Today it was all about seeing the big sites that my friend, Liv, wanted to see in some of the big sites London. We also have our reservation for tea time for lunch at what I like to call, “Tea Heaven” at Fortnum and Mason Tea Company.
Breakfast at Dishoom
Walking from our hostel, we passed by the Tower Bridge and took some beautiful photos of the iconic bridge. We had some time before our tea reservation we decide to get breakfast at Dishoom, an Indian fusion restaurant recommended by one of my buddies. Dishoom had the best refillable chai I’ve ever had. I probably had 5 cups and I just can’t get enough of it! I ordered a Bombay breakfast omelet which looked like an American breakfast but with Indian flavors within the omelette.
The British Museum
With a full belly, we visit the British Museum. It is one of my favorite museums I’ve visited thus far. Not only is it magnificent in terms of its collection and experience in history, arts, and culture, but it is also FREE! It has so many artifacts such as the Rosetta Stone that you can see up close. The building itself is also worth seeing with the beautiful Great Court connecting all the wings of the museum and the restaurant that sits at the top of it.
Fortnum and Mason Tea Company
We start walking towards Piccadilly Circus, which is equivalent to our New York Times Square. Lots of people around while we pass street performers. Enjoying the lovely sun, we continue to see some of the downtown culture, reaching Fortnum and Mason. I love seeing the color and atmosphere of the light Tiffany blue alike.
We walk up flights of stairs, with each level, a specialty of the floor. We reach the top flight and wait to be seated. There is a grand piano playing light music to pass the time while we wait for our table. I peer into the seating areas anxious for the magnificent display of tea and petit fours. We are lead in and decide on ordering one tea set with desserts and one with savory food. Liv and I both took many photos and dissected each piece. To our surprise, we were also told that if we wanted any more of any particular food, we may ask for more because it is ALL YOU CAN EAT! What?! Even though we were surprised and ecstatic about the idea, we were both so full by the end of it (and probably from breakfast and all that chai earlier before) that we did not ask for anything additional. What impressed me the most were the desserts.
With a massively full belly, we walk down from the tea room and went through each floor more slowly. There were so many possibilities of taking some of the iconic tea place home. Lots of tea related gifts that are all impeccably displayed. I ended up buying a pack of earl tea bags to distribute as gifts. I have no luggage space but I figure that I can line the tea bags on the bottom of the backpack. Liv got a pack of rose tea cookies, which are one of my favorites.
Variety of loose teas.
Dinner and rest of the day
The rest of the day, we take advantage of an unlimited travel card and hop on and off the double decker bus or take the tube to do some more sightseeing and soaking up the environment. For dinner we tried to visit two of my friend’s company sites for dinner but it turned out that there was a pride party and happy hour. We saw lots of beer, rainbows, glitter and free popping boba drinks that I’ve never had.
For dinner, we ended up picking up a quick curry bowl from the train station that actually really hit the spot. The last thing we do is view Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. With a well-planned itinerary with some extra time to explore, these 1.5 days really feel like one week because we are able to fit in so much. Even though we fly out of Britain tomorrow, we are satisfied with our time here.
Convenient Accommodation Before Taking Off
We head to Stansted Airport Premier Inn for our early flight tomorrow. We figure that it makes it a little easier to get up for our early morning flight by staying close to the airport, and the Stansted Airport Premier Inn was comfortable and clean. A memorable night indeed and tiring night. Bedtime!