And there we go

I met Liesbeth at Schiphol Airport on slightly wobbly legs (those three glasses of champers at the Prada opening the night before and then the early alarm didn't help). London calling baby! I've been watching the New York fashion diaries over the last few days, green with jealousy, but okay I can't really complain since I was lying on a beach on the Côte d'Azur with six friends. But now. Liesbeth and I alone. In London. You know we've been looking forward to this right?

Cabin crew take your seats

I checked 19 kilos of baggage in (great, I have room for 4 kilos of shopping), bought a few magazines and a Grande Starbucks Green Tea. Easy flight, and within 45 minutes we were in London Heathrow. A short train ride, and then Lies suggested the subway but I put my foot down. “Lies, check out my bags, all that hassle and I want to get a glimpse of the city.” So we took a tax (I call taxis - tax). And that was that.

The hotel

It doesn't take much to beat the accommodation we had last time we were here for London Fashion Week. We had ’treated’ ourselves to an Air bnb special that was way out of the centre, in a teeny weeny room in a house with a man that used the toilet every hour, and we could hear everything. Sounds and smells.

This year, it's St Martins Lane Hotel. With the biggest hotel gym in Europe in the basement. The Gymbox. I one happy woman.

We checked in, amidst lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’, jumped on the beds, hung our clothes up immediately (especially our best dresses and blouses so to avoid creasing). Lies called the laundry service since she had just about flown directly from New York and had no time to do a load of laundry.

London Headquarters

You probably think that Liesbeth and I only visit shows, shop and dance. Now some of that is true, but we do need to work of course. So with hardware under our arms, we setup headquarters in the hotel restaurant. We ordered some yummy snacks and typed away happily, only interrupting each other around five times to say “It's so nice here”, “How cool!”, “Oh, I'm so happy.”

First night out

Liesbeth in a tight, white pencil skirt, L.K Bennet high heels and her Proenza. I wore ripped jeans, a Zara top, Escada jacket and gigantic high heels. “Jet, no trainers, you have to wear heels tonight”. Luckily I had her arm to help me as we walked.

We had a glass of wine at Gordon's Wine Bar, which I'll tell you about later and then jumped in a cab to Hakkasan. Crispy duck, black cod, chicken with truffle, Wagyu beef and a lychee martini. Perhaps not the perfect combination (and I admit, the sweet drink has given me some problems), but it was extremely delicious.

I cannot imagine a better start to London. Today we're going to Somerset house, people watching, talking to models, checking out what the Londoners wear and I'm going to find the best places for a date. Keep you posted!