The SIMS IRL

London, UK

December 12th, 2022, we traveled to London to celebrate my 35th Birthday on the 16th.

This was a milestone solar return for several reasons, not simply because I am not 5 years from a new decade but also because it was my first international trip AND birthday Sober. At the time of that trip, I was 3 months Sober from Alcohol and still in a very vulnerable and somewhat emotionally unstable place in recovery. Even so, we optimistically prepared for our winter adventure to a city we desperately desired to visit and explore.  For context, before this trip we had finished watching season 5 of The Crown and were watching Harry and Meghan’s recently released Netflix special, so we were on top of Royal family drama/culture, which only further fueled our excitement all the more. 

In hindsight, this was one of our easiest trips because it was a non-stop flight from Dulles International to Heathrow, and we surprisingly encountered no cancellations/delays to and from the UK. If you read any of our other travel articles, you know by now, that this is rare, so we made sure to count the lack of travel hiccups as a Blessing. 

During this trip, we stayed in 2 hotels. We often do this during travel to explore different aspects of a larger city’s culture. For the first 2 nights of our trip, we stayed in Central London at The Londoner. For the last 3 nights, we stayed in Shoreditch, at Nobu Shoreditch. Intentionally staying in central first, allowed us to hit all the must-see attractions nearby, including Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Piccadilly Circus, and Big Ben-all of which were within 30-45 min walking distance from our hotel. This is the benefit of booking your hotel on arrival, near tourist attractions. 

My favorite day of the trip was my birthday, of course. On this day, December 16, 2022, we began by visiting a neighborhood I’ve been wanting to visit since I was a teenager; Notting Hill. Notting Hill, the film, is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I have seen it so many times that I can quote all of Julia Robert’s lines, and most of Hugh Grant’s too. I made it a point to visit the London Hill Bookstore and get Notting Hill bookmarks and refrigerator magnets, as well as took a pic by the famous ‘House with the Blue Door.’ Movie aside, Notting Hill is one of the quietest and architecturally appealing neighborhoods we ever visited, and the accent pastel color coordination of the row homes is something I have never seen and will never forget. 

On the evening of my birthday, we indulged in a quintessentially British tradition and experienced afternoon tea at the Ritz. Yes, the same Ritz featured in the film Notting Hill. Afternoon High Tea at The Ritz in London, I imagine is already an unmatched high tea experience but experiencing it during Christmas time when we visited, with Christmas lights and carolers in the Palm Court Ballroom elevated the experience to a level, even we couldn’t anticipate. My wife and I are also Herbal Tea Enthusiast, so this entire experience, we both agree was undeniably the highlight of the trip.

Another highlight of the trip was our time spent in Shoreditch. Shoreditch is much more residential than Central London and allows us much more time to explore without the aggressive foot traffic. In Shoreditch, we had the best Indian cuisine we have ever had in our life, at Dishoom, which was within walking distance from our Nobu. Also, after dining at Dishoom, we went to Ballie Ballerson. Ballies is an adult ball pit- themed cocktail bar, and they have several large ball pits containing millions of balls for adults to play in while listening to Hip Hop/RnB and Disco. This turned out to be one of the most nostalgic experiences in my adulthood and is a guaranteed activity to bring out your inner child. Our experience playing in those ball pits while singing my heart out to Top 90’s RnB, was undeniably the most fun I had in the year 2022 and my favorite birthday so far. 

The most beautiful thing about traveling to London was the ethnic diversity we encountered. Also, it is refreshing to travel overseas to a new country where natives speak the same language. Although we love experiencing all aspects of a new culture and learning tag lines in a different language to navigate more effectively, it provides an extra layer of security when you can easily read signs, labels, and menus without translating. 

If you cannot already gather, we fell in love with London and it is the only international city we have visited together and seriously considered relocating to.

London, and the experiences we shared on our first trip, will always have a special place in our hearts and we look forward to returning again very soon.

Links to excursions and hotels mentioned are below:)

Happy Traveling Friends, until our next adventure!

Recommended Food

Dishoom Shoreditch (Indian)

Dishoom Shoreditch: Indian Restaurant near Shoreditch High Street

Recommended Shopping

Harrods

Harrods UK | The World’s Leading Luxury Department Store

Recommended Experience

Afternoon High Tea, The Ritz London

Afternoon Tea Experience | Mayfair Luxury Experience | The Ritz London

Ballie Ballerson

Ballie Ballerson – Ball Pit Cocktail Bar

Recommended Hotel 

The Londoner

5 Star Luxury Hotel Leicester Square, London | The Londoner

Nobu Shoreditch

Nobu Hotel London Shoreditch | Luxury East London Hotel (nobuhotels.com)

Recommended Lesbian Bar/Lounge

She Soho – Lesbain Bar for girls and their male guests. (business.site)

Recommended Photographer

IG: photowalk_in_london