that is where Jazz dropped me off on my train to head back to Copenhagen!

..........................................................................................................................................

What.an.amazing.trip. I'm currently writing this blog post drinking an Fortnum and Mason english breakfast blend tea and eating Walker Biscuits. I had so so so much and I balled out but it was all worth it. I also really enjoyed seeing how happy Jazz was in London and I learned that it's such an incredible city.