Rafieka's Visit

Early in December, one of my old school friends from South Africa, Rafieka came to London on holiday. After a quick lunch catch-up at Pret, we visited the Tower of London. First we took a very informative tour of the tower, guided by one of the Yeoman Warders, where we learnt about the history of the tower which has been a fort, the royal mint, a zoo housing all manner of animals (including a Polar Bear) and most famously, the prison where 3 previous queens of England were beheaded.
(Below - clockwise from top left: The Tower of London, a selfie in front of tower bridge, Dinner on the southbank with a view of the bridge lit up at night, playing around and trying on lipstick at MAC)

After the tour, we went to view the exhibit with the crown jewels, which are kept closely guarded within the tower
It was almost 6pm by the time we had finished exploring the Tower of London, so we took a walk over Tower Bridge to the Christmas Markets on the southbank before grabbing some dinner at an asian restuarant called DimT.
Later that week, we met up again after I had finished work for some shopping along Oxford Street followed by dinner at a beautiful little Italian restuarant.
On Sunday, we met in the East End to explore the weekend markets on Petticoat Lane before spending a few hours at the British National History Museum.
It was so lovely to be able to catch up with her again!
(Above: Catching up in front of the tower of London, the Yeoman Warder tour guide)