Never ignore advice from a Buzzfeed article

I spent the morning exploring Hyde Park and eating a picnic in Kensington Gardens, which was an incredibly rewarding experience.

On Thursday, I met up with some friends at the Elk Bar in Fulham for football and half-priced mojitos. Most people were inside watching pre-game shows so we grabbed a seat outside on the bar’s patio and enjoyed the last rays of sunshine and warmth. I got stereotypically girly drinks, raspberry and blackberry mojitos, and I shared cheesy fries with one of my friends, which I haven’t had in maybe ten years but were perfect bar food. I really liked the atmosphere of the Elk Bar and I would definitely go again even though it was a longish tube ride to get there from Earl’s Court.

I didn’t have class on Friday, so I went on a run through the parks before meeting up with a friend for lunch. We ate at Big Easy which is on King’s Road in Chelsea and classifies itself as an American barbeque & crab shack, although I don’t think I’ve ever actually run into one of these in the States. The décor is homey and very much reminded of a typical North Carolina BBQ restaurant, with its red checkerboard tablecloths and its dark wood paneled walls. We both ordered the Lobster Roll Frites from the lunch menu and I got a glass of white wine while my friend got a margarita. I can’t remember the last time I had a lobster roll and this definitely did not disappoint; the lobster was savory, the fries were crispy, and we even got a small side salad with our meal. I’m not sure how expensive the normal menu items are but the lunch menu was pretty well priced for how much food we both got and the fact that drinks were included.

I then dragged my friend over to the Natural History Museum to go see their new exhibit, ‘Britain: One Million Years of the Human Story.’ The exhibit was small but I just find it fascinating how the human race has developed to the technologically-addicted race that we are now. Plus the museum is a stunning example of the Neo-Gothic style popular in the 19^th century, so I love walking around and taking it all in.

I had about an hour in between to change my outfit before I made the trek back over to King’s Road to meet friends for dinner at Busaba Eathai. As anyone can tell you, I love Thai food and I was pumped because my friend had told me that they have the best calamari in the city. Not to be let down, we ordered the Thai calamari and ate while waiting for other people in our party to get to the restaurant. For my entrée, I got pad thai which had both shrimp and tofu in it. My meal was very good and I liked the layout of the restaurant, which had large communal square-shaped tables that encouraged conversation between diners.

The rest of the evening was strange to say the least. One of my friends, who studied in London the semester before I did, met this older gentleman and became friends with him when she was here last. She happened to meet up with at a trivia night and he invited us to his birthday party, his 65^th birthday party if I might add. So we took the tube up to my old neck of the woods and celebrated Moe’s birthday at The George. We sat around talking and I got to meet a few locals who had restaurant and bar recommendations for us.

I had a bit of a lazy Saturday but I finally did my laundry which I had been putting off for the past week. I basically spent the first half of the day watching Sex & the City before meeting up with friends at one of my favorite restaurants, Comptoir Libanais in South Kensington, for dinner. Since there was not a cloud in the sky for miles, we decided to sit outside on the patio and enjoy the nice weather while we could since it’s supposed to get chilly again for the week or so. Although I was starving, I didn’t order an appetizer so that I would have room for dessert (which is obviously the most important meal of the day). Although I love their halloumi flatbread, I branched out and ordered the Chicken Kofta which was an amazing choice. The chicken was tender and who doesn’t love a good side of rice!

We walked across the street to Scoop, which is the local gelato shop. We all ordered small cones, I got the crème brulée and cheesecake flavors, and discussed our adventures from the night before while eating our gelato.

I made the mistake of not listening to Buzzfeed Saturday night. ALWAYS listen to Buzzfeed, if you know what’s good for you. The night started out fun; we went out to a place called Adventure Bar and while I didn’t get anything to drink, the bartenders were a lot of fun and I really liked the music that they were playing. Next, we moved on to Revolution where we watched the last few minutes of the England-Italy football match. By this time, it was late and I was really tired. We somehow managed to let these random people convince us to pop on over to Infernos, which I had read about in a Buzzfeed article of places to never go in London. But I threw caution to the wind, paid the £10 cover charge and made my way inside. I instantly regretted my hasty decision. The inside of Infernos reminded me of SpeeGee in Myrtle Beach, which is not a good thing. Being one of maybe three or four of the only sober people in the club, I ended up just grabbing a seat on a couch and talking with two of my other friends. I’m pretty sure at one point I even started dozing off because it was so late… Not my best experience in London so far, for sure.

By the time I got home, I’m pretty sure the sun was starting to rise and I could hear birds chirping. Luckily, I didn’t have any plans until brunch at 3pm the next day so I got to sleep in. In the afternoon, I met up with some friends and we grabbed brunch at Kopapa. I had read a review about the restaurant on a blog I follow a few weeks ago and so decided to make a reservation, but Kopapa is so popular that I had to make the reservation two weeks in advance! I started out with the mixed berries & banana smoothie and ordered their hot smoked salmon on toast with spinach, 2 poached eggs & yuzu hollandaise (which I got on the side). My meal was mouthwatering and I think that everyone else really enjoyed their meals as well. The service was a bit slow but I could overlook that because the food was so good.

After brunch, we split up and I went for a run before mass. Although I had quite a few late nights this past weekend, I had a lot of fun and now I know better than to disregard a Buzzfeed article!