- Pa pa pum!
Hey everyone welcome back to my channel I'm Hannah
and today I'm here with my friend Jess
from @loveandlondon.
What is @loveandlondon?
What do you do?
- So it's a YouTube channel where you can learn
all about visiting London.
So if you're planning to come to London
I have tonnes of tips and recommendations for what to do.
- And as an American I feel like you know
more about London than I do.
Wait how long have you lived here?
- For almost six years now.
- Oh okay. - Yeah.
- So more than me, so I think that's fair.
But if you need advice and tips
on the general visiting London, like tourist stuff,
really useful but then also-- - The more local.
- Yeah, all of that stuff, which even after
living here for five years
when people are like, oh let's go for dinner somewhere,
I'm like, I don't know where.
(laughing) It's really bad.
- No that's okay, I think it's one of those things
where when you're in a new place,
'cause it still feels quite new to me,
that I'm always just exploring.
But all of my other British friends always
text me for dinner recommendations too, so it's okay.
- I thought to follow up on some videos
that I've done recently about free date ideas
and then date ideas you can do at home
I thought we'd combine the dating content
with Jess's knowledge base
and we'd do some date ideas for London.
(upbeat music)
Number one is Hyde Park or any park.
- Any park really but Hyde Park's a good one
'cause it's very central and it's the most famous
so everyone always loves it.
(soft music)
I think parks are really nice for dates
because you can just walk around and it's free
obviously to just walk around
or you can go and do activities,
Hyde Park has those, you guys call them pedalos don't you.
- Yeah the boats. - The row boats, yeah.
- I've actually had a date on a pedalo in Hyde Park
it was so good. - Yeah right?
- We hired bikes and just cycled around
and it was such a beautiful day and then we were like,
let's get on a pedalo as a spontaneous decision.
It is kind of pricey but the actual park is free.
- Yeah exactly so you can choose what you want to do
and if on a whim you can hop in a boat or something.
(soft music)
I think the bikes are a really good thing to do as well
'cause you can get the Santander bikes
and you can just rent them for a half hour but the park's
huge so you can actually see a lot more on the bikes.
- Yeah and you mentioned that there's a rose garden
in Hyde Park as well which I had no idea.
- Yes there's a rose garden and the roses are only
in bloom around May but there's still other flowers
a lot of the rest of the year and also you sometimes
can spot really pretty little birds around it.
It's very romantic. - Very romantic.
- And free to visit so.
(soft music)
- Number two is The Wallace Collection.
So in my free date ideas video, I talked a lot about museums
and London is very famous for its museums
and they're all free, mostly free, I think.
But if you want to break out of the mould,
like The Tate, the V & A, Natural History,
all of those and you want to kind of impress someone
and take them to another free museum
but kind of hidden away and a bit quirky,
The Wallace Collection.
(soft upbeat music)
It's just this one guy and his own personal collection
that he's gone, here you go British public have it.
- Yeah exactly and I think it was 1897
him and his wife were just gifted it to the British public,
like you said, and so it's actually been there
for a really long time but I don't think a lot of people
know about that place.
- Yeah so I found it 'cause I stumbled across it
on a treasure hunt, if you want to do a treasure hunt
as a date that's an entirely different thing,
hidden city, oh so good.
So we just stumbled across it and it is this house
and you go from room to room
and each room is a different colour
and there's just eclectic furniture and ornaments
and paintings, it's so weird.
(soft upbeat music)
Okay so we need to talk about this painting
for a hot second it is called The Swing
and it shows this woman on a swing and behind her
her husband is pushing her, however in the foreground
there was a man hiding in the bushes looking upwards
and he can see up her skirt and that man is her lover.
And so obviously I love this painting but the other reason
I was drawn to this painting other than the display
of female sexuality was because I recognised it
from the Disney film Frozen.
It is in the scene during the song,
For the First Time in Forever, Princess Ana
is running around the room with all of the paintings
in the palace and this is one of them.
And so obviously I got my phone out and had to show Jess
this scene because she hadn't seen Frozen, oh my God.
But it turns out that Disney had removed the lover man
in the bushes so he does not exist in the depiction
of this painting in Frozen
and I just needed you all to know that.
- As you said that's another free one so it's a little
off the beaten path, free,
and I think that's a good one to impress somebody.
- Definitely.
- Number three is Lancashire Court.
So this is right by Marble Arch Station
and if you don't know it's there
you wouldn't know it's there--
- I had no idea.
- It's very hidden away, I think I stumbled,
talking about stumbling across things,
that's how I found it, I think I stumbled across it,
but it's this little alleyway and a little courtyard
that has a couple of really beautiful restaurants and cafes.
(upbeat music)
But it's just very quaint looking.
They usually have some really nice lights
that are scattered around.
- So if you also want to Instagram your date.
- Yes exactly it's very Instagram-y too
but it's very intimate so especially
when you're right by Oxford Street which is usually so busy.
- There are quite a lot of places,
if you just leave Oxford Street, like in either direction,
suddenly you're like, wait it's quieter now.
- So much quieter, one block in the other direction
it's so much quieter.
(upbeat music)
Yeah and there's also, if during your date you find out
that you guys are both into music
the Handel and Hendrix Museum, right there,
which it is ticketed, I think it's 10 pounds a ticket,
but what they have is half of the museum is set up as,
you learn about I think his name is Handra Handel,
the classical musician, and they have his house set up
because the reason that this museum is there
is because both Handel and Jimi Hendrix
lived in the same place. - Oh.
- So half of it is very, looks like it's from the 1700s
and there's lots of history and stuff
and then half of it is set up like how Jimi Hendrix
had the place set up.
It's very interesting.
- That sounds cool and I think so many people
choose to go on coffee or drink dates
because it's not very committal and it's very easy
so if you want to have that kind of date
but somewhat slightly more interesting
then maybe Lancashire Court is for you.
And number four, speaking of slightly more interesting
place to go get a drink, Drink Shop Do,
I think I've spoken about this in a video before
but this place is just so good.
They have crafting, activities and stuff planned
but even if you're there on a day when they don't have
anything going on their cocktails are really great
and they have board games.
- Yeah the board games, that's really fun
because cocktails are pretty standard for a date
but sometimes you're kind of sat there
and just trying to think of what to say
but if you're playing Monopoly or something
it's a bit more interesting and fun.
(upbeat music)
- Having an activity on a date takes off the pressure
because rather than having to talk about yourself
or talk about the other person
you're talking about the thing that you're doing together.
- Yes, exactly.
- Which makes it a lot easier and Drink Shop Do
is right by King's Cross, so super easy to get to as well.
- Number five is the Sunday Film Club at Firmdale Hotels.
So Firmdale Hotels are this beautiful boutique hotel chain
in London and they have a couple places in New York
and the hotels are so beautiful but two of them
have luxury cinemas in them so--
- I think I went to a film screaming, screaming wow,
I think I went to a film screening at the SoHo one
and the chairs, oh-- - So comfortable.
- Seriously if you get a chance to see a film there.
(soft music)
Also this is the more pricey range of dates, this one.
- Yeah so this is maybe someone
you've been seeing for a while
and you're ready to step it up a little bit
and go really fancy but it's actually,
considering what you get it's super affordable.
So I think it's for 45 pounds a person,
you get a ticket to the film and you sit in this really
nice luxury cinema, the seats are so comfortable,
like you said definitely.
- They have a little side table
where you can put your drink and everything.
- You can upgrade to get a glass of champagne
during the film a well.
Very fancy.
But it also includes a three course lunch or dinner
or afternoon tea at the hotel's restaurant.
Which the restaurants at Firmdale Hotels
are really, really good.
So that's actually considering a three course meal
and a movie that's a pretty good offering
and the restaurants are also really nice.
So, if you want to make it a special occasion even,
then this is like you'll definitely be impressing them.
- Damn I want to do this one.
- So you went to the SoHo hotel you said right?
- Yeah.
- That's a hard one to say, Soho hotel.
- Soho hotel.
- And the other one that also has it
is the Charlotte Street hotel.
- Yeah that's definitely one that I want to do
but I feel like it would have to be
a special occasion or something.
- Yeah, it's also good for the winter
because everything's inside, so.
- Yes, so yeah those are our five date ideas for London.
Do let us know what you think of them in the comments,
if you have any ideas and suggestions
of your own we'd love, love to hear them.
Also we have done a video on Jess's loveandlondon
YouTube channel where we're gonna be taking
you around some Sheperd's Bush spots.
- Yes it's gonna be your guide to Sheperd's Bush.
- My guide.
- Which I'm very excited
'cause I don't know that area very well.
- I lived in that area for two years
so I have some knowledge despite the fact
that I just went to the same pub over and over again,
which we'll feature.
- Yes, yeah it's a good pub.
- It is a great pub.
Yeah so make sure to subscribe to Jess and loveandlondon
and subscribe and hit that notification bell
and give the video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it
and I'll see you soon.
- Bye. - Bye.
(upbeat music)