Experience my London trip via my Instagram Stories.
I’ve been to London several times before, but never found it to be particularly compelling. However, now that I am based on this side of the pond, London’s West End is much more accessible than my dear old beloved Great White Way (aka Broadway). Since one of my raisons d’etre is to be a patron of the arts, back in the spring it occurred to me that maybe I could grab tickets to Hamilton in London since it’s such an impossible ticket to get in New York. Well, sure enough, the day I checked they were about to release a new batch of seats the next day. So, the next day, I logged in and BAM I was able to score some amazing 2nd row center tickets for my birthday. Birthday plans sorted. Then my friend unveiled her plans to get married the weekend after my birthday in Los Angeles, so it seemed like it made a heck of a lot of sense to grab a direct flight from LON > LAX. Perfect. I love it when a plan comes together.
Day 1: Saturday
I arrived and after a couple of missteps on the tube, found my way to the Assembly Hotel. The staff were super friendly, the room was comfortable, roomy, clean and trendy, but most of all, the location could not be beat – it was in the heart of The West End – and this weekend was going to be all about The Theatre (said with a flourish, snapping an imaginary scarf behind my neck). I had arrived on an impossibly beautiful day, just look at these blue skies.
However, besides for Hamilton, I had no other shows booked yet. So first I swung by the TKTS booth right behind the hotel to see what they had. Nothing jumped out, and I decided I wanted to see if I could snag a ticket to The King and I since it was actually the closing night. I am particularly interested to see how they are handling this material in today’s PC day and age – especially now that I’ve lived in Thailand I think this could be particularly interesting… However, when I arrived at the Palladium Theatre there was a big sign saying “House Full”.
What I hadn’t thought about until I stumbled upon the theatre was Harry Potter and The Cursed Child. I stopped into the Box Office and wouldn’t you know that they had a ticket for some Orchestra seats for tomorrow’s performances… I had to think about it for a minute. The weather was just SO lovely, it would seem a shame to spend ~7 hours indoors. But….theatre. So I took them.
By now I was quite hungry. I strolled by Dishoom, but there was a serious line. Instead I found my way to Ethos which was a plant-based diner’s delight – a huge buffet of Vegan & Vegeterian friendly options. I had a lovely vegetable based meal and took a few treats away with me. Also, while I was dining I went to LastMinute.co.uk and picked up a ticket to tonight’s performance of The Play That Goes Wrong.
Now well fed, and evening plans sorted, my next stop was the Artesian Bar at the Langham for a cocktail. I absolutely loved their menu concept of “That Moment When…” celebrating major life milestones. It should be no surprise that I chose “…You Went Travelling”
I walked over to the Duchess Theatre soaking in the absolutely perfect twilight mood.
Liberty London 
Liberty London 
Crown & Anchor Pub, London 
Canarby Street, London 
London Royal Opera House
I arrived to the Duchess and made my way to the American Airlines bar (me and AA are about to spend a LOT of quality time together on my travels back to the States) to pick up some bubbly and was immediately intercepted by the “Director” asking me if I had seen a dog. I enjoyed this little bit of interaction. I settled in to my seat for this light-hearted farce. A bit formulaic and predictable, perhaps, but well done and I laughed a lot – a nice way to kick off the weekend.
Day 2: Sunday
I started the day with a lovely long run/walk heading down Trafalgar Square, past Downing Street, across the Westminster Bridge, down the Thames, back across the Lambeth Bridge, past the Westminster Palace & Abbey, through St James Park to Buckingham Palace, then back over to end with a stretch in Leicester Square. The weather was amazing so I continued to soak in all the blue skies.
Buckingham Palace across Lake at St James Park in London, UK
I took a shower and then departed again in search of some breakfast, strolling through the lovely Convent Gardens on the way to Farmstand where I had a lovely refuel.
Mr Foggs Tavern, London 
Freemasons Hall, London 
Drury Lane, London 
Breakfast at Farmstand, London 
Convent Gardens, London 
Convent Gardens, London 
Convent Gardens, London 
Neal’s Yard, London
Now it was time to head over to The Palace Theatre for Act I of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. When I arrived, I still had some time before curtain, so I decided to get in the mood with a visit to the House of Minalima. Also, as if on cue – the beautiful weather started to go a bit grey, so I was feeling less bad about sitting in a theatre during the middle of the day.
Street art, London 
House of Minalima, London 
After the first Act there was a break so I headed out to get some dinner from Bao Soho.
Bao Soho, London 
Bao Soho, London
I still had some time, so I decided to start exploring some speakeasies. First stop was Cahoots, which had a whole train car vibe & aesthetic that I loved and I got a cocktail named after my beloved Judy Garland. Followed by a visit to Disrespute which was more of a posh scene where I enjoyed a smoky whisky drink.
Cahoots entrance, London 
Cahoots Cocktail, London 
Disrespute, London
Then it was time to head back to The Palace Theatre for Act II. What I realized when I arrived and was surprised to see no line is that I had completely messed up the start time I thought it started at 7:30, probably because this is the time it starts every other day except for the Sunday show, but actually, it had started at 6:30. Whoops. Here’s the thing, I wasn’t all that upset about it. I settled in to my seat and quickly caught up and figured out what I missed. In the end, I found that 5 hours of this play was WAY too much for one day, and I didn’t miss that hour at all.
Harry Potter & The Cursed Child, London 
Harry Potter & The Cursed Child, London
Before ending my day, I decided to go to one more speakeasy on the way back to my hotel and swung by Experimental Cocktail Club in Chinatown. I was a big fan of the NYC location, so wanted to see what the London counterpart was all about. I found the nondescript entrance and settled in for a final nightcap.
Entrance to Experimental Cocktail Club, London 
Menu of Experimental Cocktail Club, London 
Cocktail at Experimental Cocktail Club, London 
View from Experimental Cocktail Club, London
Day 3: Monday
Today is my actual Birthday and one of my goals for the day was to go to many obnoxiously pink places as I could. But first I started with another magnificent run because it was yet another GORGEOUS blue sky day. A bit shorter than my run yesterday, mostly down Trafalgar Square, The Mall, Westminster, The Royal Courts of Justice.
After showering I headed over towards Hyde Park to visit Elan Cafe for breakfast. It was at this moment that I realized that my quest for ridiculously pink places would lead me right into the den of Instagram-baiting obnoxiousness. I shrugged and embraced my fate and ordered a Lucky Charm Latte while watching all the posing & pruning happening around me.
Lucky Charm Latte at Elan Cafe, London 
Breakfast at Elan Cafe, London
I hopped back on a Santander bike and cycled through Hyde Park and back to Regent Street where I ventured inside Liberty department store. I’m not one for shopping, but I do love architecture, so this was a fun one to enjoy.
This was just a stopover on my way to Marshall Street Leisure Centre where I went for a swim in this gloriously restored 1930s pool. I felt like a bathing beauty of old and was just missing having a swim cap covered in flowers.
Then I stopped in to Sketch, another Instagram mecca, where I enjoyed a mocktail whilst trying not to be totally annoyed by my fellow patrons. I also, of course had to check out their famous 2001 Space Odyssey pod style bathroom which took me through their famous all pink dining room. Another ridiculous amount of pink achieved.
Coat Room at Sketch, London 
Mocktail at Sketch, London 
Bathroom at at Sketch, London 
Pink dining room at Sketch, London
From here I was headed back to my hotel when what should my eyes spot but this ridiculous amount of pink, so I simply had to make an unplanned stop for a latte.
Spectrum Soho, London 
Spectrum Cafe Soho, London
I stopped back at my hotel to drop off my swim gear and headed back out with the idea of getting my nails done at Nail Club, which met all my requirements of pink levels.
Nail Club, London 
Nail Club, London
However, they were fully booked, so I hopped on a Santandar Bike to head across the river to my next destination, The Mondrian Hotel. What I didn’t plan on was the fact that I wound up in evening rush hour bike commuter traffic which was quite intense.
Why was I headed to The Mondrian? Well for a little pre-theatre drink. And where does a Birthday Girl go for a Birthday Cocktail? The World’s Best Bar of course! Dandelyan. Also, with gorgeous pink chairs. I didn’t get a good shot of them, so please excuse my use of a promotional photo to illustrate. (And yes, it was announced 3 days later that they were closing!)
Interior of Dandelyan, London 
Entrance of Dandelyan, London 
Menu at Dandelyan, London 
Kyoto Sweepstake at Dandelyan, London 
Menu at Dandelyn, London 
Cocktail at Dandelyan, London
From here it was time to head over to the Victoria Palace Theatre for the main event….Hamilton!
Victoria Palace Theatre, London 
Hamilton, London 
Victoria Palace Theatre, London
The show was completely amazing and lived up to all the hype, which is saying a lot because this is probably the most hyped show ever. I thought about going to Tonight Josephine for a nightcap since I read it was also ridiculously pink, but I was pretty tired, so hopped on a Santander Bike and headed back to the hotel, stopping by Buckingham palace and then I wound up walking by Shake Shack and decided that my final birthday treat to myself would be a post-show concrete (also a tradition held many a time in NYC).
Buckingham Palace at Night, London 
Shake Shack, London
Day 4: Tuesday
“Wait, but I thought this post was called “3 Days in London”?” you may be asking yourself. Well, Dear Reader, consider this a bonus. I mostly was working remotely from my hotel room this day (I intended to work from our London office, but found out all my colleagues weren’t in so it wasn’t worth commuting in for). So there isn’t much exciting to report other than a post-work cocktail at The World’s 2nd Best Bar: The American Bar at The Savoy. (Since I was at the World’s Best last night, might as well knock #2 off the list, too. But I didn’t get to #5 & #6 Connaught & Bar Termini this trip – so many bars – so little time!)
Menu at The American Bar 
Corpse Reviver No 2 at The American Bar
From here I transferred to the Moxie hotel near Heathrow so that I’d be well situated for my morning flight to continue my journey to LAX.