It had been a long time coming for my boyfriend to visit me in London. It’s something we talked about when we met seven years ago, and something we had talked about for the last 18 months since we got back together. I felt giddy on the way to pick him up from the airport, I couldn’t believe he was finally here and would finally meet my family and friends and see where I live – it was all so exciting.
It was easily one of the best weeks of my life. It was hectic, tiring and absolutely beautiful. 🥰 With all the excitement I took barely any pictures, so here’s a quick run-down of what we did.
We had limited time (that was cut short a little due to a minor drama over his flights which I won’t even get into 😂) so we went straight from the airport to get the coach up north to visit my aunt for an overnight stay. We were so tired from a day of travelling but seeing them get on like a house on fire gave me all the energy I needed.
We returned to London the next day and checked into our Airbnb, in a fab location between Bethnal Green and Shoreditch high street, and went in search of Caribbean food. Which we found at Cottons. Get the ebony wings, jerk chicken and cassava wedges, and thank me later. Then it was back to the flat for a deep rum punch-fuelled sleep!
The next day started with an appointment to look at engagement ring options (!) followed by a brisk walk through Green Park and a quick visit to the palace.
Then we moseyed over to Fortnum & Mason for champagne and afternoon tea, a really lovely experience.
If you get the savoury afternoon tea, the scotch quail eggs are to die for! I asked for seconds 🙊 and then couldn’t finish them. 😭
A lot of walking followed as I showed him around central, taking in Piccadilly Circus, Soho, some shopping on Oxford Street (including this beautiful coat) and a stroll around Chinatown, ending up at Wing Wing for Korean-style fried chicken wings. The soy-garlic ones are 10/10. Then we headed to the theatre for an evening at Get Up Stand Up! The Bob Marley musical, which we both absolutely loved! We had some drinks from the bar, sang along all the way through and cried a couple times for good measure. 💛
The next day got off to a stressful start, a mad dash all the way to my house to pick up his day 2 Covid test 😂 then straight back to Soho to meet friends for lunch at Circolo Popolare, possibly the most aesthetically pleasing restaurant I’ve been to. Get the Basic Bitch cocktail, it has candy floss on top! We walked over to Russell Square to drop off his Covid test and, as we were in the area and it would be rude not to, swung by Fuwa Fuwa for jiggly pancakes 😍
All that nosh called for a stroll through the markets in Covent Garden and down to Trafalgar Square, followed by a long walk along the river all the way down to London Bridge, where we met a friend for dinner at Casa do Frango.
Safe to say we wanted to take it easy the next day 😂 so we walked down to St Paul’s for lunch from Banh Mi Bay, which we ate beneath the trees and the cathedral. The line was long at lunchtime but the baguettes were worth the wait! We were pretty tired so walked around the City, taking in Leadenhall Market and Spitalfield’s before walking the length of Brick Lane, in search of hot chocolates from Dark Sugars (get the white choc and matcha one). I watched in literal awe as she added flaked chocolate on top and they slowly melted into the cup… I didn’t see it coming 🤤 Then it was back to the flat to chill for a few hours before heading to Knightsbridge for a hilarious dinner with friends at the wonderful Harry’s Dolce Vita. We hung out at the flat for the rest of the night when we got back and watched Squid Game with some late-night salt beef beigels from Beigel Bake.
Friday was the big day, he was finally going to meet my parents! So we took it easy in the morning and early afternoon, taking a trip to beautiful Kensington to get his pre-departure Covid test done. Then it was off to my house where we spent a few lovely hours chatting with my parents in the garden into the evening. We were so hungry by this point so headed to the outlet in Wembley with my mum and brother for a spot of shopping and Nando’s, which went down a treat. My brother walked us back to the station, with a quick pit-stop in the park, and we went home so full and content.
I can’t even put into words how much it meant that he and my parents got on so well and everyone is so happy. My Mum is absolutely smitten with him and asks about him all the time. What it took for us to get to this point, all the years (seven, in fact!), the tears, the heartache, the time apart, then the hope, the joy and the undying belief that we would make it, it was all worth it. 🥰
For his final day we stayed local, spending the day getting lost in the bric-a-brac vintage markets and food stalls on Brick Lane. We shopped up a storm and ate a lot of good food, I had a cold coming on so indulged in a big bowl of ramen from my favourite Shoryu and we paid Cottons another visit to satisfy his cravings. To our surprise the staff remembered us and following an impromptu round of shots with the bartender, we were sent home with extra food in our bag and a burning sensation in our chests 😂 We went back to the flat utterly content at the end of an amazing week.
It was hard dropping him off at the airport on Sunday, but nowhere near as hard as last time. I didn’t cry, I didn’t struggle with readjusting to normal life after he left – but that’s because I knew when the next time would be. The US is reopening its borders to vaccinated travellers from the UK and other countries next month, and this week I booked flights. For the first time in over six years, I’m finally heading back to New Orleans, one of my favourite places in the world, where I spent the best year of my life and where we met.
For Christmas. 💝
