Hello darlings! So sorry for not updating sooner, I've been busy with work. And at this moment I
should be writing an essay in philosophy, buuut you know how it goes.. Procrastination is a lovely artform!:)
So, what about
London? Went there during my autumn break with my friend
Riikka and her friends
Sari and
Suvi. Riikka's friend
Kirsi was also there, but I was in a way her "replacement" so I didn't get to see her at all.
Since I didn't have the whole week off, we came to the arrangement that we'd spend a few days together in London. Riikka&co were there in the beginning of the week, I was there from
Wed 19th- Sun 23rd September. We stayed at the
Finnish Church in London, which also has a nice hostel. Not in the heart of the city, but I felt safe going and staying there. Good beds, ok breakfast, friendly staff. It wasn't a luxurious place, but that's not usually what I need anyways, so this was perfectly fine.
My trip was from Helsinki-London with
Norwegian, and I flew back with
British Airways. While I sat in the bus to Helsinki it started raining. Normal, autumn rain. But during departure in Helsinki the plane was hit twice by
lightning!!! Man, that was scary! The plane landed in
Oslo to be checked for damages and getting fuel, which means I arrived much later than planned.
Luckily I got to London, found the train and metro, got the right ticket for it (I guess), scrambled along the dark roads and found the girls in a pub near the metro station. Then I could relax and breathe, I was with friends! *phew* Snacks and cider at the pub, then "home".
During my first day (
Thursday, which was the girls' fourth) we just strolled around, took the tube to various locations, had coffee, superb indian food, went to the
Natural History Museum (because I wanted to see dinosaurs!) and did some shopping at
Harrod's. The day ended with snacks and cider at a pub:)
The next day (
Friday) started with an independent bus tour. We took the bus from the hostel/church and admired the city in a nice autumn light. The day was crisp and bright, very lovely! Riikka showed us where she had lived during her work period in London (like over ten years ago:). We did some shopping and had coffee at Riikkas old work place,
Starbucks Café on Trafalgar Square. Then it was time to say good bye, the girls were leaving back to Finland.
I stayed and had my own adventures from there on. I wandered around the city, saw and sat in parks, had lunch, saw
Chinatown,
The British Museum. This museum was AWSOME by the way! There was so much to see and learn, my favorite section was ancient Egypt and Sudan where I luckily managed to join a tour about the
Rosetta stone. I was actually quite moved when I finally saw this famous stone! I don't know what it is about stones that I love - collected stones when I was younger. I also wrote my thesis about rune stones. I guess ancient messages appeal to me! :)
After walking a lot(!) at the British Museum I headed to go see some photos at the National Portrait Gallery. And since it was Friday, it was party time! At the
National Portrait Gallery they had all sorts of different activities happening: sparkling wine in the lobby, young 20-30-year-olds wandering around looking at art, music in the upper levels... I was (I guess) hit on, but the man was in a very strange state of mind, don't know what he had been takin!:/
At NPG I chose to go to a particular room with a drawing session! There was an art teacher there, paper and pencils. It was a nice moment during this hectic day. Sitting, chilling, drawing a portrait of some greek/roman statue. Afterwards I went to the top floor and restaurant for a glass of red wine and enjoy the view of
Big Ben shining like a beacon in the dark...
By
Saturday my feet were killing me. I started the day with visitin
Baker Street and Sherlock Holmes museum shop. I didn't visit the museum itself (or any others) because the city was FLOCKED with tourists, and I was happy that I'd decided to do a
DIY-bus-tour (Mondo travel guide)! I didn't quite find the starting point, but with my travel card I just randomly hopped on and off the red buses, and somehow found the right route anyway:)
I also went to
Portobello and it's famous market, I think I saw
Banksy art, had a snack in
Hyde Park, and later fish n' chips.
Sunday was pretty much just traveling home, what an anticlimax... I think saw the most of this lovely city, but still lots to discover on my future trips to London!:)
(Photos are to be added later and/or maybe separately)
