Kia ora! Hello!

Next stop, London for Mamma Mia, Lion King, Winter Wonderland and catch ups with friends.

After seeing all the beautiful views along the coastline from the train from Edinburgh, we checked in to our hostel. Now get ready coz we did some pretty cool things here, which means this is a wee novel.

Started off by pulling out my sequin dress (those who know me, act surprised) and got ready for the nights entertainment, Mamma Mia - The Party. This was our birthday present to Harriet as she is OBSESSED, and earlier this day we realised we purchased VIP so kept it a secret that we were getting goody bags with microphones, and her reaction did not disappoint.

Overall, this was 100/10. The food was good, show was incredible and all the details as soon as you walk in the door really make you feel like you are in Greece.

The following day we met with a friend from work who is here for an OE with his wife, so we went to the Borough Markets as true tourists do.

*Strawberries covered in chocolate - rather pricey but the chocolate was yummy & strawberries were well juicy and fresh, just what we needed after lack of fruit along our travels.

*Beef Rendeng with rice and dumplings (near Humble Crumble) - Linda's pick, I hear the beef was good but spicy so she got the vege dumplings for me so I wasn't eating only sugar today, and they were tasty.

*Humble Crumble - also really good! I chose: Apple & Cinnamon, shortbread, custard & chocolate drizzle.

Overall, whilst Borough Markets is pretty neat it is expensive and incredibly overcrowded and we were there midday on a Wednesday.

To kill some time we headed to the Outernet Exhibition, whilst this was also very clever we were expecting a typical exhibition room/s so was slightly disappointed. As it was outside and you aren't moving I did get rather cold, but from what we did see I was impressed.

This evening we had the Lion King at Lyceum Theatre in Covent Garden and no pictures could do this justice for just how incredible this was right from the opening song till the final applause. They didn't skip any lines, the performers were amazing but the costumes for all the animals are what blew me away the most. They were so cleverly designed!

Overall, I would see this show over and over again but be careful as elephants, birds and hyenas run down the aisles!

Our last full day in London was just as full on, we started by heading to Camden Markets for lunch.

Camden Town is full of markets as soon as you get out from the underground and with the stores decorated with 3D art on the outer face it makes for a great outing. For lunch I got an Indonesian Coconut Curry & Linda got a Yorkshire Pudding Burrito - both were devine!

I managed to locate 3x new Marilyn Monroe pictures to add to my growing collection back home, and we did a further wonder around as it was quite impressive how they had transformed this area from old horse stalls.

Overall, this was much quieter than Borough Markets which made it more enjoyable. Check out both but can spend more time here wondering around taking it all in.

We jumped on a bus to get the real London experience by sitting up top at the front - been to London now 3x and this has finally been ticked off my list. Got off near South Bank and wondered through those markets with a mulled cider, got some pictures of Ol'Benny Boy and off to Winter Wonderland!

I visited Winter Wonderland back in 2019 so I knew what I was in for but had also not absorbed it properly due to feeling ill at the time, therefore this time felt like a first time experience all over again. Tivoli last week was enough with all the rides, I might also be mentally temporarily (or permanently) scared from those rides, so we walked through and took it all in over a bratwurst, mulled cider and a hot chocolate.

Overall, we purchased 4-6pm entry tickets which was perfect because by 7pm the park was so crowded it was no longer enjoyable, so keep that in mind. It is amazing to experience because we get nothing like this back in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Now off to Amsterdam to get some family hangs in over Christmas and settle down for a week.

Meri Kirihimete to you all! Stay safe and enjoy your time with loved ones.

Haere rā! Goodbye!