London in Bloom

If you caught my post last week, you would have seen that I’ve got a bit of a thing for floral at the moment. The warmer weather has got me dreaming of cocktails in the sinking sun, white lace dresses, blush peonies, and every other spring-time cliché you can think of…

flower_market_liberty_of_london_oxford_street_pastel_blooms_pink_roses

flower_market_liberty_of_london_oxford_street_pastel_blooms

the_ivy_chelsea_garden_pub_restaurant_london_chelsea_in_bloom_flower_show_tea_cup

flower_market_liberty_of_london_oxford_street

flower_print_dress_at_flower_market_liberty_of_london_oxford_street

London has really amped up its floral game this spring from the flower covered walls to the woodland wonderlands. It’s not often that I will post a blog with the featured image being a public bathroom… Yes, really. May’s weekend away to London, and a few more trips since then all seemed to have had one thing in common and that is the endless walls of vibrant flowers we walked into at every corner. Starting with the floral covered Ivy Chelsea garden, we carried on the floral theme with a trip the following afternoon to Sketch.

You may know Sketch for its decedent pink tea room or its unusual (to say the least) futuristic pod style bathroom. However, when we arrived we were greeted by walls of creeping greenery and ceilings covered in exotic flowers from every corner. All in the name of Chelsea Flower Show – and oh, what a real Alice in Wonderland moment. Completely unexpectedly, we peaked through the doors at Sketch to find a hop-scotch chalked on to the floor that led into a deep, green woodland scene, all equipped with the echoing sounds of birds chirping (of course). We hop-scotched our way through the entrance where we discovered the most beautiful flowers overhanging the pink staircase and continued through to the Champagne Pommery Lounge where colourful blooms covered every inch of the ceiling. House goals has never been so strong.

We sat under a sky of roses, peonies and more, while drinking vanilla tea and falling in love with every macaroon. The salted caramel and the rose and raspberry flavour taste as perfect as they sound – trust me. We couldn’t leave without a peak at the bathroom pods which were dusted in even more greenery and bursts of florals for the occasion… Does afternoon tea get much better?

June 12th, 2016|TRAVEL|Comments Off on London in Bloom

Tea Cup Cocktails at The Ivy Chelsea Garden

There’s one way to top off a girly weekend and that’s with these two words; flower wall. You’ve probably seen the floral covered Ivy spammed on your Instagram and here’s a bunch more photographs (‘bunch’ get it?) for you to feast your eyes on.

the_ivy_chelsea_garden_pub_restaurant_london_chelsea_in_bloom_flower_show_tea_cup

the_ivy_chelsea_garden_pub_restaurant_london_chelsea_in_bloom_flower_show_building

the_ivy_chelsea_garden_pub_restaurant_london_chelsea_in_bloom_flower_show

the_ivy_chelsea_garden_pub_restaurant_london_tea_cup_cocktail

the_ivy_chelsea_garden_pub_restaurant_london_chelsea_in_bloom_flower_show_building_flower_wall

the_ivy_chelsea_garden_pub_restaurant_london_chelsea_in_bloom_flower_show_tea_cup_wall_of_flowers

Over the bank holiday, I headed back to London for a girly weekend away with my friend Hannah (popular name I know) for 48 hours of cocktails, afternoon tea, flowers and more flowers. Via Oxford street (of course) we made our way to the Ivy Chelsea Garden for an afternoon cocktail under the unusually warm London sun. As you can probably tell, the already beautiful pub in Chelsea had been covered entirely in colourful and unusual flowers. Real flowers that is. Is there a better place for a cocktail in Spring? I doubt it.

The flower arrangement had been beautifully put together in celebration of Chelsea flower show. So as it turns out, we picked probably the best weekend to have organised a weekend in London. Literally, all the flowers.

The few seats out front were taken as we picked probably the most popular time to join the other flower-wall admirers so we headed to the bar and watched through the window as everyone snapped pictures of the display and just generally gawked at the dreamy flower arrangement.

The cocktail menu was equally impressive and the garden out the back was beautiful should you ever head to Chelsea with an empty stomach. I chose a cocktail that came in a pink tea cup (how very British) with a tiny milk jug of more cocktail should I run low – and it tasted just as delicious as it looked. I think It’s fair to say that the Ivy Chelsea Garden is a cocktail lover’s dream any time of year…

June 5th, 2016|TRAVEL|Comments Off on Tea Cup Cocktails at The Ivy Chelsea Garden