Finding a new fav area of London & touring reading spots

What another fun couple of days in London! Today’s post will also cover 2 days of activities and fun things, so get comfy.

10/08

Let’s get started with the 10th of August, which was Saturday. I didn’t have too many plans for Saturday, and to be honest I really just wanted to find a cute spot in a new area of London and try to finish my book. So hey, the whole point of solo travel is to do whatever you want to I said yeah ok, let’s go destination reading shall we. I have been severely procrastinating finishing my book, mostly because I’m going to bed way too late in London and also because I haven’t quite figured out how to use my Kindle and I keep getting annoyed at it. But I’m doing a tandem read with Bestie Lilly back home and she spent an entire month in Japan fulltime working and still managed to finish it so I really have 0 excuses. However, I feel like Saturdays are for markets, vintage shopping and antiques, which I had done ridiculously little of, so I also needed to do that. Really important activities on the agenda guys.

I did a very brief and shallow google search including ‘best antique markets in London’, and Alfies Antique Market came up a lot, so I thought I’d give it a go. It was around half an hour on the tube, and then a 10 minute walk through not the nicest neighbourhood to get to the market. To be honest it was a bit underwhelming. The building itself was at least 5 floors, and the whole thing was set out like this gigantic rabbit warren. The stairs didn’t line up, there were shops kind of between floors, and absolutely zero map. I got there not much before 11am, and considering how many people seemed to love it so far, it was very quiet, especially for the weekend. I was kind of relying on there being lots of people around, I love the atmosphere of a market even if I don’t actually want to buy anything, so I was disappointed that I didn’t really get to experience that. I did wonder around for a bit, but honestly I didn’t want to get lost! The shops themselves were incredible, from art to furniture to clothing to jewellery they really had everything. Most of it was a bit lost on me, I was kicking myself I forgot to bring my watch to buy links for it, guaranteed someone there would’ve been able to make it work. If you were looking for some seriously time-accurate costuming, you would’ve loved this place. All I was thinking was that I was here when I needed pieces for a Great Gatsby costume, everything there was exactly what I was thinking for that outfit. Nevertheless I probably only spent around 40 minutes inside the actual market, but after I confirmed that the vibes were not really vibing, I headed out.

I was determined to catch a bus from the market to Regent’s Park, which wasn’t too far away. I could’ve walked, but to be honest I really couldn’t be bothered, and I was irritated that I hadn’t taken more buses up until this point. The double decker ones are so perfect because you still get views and scenery, rather than just zooming through the tube and popping out somewhere. I found one that would work and hurried over, looking forward to getting a little out of that particular area. Something I’ve noticed quite a lot in London is that the slightly rougher areas never seem to last that long. You could turn a corner or walk across a single street and the other side are beautiful mansions. There doesn’t seem to be any blending between suburbs, I have realised I can pick when I’m in a different borough as all of them are very different. I think that’s why I wasn’t too wary about where I’d accidentally ended up. I knew that if I hop on a bus and go not even 5 minutes I’d probably be somewhere much nicer. And I was right; 10 minutes on the bus and I ended up on Baker St, right outside Madame Tussauds and the Sherlock Holmes Museum, and coincidentally, around the corner from Regent’s Park.

I had no concept of how big this park was, I think I walked for at least an hour trying to find the Rose Garden, only to find out when I found another map that I wasn’t even halfway there. I stopped for a little break near a lake and watched a bunch of kids not being able to figure out the paddle boats. I was going to go on one myself, it looked like so much fun, but unfortunately it was like £15 for 30 minutes and sorry that’s not happening. I continued on until I finally found that bloody Rose Garden, and I was looking forward to finding a little spot to settle down with my book and get stuck in. I found the cutest little bench right on the outskirts of I was so absorbed in my reading, I think I was there for almost 2 hours, with the goal of finally finishing it. And I did! Once I had wrapped up, I walked back past Madame Tussauds and the Holmes Museum back to the Baker St tube station to head home.

We had some family coming over for the afternoon/evening, so this was the perfect activity to take up most of the morning without having to organise or book something. I love activities that make me feel like a Londoner, not like an imposter just going to museums.

11/08

Today was definitely a more eventful day, I got to discover one of my new favourite areas of London, being Greenwich. I actually don’t think I spent all the much time in the area, but I would classify the journey to get there a part of my exploration.

First leg of the journey was taking the Elizabeth line to Custom House, which I remember being almost 40 minutes. From there I walked around the station to get to where the cable cars left from. It was a bit bizarre to me the cable cars won’t that well-advertised as an activity to do. From the station there weren’t any signs for them, and you really had to be looking for them to find it. They were £6 each way, which I thought was pretty reasonable considering similar views on the London Eye for at least £20, so I didn’t mind. It was also cool to see views of East London, which I haven’t really seen much of so far. It only went for 10 minutes or so, but I really enjoyed the whole experience. No one else was in my little pod so I got the whole thing to myself to hang out in. It was just a cool way to make the journey to the destination more of the attraction itself. Getting off the cable car at the other end I looped back around to the waterfront to then catch an UberBoat (really just a ferry) to finally get to Greenwich. I believe the trip was £3, so not too bad at all. I think I was on the ferry for around 20 minutes, which was the perfect amount of time for me. Unfortunately it was very busy so I wasn’t able to sit outside, which was disappointing, but I still enjoyed the trip over.

After my quest to get there I finally arrived in Greenwich! Right at the pier where I got off was a little pop-up market selling homemade jewellery, clothing and food. I did end up buying a pair of blue glass earrings from a lovely Indonesian woman who had previously lived in Perth, so we chatted for a bit about that. They were so gorgeous I put them on as soon as I got the chance. The stall next door was selling fresh berries, and the strawberries looked so good I genuinely thought they were fake. They were in massive punnets for half of what you would pay for them back home. I have never bought something so quickly. And they were as tasty as they looked.

I spent at least an hour just wondering around the cute little streets of the area, munching on my strawberries as I went. The Olympics were on in a small park on a big screen, with big lawn chairs out for everyone to lounge in the sun. It was quite warm by then, at least 25, which for London is getting pretty hot. And though I make fun of the British for complaining about anything relatively warm, I do have to admit any hotter wouldn’t have been the most pleasant. I think it’s a combination of no air conditioning anywhere, really good insulation on the buildings, and the humidity that makes the warmth quite unpleasant and inescapable.

Although that day was really lovely, it was close to maxing out on bearable temperatures. I continued walking around and happened upon a Vintage Market set up down a little alley way. It was much bigger than I thought it was going to be, and seemed that every little twist and turn I went down there were another 5 stalls. I really liked the atmosphere of this market, and though I didn’t end up buying anything, the setup of the market itself as well as the range of things they were selling was enough to keep me interested.

Once I had finished my strawbs and finally reached the end of the market I next sought out Greenwich Park, the main attraction and reason for my visit. I found the entrance and knew that I was supposed to go uphill, so I just went in that general direction. There is something cool about London in summer, especially when it does get warm. Everyone stops being a normal person for a bit. I saw people in bikinis on the tube just to go sunbathing somewhere, and there was even a temporary swimming area set up on the bank of the Thames (with treated water of course, this isn’t the Seine). Everyone that seems a little judgy or snarky takes a chill pill, and walking around the park it was obvious everyone was in a good mood.

The hill got steep very quickly, which was a good indicator I was going where I meant to. Just as I reached the Royal Observatory, I looked back to a gorgeous view over the East London skyline. The sky was so bright blue and clear, the buildings were a very pretty contrast in front. I’d expected to have to walk further before getting to the nice view, so it was surprising to turn around and see the scenery from my google search the night before. I didn’t have too much interest in the Royal Observatory or seeing the Meridian Line, so I continued my stroll through the Park before needing a bit of a break. I think everyone did by then, there were no benches free that I could find, instead I found a big tree with roots absolutely perfect for me to sit on. I also got some shade, which was warmly welcomed. I read my book for a bit and called home as well for a chat, before exploring some of the nearby gardens I’d spotted from my tree.

By this point in the afternoon I knew there was still a big portion of Greenwich that remained undiscovered to me, but I have come to the conclusion that accepting you can’t see everything is a very important factor in visiting London. And after the journey to arrive in Greenwich and being in the sun most of the day, I hit the wall pretty quickly, and decided to start heading back. I wasn’t too keen on doing the same route home, it took probably over 2 hours to get there, so I took a bus from the outside of the garden to reach the nearest tube, which luckily was on the Elizabeth line, and went directly from there back out to West London. Even not needing to change trains, and being on a line that skips a couple of the smaller stops, it still took a good 40 mins to get to my stop, which really minded me just how big a city London is.

Being back home I spent some time outside reading my new book selection, and I got a decent way through before we headed out for dinner. I’ve really enjoyed being a part of a family unit in London, it’s felt like I haven’t left home at all, and cooking and being around people has been a big part of that. Anyway we ended up going out for dinner that night, and it was so nice to walk through the neighbourhood to a family favourite local restaurant. The food was lovely, and it was great to have everyone in the same place. With 7 of us in the house at the moment, that happens very rarely so I really enjoyed that.

I’m currently writing this on the evening of the 12th, which has been a lovely and well needed rot day (a real rot day, I haven’t left the house once). It was also extremely hot today (again, for London standards) I believe it got to 35 and stayed that way for most of the day. I wasn’t too keen on making myself presentable and walking out in the humidity to the tube station. I was intending on going to the Imperial War Museum, but it was too hard to anywhere and the later I left it the less I wanted to go. I ended up catching up with both my dear friend Jess (we yapped for over an hour), Mum (briefly, we gossiped about her students and Dad’s ordeal getting home, turns out he had to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne then Perth due to delays from Heathrow… we can all imagine how impressed he was about this) and Alex. I’m in a generous mood, so I’ve decided to reveal the next leg of my adventures! For those of you who don’t know, Alex had the wonderful idea of moving to Germany once high school finished, and decided to leave my friend group a little more boring because of it. And though he has been back to say hi a couple of times, I am ecstatic to announce on Thursday (15/08) we will be reunited, this time in Munich! I can’t quite believe this in finally happening, I feel like this has been in the works for ages, it doesn’t seem real yet. All I’m going to say is good luck Munich! From Munich I will be going to some other places but it seems a bit premature to give the whole thing away, so that’s what you get for now.

On another note, it’s going to be slightly cooler tomorrow, and I do have something exciting to be back home for in the afternoon so I’ll go to the War Museum in the morning. I’m so excited to go to this museum, mostly because I’m a massive WW2 enthusiast. Can’t wait to go nerd out for a bit!

Currently MIA,

Lauren x