Two Days in London
Cambridge has been our homebase while in the UK, but we wanted to spend at least a little bit of time in London. It's a gorgeous city – Europe's largest – with great public transit and so much to do. Here's how we spent two days there.
Day 1: Art & Food
Our first destination in London (after a brief stop by a Starbucks to use the free wifi) was Borough Market. Located in the Southwark neighborhood, Borough Market is London's oldest food market and a centrally-located spot guaranteed to save you if you're feeling hangry (which I was). We grabbed a couple of delicious donuts from Bread Ahead and some vegetarian udon noodles. There were so many great options, this place is sure to please everyone. They also had a nice, plant-filled area with seats and free wifi, which always helps.
After leaving the market, we had an easy walk to our primary destination: Tate Modern. We had hoped to make it to a couple of other museums, but we ended up spending about four hours browsing the collection. The building is massive, with over 84,000 square feet of gallery space. My top picks for works on view: Carrie Mae Weems, From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried; Bruce Nauman's Artist Room; Julie Mehretu, Mogamma: Part 3; Suzanne Lacy, The Crystal Quilt. The top floor also boasts 360ᵒ views of the London skyline.
By the time we finished up at the museum, we had just enough time to head to Shoreditch to grab some food before our train. We ate dinner at On the Bab, a delicious and affordable Korean street food restaurant. And because we can't say no to ice cream, we stopped at Soft Serve Society on the way to the train station to grab matcha and charcoal coconut ice cream cones. They were delicious.
Day 2: Tea, etc.
The first thing on our itinerary for our second day in London was afternoon tea at sketch. This place was recommended by a friend who said it was the best thing he did in London, and my review would be about the same. It was definitely expensive, but it's one of the only splurges we'll be making this month and it seemed well worth it. The space itself is amazing. One of the hostesses described it as "like being inside a giant pink marshmallow." The lighting is soft and everything is pink, with cheeky prints by David Shrigley lining the walls. He also designed the tea sets, which are delightful. The service was great – several people waited on us, all playing their own distinct roles. They even had a "caviar man" who served the first course – even though our service was vegetarian, they accommodated us with cauliflower caviar (apparently this is a thing that exists). All of the food was unlimited, as was the tea. We each had three pots and left super full and happy. The bathroom was also a highlight. It was like peeing in the future.
After stuffing ourselves on tiny sandwiches and pastries, we walked from Oxford Circus to Trafalgar Square to check out the National Gallery and Portrait Gallery. I had always wanted to see the Arnolfini Portrait in real life and Chad humored me. Both museums are free and have wonderful collections.
The next stop was Gordon's Wine Bar, where Chad enjoyed a glass of chilled port in the bar's candlelit cellar. Very romantic. And to round out the day, we indulged my love of skincare products and walked to Covent Garden so I could pop into Deciem and stock up on The Ordinary. Our train from Liverpool Street Station got us back to Cambridge in time to for a late dinner of Chinese takeaway.
There was so much more on our London to-do list, but we decided not to try to do too much and have a more chill experience. There can be a lot of pressure to try to do all the things – especially for me. And if this was a two-week vacation, that might be sustainable. But in managing our lives for two months abroad, we have tried to be mindful about how much we do and balance it with days that are more like our real lives. We could easily have filled several more days exploring this city and I'm sure we'll be back at some point to see some more of the sites we left unchecked.