The next few blog posts will be a series of reviews from my trip to the UK. I am so grateful for those asking more about the photoshoot and I promise I will post more about it once I receive my final photos, but for now I am just going to focus on hotels and transit reviews.

Overall Thoughts on the UK

Let me preface this with the fact I spent a grand total of 72 hours in the UK. 24 hours in London and 48 hours in Nottingham. I clearly need to spend more time and explore more to have a true opinion, but overall I thought London was fine and Nottingham was cute. The people everywhere were quite nice and charming! However outside of visiting friends, I probably won’t be rushing back.

London

It is nuts that I have spent so much time abroad, but this was my first (brief) time in London. There is absolutely nothing wrong with London, in fact I was quite impressed how diverse it truly was and considering the size, quite walkable (in the summer). But there is something I just couldn’t put my finger on that left me underwhelmed. Maybe it’s the fact I am from New York and the cities are similar? Interestingly I am no fan of NYC either and I also did not dislike London like I do NY so it can’t be that. Get over it New Yorkers, the food isn’t that much better than anywhere else anymore, but it is twice as much! Plus I can drive and park in other cities!

I think the problem was I still felt like I was in the United States. When I am in Paris or Barcelona or Rio, I feel like I can just disappear, but not so in London. It felt too much like home. I primarily enjoy traveling overseas to get lost from it all and I could not do it in London. So while I probably won’t be back to vacation anytime soon overall it was a nice visit and I am glad I saw it!

Nottingham

I enjoyed my alone time (not shoot related) in Nottingham quite more! It is a cute little city that is easily walkable with very nice architecture. There is not a ton to see tourist wise, but I prefer that as I enjoy just mingling on the street. There is the castle which was pretty and a few other cool things. Not a bad place to spend a day!

Reviews

I plan on writing 4 review blog posts from my trip.

1. Comparing American Airlines Premium Economy to Economy Plus:They are not the same, but is Premium worth the price?
2. Renaissance London St. Pancras: My historic five-star accommodations in London
3. East Midlands First Class Train: I doubt most of my readers take East Midlands Trains frequently, but I had such a great experience that I wanted to discuss it!
4. Heaven err I Cathay Pacific London Heathrow Lounge: My Favorite Airport Lounge: Cathay Pacific Heathrow, A Love Story – Out And Abroad (out-abroad.com)

So what do you all think? Am I being a bit unfair about London? Convince me to plan my next vacation there!

Bon Voyage,

Andrew

PS My thoughts on the UK have absolutely nothing to do with the people. Everyone I interacted with was just lovely and truthfully what would pull me back for a future visit!