London Potter Weekend: All the Details

Here are the details for where we stayed, ate and did in London this past weekend. You can read about the full trip here.

Friday
  • We took the Eurostar from Paris to London. It was about three hours and train travel is by far the most relaxing. However -- you have to arrive an hour early and go through customs and security, so it's not without aggravation. Book your tickets months out for the best rates. 
  • I booked the Apex City of London Hotel and I can't recommend it more. The room size was great for the four of us, the water pressure of the shower was the best we're experienced in Europe and the staff were so helpful. I love this part of London; being so close to the Tower of London and river. Yes, it's a little east-side, but it's my favorite. 
  • We ate a late lunch at Keepers, which is just around the corner. Because we've stayed in this neighborhood before, this was our fourth meal at this restaurant and it's always good. And they have Strongbow cider on tap! 
  • We walked towards St. Paul's Cathedral, a very easy walk, stopping by Leadenhall Market, a large Marks & Spencer's (like a Super Target) and smoothies at a Joe & the Juice. For 44£ (/family of 4) you can walk to the top of the cathedral for awesome views -- unless you're a big fraidy-cat, like me. 
  • For dinner, we choose Wagamama, also near the hotel and also a restaurant we've been to. This chain was a big deal a decade or so ago and I think it's been falling out of popularity, but it's a favorite for us and the kids love the ramen, so we continue to go when we can. 
    • The Tower and the Blue Lights From the Skating Rink
  • We talked about going ice skating at the rink they set up in front of the Tower of London, but decide we were too cold. Off to bed, instead. 

Saturday
  • For breakfast, we walked to this crazy place called The Protein Haus, which made smoothies and high-protein breakfasts for athletes. Unconventional for a vacation weekend but really satisfying. 
  • Morning spent at Harrods. Always fabulous, but very, very crowded today. 
  • Got on the tube to get lunch at Jamie's Italian near Covent Garden with David's sweet colleague who is an expat from Australia. The food was over-the-top good, the service was excellent and I even picked up a Jamie Oliver cookbook that I've been drooling over for less-than cover price. Big love. ;) 
  • We walked around the neighborhood just a bit, stopped at a Jack Wills and Jack Wolfskin. 
  • Then, after a little siesta in the room, we headed to the Warner Bros Studio: Making of Harry Potter tour. Which we bought tickets for in September and have been anticipating ever since. Tip: It will take over an hour to get there via public transportation! Learn from my mistake and leave lots of extra time to get there. (Though, totally worth it.) 

    The Hogwarts Great Hall!
Sunday
  • We ate a very nice breakfast at the Natural Kitchen, again near the hotel (you see why I always stay around here?). Good, hearty breakfast and I fell in love with the green tumblers they had on the tables. I mean, I honestly thought about tucking three in my bag.  
  • We took an uber back to St. Pancres (part of King's Cross Station for us Potter nerds) and walked around the shops there, got snacks, etc. Then back to Paris. 
    • Look at the Green Tumbler! 
  • One last link: I finished the second book in this series and though it was your typical, slow second-book-in-a-trilogy, I'm hooked on reading the third as quickly as possible. 



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