European Escapade - Shopping in Knightsbridge ***

While in London, every morning B and I walked the short distance to a nearby cosy restaurant where we'd enjoy a delicious English breakfast. Having breakfast here is much cheaper than our hotel. Plus, I like that we have a little leeway to enjoy breakfast at our own pace instead of being restricted to the breakfast hours of the hotel. So even if we overslept, we still won't miss breakfast.

Breakfast time

Dining Al Fresco

I can't remember the name of the restaurant though but the service was decent and our orders always arrived immediately. The first day we had breakfast here, we both agreed that the portion served was huge. So we made a point to share just one plate the next time we dine here. But every morning when reading the menu, we'd get so enticed with the breakfast variety that we'd end up ordering two separate plates!

Breakfast with a view

On the last day of our stay in Best Western, The Cromwell, we had our breakfast here again. We had checked out of the hotel but left our luggage behind while we make a quick trip (2 stops away by tube) to Knightsbridge before heading to Paddington later in the afternoon.

Before shopping

Cappuccino

Typical English Breakfast

We arrived in Knightsbridge and the weather was fairly cold. B was sporting his new CK jacket, which was perfect to keep anybody warm while enjoying luxury ski holidays or simply walking around dining and shopping in London. I constantly reminded B it was his best buy so far from Bicester Village! I spent quite a fair amount of time taking pictures before heading to Harrods, the main department store I wanted to visit!

Waiting for the tube

Knightsbridge

Shopping and Sightseeing

Burberry

Harvey Nichols

I loved seeing the double-decker buses pass by and though I've snapped more than enough to last me a lifetime, this one was in plain sight and too good of a distance to give it a miss so CLICK!

National symbol of Britain, the Red Double-Decker Bus

We arrived at Harrods and there was a massive sale going on. Security was noticeably tight with plainclothes security roaming around in almost every corner of this huge store. It was also very crowded inside.

The most expensive thing I bought here was an elegant black jewellery box for my mom. I wanted to get one for myself too but was worried about packing on the kilos on our luggage way too soon into our trip so I gave the pink version a longing glance before dragging my feet far and away from the bag section!

Thank you Harrods!

As much as I wanted to spend more time in Harrods, we still had several other stores to cover and time was not on our side. We had to be in Paddington by 2pm and it was already noon. It was also beginning to drizzle so we said goodbye to Harrods and continued shopping and sightseeing in Knightsbridge.

Where to next?

We walked a lot and covered all the stores I had planned to visit. It was mostly window shopping for me because you can imagine how pricey things are in Knightsbridge! I did manage to get two new wallets (pink and purple) as well as three new sweaters for B at great prices though so the trip was definitely worth our time. And despite the drizzle and the endless walking in and out of stores, I didn't feel tired at all!

Smiling and shopping away

Quick stop at Zara

Shopping done, we headed back to Knightsbridge Station to take a tube back to Gloucester where we collected our luggage before heading to our second hotel in London.

Let's go back Love!

Shopping makes me smile!

After shopping

Cromwell hotel called for a taxi to take us to Paddington and we waited for about ten minutes inside the lobby before an old friendly-looking guy popped his head inside and called out B's name. After packing our luggage inside his Limo Cab, we sped down the streets of London to our next destination. B's colleagues had just arrived and were already waiting for us at the hotel in Paddington.

Heading to Novotel Paddington

I was excited to be inside a fancy Limo Cab and the driver was an old chap who was really friendly and engaged us in conversation throughout the ride. His was pleasantly surprised to find out we were from Malaysia and began telling us about his Japanese wife of 20 years and even showed us a picture of her on his phone!

I took some pictures along the way but stopped after a while when we realized that this cab driver had taken the wrong route. He was confused with our destination because the hotel we're headed to is located in a new business district. And despite checking on his GPS many times, the hotel's location refused to appear and we were truly and seriously lost!

In the end, what could have been a short 5-minute ride turned into almost half an hour. We were charged £25 for this ride even though the actual fare had we not been lost would have cost a mere £10 or less! We were a tad annoyed at having to pay for his mistake but since the driver was friendly and he did apologize, we closed one eye and were just relieved to finally arrive at the hotel. Actually, it was me who spotted the hotel when we were still driving around looking for it, so I kinda saved the day, or what's left of it!

Hotel Novotel, Paddington

Next up, an inside peek of the 4-star Novotel Hotel in Paddington, which was also my favourite hotel out of the three we stayed in while visiting UK!

MARIUCA LOVES