Landing in London

After 3 planes in about 26 hours I landed in London and started to make my way towards where I was staying. I arrived just before 7am and my check-in wasn’t going to be till around 3pm. I slowly started to figure out the trains to catch to get where I needed to go, and just got off at each change to pop my head above ground like a badger. Except I could see what was going on. From the airport I caught a train to Tottenham Court Road. Just outside of the station here I found a cool open public space that was hosting some video and sound display. I kind of sat here for a bit and figured out where to next. I did note that there was a Primark near this stop.

I then headed on another train and got off at Camden Town. I hadn’t managed to get my data working properly yet but I did find a HSBC that had free wifi, so I stood outside using it trying to get my esim to work properly. A woman came and asked if I had a cigarette and told her I quit 3 years ago, so unfortunately I couldn’t help her. We then just started chatting and this other dude who did have a smoke soon joined our chats. He only had one left but he shared his with Annaleigh. After the dude left, I was going to find somewhere to grab a coffee and as Annaleigh was homeless and I couldn’t help her out with a smoke, I invited her to come join me. I didn’t have any cash on me so whatever I tap and paid for was how it was going to go. She was lovely and we some great chats. It was nice to hang out with someone over a coffee. We then parted ways and I made my way back underground.

I arrived out at Burnt Oak which was where I was staying in Greater London. I managed to find a place out here that was a decent price and as I knew I would be a bit jetlaggy I was looking for somewhere good to just chill. I found a coffee shop and hung out until it was time to check in. I got a message letting me know the place was ready early for me, so I made my way there. I dropped off my belongings before walking off to a supermarket to stock up on a few things. This place had a microwave and fridge so I just wanted to pick up some supplies that I could just be for a bit.

The next day I decided to head out and about. I had been awake since 8:30am Melbourne time, and being 9 hours behind that over here I needed to make sure I got out to try to reset my body. I had flagged some places to go visit so I headed off to Monument station. I went for a walk over to the Leadenhall Markets and took a walk around there, and then made my way over towards St. Dunstan in the East Church Garden. This was such a beautiful little spot. There was one group doing a photoshoot, and another filming a music video on the other side. I could see why they pick this place to come. I also got to see some squirrels. On my way back to the station I also stopped by the Monument to the Great Fire of London.

I then headed back over to Tottenham Court Road station and realised that the art space was changing and there was another cool piece happening today. I arrived at the tail end of the cycle so found a seat and sat down to see the whole display. I then went to Primark which was my main reason for coming this way in the first place. I had been looking forward to coming back here to see what this season had to offer, especially as I thought I would be able to get new black singlets and such. Which I did. I then had something to eat before making my way back before I crashed too hard.

On Friday I got to catch up again with Annabel. On my way to meet her I was thinking about how we met at Outlook Festival at the end of July last year (so almost known each other a year), and I have probably caught up with her more times than anyone else I know since then. We also met up at Tottenham Court Road, and yep, there was a different display on the screens today too. After sussing it out we went straight off for a good decent feed.

It turns out the British Museum is open late on Friday evenings so we headed there to check it out. I hadn’t actually visited it at all on my previous trip, so it was interesting to go see all the things that Britain has stolen over the years. We walked around and chatted for a bit before winding up at a whiskey bar and then heading through the bookcase to the cocktail bar downstairs. I was starting to hit the wall, but the bartender knew what I needed and prescribed me a Corpse Reviver. Apparently three of them is a good number, but I was good at two, especially after the whiskey and knowing I had a train to catch back. So we called it quits and said our see ya laters!

I had a bit of a look to see what was around where I was staying and chose to go visit Hampstead on Saturday. It is a very cute place and has some lovely grounds to walk through. I made my way over to Kenwood House to check it out and see the art collection inside. The grounds were so lovely to walk through before and after. There were some amazing tree characters about. After exploring I headed back to Burnt Oak, did some work, and got myself ready for checking out in the morning.