Traveling To London On A 9-Day Mission: Part 1

London is a vast city with a melting pot of cultures. I spent 9 days on mission with hopes of spreading the Gospel: the good news. The rich history and iconic landmarks of London are quite immaculate. Yet, the hustle and bustle longs for a deeper purpose.

London is well-established, so our impact was through conversations in parks and distributing flyers around neighborhoods, for our church plant partner, Redeemer Queens Park.

📅 Trip Dates: March 10-19, 2023

Travel Day

Day 1: Friday, March 10th

✈️ RDU 📍 LHR

And yet another red-eye flight…flying to Maui prepared me well haha!

6:32PM EST: departed Raleigh-Durham Airport (RDU)

7:00AM GMT: arrived at Heathrow Airport (LHR)

I spent my time on the flight listening to some wellness podcasts. I also made friends with the middle-aged man siting next to me during the flight—I was in the middle seat.

He inquired, Why did I pack so many wellness things? My personal item had a shaker bottle, protein powder, and Epic venison jerky—to name a few. I told him about GAINS AND GLOW!

Day 2: Saturday, March 11th

Arrived at Heathrow Airport

📍 LHR ✘ London, United Kingdom

The 7.5hr flight felt like it went by fast, however you must also factor in the +5hr GMT time difference. After we made it through customs, I had a protein bar because I find that flying makes me snacky haha.

Where We Stayed

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The Phoenix Hotel

📍 1-8 Kensington Gardens Square, London W2 4BH, United Kingdom

I loved this hotel! The rooms were very European esque, with a loft layout. The location was very central to the Tube for transportation. Additionally, it was walkable to nearby Kensington Gardens and Kensington Palace.

Brunch @ Granier Bakery Cafe

📍 115 Queensway, London W2 4SJ, United Kingdom 🚇 Bayswater Station

This café was so cute! But it was insanely busy. We enjoyed our drinks outside after we all received our orders, trying to fight off the jetlag with some caffeine!

My Order: Americano and a Mango Dream Smoothie (DF, GF).

Kensington Gardens + Kensington Palace

📍 Kensington Gardens, London W8 4PX, United Kingdom ✘ Hyde Park

Kensington Gardens and Kensington Palace were lovely! I loved seeing the swans and walking around the park. Hyde Park was very close to our hotel, so I came here to walk and run quite frequently.

Buckingham Palace + Victoria Memorial

📍 London SW1A 1AA, United Kingdom

Buckingham Palace was surreal! The gold accents of the architecture were simply extraordinary. The Royal Guards were so cool. I recall observing Royal Guards guards as well, when I went to Denmark at age ~7.

Big Ben + Parliament Square

📍 London SW1A 0AA, United Kingdom

Big Ben is definitely an iconic and historic must-see whilst in London!! It was so COOL. Seeing Waterloo Station on the map immediately made me think of ABBA hehe. Our group had a spare 10 minutes, so a few of us bolted to Westminster Abbey and I got a bookmark that I still I use today.

Trafalgar Square

📍 Trafalgar Sq, London WC2N 5DS, United Kingdom

Trafalgar Square was very pretty! Lot’s of stellar shops to walk around and splurge on some European finds.

Dinner @ The Hayden Pub

📍 65 Westbourne Grove, London W2 4UJ, United Kingdom

This was my first time at a London Pub and it was super neat, even just grabbing takeaway!

On this trip, I was Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, and avoiding a list of food sensitivities. I was so impressed by this Pub’s nutritional information pamphlet.

Fun Fact: In Europe, “Cereals” are what we refer to as Gluten in the U.S.

My Order: Salmon Fillet, Butter Beans, Microgreens. The Salmon was SO GOOD.

Day 3: Sunday, March 12th

Breakfast at the Hotel

📍 The Phoenix Hotel

A very European breakfast: cold cuts and hard boiled eggs. Compared to the U.S., which is the opposite, very sugary breakfast foods.

My Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, GF corn flakes, and an almond milk hot coffee.

In Europe, iced drinks are not the norm. So, I learned to enjoy hot coffee! Similar to Hawaii.

Mercato Mayfair Food Haul

📍 St. Mark’s Church, N Audley St, London W1K 6ZA, United

As a team, we grabbed lunch and met up with our London church plant and partner, Redeemer Queen’s Park. The Mercato Mayfair Food Haul was full of so many cuisine options. However, it breaks my heart that it is a converted church because the church could no longer sustain itself. This is how lost London is.

My Order: Crispy Pork Belly + Rosemary Potatoes. GF + DF. This was my first time ever having pork belly and omg, incredible. We found an Italian Steak House vendor and got some good eats (just like Alton Brown said hehe).

Coffee @ Ben’s Cookies

📍 355-361 Oxford St, Sedley Pl, London W1C 2AE, United Kingdom ✘ Oxford St.

Coffee moment!! London made me love hot coffee, it was totally the weather!

My Order: an Americano, hot.

Piccadilly Circus + Shaftesbury Fountain

📍 Piccadilly

Piccadilly Circus was so fun!! I went to my first ever Gymshark store. I bought a mini backpack that I used on my trip hehe. Love it!

Travel Tip: Make sure you use a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees.

11 Downing St.

📍 11 Downing St ✘ Parliament St.

11 Downing St. was architecturally stunning. 11 Downing Street also known as, Number 11, is the official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer: a royal member. We passed Waterloo Place station—cue Abba: Waterloo. Promise to love you forevermore 🎤

Just walking around and being silly with the guys haha.