London

Almost 13 years ago, I traveled to London and Paris to visit a friend who was living abroad at the time. With all the time that has gone by, I have kept distinct first impressions of London and Paris in my mind from the first time around. Paris was white, beautiful and immaculate. London was rainy, bitter cold and not at all pretty.

It was Friday morning and I was scrolling through Instagram like I usually do. It was any other day, except for the fact that I was prepping for a nearly 3-week trip to London and Paris for work. As I mindlessly scrolled through Instagram, I stopped short when I saw British Vogue was promoting their Vogue Festival, which was happening the weekend I was set to arrive in London. On the unlikely chance of me being in the worlds’ fashion capital the very weekend I arrived, I just knew I had to attend.

A couple weeks before I was set to leave for London and Paris, I thought a lot about what was most important to include on my Europe packing list. The obvious things that came to mind were a universal charger, my passport, and an umbrella.

The best thing happened to me on a walk back from Harrods. We decided to stroll through Hyde Park. Before we even entered the park, we saw these guys, which was pretty thrilling in and of itself. Then, as we walked through the park, we literally stumbled upon the Hyde Park rose garden. What good luck!