European Escapade - Covent Garden

On Day 5 of our European Escapade, B and I entertained the notion of visiting Paris for a day from where we were in London. There were many packages offering great deals on Barcelona accommodation, Madrid accommodation and several other major vacation destinations in Europe but our main interest was Paris.

We had picked up brochures earlier and Eurostar, which is a high-speed passenger train service between London and Paris, sounded promising. It would take us 2.5 hours to reach Paris and we'd be free for an entire day to explore on our own. This means we need not worry about booking Paris apartments or hotels while in Paris as we'd be returning to London on the same day. I for one have never been to the capital city of perfume so I was most enticed by the idea of Paris for a day!

Our main concern however was the time factor and for Paris to be a reality, we would have to forgo our entire Saturday, which was already reserved for several other group activities. We'd be leaving for Manchester early Sunday morning so to squeeze in Paris to our already-packed itinerary was quite difficult.

Anyway, after discussing with the rest of the group (9 of us on this trip), it was decided that the trip to Paris was simply too taxing to complete in just one day. It would have been awesome to include Paris in this vacation but it was simply not meant to be. So we stuck to our original agenda, which saw B visiting the Emirates Stadium on the morning of Day 5 before the two of us headed for Covent Garden by tube later that afternoon.

Let's go to Covent Garden

Covent Garden Station

Covent Garden is a popular shopping and tourist area, which mainly features independent shops and street performers as the main attraction within a district of the usual elegant buildings, department stores, theatres and entertainment facilities one may find in such places.

Savoy Theatre

It was a cold afternoon in Covent Garden and I have not eaten the whole day. Food was uppermost on my mind but the surrounding excitement and activities going on that day made me forget my rumbling tummy.

Market Hall

B and I took our time to survey the market with a little window-shopping. But it's hard to just window shop and not buy at least one item so we ended up buying more things than anticipated. We had a wonderful time browsing through the many cool gadgets, arts & crafts, souvenirs, knick-knacks and other interesting items to bring back home.

Souvenir shopping

The Jubilee Market @ Covent Garden offers anything and everything under the sun. From household goods and clothing to antiques and collectibles, this market is definitely a point of interest for any tourist visiting London. We bought plenty of souvenirs here before heading to the department stores nearby for more shopping!

Jubilee Market Hall

Walk of life

People Walk

Guess what I bought?

After all the walking and shopping, we were too tired to eat a huge meal so we ended up having a jacket potato each. I've described them in detail over at my food blog but you can see the pictures here. And they were delish of course!

B ordering our potatoes

Tuna & Corn

Baked Beans & Cheese

Our visit to Covent Garden would be incomplete without enjoying a little street performance, which I truly found entertaining. I felt very touristy as I watched Mr. Silver did his little act for me before tipping him!

Hello

Would you like a picture?

Peace!

Recycle Man

My favourite .. Mr. GOLD!

Spare me!

Charmed!

Before heading back to our hotel, I stopped at my favourite Lush store. It's a must to pop into any Lush Store I see. Have I told you that it is my dream to own a Lush store one day? I simply can't get enough of their awesome natural handmade bath and body products oozing with delicious scents good enough to eat!

Lush Moment

Perfume Store

By the time we left Covent Garden it was late evening. We had dinner at Novotel Hotel and settled in for the night rather early. Tomorrow would be another full day with Madam Tussauds first on our list!

Before I end my post, I'd like to thank my friends and readers who have been so patient with my ultra-slow posting of my European Escapade here. I'm really not sure how to go about posting the many pictures (400+) we snapped in Madam Tussauds wax museum so stay tuned!

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