TBT - England | Bath, Windsor Castle & Stonehenge

Before I get into showing you guys the last two days of our trip to England, I have a very sad shoe story to tell you. Not like the Christmas Shoes song sad, but pretty close.

So when I heard we were going on this trip, I decided that I would buy myself a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes in England. I had a decent job, it was EUROPE, and I had been lusting after these shoes for years. I was also planning on getting myself a very practical pair of the nude Pigalle shoes. Nothing crazy, or trendy, or too over the top. I felt like my purchase was justified. When we went to England, we found that we had half a day to spare on some shopping, so it turned out to be the perfect opportunity. My mom and I headed out for Oxford street and went into a few shops there before braving Selfriges. It’s a beautiful department store with a HUGE shoe section. I found my way to the Louboutin section and started browsing around. I was so excited to finally be purchasing these shoes with their iconic red soles and sky high heels (I can actually walk in heels, don’t worry!).

I got a sales woman’s attention and asked to have the nude Pigalles in a size 8. As she brought them out, I was filled with giddy anticipation. I was envisioning as my Cinderella moment where I would elegantly slip my dainty foot into the perfect glass leather shoe.

Only, that’s not what happened.

My rather wide feet put up a rather large struggle trying to get into the narrow shoe. No matter, I thought, I’ll just have the 8.5. This time, I was able to get my foot into the shoe, but to my complete, and utter dismay, my feet looked horrible in the shoes. My feet were way too wide, and I looked more like one of Cinderellas stepsisters trying to jam my foot into her glass slipper. My perfect shoe dreams were being crushed right before my eyes.

The sales woman was polite and courteous, and suggested that I try an almond toe style instead - still classic, and not quite as narrow. But it was too late, my shoe dreams were crushed, and I only had eyes for the Pigalle’s anyways. I walked away empty handed, and sulked in our apartment for the rest of the night while my world shattered around me.

I have now heard that they are the most uncomfortable designer shoes, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise?

Who knows.

Anyways, the morning that we had that day was actually quite pleasant. We had learnt about a Farmers and Vintage market on Portobello road from the tour bus that we took the previous day, and were eager to check it out.

We were able to walk to the market from our apartment, which was a huge bonus. It is located in the Notting Hill area and only took us 30 minutes to get there. Once we got close to the market, the crowd started to get much thicker, and before we knew it, the road was packed with people.

We were still able to see a lot of what the vendors had to offer, though. There were a number of vintage booths selling everything from jewelry and clothing to signs & housewares. There was a lot of very cool stuff to look at, so I highly recommend checking this market out. Apparently, it’s the largest antique market in the world!

There was also a ton of different food booths that you could visit, and it all looked scrumptious. We ended up leaving with some delicious little strawberries and a tomato tart for dinner that night.

The highlight of the market, however, was the BEAUTIFULLY coloured homes in the streets. They were all shades of colours, and there was one row in particular that had at least 10 pastel coloured homes. I still love that image and plan of using it as part of our gallery wall!

The market takes place daily, but the main day (the day that we went) is Saturday. More information is available here if you want to check it out (P.S. you should!)

After my shoe debacle that afternoon, we headed to bed early, as we had a full days bus tour booked for the next day.

We had booked a bus tour that would take us to various different spots outside of London. We were able to get on the bus a short walk away from our apartment, which was very convenient. These day long bus tours are great because you’re able to see a few different places in a relatively short amount of time. We picked the Windsor Castle, Roman Baths & Stonehenge bus tour, and we were not disappointed! We were also treated with another fantastic tour guide, so that made it all the better. She was an older British lady and she kept calling us her little chicks. So cute.

Windsor Castle, Windsor, England

First stop on our tour was Windsor Castle.

I was really excited to finally be able to see a real castle - let alone the one that is the official residence of the Queen and the largest inhabited castle in the world.

The grounds of the castle are beautifully manicured with gardens and cobbled pathways. There is also a large church inside the grounds which was beautiful from the outside.

It was interesting to see a lot of the rooms in the castle. One room in particular that I remember held all sorts of old weapons and swords.

While we were there, we got to see them changing guards outside one of the doors. It wasn’t the production that we saw at Buckingham Palace, but it was interesting because we were only a few feet away from what was happening.

The surrounding town is also a really cute spot, as is the train station. There was an adorable shop called the Edinburgh Woolen Mill that I wish I would have went into!

Roman Baths, Bath, England

So first off, I think it’s pertinent to mention, that apparently Johnny Depp owns a home here. So needless to say, my eyes were peeled.

Before I went to Bath, I couldn’t fathom why someone so famous, and not British, would want to own a home in a such a small place. But once we got there, I completely understood. Bath is SUCH a gorgeous city! The town is the quintessential English village with adorable shops, churches, gardens, a river with an adorable bridge across it, and people playing croquet. Yes, croquet!

Before we got into the Baths, there was a beautiful little church in what seemed to be the town square. There was just the loveliest atmosphere about this place. Maybe that’s why Johnny Depp allegedly has a home here.

The Baths themselves were also impressive. We were able to go on a self guided tour and were treated to an interesting history lesson for about 45 minutes. There are a number of different rooms to explore in the Roman Baths, plus a wishing pool where you can throw a pound and make a wish.

I highly recommend you get out to see Bath! Even spend and afternoon exploring their lovely town. I wish we could have stayed longer to do so, or maybe have lunch there!

Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England

For our last stop on the tour, we headed out to Stonehenge. By this time the clouds were starting to roll in and the sky was looking like it was about to launch a torrential downpour on us any second.

Once we got there, we were handed a map of the layout of the stones and were able to explore at our leisure - which I liked.

We walked around the entire perimeter of the stones and were able to capture them from a number of angles. You can’t actually get too close to the stones, but it was nice to be able to take them all in at once anyways.

After we had made our circle of the stones and were heading back to the bus, the skies finally decided that they had held back long enough and it POURED on us. We were just able to make it inside the bus with our tea and scones before getting too soaked.

Once everyone was snug in the bus, we began the drive back through the English countryside to London.

After getting on the bus, we enjoyed a sunny walk back to our apartment through beautiful mews. We had a quick dinner with the groceries that we had left and then packed our bags so that we were ready to head to the airport in the morning.

This was by far the most amazing trip I have ever been on in my life. Going to Europe is something that you should definitely do if you get the chance. Seeing England, as well as Italy, France and Switzerland was a dream come true for me. It left me dying to go back to Europe to explore more beautiful cities and beaches.

Let me know if you’ve ever had the chance (or are planning!) to go to any of these places in England. I’d love to hear about your trip!

xo, tess