In Part 1 of the blog, I had mentioned some of the popular places to visit in London (https://www.mysecondinnings.in/2019/05/my-london-diaries-2019.html). In this part, I'll be talking about the places to shop, eat as well as my day trip to Bath.
Places to Shop
I had heard that London is a paradise for shoppers and this can also be seen from the fact that even before reaching I had a long list of products from family and friends that I had to get from this paradise. Luxury brands, designer wears, private label stores, etc you name it and you can find it easily here. Although it is not cheap to shop in London, but it is definitely an experience to cherish.
Bond Street is the home to renowned luxury brands such as Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Chanel. Irrespective if you want to buy anything here or not, just take a walk around the street and enjoy the elegant luxury stores.
Oxford Street is the place which takes care of the interest of every shopper. One can find shops for every budget here and trust me the ranges are exquisite. House of Fraser and River Island are popular high end stores, while Primark is a budget store offering a wide variety of products such as clothing, footwear, home products and accessories.
Covent Garden and Piccadily attract thousands of tourists as these places are not only shopping hubs but also cultural districts. Being centrally located, you can find a wide array of stores dealing in clothing, footwear, jewelery etc.
London Street Markets is the ideal place to lookout for local products and to show your bargaining skills. Spitalfields and Brick Lane markets are some of the popular flea markets offering a unique shopping experience that one should not miss.
For your grocery requirements, Tesco and Sainsbury's are the ideal place. Not only are they easily located as there are countless of them, but you can find almost everything that is used on a daily basis.
Places to Eat
London has a mix of places where food lovers can feast on some of the most popular food products. From the special occasion dine-out restaurants to on the go takeaway joints, you can find everything here. Being a vegetarian, I will only talk of places I went that offered vegetarian food.
Zizzi: If you plan to have a pizza, I would recommend to try at Zizzi. It is a popular pizza chain having stores across London. The prices are not that high and the taste is too good. You can simply dine in there or pack it and have wherever you wish.
Dishoom: A must visit place not just because it is an Indian restaurant, but because of the delicious fusion of food it offers beyond the normal curry dishes. Here I saw for the first time that people (both Indian and foreigners) were waiting outside an Indian restaurant so patiently. I managed to go to their Covent Garden restaurant on a weekday afternoon and still was surprised to see the place full. I had a chocolate chai and stuffed naan which was homestyle cooked. I also heard their biryani is good, though i did not try.
Sagar Restaurant: Another quality place offering yummy South Indian delicacies is the Sagar Restaurant. The ambiance of the place was average but the taste of food compensated everything. We ordered a single dosa and a uthappam and the food is reasonably priced.
Itsu, The Real Greek and Leon were some popular takeaway restaurants and could be found in most of the localities. While Itsu serves Asian fast food, The Real Greek offers Mediterranean cuisine and Leon has a mix of fast food snacks.
Starbucks, Taylor St Baristas and Kaffeine were some of the stores I used to visit for coffee. I feel Londoners are absolutely obsessed with coffee as there are numerous outlets in every nook and corner of this city.
Day Trip to Bath
A number of day trips commence from London everyday and we chose Bath for our excursion. Bath is one of the oldest towns in the country and is significantly known for its Roman Baths - a UNESCO World Heritage site. Sometimes people also club it with Stonehenge but with Shravya, we decided not to rush and enjoy one place with ease and our own pace. We decided to go by a bus so that we can enjoy the scenic route and the countryside charm.
The bus took 3 hours from London to reach Bath and we reached the place by noon. Bath is a small quaint town packed with natural beauty, heritage and ancient architecture. The city can be easily covered by foot and in no time we reached the city centre and headed straight to the Roman Bath. The entry ticket for adults was GBP 15 and the tour usually lasts for about an hour. The place showcases how the baths were used through recreational videos and also displays the ancient Roman artifacts. Though visitors are not allowed to go inside the water, they are allowed to taste the spa water from a fountain. It was a wonderful experience to witness this place.
After an hour, we decided to have our lunch at a local cafe. The city is quite relaxed and this can be felt in its atmosphere, unlike major cities where people are always in a rush. We did some local shopping and strolled around the Pulteney Bridge, another famous landmark of the city. In the evening we took our bus back to London and a good time at one of the serene places of this country.
After 2 weeks our time came to bid adieu to this charismatic city. One thing I really liked on this trip was not to pack the bags every second or third day and changing destinations. This time it actually felt like we stayed properly in a place and got the opportunity to explore in more detail.
