Today we had a very long day but it was also really fun. It was also our last day in London and we leave for Windsor and Stratford-upon-Avon tomorrow.
While attempting to get breakfast, we realized that the line was too long so we ended up at the ever-trustworthy Starbucks. I was confused at first when I received my venti iced coffee to see that its size was much smaller than the venti in the United States. I suppose this is because the United Kingdom actually uses portion control unlike the United States.
To kick off our day we spent the morning at Hearst UK which is the parent company of magazines such as Elle, Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health and more. On the way there, we passed by a premiere for the new live action Aladdin The day started with a tour of their office which spans four floors. The most interesting part to me was to see a video filming room because I realized that I have watched videos filmed in that room before.
After the tour, we had a panel discussion with editors from Elle, Digital Spy and Women’s Health about how to engage audiences today. This was very interesting and I learned a lot from it in that there is no right or wrong answer really, it all depends on what you want to get out of the interaction with the consumers.
We had a couple more discussions throughout the day that were really cool and insightful. It was such a great experience to be inside of such a glamorous place.
After the visit was over, we headed to lunch at the British favorite that is Nando’s. I got the chicken with chips and corn on the cob. This was just as good as I was expecting them to be. That being said the 13 year-old version of myself was waiting for Niall Horan from One Direction to show up and ask me on a date.
Once lunch was over we went on an adventure to find the Twinning’s Tea Shop and took some great photos on the walk. On the way back we made a couple minor stops to grab things like super glue (I broke my shoe) and bobby pins (my hair broke mine).
We then went to a late dinner of Thai food at a little restaurant down the street from the hotel. While there we had great sweet potato fries along with a rice bowl and sweet and sour chicken. When we finished there, we decided to grab some snacks from Sainsbury’s across the street from out hotel.
Once we had our treats, we then sat down to do reviews of them as we all got only British candies and chocolates. This video will be up shortly (one Kayla remembers how to edit) and I hope others find it as funny as we do.
I am sad to be leaving London, but am excited to go a little farther out into the country. The city is beautiful, but is also a city meaning I often forgot that I was not in the United States. Because of this, I am excited to get somewhere that will feel more stereotypically “English.”
