Here’s the story: Shawn needed to be in London for work (he’s a second-tier nerd at Facebook i.e. he’s a genius) and so I jumped on his work trip, my parents offered (begged) to take Juliette, and voila – adults-only week in London.
We were very nervous about Juliette being on another continent, but besides an insane phone bill thanks to lots of Facetime, it was fabulous, fun, and so much easier traveling sans toddler.
We got to eat out! We drank champagne at the Ritz! We went to the hotel gym! We walked around non-children’s museums! For any parents reading this, I highly recommend a parents-only trip if you can swing it.
More Details:
where we stayed // the first three days at the Marylbone Hotel in the Marylbone neighborhood which we loved – the hotel was in a fantastic spot, I could easily walk to shopping, museums, great restos, etc.
we also stayed // at a VRBO in Notting Hill, which was definitely a bit further from the tourist staples, but we loved our place and kicking around the most quaint neighborhood in the world (in my opinion)
where we ate // seriously everything was delish – a few highlights: Veeraswamy (upscale Indian), FishWorks (my scallops are pictured above!), The Prince Bonaparte in Notting Hill (our fish & chips spot), Ottolenghi, and The Marylbone London for delish cocktails
don’t miss Afternoon Tea // there are probably 100 places you could go that would be great – but we went for a pricey but pretty in pink option with Sketch. They had live Christmas carols, a beautiful interior, crazy egg-shaped bathrooms, and all-you-can-eat truffle grilled cheese sandwiches
shop // at the department stores – or at least window shop! I loved walking through Harrod’s, Selfridges, and Liberty London
Museums to visit // I seriously visited five, all of which were completely free! I loved looking at the tiara’s that are part of the permanent collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the as-real-as-it-gets mummies at the British Museum were incredible and a bit creepy
Happy Travels!
xo
xo
Hollyn