Blog Archives

Notting Hill

19/4/2014

If you have the chance, as I did, to visit Notting Hill and the famous vintage market that runs on a Saturday I would highly recommend it. The area is absolutely bustling with people and interesting stalls. You can buy everything from obscure vintage mushroom prints to vintage cameras to waffles. I would recommend the waffles. I almost caved and bought myself a vintage camera but instead purchased a print from the 1920s and some other cute nick nacks. I really did love this area of London. I mean, look at those buildings! There were a couple side by side in different shades of purple that I fell in love with. How could you not?

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Kensington

15/4/2014

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“It is frightfully difficult to know much about the fairies, and almost the only thing for certain is that there are fairies wherever there are children.”
- J.M. Barrie.

I can certainly see why J.M.Barrie thought that fairies might exist in Kensington Gardens. Even in the dead of winter the gardens seemed a magical place, full of secret places and hidden beauty. The morning of my last full day in London I spent wandering the gardens, visiting Peter and marveling at the wildlife once again (check out those birds!). I couldn't help but wonder what it must be like to have all this at your fingertips, there any time you felt like going for a wander or a ride on your bike. One day, perhaps that will be me.

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A Great Grey Bubble In The Night

13/4/2014

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"It is a commonplace, but we cannot help repeating it, that St Paul's dominates London. It swells like a great grey bubble from a distance; it looms over us, huge and menacing, as we approach."
- Virginia Woolf in "The London Scene".

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Tower of London

11/4/2014

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The Tower of London was our third stop that Shane took us to. We did all the touristy things, as one must. Beefeaters, wearing funny helmets, pretending to be ghosts, the crown jewels, attempting to reenact that Sherlock episode. You know, the usual.

It was such an interesting experience to wander around buildings with such a dramatic history. The stories the Beefeaters told were chilling. Tales of beheading, murder and warfare. One story in particular stood out. We were told how there is one painting where everyone depicted looks fairly normal, except for one. That was because his family had sewn his head back onto his body after he was beheaded in order to have his portrait painted. Gruesome. It was so interesting seeing things like the grave of Anne of Boleyn and the gifts bestowed onto England from other countries. I particularly enjoyed wandering around the grounds, ducking in and out of the different exhibitions and the main building (which has a rather cool dragon sculpture!).

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Monumental

5/4/2014

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Before getting to see Tower Bridge open up to let a Navy ship pass through, Mel, her cousin Shane and I climbed all the way to the top of the Monument. My gosh, that was A GIGANTIC AMOUNT OF STEPS. My legs were shaking by the top. Halfway through the climb Melissa and I looked at each other, silently asking "Seriously, how many more steps can there be?". There was a lot more. It was worth the climb though for the view. One can see all over the City, from Tower Bridge to the Shard and over to the Gherkin.

A little bit of background: The Monument was built to commemorate the Great Fire of 1666, which started in a baker's home on Pudding Lane exactly 61 metres from the column. That is also the exact height of The Monument, which was built by Christopher Wren.

It was a good start to our day exploring the City, as we were able to gain our bearings (though after 311 steps, our legs weren't quite up to taking us anywhere).