A long-delayed continuation of my blogging about our holiday, as I’ve been terribly busy, but let’s pick up where I left off, shall we?
After a good night’s sleep following a wonderful night at the theatre, it was time to continue exploring lovely London. Incidentally, the weather was near perfect – not too hot and not too cold – so this was an excellent day to be out and about in the capital.
Our first stop of the day was the famed National Gallery, a place I have been dying to go for years. My dad, who is frequently in London for work, loves the National Gallery and was constantly telling us that we must go, as it houses some of my favourite works of art, including JMW Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire and the Wilton Diptych. Unfortunately, getting to Trafalgar Square on schedule meant braving the Tube during the morning rush hour, but I’d have to face my fears eventually. Luckily, the ride was quick and easy, and we arrived in no time.
Yes, this is what I would consider a nice day, since it’s not actually raining…
Nelson’s Column, built in honour of Admiral Horatio Nelson, who was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 – hence, “Trafalgar Square”.
Trafalgar Square at ten o’clock in the morning was, as expected, bustling with tourists. We spent a few minutes strolling around the square and admiring the monuments, including the iconic Nelson Column. I was beyond excited to enter the Gallery, as a long-time lover of art history – I’d once flirted with the notion of studying art history at university, but ultimately decided against it in favour of pursuing degrees in communication and theatre. We eagerly entered the beautiful building to examine the even more beautiful collection of artwork within.
The National Gallery!
Unfortunately, photography is not permitted inside the National Gallery, so I don’t have any photos of the interior to share. But I did buy three postcards (for myself, naturally) – two of the Wilton Diptych (one featuring the front, one featuring the back), and one of The Fighting Temeraire. I can really see why my dad is so fond of the National Gallery. It’s an absolutely beautiful building, with the artwork curated and arranged wonderfully. It was really something to see all of these paintings I’d loved since childhood at last, from Monet to Van Eyck. One small disappointment, however, was that Van Gogh’s Sunflowers wasn’t currently in the gallery, as it was on loan to another museum at the time of our visit.
After getting properly cultured, we decided it was time to do some shopping – and indeed, we’d spend the rest of the day shopping. We walked from Trafalgar Square to Piccadilly Circus, a walk which took no time at all. We spent a few minutes browsing Waterstones before our hunger got the better of us and we headed down the street to the famed (and exorbitantly expensive) department store Fortnum and Mason. Despite initially feeling intimidated by the posh interior, I found Fortnum and Mason to be elegant and charming with all of its vintage old time aesthetic, even if I couldn’t afford the vast majority of its wares. The walls are painted in tasteful pastel shades, and variety of goods for sale – tea, chocolates, china, perfume, and so on – were expertly arranged. The store’s facade was just as cute.
Fortnum and Mason from the ourside
My sister was hell-bent on having one of the famous sundaes at The Parlour, the aptly-named ice cream parlour located inside Fortnum and Mason. She had already booked a table prior to our arrival, so we were seated in no time. She ordered a Rota Plaustri sundae, which consists of “R&P, Amedei Chocolate and Frosted Strawberries & Shortbread ice creams with marshmallows, biscuits, and warm Amedei chocolate” and I ordered a pot of Royal Blend tea. We both shared our orders with each other, of course – we’re twins, sharing is what we do. The sundae cost a lofty £12 and the tea £5.75, but dear lord, was it worth it.
The Rota Plaustri Sundae! With me in the back. ;)
Time for tea!
The sundae was by far the most heavenly ice cream concoction I’ve tasted in my entire life. Every other ice cream I’ve had in the past pales in comparison. I can’t even find the words to describe it. “Delicious” doesn’t even come close, but “ethereal” does it a bit more justice. The texture of the ice cream was wonderful, the toppings were all perfect accompaniments and scrumptious in their own right, and the presentation itself was already mouth-watering on its own. The tea was incredible, too. I was tempted to buy myself a tin downstairs, but thought better of it in the end.
Enjoying a nice cuppa…while admittedly holding the cup like a barbarian.
After what can be described only as a culinary rapture, we headed down to Whittard to pick up some things. There are two stores in the Piccadilly area – one on upper Regent Street, and another a stone’s throw away on lower Regent Street. The shop on upper Regent Street was quite small and absolutely packed to the brim with tourists, and one of the staff rather patronisingly tried speaking to me in Chinese (to be fair, London does get a great deal of tourists from China, but I wasn’t even born there), so after grabbing a cute wee teapot-shaped infuser, we slunk out to try out luck at the shop on lower Regent Street. It was, by contrast, deserted, despite being bigger and containing more wares. But that was fine by me, as I got quick and friendly service and was able to walk out satisfied with a nice big bag of loose leaf tea in the Sticky Toffee flavour.
Regent Street on a beautiful day!
We lingered in the area for a few more minutes to soak in all the hustle and bustle before heading north to check out the shops at Oxford Street. We opted to walk instead of taking the tube, and it didn’t take long at all. Oxford Street boasts an incredible number of stores that would have a shopaholic like me frothing at the mouth, such as Topshop, Miss Selfridge, H&M, New Look, and so on and so forth. Browsing for clothes proved to be quite a task as we had to fight through crowds and struggle to stop ourselves from being crushed, and ultimately, we ended up buying nothing, although I was sorely tempted by a jumper featuring a smiling matyroshka doll. But all of this walking had really started making us hungry again, so we made our way to Carnaby Street for a quick meal at the nearby Mother Mash.
The twin at Carnaby Street…and some other random tourists, too.
I’d recommend Mother Mash for those on a budget – we had a steak pie with champ mash and traditional gravy for £8.50, which was more than enough for the both of us to share. The mash was creamy and delicious, and the pie proved satisfying as well, piping hot with a nice flaky crust and tender meat on the inside. We also got a side of baked beans for £1 and a delectable stick toffee pudding with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert, costing £4.50.
Pie, mash, and beans!
Sticky toffee pudding and ice cream!
We walked off our meal with some more shopping on Carnaby Street, hub of youth culture during the Swinging 60s – though you don’t get too much of a feel for that any more. Nevertheless, Carnaby Street today is home to a variety of pubs, boutiques, and big-name shops, although once again, we left without purchasing anything. There was certainly a lot that I wanted to buy, but I didn’t want to spend it all on the first leg of our trip, as we still had many more cities to visit. With that in mind, we returned to our hotel to rest our aching feet and prepare ourselves for two more days in London before moving on to York.
The twins at Fortnum and Mason!
♬ Song of the Day: Goodness Gracious by Ellie Goulding
The Tragedy of Errors. 
Thanks for sharing. That mash looks delish!