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.

Getting Lost – Also Known As The St. Paul’s Cathedral Fan Club

I am really bad with directions. Incredibly bad. I could probably (read: definitely) get lost driving in my own neighborhood that I’ve lived in for the past 15+ years. I think that was probably my mom’s main concern when letting me go to a different city alone, simply getting lost, especially in a foreign country where I don’t have cell phone data, so Google Maps only functions when I have wifi (very stressful by the way).

So my very first outing in London required a bit of planning, in fact, all of my outings did. I looked up where I was going, where the closest tube station was, wrote directions in my phone, even took screenshots of the maps on my screen and saved them as pictures. My first full day was a Sunday. I woke up early and headed to this beautiful garden/cathedral that I had seen suggested on Pinterest particularly for Sunday mornings because it’s so quiet and peaceful. I had a plan and everything. Walk to Angel Tube station, by your first ever Oyster Card, get on the right train and go three stops to Bank Station (<- pretty much the mantra I kept repeating in my head the whole time so I wouldn’t get lost). Then I just had to walk down Prince Henry (or something like that) Street and I would be there! It wasn’t so easy in real life…

You see, in most places (I’m assuming) in the United States, the streets make a grid formation that makes navigating much simpler. Not so in London. I emerge from Bank Tube station and somehow find myself standing on a sidewalk in the middle of an intersection of six or seven different roads, none of which are Prince Henry Something or Other (although the street signs aren’t always visible – why make it easy on us poor tourists?). I had no idea where I was so I just started walking. After a few minutes I was questioning the whole purpose of my trip to London. Why go if I wasn’t going to be able to find any of the places I wanted to see? In short, I was cursing the city and it’s entire existence.

But that’s the funny thing about getting lost. Sometimes you find things that you never intended to find. For example: a lovely and unexpected view of Tower Bridge.

I kept walking at that point, still more than a little put out by getting lost so quickly. But then I see it. What’s that peaking through the trees? Surely not the famous dome of St. Pauls Cathedral! Word and pictures cannot express the sheer massiveness of this place. And as soon as I saw it and walked up to it I knew everything was going to be okay. That I had come here for a reason and that it’s going to be okay. In fact, I ended up walking by and visiting St. Pauls several times more in my time there, and every time it filled me with such peace (usually, I’m not overly sentimental about such things, but for some reason I am now). And you know what? In the end I did end up finding that ruddy garden place I intended to go first, and it was pretty cool.

(Hey, at least I knew I was still in the city of London…)

MEET PUZZLE

Here’s something you don’t necessarily realize will happen when you travel alone in a city where you know zero people – you get strangely attached to animals that you meet along your journey. Or is that just me? That might just be me…

Anyway, I was looking for something to do one weekend in London and Pinterest suggested this place called Hyde Park Stables, where you can pay for an hour of accompanied horseback riding through Hyde Park. Now, I don’t know anything about horses or horseback riding, but of course I immediately think of Downtown Abbey-esque horseback riding, of scenes of galloping through the English countryside and those cool equestrian uniforms, so it seems like a perfectly English way to spend an afternoon (and too good of a photo opportunity to pass up). So I made my appointment and showed up at Hyde Park Stables as I was told. 

I was given a helmet and riding boots and introduced to the horse I would be riding. I met the instructor who would be accompanying me and helping me learn what in the world I was doing as well as the other woman in my group (of course, she had ridden a horse several times before and appeared to be a natural, unlike me…). We then took off with another group of three (an instructor and two sisters, both under the age of eight). And let me tell you, these little girls put me to shame. They were practically pro-equestrian competitors compared to my pathetic attempt at trotting. However it didn’t matter. I got to spend a beautiful afternoon trotting through the gorgeous Hyde Park atop Puzzle, a black and white horse all the way from Ireland. We splashed through muddy puddles, which meant that Puzzle would have to get a bath later that evening (poor Puzzle) and enjoyed the sites, as well as got ogled by a few jealous tourists.

So yes, if you are traveling alone, be prepared to get very attached to animals and expect to have a lot of fun when you get to meet them. I hope you’re doing well, Puzzle!

   

A COLLECTION OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES – LANGUAGE

Before this trip, I had never traveled out of the country. I found myself not only in a brand new country, but also going to classes with people from all over the world. Just to test my memory, in all three of my courses I encountered people from the following countries:
– China
– Thailand
– Spain
– Brazil
– The Philippines
– France
– Switzerland
– Canada
– Poland
– India

​   There was only one other person in all three of the courses that was from England, and only one other from the United States (Funnily enough, she goes to Washington University in St. Louis and we actually have a friend in common. It’s a small world. )
It never failed to boggle my mind how well all of them could speak English. One or two of them struggled, but it was usually because English was the third or fourth language they had learned. I often times found myself wanting to apologize because I only knew English and a smattering of Spanish vocabulary and grammar. Learning a second language isn’t really pushed in American education until about high school, which is really too late to become fluent in a language easily. Most of the people I talked to had been instructed in English from a young age and that is why it came so easy for them. Culturally, it’s just not as important for us to learn another language.
Despite most all of them speaking English well, there were a few times when communication got a bit…wonky. For example, one Saturday morning I got breakfast with a girl from Spain. We were staying in the same student accommodation building in Islington and walked to a place close by. After we had breakfast we were sitting there, just chatting. She mentioned how early it was and she was still sleepy. I said, “I’ve had coffee so I’m ready to go,” meaning, I’ve had caffeine so I’m energetic, ready for the day. She replied, “Oh, well we can get the check now, then.” It took me a few moments to realize that from a someone who doesn’t speak English as a first language, she took that statement literally, that I was ready to leave the restaurant.  Most of the time, language barriers weren’t a total lack of understanding, they were just misunderstandings of exact meaning or implication of words.

Working on projects with people from different countries brings out all sorts of phrases and words you don’t know. When working on a photoshoot, the classmate from London asked me if I had any “kirby grips” she could borrow. I had to admit to her, I had no idea what she was talking about. Someone else produced a “kirby grip” for her to use and that was when I realized it was simply a bobby pin. Later in the day I told her that for the next set of photos we were going to take a field trip to the other side of the building. She laughed because “field trip”  wasn’t a phrase she had heard of. We may both speak English, but it is certainly not the same language.

In fact it’s amazing the differences you’ll hear if you just listen. While exiting a tour at Buckingham Palace, I overheard an older woman ask an employee if there was a café nearby. Though she asked about a CAfé, not a caFÉ, as I’m used to hearing it. On the subway, called “the Tube”, I don’t know how many times I heard over the intercom “this is a Northern line train via Kings Cross St. Pancras”. Except they pronounced it “vy-a” and not “vee-a”.

When I first arrived in England, the people I checked into my room with, or helped me with my luggage would always ask me “Are you okay?” It really confused me at first, because any time someone asks you that it’s because you don’t look okay. Well, I thought, I just got off a nine hour flight and am incredibly jet-lagged and slightly terrified and lost. I probably don’t look “okay”. So I forgot all about it. Then my instructor for my first course would always ask the class first thing in the morning, or after lunch or at any time really “Are you okay?” in her strong Scottish accent. At this point I started realizing, they’re not really asking if I’m okay out of concern because they think I’m not, that must just be the phrase British people use the way we’d use “Hey, how’s it going?” or “What’s up?”.

Though we may live in a global society and, for the most part, communicate with ease, there are always little moments to learn from when you meet people from around the world.

ANTICIPATION AND EXPERIENCE

For many years, it had been my dream to visit England. How could it not be with it being the home of so many beloved stories that have shaped my childhood and early adulthood? The English weather, which all Londoners complain about as a general rule, seemed blissful to me, someone who craves cool, cloudy days whenever I look out the window to another 90 degree day of perfectly blue sky. The accents are more distinguished, everyone dresses in cardigans or wellies and afternoon tea is  a peaceful time in the day where all of your troubles evaporate like the steam from your teacup. This was the England I wanted to see, and I did, but I also saw so much more.

Author, and Londoner, Alain de Botton writes in his book, The Art of Travel, about anticipation. How it is often the planning and excitement that comes before travel that draws us to it. When we do finally arrive at our destination, some of the dreams we had do indeed come true, but many do not. He shares a personal anecdote about how he believed that once he was on a sunny beach, all of his worries about work and his relationships would leave him. But in reality, he found himself walking along a sandy beach and still worrying about his everyday anxieties. Just because we transport ourselves thousands of miles away (by the way, London is a frightening 4,386 miles and 11 hours by plane away from my hometown of Springfield, Missouri) doesn’t mean that we aren’t the same person.

The picture I chose for this post is from The Making of Harry Potter studio tour in London, a day trip I took during my summer there. Anyone at all familiar with the series will recognize the mirror I stand in front of and realize why I chose this photo for this particular post. The mirror that shows us our greatest desires showed me no magic that day (ah, well we all have to come to terms with our muggle status at some point). It simply  showed a lone person nearing the end of her time abroad. Someone who had seen Kings Cross Station, had visited 221B Baker Street and talked to people with British accents and drunk tea on rainy afternoons. It also showed me someone who got a bad sunburn in Regent’s park and had to buy a room fan because most places are not air conditioned. It showed me someone who realized that London can be a very lonely city and that the vast, overwhelming majority of people there aren’t British at all, but people who come from different countries around the world like me.  It wasn’t so much that London wasn’t what I anticipated it to be, it’s actually that I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Traveling is hard. Traveling alone to a different country is even harder – but it is what makes it worth it. Yes, there were some disappointments, but then there were also incredibly positive experiences that will stay with me forever. Travel is all about reconciling your anticipation with your experiences and the ability to say yes, I did it, I did what I’ve wanted to do for a long time and achieved my goal.

WELCOME TO MY BLOG

​Hello, and welcome to my blog. Here’s a little introduction:

For three weeks I got to be a fashion student at the world renowned art school, Central Saint Martins. The school is located just across Regent’s Canal from Kings Cross Station. It always smells like strong coffee, paper, and musty water from the fountains outside and is always alive with busy students and professionals in the fashion industry hurrying up and down the stairs. I attended three short courses(each a week long) in fashion communication during the week days and explored the city in the evenings and weekends. In three weeks I took hundreds of photos, got lost, walked thousands of steps, saw beautiful things  and got lost a little more.

Posts on this blog with tell the story of my time in London in small pieces as well as go into a bit of what travel is and why we do it.