72 hours in the UK
If someone would have told 10 year old me that I would see the Spice Girls in the UK, I would have laughed at you and asked where is the UK. I couldn’t believe that after so many years, I was going to see the ultimate girl band come together! Growing up, my favorite Spice Girl was Scary Spice. With her wild hair, personality and clothing.. It’s still what makes her my favorite. It was probably because of her, my love for anything animal print has remained a necessity for so many years.
The morning I landed in London, I met up with my friends at the hotel. Before our train ride to Cardiff, we strolled around London for a bit. We headed to a cafe that took its inspiration from the popular restaurant called Sketch. El & N is a mini version of Sketch, with the very pink decor and velvet walls. The cafe is also beautifully decorated with flowers and fresh pastries to take on the go. You will definitely want to sit in and order, while taking in the atmosphere. I am not a huge fan of pink, but this was a fun experience. I wasn’t too hungry from a long flight, so I ordered a coffee and a acai bowl. The acai bowl was decorated beautifully with flowers and over all the whole service was fun and the staff were all so friendly.
We walked back to the hotel to gather our items and head to the train station to make our way to Cardiff. The train station was enormous but very easy to figure out. There’s staff everywhere, ready to answer questions and send you in the right direction. The train ride was about 2 hours long, the perfect time to take a nap when not editing my photos. The train ride was also safe. There were a lot of incidents that I read online of people stealing bags and other personal items off the trains, but everything went well on our ride.
Cardiff, in all, was a cute city with lively streets filled with quaint restaurants and cafes. We dove by a particular street that had bars and restaurants lined up next to each other. Every single one looked like a good time with people seated outside enjoying their food and drinks. After getting settled in our AirBnb, we headed out. The first bar/restaurant we went to, the host would not acknowledge us. The second bar gave us drinks that were disgusting. I order a strawberry mojito, the drink was clear, like a glass of sprite, with a mint leave. It tasted like strawberry and nothing more. I’m not too sure if there was alcohol in the drink. The third place we tried was a mexican food restaurant. The host claimed the restaurant was at full capacity, when we could plainly see that it was empty. The fourth bar we went to was by the train station, away from the pretty bars. This place was the best, with the best staff, food and drinks. They let us try so many different beers and made us feel so welcomed. We stayed until we couldn’t eat or drink anymore and then made our way back the the air bnb.
The next day was the big day, the Spice Girls concert! After so many years, here I was in the UK, getting ready to see the Spice Girls! Before anyhting, we headed out to get breakfast and walk around to buy last minute items. We ate at a restaurant that served a traditional english breakfast and served Wales cake. The breakfast reminded me of a traditional Irish breakfast, with eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, beans and toast. The restaurant was located down an alley That looked like an alley from Harry Potter. Inside felt cozy and the staff were very friendly and patient with all our questions.
Getting ready with my girls, while listening to Spice World, took me back to being little again. When we arrived at the stadium, there were so many groups of women dressed up, it was great. Jess Glynne opened for the Spice Girls. She’s incredible live, I think she sounded way better live than over the radio. I love when artists sound better live rather than through headphones. That’s when you know they have real talent. I tried not to have too high of expectations for the Spice Girls, but to be honest Scary and Sporty Spice were incredible. They really made the concert, while Baby and Ginger were alright. Overall the evening was a dream come true. We ended the night ordering from Mc. Donalds and having a dance party back at our place. We pulled an all nighter because the next morning our train was set to depart at 6am. We headed straight to the airport and back home. I cant wait to head back to London to do more sightseeing but for now, I am just happy that I can say I saw the Spice Girls live!
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