London Calling [day 1 & 2 + a WORKOUT]

hello from London! I am here on family vacation and happy to report it is currently not raining and I have some what adjusted to the 5 hour time difference. Win win.

Much of our first day here was spent traveling and napping. One of my guilty pleasures while traveling is reading fitness and fashion magazines that I would never otherwise purchase.

in actuality I spent most of the 6 1/2 hour plane ride sleeping since it was an overnight flight. Usually plane rides are my favorite time to watch movies and TV shows, but sleeping was definitely more important.

We arrived in rainy London groggy, very confused about what time it was and ready for a nap at our hotel. After a nap it was time to grab dinner and walk over to the theater district to see the stage adaptation of “Singin’ in the Rain”

the show was excellent, classic songs from the movie, excellent dancing, and simply an all around fun musical. Hopefully it will make it’s way over to Broadway next.

One of my favorite parts about London is walking around since it looks so different from what I’m used to in New York. It’s also especially magical over here since it’s the holiday season.

 

This morning I woke up early and headed to the hotel gym before family breakfast. When my parents first booked the hotel I immediately google searched that there was a gym and a nearby starbucks…. priorities 🙂

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the hotel gym and came in ready to just wing it depending on what they had. The gym is relatively sparse– a few cardio machines, stability balls and some dumbbells. Once I got there I scribbled down a circuit that focused on dumbbells and enjoyed a nice sweaty workout while listening to a Jillian Michaels podcast

Since all the cardio machines were being used while I was there I ended up doing quick cardio bursts in the form of jumping jacks, high knees and running in place in between each circuit.

The trickiest part about the workout? The weight on the dumbbells aren’t listed in pounds like in America so I had to pick up each dumbbell up and “test it out” to figure out what weight I wanted to use. I’m pretty sure the other gym-goers thought I was crazy picking up all the dumbbells to test them out.

It did feel real good to workout after lots of sitting while traveling.

After a nice breakfast of porridge and a shower it was time to explore the area.

We ended up at this ridiculous winter carnival. I’ve never since anything like this!

The concept of a winter carnival is unheard of to me. It was HUGE and filled with winter themed rides (like the Swiss Alps themed hotel above….) and lots of food.

After exploring for a while it was time to head over to Brixton for dinner and a show.

Warning: major musical theater geeking out ahead. When I was 13 my family went to see the musical “Taboo” during it’s second to last performance on Broadway. It immediately became my favorite show, even though it was an incredibly unlikely favorite for a 13 year old considering it centered around Boy George and the 80s club scene in London. I was infatuated with the songs and characters and was truly devastated that the broadway show closed. When my family heard it was coming back to London, 8 years after falling in love with the show in New York, we knew we had to come see it (yup, the main reason I’m here in London thanks to Taboo!)

While the London version is slightly different than the version I fell in love with on Broadway, it still was unreal to see my favorite show again 8 years later and hear those songs live again.

It’s unreal that I got to see this show again.

 

 

hope you all are enjoying vacations and the holiday season. Anyone else traveling somewhere far away and fun?