Aix-en-Provence, South of France
Aix is a love song;
lilting on a breeze
from faraway shores
as the sun
caresses
the air
and the rain
falls
painting
its fresco-colored
tears
onto the walls.
—–
London. England. 🇬🇧
Marseille, South of France…
Marseille is a seaside fairytale,
except it exists...
in reality.
—-
View: My travel photography portfolio, My Photography Book, My NYC Blog, ,, or ask for help.
Shoreditch - London - Apartment
For the last week of my stay in England I stayed in a beautiful apartment in Shoreditch, London via AirBNB.
During my first week in London I stayed in an apartment in the West End of London in Soho (you can read about the other apartment I stayed in here). Since I wanted to experience the East End after my time in the West End, I wanted to stay in an interesting East End location
Shoreditch definitely delivered when it came to being a great East End London neighborhood to inhabit.
Before I get into the Pros and Considerations for this listing, here is the actual listing since I know a lot of people were curious about this particular location:
Lovely bedroom in Shoreditch, London
Also! If you will be using AirBNB anytime soon, here is $25 off your trip from me to you :). (the link is literally a coupon for $25 off, no strings attached)
Pros:
1) The apartment itself was spacious, incredibly clean, and gorgeous.
I love rooms with lots of light and fun design elements and this apartment was chock full of both.
Their living room was perfect for enjoying many cups of tea and coffee…
This is the dining area leading into the kitchen. Loved their dining room table!
My bedroom was full of light and super cozy. There was a fair amount of storage (shelving and closet space along with an end table with a power strip).
Even the outside of their apartment made me smile on a daily basis..
Also loved all of the little design touches like this typewriter:
…and this awesome fish shaped light on their bookcase.
2) The hosts were really wonderful.
I wanted to experience staying in apartments with locals during my visit to London and I felt really fortunate when it came to staying with Vittoria and her husband.
They were really fun to chat with and they were really respectful of privacy which is such a great trait when it comes to hosts.
Their generosity with their coffee and tea was also appreciated!
I also loved the little thoughtful notes that they had around the apartment with notes about good places to eat in the neighborhood or even instructions on how to use their fancy espresso machine :)
3) I can’t speak highly enough about the location of this apartment.
Shoreditch is such a vibrant area of London chock full of history and teeming with creativity.
I fell head over heels in love with Shoreditch during my stay.
I mean, how can you not love a neighborhood where the street art is plentiful and awesome?
And this is what some of the streets in walking distance of the apartment look like at night…
You are also in walking distance of one of my favorite museums I have ever visited, the Dennis Severs House where you can be transported deep into the heart of another time entirely…
On Sundays, Columbia Road flower market is also within walking distance and well worth a visit. It’s a flower market that has been in operation since the 1800s and the variety of flowers and plants that are sold and displayed there is staggering…
4) The apartment is literally surrounded by tons and tons of restaurants, cafes, and grocery stores.
It’s a two minute walk away from the Breakfast Club which is the restaurant where I experienced my first ever full English breakfast…
(I only finished a 1/3 of it before waving a flag of surrender)
How can you not love a place named after one of the most iconic films from the 1980s that also has a room that looks like this?
You are also in walking distance to Brick Lane which is where you can find many restaurants.
I will never forget my visit to the Cereal Killer Cafe…
Not sure who thought up of a cafe that sells mainly bowls of cereal from around the world but I would love to meet them and thank them profusely. ;)
Considerations:
1) I really can’t think of anything even remotely negative about this apartment. This is a great space to stay if you are looking to soak in history, art, and culture while experiencing the East End.
My stay there was beyond wonderful and the location felt like a dream.
—-
Hope you enjoyed my little travel journal summary of where I stayed!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments here or contact me on social media.
Bath, England…
—
Bath is a city in South West England known by many as the city and spa resort that Jane Austen wrote about in her novels.
However, the city is also a World Heritage Site as its baths date back in (known) history to AD 50 when the Romans built baths and a temple on the site.
The bath in the photo above is part of a geothermal spring and its hot water (46 degrees Celsius and 115 degrees Fahrenheit) rises here daily as it has since the Romans built their temple on this site over 1000 years ago.
The Bath springs are the only hot springs of its kind in the United Kingdom.
In Jane Austen’s time period during the18th century, Bath was a popular resort destination where people would come to “take the waters”.
It’s such a stunning travel destination in this day and age with amazing architecture, history, and geography.
—
View all of my England photography here.
—