by Maitland Woody.
Summer is here, and I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic thinking about past summers. I keep coming back to last summer in particular because I never really got to tell the full story. I’m still sitting here almost a year later uploading photos from our honeymoon, and every time I do, I end up reliving it all over again. London especially still feels like a blur I keep revisiting in pieces.
My husband, Talon, and I got married last July and left a couple days later to head to London for our honeymoon. We flew out on August 2nd and landed at Heathrow on the 3rd, starting two weeks of traveling through England, Wales, and Scotland. I’m a talker and a writer, so I’ll just start with London. If it’s somewhere you’ve thought about visiting, hopefully this gives you a little push to finally book the trip.
From Heathrow, we took a train to Kensington and settled into the Hilton Olympia. The room was small, but we were only there to sleep and shower, and it worked perfectly for that. Breakfast was included each morning, so we started our days there before heading out. Most of England doesn’t have air conditioning because of the climate, which took some adjusting, but it became part of the experience in its own way. Staying just outside central London turned out to be a great decision since we could get into the city easily without dealing with the nonstop chaos of staying right in the middle.
That first night, we went to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to see Catfish and the Bottlemen, one of my favorite bands since eighth grade. DMA’s, an Australian band, opened, followed by a middle act, before Catfish came on. Being there felt surreal in a way I didn’t really expect it to.
There’s something strange about seeing a band you’ve followed for years in a different country, especially one that has had such a rocky history of breaking up and reuniting. We had even tried to see them at Austin City Limits once, only for them to cancel two weeks before the show after another breakup. So standing there in London, watching it actually happen, felt like something that almost didn’t make it to real life. It ended up shaping part of our travel plans in the best way.
On August 4th, we spent the day exploring London at a slower pace. We went through the British Museum, where I kept catching myself dozing off every so often, then made our way to the National Gallery. From there, we saw the Elizabeth Tower, the Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey from the outside. For context, the tower most people call Big Ben is actually the Elizabeth Tower. Big Ben is the name of the great bell inside.
One of the most memorable stops that day was a graffiti tunnel filled with small businesses, including an American bar called Passyunk Avenue. It was covered in Philadelphia Eagles memorabilia and packed with American comfort food, darts, games, and even a batting cage. It felt like a strange little pocket of home tucked into the middle of London, the kind of place you don’t expect to find but somehow makes perfect sense when you do.
On August 5th, we joined a bus tour outside the city, which ended up being one of the easiest ways to see multiple places without worrying about logistics. We visited Warwick Castle first, then Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s birthplace, where we had lunch at a small French restaurant called Food of Love right across from his family home. From there, we drove through the Cotswolds, before arriving in Oxford. Oxford is one of those places where the university isn’t a single campus but spread across the entire city, with different colleges woven into everyday streets, making it feel like the whole town is part of one living academic world.
On the way back, we stopped at a small Iraqi restaurant near one of our usual tube stations. We had walked past it multiple times during the trip and finally decided to go in. It wasn’t planned, but it ended up being one of those quiet travel moments that sticks with you more than the big landmarks sometimes do.
On August 6th, we toured Westminster Abbey with an audio guide that walked us through centuries of history as we explored. It’s massive, filled with kings, queens, poets, scientists, and major historical figures memorialized in floors, walls, and elaborate monuments. It’s the kind of place you can lose track of time without realizing it.
One moment that stuck with me was finding a headstone with the name FW Maitland appearing unexpectedly in such a historic place.
After that, we went to Borough Market and ate at El Pastor before stopping at Turnips, which is known for their chocolate-covered strawberries. Even with a long line, it moved incredibly fast. From there, we walked to the Tower of London and then over to Tower Bridge, ending the day with dinner along the Thames as the city started to wind down.
On August 7th, we took another bus tour out to Windsor, Bath, and Wiltshire. Our first stop was Windsor Castle. While Buckingham Palace is what most people picture as the royal residence, Queen Elizabeth II and her family preferred Windsor Castle, which feels much more like an active home than a museum.
We learned about the flags on the castle and what they mean depending on whether the royal family is in residence. Unfortunately, when we visited, they were not home. Our guide, Nicholas, ended up being one of the highlights of the day. He was from Liverpool, full of humor and stories, and Talon hit it off with him immediately over football, which made the whole tour even better.
After the tour, we headed back into London and wrapped up the day near Kensington before returning to the hotel.
On August 8th, our final day in London, we visited Madame Tussauds, a four-story wax museum filled with celebrities, musicians, athletes, and historical figures. After that, we stopped by Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards before heading over to Abbey Road, where we got to walk across the famous crosswalk just like The Beatles did. It’s one of those tourist things that seems like a good idea until you’re actually out there dodging traffic and realizing you might get run over.
And just like that, our time in London was over before we made our way to Liverpool.
Looking back, London felt like the perfect start to our honeymoon. It had everything: concerts, history, museums, castles, countryside, and those small unexpected moments that end up meaning more than the big planned ones. If London is somewhere you’ve thought about visiting, I would absolutely encourage you to go. There is so much packed into such a small area, and it’s surprisingly easy to see a lot without feeling rushed.
London felt like a blur in the best way, but also like a collection of moments we’ll probably talk about for the rest of our lives.
Originally published in Red Dirt Roots Magazine, an All About Kingfisher publication.
