LONDON GUIDE: SKY GARDEN

Areas that I love in London are the areas around Tower Bridge and London Bridge (Tube: Tower Hill, Monument, London Bridge, Southwark). Of course the actual Tower Bridge is always full of tourists but just around the corner there are amazing restaurants and nice bars and all those massive tourist groups have vanished.

We went for a dinner next to river on Saturday. Timing was perfect because it was time for sunset and in this area the sunset is always amazing. After the dinner we had a few drinks at the bar of Sky Garden. What is Sky Garden? It an inside garden on top of a skyscraper with a bar and restaurant. Sounds amazing? It is. Amazing views for every direction and usually the bar is not so crowded as for example the bar in the Shard is. But Shard is of course very nice as well, a bit more exclusive though and the dress code is more precise.

For Sky Garden, don't worry if you don't have a booking. I know their website says that you need a booking to go in but in the evenings you really don't need one. If there is space (and there always is) and you are not wearing sneakers and shorts they are likely to let you go in. Normal smart clothes are just fine. Often in the weekends they also have live music or a dj which is really nice. It is not a night club though so if you are looking for a place to party this isn't the place but for example to have some drinks before/after dinner it is perfect.

I always take my friends who visit London to Sky Garden and there hasn't been any who didn't love it so I think it tells a lot about the place. I also have been there now quite a few times and it still every time puts a smile to my face so it must have some magic in it. I think it is the view.

I was thinking to write a few more of these "London Guide" blogs posts so if you have some wishes for them let me know.

Sky Garden
1 Sky Garden Walk, London, EC3M 8AF

Yksi ehdottomasti lempialueistani täällä Lontoossa on Tower Bridgen ja London Bridgen ympäristö (lähimmät metropysäkit: Tower Hill, Monument, London Bridge, Southwark). Ihania ravintoloita ja kivoja baareja ja vaikkakin Tower Bridge itsessään on aikamoinen turistirysä, jää sen ympäristöön ihania ravintoloita ja baareja joihin turistimassat eivät jostain syystä löydä. 

Lauantaina menimme illalliselle Thamesin jokirantaan. Ajoitus oli täydellinen sillä aurinko oli juuri laskemassa ja tuolta sillalta saa niin upeita kuvia, kun aurinko laskee. Illallisen jälkeen menimme drinkeille Sky Gardeniin, joka on ehdottomasti yksi lempipaikoistani täällä Lontoossa. Upeat maisemat joka suuntaan ja ei niin ahdas kuin esimerkiksi the Shard on välillä. Sky Garden on siis pilvenpiirtäjän huipulla oleva sisäpuutarha, jossa on sekä ravintola että baari. Usein viikonloppusin siellä on myös joko elävää musiikkia tai dj. Kyseessä ei kuitenkaan ole yökerho, joten jos etsit paikkaa bilettämistä varten, ei tämä ole oikea paikka. Parhaiten tämä sopii jos haluaa ennen/jälkeen illallista juoda hyvän drinkin ja nauttia upeista maisemista.

Sky Gardenin kotisivut sanovat, että päästäksesi huipulle sinulla tulisi olla varaus, mutta iltaisin pääsee usein ilman. Meillä ei ole ikinä ollut varausta ja vielä kertaakaan ei ole sanottu ei. Vaatetukseen kannattaa hieman kiinnittää huomiota sillä lenkkareissa ja shortseissa sisälle ei pääse, mutta tavallinen siisti pukeutuminen riittää. Jos verrataan taas Shardiin, niin sinne pukeutumiskoodi on hieman tarkempi.

Joka kerta, kun joku ystävistäni tulee kyläilemään Lontooseen, vien heidät Sky Gardeniin ja vielä ei ole ollut yhtäkään, joka ei olisi rakastanut tätä paikkaa. Kai sekin kertoo jotain, että, vaikka olen käynyt siellä jo monen monta kertaa, joka kerta tämä paikka laittaa hymyn huulilleni. Kyseessä taitaa olla nuo upeat maisemat, jotka kerta kerran jälkeen säilyttävät hohtonsa.

Ajattelin kirjoitellä tälläisia vinkkipostauksia Lontoosta vielä muutaman lisää, joten jos teillä on jotain toiveita mistä haluaisitte kuulla lisää, laittakaa vinkkiä kommenttiboksiin.

Aurora

GREECE HOLIDAY

I can't believe that it is almost August already. Where did this summer go? I've had a great summer here in London. Honestly my plan was not to be such a bad blogger during this summer but I've had so much other things to do that I just haven't found the time to make videos for you. But this week I will film you something for sure! Let´s see if the internet will be strong enough to download it to you...

Last week we spent in Greece. We were looking for last minute holidays and we found a really nice offer for Greece so we packed our bags and the next day we flew to Crete. Our hotel was amazing, such a nice place with a great private beach. We had all inclusive in our hotel even though that wasn't something we really were looking for because we knew we wouldn't be at the hotel all the time. In the end it was pretty nice though and the days we spend at the hotel were totally stress free because we had everything we needed.

We hired a car for three days so we also spent time driving around the island. Crete is a pretty big island, bigger than I realized before going there, and the roads are not the best ones so it does take a while to travel from one side to the other. Our hotel's beach was nice but honestly to find the best beaches you need a car. We saw amazing beaches with such a clear blue water. Truly amazing ones. I recommend to take a car because it is not very expensive and you can see so much more. I am not a person who likes to join a tourist group with a guide so this was such a good alternative for that. I am not saying that there is anything bad with those groups, they are really easy option, but I like to have a little bit more freedom to do exactly what I want. However if you are not comfortable with driving, Crete is not the nicest place to drive around. People drive like crazy. And I know that driving is different in southern Europe compared to north Europe but honestly I hadn't seen anything like Crete before. At first I was a bit horrified, haha, but pretty quickly I got used to it. And I wasn't even the one driving! There is no rules and everyone just does what they want. So just be mentally prepared! :D But you will also get used to it quickly.

My favorite town was called Agios Nikolaos. Small town but such a beautiful place. We also went to Heraklion but in my opinion that wasn´t anything special. All the other places we visited were small towns or remote beaches. I had a true Greek experience when we had lunch in a small village somewhere in the middle of nowhere. This tiny local restaurant owned by an old Greek couple had nice food and it was far away from other tourists.

The weather was amazing during the whole holiday and when we arrived back to London it was 29 degrees here so I can say that the summer has finally found it's way to London!

I have done some shopping here in London and I can't wait to share them with you. Now I would like to ask your opinion if you would prefer to get a video about these new makeup products first or a makeup tutorial? Let me know!

Heippa hei ja anteeksi, kun olen ollut niin huono bloggaja nyt kesän aikana. Kesä täällä Lontoossa on ollut todella ihana, mutta kiirettä on pitänyt ja siksi videoiden kuvaaminen on jäänyt. Tällä viikolla aion kuitenkin kuvata teille videon. Ainut asia, joka mietityttää on se riittääkö internetin voimat sen lataamiseen, mutta toivotaan parasta.

Yllä olevassa tekstissä kerron meidän Kreikan lomasta. Vietettiin viikko Kreetan saarella ja oli aivan ihana loma. Vuokrattiin auto kolmeksi päiväksi ja ajeltiin ympäri saarta. Muuten vain nautittiin auringosta ja hyvästä ruoasta.

Nyt haluisin tietää, että kiinnostaisiko teitä seuraavaksi enemmän meikkitutorial vai sitten enemmänkin esittelyä noista uusista jutuista, joita olen hankkinut? Onpas outoa kirjoitella tällä lailla suomeksi, kun en ole suomea oikeastaan lainkaan nyt kesällä käyttänyt muuten kun lähettäessäni viestejä kotiin. 

Aurora