Travel Diary in UK : London : Last Day

So, we have come to my last day in UK. We are back in London. We had to make our last day in London since we would be returning from Heathrow.
Since it was the last day in London, our plan is to carry out our own self activity and meet up at night at Tower of London.
On that day, I decided to wander around Oxford Street, Trafalgar Square and its surrounding areas.

I started out in Oxford Street where I spent most of my time shopping in Primark, Boots, Superdrug.
There was a sporadic rain at the moment, it was great that I was mostly indoors.

Then later in the afternoon, I took the tube to Charing Cross to explore the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square.

The weather was beautiful in the afternoon. The sky was so blue. It certainly does not look like winter, doesn't it.

Walking towards a bookstore opposite the road, Waterstones, I went to Costa which is located at the top floor for a nice cup of Caramel Macchiato to warm myself up for the later part of the afternoon.

Wandering around the Haymarket area.
Her Majesty's Theatre. Hoping to come back to London soon to catch a musical.

All I did was walking round and round the area and eventually stop by Tesco to grab myself some tea time snack. I think I walk for about 3-4 hours down the road. I don't even remember where I ended up.
At about 5pm, I left to Tower Hill for Tower of London and Tower Bridge.

The only photo I have with the Tower of London. I look pretty tragic over here but oh well...

Tower Bridge.

This sums up my UK travel in 2013. It is definitely a place I would come back to visit again and again.

Travel Diary Day 4 in UK : London : Eating out Wasabi, British Library

After our wonderful and delightful trip in the world of Harry Potter at the Universal Studios, we headed back to Central London.

St. Pancras International Hotel. 

Such a beautiful hotel. The architecture and design in London is so wonderful. Almost every building is so beautiful designed.
Couldn't resist taking a picture with the hotel. 

For a quick bite, we had 'Wasabi' at King's Cross.
It is a great place for a quick bite and take outs. The food is pretty delicious for its affordable price.
It was really cold in the station because it is almost turning night. The seats are metal do not help us to keep warm at all. 

While waiting for our soup noodles to be served. Booked a place.

Salmon soup noodles.

Nice amount of salmon and vegetables in the soup. The lemon added a flavour of zest to the soup. Making the soup more fragrant and appetizing.
It was pretty delicious. I guess because it is so cold, a hot soup would just turn any situation for the better.

After our meal, we walked a few blocks down the road to visit the British National Library.
I know it is impolite to be all touristy in the library and taking pictures but we did do everything as quietly as possible, not to distract anyone. We have been good which proved from not being chased out from the library.

I have never been to many libraries in my life. When I was in secondary school, I always stop by the national library located near Dataran Merdeka where we would often hang out there, read some chic-lit. This is probably the only library I ever visited in my entire life besides my university's but it does not look like a library for me to actually call it a library.

When I step into this library, I am wowed. The tall array of antique books behind the glass window. I couldn't take my eyes of it. Books possibly dating back to the 15th century till the early 19th century nicely arranged behind those glass walls.
It just amazes me.

Behind those glass walls...

That pretty much summarizes our trip in London. We will be back to London they day we leave back to Moscow.
The same night, we headed of to a beautiful city in Scotland, Edinburgh.

Travel Diary Day 4 in UK : London - The Magical world of Harry Potter

I know how much I slacked with my travel posts but this time I promise to get them up. 

As a kid I have always been obsessed with Harry Potter. Always daydreaming about entering the school of Hogwarts.
When Goblet of Fire released, I begged my dad to get me the book and he had to hunt bookstores to bookstores to get the book for me. When it was first released, people actually lined up overnight to get the book.
Imagine the Harry Potter craze.

To visit the Warner Bro. Studios of Harry Potter World, it is a dream come true.

My Harry Potter World ticket!

To get to the studio, we took a train from London Euston to Wartford Junction.

Oh my Oh my, Harry Potter Studio.
One step closer the dreamworld.

My ticket into the world of fantasy

I booked my tickets online in a package together with Madame Tussaud and London Eye. It is definitely than study the tickets alone. So if you all plan to visit a few attractions, do search online for package deals.

Feeling the magic already?

The moment I stepped through the door, I felt like I was in Hogwarts.
Waiting to be sorted into my house. Which house would it be? Gryffindor? Hufflepuff?

One of the highlights of the studio tour - Butterbeer!

Honestly I really enjoy the taste of butterbeer. Unlike its name, it's not a beer. It is a buttery soda, it is really good. 

I like the smooth taste of the soda. How I wish I can go back for another cup. One day, one day I will visit London again. 

The price of the butterbeer differ depends on the choice of cup you choose. There are butterbeers served in collectible cups. 

I kind of regret I didn't opt for that cup. 

The house of Privet Drive. 

My favourite shop in Diagon Alley 

Ollivanders Wand Shop. 

Hogwarts. 

I really enjoyed the Harry Potter Studio. I hope to go back and visit again.
It really feels like living in magic.

If you want to check my older post regarding my trip to London. I have compiled it below

Day 1 London 
Day 2 : Stonehedge , Oxford , Food time - Seafresh
Day 3 : Madame Tussaud , Buckingham Palace , Big Ben & The London Eye

Special : UK haul - Superdrug , Primark haul

Travel Diary: Day 3 in UK - London Eye & Big Ben

After a hot cup of Starbucks to keep us warm, we walked up to the Westminster tube station to London Eye and Big Ben. Pardon my bad memory, I forgot which tube station we got down to get to London Eye and Big Ben.

The London Eye

A random selfie near the London Eye.

The view of Big Ben from inside London Eye.

The night view is impressive. The ride took about 30 minutes.

We enjoyed the night view and lots of picture taking in the carriage. 

After the ride, we walked down the river to Big Ben.

The view feels so romantic on a winter night.

Along the River Thames

That ends our journey for day three in London. 

Travel Diary Day 3 in UK : Buckingham Palace

I have been ignoring my UK travel post that I almost forgot to continue posting about it.

After Madame Tussauds since it was still in the mid-day, we decided to take a quick trip to Buckingham's Palace and St. James Park.

There was nothing much to see in the park since it was winter then but I am glad I got to see the green grass.
We never see anything except thick white snow in Russia during winter and Spring comes really late here, mid-April.

My Starbucks tumbler. There's no coffee in side, I just filled it with water to carry around incase anyone gets thirsty in the middle of this long day trip.

It was pretty cloudy on that day but it wasn't particularly cold. The temperature was around 4-5 degree Celcius if I was not mistaken. That really warm compared to Moscow.

To Buckingham Palace. We didn't do much there, we just walked around and took some pictures.

Queen Victoria Memorial Statue.

The view around the palace

A precious photo with Buckingham Palace.

Later, we went to get a hot drink in Starbucks since it was getting cold and we got tired. It was not end of our trip for Day 3, we were planning for more sight seeing at night at the London Eye.

Vanilla Spice Latte.

The aroma of the coffee was just so heavenly.

I will continue my night adventure to London's Eye and the Big Ben in my next post.

Travel Diary : Day 3 in UK : Madame Tussaud

In the morning, we took a bus all the way to the Marylebone station to get the wax museum.

The Marylebone Station.

on the way, walking to Madame Tussauds. Such a beautiful weather.

I live in Moscow currently, so it is a blessing for me go walk through a fine winter day like this.

The Madame Tussauds wax museum!!

Hello Mr. Orlando Bloom.

Together with Edward and Jacob, neither a fan of them but joining the fun with the crowd.

The ever so gorgeous Audrey Hepburn

There's still a lot of pictures but I can't post all. We were in the museum for about 2 hours.
Ran through almost everything in the museum

Last picture of the day

With Mr. President.

Travel Diary : Day 2 in UK : SeaFresh

Day 2 journey in UK ended in a Fish n Chips restaurant near Marble Arch - Seafresh
We asked our tour guide to recommend us a Fish n Chips restaurant and the lovely bus driver recommended us to try out this restaurant.

This is my fish and chips and it was around 13 Pounds.
The portion was really big!
But I am kinda meh on this Fish n' Chips because it was too oily for my taste.

The free ice-cream that came along with the set.

Outside Victoria's tube station

Wicked at Apollo Victoria.
Didn't manage to catch a show there because of the ticket price. I didn't save up enough money.

Travel Diary :Day 2 in UK - Oxford

The next stop is the historical prestigious city of Oxford.

Martyrs' Momument

The Graduation hall

The Harry Potter mark inspiration.

The hall they use to film the hospital scene in Harry Potter.

The inspiration for Nearly Headless Nick

The library

Then we head down the streets of Oxford to buy Oxford shirt and jumpers!

The shop I bought my goodies from.

When you go Oxford, you need an Oxford shirt.
I chose a simple grey one. It is  £4.99.

A pink Oxford jumper. I have a pink jumper already but I couldn't resist a light peachy-pink jumper.
It is  £14.99 (If I am not mistaken)