I LEFT MY HEART AT BOROUGH MARKET

This was probably one of my favorite days in London. I got up early one Saturday (early weekend mornings were my favorite because all of the infamous hustle and bustle of big cities is no where to be seen and it’s just quiet and the weather is cool) and headed to Borough Market, one of many food markets in London (I guess we’d call them Farmers Markets in Missouri).

Oh what I wouldn’t have given to have had a real kitchen to cook in and hundreds of pounds in cash in my wallet when I went to Borough Market. I’m one of those people that loves grocery shopping, cooking and baking, so this place was a dream come true. If I lived in London, this would be my every Saturday morning ritual.

The market is a maze of partially indoor, partially outdoor stalls and booths of the most wonderful things. Fresh produce was plentiful – I mean look at these berries.

Walk further and you’ll find stacks and stacks of bread, pastries and doughnuts. Turn the corner and there will be wines, cheeses and fancy things like truffle oil.

One section has all of the meat and fish, which was pretty smelly, but once you get past that you are in baked good paradise. Teeny tiny french delicacies, giant cookies and individual savory pies in cute boxes. It’s a wonder I didn’t spend all of my money.

After making a few purchases I made my way across the street to a Costa (they’re like the Starbucks of the UK) for a quiet morning of coffee and people watching. It was a simple, peaceful morning to remember.

COOL CULTURAL PLACES I GOT TO EXPLORE

The first short course I took at Central Saint Martins in London was called “Cool Hunting Fashion”. It’s a strange name I grant you, but the promise of exploring London with an experienced instructor and fellow classmates was what made me sign up for it.

My instructor was essentially a professional “cool hunter”, meaning she explores and observes what is going on in the world and uses it to create fashion trends. Throughout the week we would travel outside of the classroom at Granary Square and visit the following places:

1 . Victoria and Albert Museum

There was a beautiful exhibit of fashion from the 1700s to today that we went to see. There was also the world famous Alexander MacQueen exhibit on at the time, but the tickets were always sold out. The architecture of the museum itself is just as amazing as the art inside.

2. Lamb’s Conduit Street

Where anyone who’s anyone gets their bespoke suits and other fancy knick-knacks. The street gets its strange name from the man who gave the money for a conduit to be restored in this street in the 1500s, thus providing water for the residents in that area.

3. The Design Museum.

They actually had the “Design of Year” exhibit going on, where you got to see all of the designs up for top designs of the year, many of which had to do with conservation of resources and the environment. The museum is in the middle of a really cool location right on the River Thames. Tower Bridge is just outside as well as a wonderfully coastal boardwalk-like area.

4. Old Spitalfields Market

This extensive market is held in a marketplace over 350 years old. It features vintage treasures, jewelry, maps and fashion and lots of cool food trucks and stands. I even spotted two ladies in full 1950’s garb.

5. Box Park

Box Park is a two-story setup of teeny tiny stores – except they’re not actually stores. They are mobile storage units locked and stacked together to create a small city of unique pop-up shops and even well-known classics like Gap. All with restaurants and balcony seating on the second floor! I doubt I’ll ever see anything like it anywhere else.

6. Portabello Market

Portabello Market is the vintage market to end all vintage markets. Taking place in the famous Notting Hill area, this place is a popular weekend activity for locals and tourists alike. There was even more vintage clothing, countless vintage tea trays, rings, clocks, etc. Move further on down and you’ll come to the food market where Greek women stir big vats of olives and men are hanging fish from the ceiling of their stalls and their are fattening pastries everywhere you look. Fun fact: the picture on the right is from the walk to Portobello Market and is actually the flat where George Orwell once lived.

 

ON THE BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS OF SOLO TRAVEL

Just like traveling in a big group, traveling alone has both pros and cons. As someone who has always been very independent and introverted, I’m probably kind of biased and obviously prefer traveling alone, but I will do my best to cover both sides here:

Cons: 

1. Eating at nicer restaurants alone is very awkward.

   Maybe it’s just me that’s awkward, but I definitely think some of the waiters were pitying me.

2. Foreign men think that they can just walk up and start talking to you.

   I’m sure some of you were genuinely nice people or were honestly asking for my help with directions (God help us), but when you’re a solo traveler your guard always has to be up.

3. If anything goes wrong it’s automatically your fault.

   Every family or group has that one person they blame when something goes wrong – you get lost, a ticket goes missing, you get the time of an event wrong, etc. When you’re on your own, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself.

4. If you want to be in the picture, you have to have very long arms or a selfie stick.

   Of course you can always ask a stranger to take the photo for you, but they have to look very, very trustworthy.

 

Pros:

1. It’s cost effective.

   It’s no secret that London is an expensive city. I’m just imaging the already significant amount I spent on transportation and food multiplied by 2, 3 or even 4. Yikes.

2. You don’t have to share your ice cream/desserts.

   Enough said.

3. You can nab a really good seat in crowded places.

   There’s this unspoken rule between groups and families and couples that you must leave a polite “one chair distance” between each other when sitting in cafes or at attractions. This leaves me, the solo-traveling super heroine, to sweep in, cape-flapping, and grab that prime spot. For example, the picture for this post was taken at the café at the top of the Tate Modern, a tall, looming building over looking Millennium Bridge and St. Paul’s Cathedral. The entire back wall (made up of big picture windows) contains only bar seating, and let me tell you, these are coveted seats. I was there at 2:00 in the afternoon on a Monday and it was packed. But there’s always that one seat in between groups, and so I wasted no time claiming it, which is how I got what is probably my favorite photo from the entire trip.

4. You can go wherever you want whenever you want, no questions asked.

   It really is a beautiful concept and the most important thing (for me) about traveling alone.