Tell the world I'm coming home

On the Saturday we were rather wiped out as following our day in London we'd had Youth Encounter, which was mental as per and also quite late. So we decided to stick around Surrey. We went for a walk by the Thames and ended up at Hampton Court Palace gardens (I couldn't afford entry :()

 The English Garden is full of roses which were beautiful.

 Oh look; there's the Palace in the background. I told Karli some of the stories of it, from memory, as when I was much younger we had a season ticket and went at least 30 times.

 The pergola is usually prettier, I blamed the poor weather up to this point for the lack of blooms.

 We then headed to Bushy Park for a walk. It started to rain so we took shelter under a large tree, it was actually really enjoyable.

 The next day was Sunday so I spent the whole day in church, Karli came for the 6pm service, and spent the rest of the day inside Hampton Court Palace. 
I managed to fall at church quite badly though, and was later to discover that I'd burst the liquid capsule under my patella..so the next day we couldn't do as much as I'd wanted to. We headed to China Town as Karli had missed having legit Asian food (it's pretty terrible in Edinburgh in general, which is surprising as there's so many international students). We also checked out Covent Garden where we picked up these gorgeous macaroons from Laduree. I personally prefer the ones I bought in Brighton last year though. Definitely heading back there.

I had to leave Karli to get the train to Victoria for her coach as I was in so much pain I thought I'd be sick, so hobbled (literally) off to the hospital.
Not the best end.

The first time ever I saw your face

The first time I went to Brick Lane was when I was preparing for my GCSE art project on street art. Since then I've loved all forms of it. Brick Lane has some truly outstanding pieces.

 Some of it is slightly crepy.

 Or cute.

I feel there's not that much that to add to this. Its just so incredible.

I like it in the city when the air is so thick and opaque

Next we headed East. I love Brick Lane, its one of my favourite places due to its culture clash. One end is totally Bangladeshi where we shared a curry + paratha (Indian food is not so common in the US hence why we decided to stop for some). Then the other end is totally hipster. We stumbled upon a secret sample sale, a vintage fashion market (underground may I add) and the most independent coffee shops in one strip I have ever seen. Along the way we saw the most incredible street art.

 So so intricate and clever.

 I thought this was cool. We love anti-slavery campaigns. Speaking of which have you guys heard of A21? They work to free victims of modern day slavery  (human trafficking) of which there are around 27 million peeople trapped within today...greater than any other time in history (yes, even when slavery was legal, there were less slaves!)

And everyday I'm learning about you the things that no one else sees

In my last post I mentioned how Karli wanted to see street art. Here's some great examples. I don't know who this artist is, but these pieces are magnificently huge.

 The next thing we stumbled across were these bizarre creations.

 It was fun to describe these British-isms to my American friend. The fact that we do such things just for fun I think was slightly absurd to her. I guess it stems from the American stereotype of Brits as uptight/conservative..which I guess we are in some senses, yet our humour is deep routed as a nation, although slightly dry and self-deprecating, very amusing.

Things you'd hear around your neighbourhood. A lot of them you're more likely to hear in the North/Midlands (where I grew up) which was fun to see. Maybe that's part of the point though, to get Londoners to have a slightly greater neighbour-mentality.

 Loved that the Festival of Neighbourhood incorporated the nations. This piece had a poem playing inside of it, read by the school children who did the painting/design. It was slightly creepy, but very fun.

 Next we spied the South Bank Street Food Market. YUM.

 They were growing strawberries on the steps. So very quaint.

 Of course we had to sample the free food.

More to come...

Children of the light

Hi. I'm back, after a long drought. I have been MAD busy the last few months, and I've also not been wanting to procrastinate as what I've been doing has been so fun (especially interning with church).

However, I had a few days off..I organised my days off to work out so I had an elongated weekend (although technically still intern on Sundays, serving in church which to be honest I'd be doing anyway, but maybe not in as many services) and had a friend come to visit from Edinburgh, Karli. 

Karli's an exchange student from California (I've been invited back so must take advantage of that) and she was in Edinburgh for the year.

 She'd previously been to London and hadn't really enjoyed it that much. She did all the touristy stuff so I thought I'd show her a different, more fun, side of the big smoke. I do realise that she is stood underneath the London Eye which is incredibly touristic, however this was just on our journey..not the destination.

 We headed down to South Bank and stumbled upon the Festival of Neighbourhood. They've set up a temporary allottment, which is fun. There were so many vegetables and plants, but these were the most entertaining to look at.

 Karli also mentioned she wanted to see some cool street art. Here's some on the side of Wahaca.

 I really want to eat at this one one day. I've been to the one at White City Westfield for a work do, last year, and that was highly enjoyable. I particularly liked their quesadillas.

Here's a bit more of the Festival of Neighbourhood.I took so many photos I'm going to leave it here for today. More to come tomorrow.