I never thought I would find a city I loved almost as much as I love New York. Anyone who knows me knows that New York City is 100% my place… but then I came to London. The way I’ve been describing London to my family and friends is a New York vibe but in a more spread out space. Either way, I fell in love with London in the short time we were here.
While yesterday we had two media visits spanning over a couple of hours, today we had one media visit spanning a couple of hours. After grabbing a quick breakfast (and iced chai) from Starbucks, we went to Hearst UK’s new office, just outside of Leicester Square.
Hearst UK is the parent company of many popular magazine titles such as Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Elle and more. Inside the “House of Hearst,” as the new office is called, we got to see many different parts of the company. The first item on our agenda was to tour the building.
This tour included a video production studio, a fashion closet for some shoots, ideation spaces and a spot they referred to as the “Hangout.” At the Hangout, we listened to a panel of different Editors and Digital Editors from Cosmopolitan, Elle, Digital Spy, and Women’s Health.
Another cool part of the Hearst UK visit was getting to tour the Good Housekeeping kitchen and beauty labs where they test different foods and products for consumers.
With no clear ‘agenda’ set for after the Hearst visit for us. We had different spots we wanted to go to, but nothing was necessarily set in stone. Seeing as it was our last day in London, we HAD to go to Nando’s. Nando’s is an English chicken restaurant chain. I can officially say I have experienced Nando’s and let me tell you — it was a FANTASTIC experience.
Admittedly, I found out that Twinings (yes, the tea brand) had a mini-museum within their original 216 Strand store… so naturally, I just had to go there. During our trek to Twinings, we made stops at Trafalgar Square, The Houses of Parliament, The Victoria Embankment and places around that general area.
After purchasing the cutest little bag of souvenir English Breakfast tea, we headed back to the hotel area to regroup and figure out what our next steps were. We decided to end the night eating Thai food at a place around our hotel. Our final stop was at Sainbury’s to get some authentic English treats before we left London.
There’s a full mukbang coming soon about our treats. Well, if I ever edit the video.