Thursday, May 30, 2013

Baby Moon to London

For our final trip before the baby came we wanted to go somewhere easy and fairly relaxing. We were initially thinking about taking the ferry to Ireland, but our friends Sarah and Kyle invited us to London. They had already planned the whole thing so all we had to do was show up. It doesn't get much easier than that!

We took the train from Harrogate down to London on a Friday afternoon. Train travel is so great. It only took a few hours and we were able to play cards and watch the beautiful scenery roll by. Once in London, we strolled around for a bit looking for a place to hang-out for the evening. We came across a really fun restaurant in Camden Town called Poppies. It's a '40s-themed fish and chips shop with a live band! How fun is that?

Live music at Poppies

Our only real plan for the weekend was seeing The Book of Mormon, a hilarious musical written by the guys from Southpark. While I'm not a fan of Southpark, I really enjoyed this show. At times it was a bit over-the-top, but the songs were really funny and the acting was fantastic. The theater was gorgeous and intimate. It was just a really fun experience.



The rest of our weekend in London was spent meandering through various markets and shops, including the legendary Harrod's department store. You definitely need several hours to explore this unique store. My favorite departments were the food hall (of course), and the pet section. There you'll find products like shampoo specific to the color of your dog's coat; beer for dogs; and of course all sorts of pet treats and clothes. And trust me--none of these things come cheap. I saw one tiny dog sweater selling for more than £40! And that was the cheapest sweater I saw!




The food hall was filled with hundreds of delicacies from fresh produce and pastries to exotic dim sums.


Giant garlic

Camden Market was equally impressive but in a totally different way. There are thousands of booths and shops that spill from the locks to the former horse stables and down main street. It is really an impressive sight and you could easily get lost in there. The variety of items for sale is astounding. At one shop you'll find gorgeous hand-made jewelery; at another vintage tins and china; and at a third leather bustiers. Mixed in with all of that are tons of food stalls selling everything from Mexican to Malaysian. It is a treat for all of the senses.


It was a perfect weekend, and though I was thoroughly exhausted by the end of it, I'm so glad we went.

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