The Modern Audrey takes London

As a Northerner, London has always seemed like a faraway magical place to me. Bright lights, fast traffic, the city never sleeps. At University I found that the large majority of my close friends were lucky enough to live in London or just outside it and this pained me. Imagining, having all of those shops, theatres and restaurants on your doorstep - it just seemed unfair. Having only been to London twice before in my life, I jumped at the chance to go there for a weekend with my boyfriend as an early birthday celebration.

On the first day we decided to have a shopping day, focusing on Oxford Street, Regent Street and Covent Garden. Although I didn't end up buying anything (I'm ok, don't worry), the highlight was visiting the beautiful French bakery Laduree which every fashion blogger and their cat seems to have been to - and Instagrammed!

Day two was certainly more jam-packed as we managed to fit in the National Gallery, a quick cake-stop, sampling of Bubble Tea and then London's Sea Life. The aquarium exceeded all expectations as it was truly amazing to see sharks, sting rays, huge turtles, sea horses, cat fish, penguins and many more. My favourite moment was touching a star fish which definitely made me feel very mermaid-esque; just call me Ariel.

After our Sea Life adventure it was time to grab something to eat and after a little online research we found a fantastic modern Spanish tapas bar in Soho called Barrafina. Winning the London Evening Standard restaurant award recently, it certainly lived up to its reputation. We sampled everything from chorizo omelettes, battered squid to scallops. I may have overdone it with the photos at the time (we were at the height of sophistication so this required multiple Instagram snaps) but here are just a few I took on the evening.

And that concludes my little London mini break away! It was great to explore the city and collect some nice memories ahead of summer. I'm sure I'll be back at some point over the next month or so - he's already started planning the itinerary for the next trip! The top of my list is the National Portrait Gallery as a certain Miss Hepburn is being featured in an exhibition over summer. Watch this space.. 

What's your favourite thing to do in London?

xxx