Vegan traveling to London.

Tower Bridge.

Tomorrow, I promise, to share a new recipe but for now… I will continue on with my travel series.  I wanted to cover each country in an individual post and then finally travel packing/safety tips that I’ve learned traveling throughout Europe that you may find valuable as well.  So today~ I cover London.

Traveling throughout Europe is customarily done by train.  Thankfully high speed trains are prevalent to main hubs like London from Paris.  We did purchase our tickets early on for the best options and to avoid dealing with extra stress while on holiday.  Give yourself plenty of time to receive your tickets as this isn’t a last minute purchase.

There are many food options at the train station – so I stocked up big time where I knew I could get food we could eat.  Seriously one of the best hummus dips I’ve ever eaten.

We traveled straight from Paris to London with no issue. We used Eurostar and it took about 2 hours.  Once we arrived in London, sadly it was the day that the Tube (subway system) was on strike.  We opted for a cab to take us to our AirBnB – which was out near the London Tower area.  The apartment we rented was exceptional.  Three large bedrooms, 2 with an ensuite setup.  Full kitchen and living room.  Washer but again, no dryer.

Once we arrived and got settled ~we headed over to the London Tower and Bridge.  We found the best farmer’s market – Borough Market that we aimlessly walked around.  I was thrilled that I was able to get fresh juices/veggies etc. for our apartment each day.

Post run we popped over to grab some fresh juice, figs, oranges, grapes, peaches and croissants for breakfast for our family.

We did purchase the London Pass but opted to pick that up when the Tube strike was over the next day.  We grabbed our tickets and enjoyed endless trips on the Tube, boat ride on the Thames etc.  This pass did not include a hop on and off bus however, which was no big deal.  You can purchase these tickets here and then either pick them up there or have them sent to you.

Once we had our Tube cards we headed off to see Big Ben and tour around.

We also went to Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar’s Square and Soho.  Lots of shopping, eating treats and yes I found my favorite Dijon store which I spent way too much time in.

Every day we went out to run early and take in the sights.  Scope out restaurant menus and figure out where to eat with the family. Veganism was a bit better here. Thankfully there were many Indian restaurants that we gravitated to however we did have carnivores with us that wanted to experience the pub scene.  We all adapted.

A view from some of my runs…

Trafalgar’s Square, Piccadilly Circus and Soho.  This area reminds me of Times Square.

And of course other must-do items:

Walk over Tower Bridge and go through their museum.  Visit Big Ben.  Trafalgar’s Square.  Kensington Palace.  Hyde Park.  Visit crown jewels in Tower of London – which  you were not permitted to photograph.  And yes we needed to go to Abbey Road if you’re a Beatles fan.

So Abbey Road is an actual BUSY road.  The poor drivers who need to deal with tourists trying to replicate the Beatles photo is crazy!  I didn’t take any part of this but we do have pics and my daughter was crazy enough to sit down on the road and give me a bit of a heart attack.  Below she is standing in front of the Abbey Road Studio that is still used today.

Oh and as I side note… I will be posting about packing smart etc. but I did carry a backpack filled with my Vega running goodies and bars just in case.  Plus we found a wonderful loaf of gf bread too.

That’s a wrap on London.  Tomorrow food… and then Wednesday I’ll tackle Amsterdam.

I guess I better include what’s happening here.  So we flew back (8 hours) on Friday.  Arrived in Philadelphia around 3 pm.  Got out of customs (two times thanks to my daughter bringing in a Parisian apple which is apparently against the rules/law etc.) and home by 6pm.  After laundry.  Grocery shopping etc… I got to bed around 11p (5 am my time) and slept until 2:30 am.  I got up and went for a 17 mile run.  Yes.  Crazy but done.  I then thought I would nap.  Didn’t.  Then went to a Maroon 5 concert that night.  I’m hoping for good sleep tonight.

Sunday: rest
Monday: 8 treadmill speed miles/strength training

Cheerio!

— Knead to Cook