London: A Day-by-Day Recount

V.

A very enjoyable, relaxing morning drinking tea and reading the Saturday papers. After spending the morning at home we met up with Kate, a friend of Chris', and together caught one of the famous big red buses to the Borough Markets. It was truly the hotspot for gourmet food and vegetables. There was a great atmosphere in the surrounding bars filled to the brim with Londoners. Everyone was there for the same purpose...to share some drinks with friends beside the Thames. After socialising over a few bottles of white wine and some lovely cheese, we ended the outing with a beautiful walk over the bridge admiring the illuminated city.

VI.


Who says the sun rarely shines in London...
At the sight of the sun for the umpteenth time that week I decided it was the perfect day to head to the Camden Markets.
Apart from the fabulous range of clothing and antiques, I was transfixed by the waft of aromas of the different foods in the stalls. 
Arario, a cute Korean designer, entertained me for the next half hour while I tried on almost her entire collection and left with two large bags under my arms. Her clothes were so funky that I ended up with a coat, long blue skirt, furry jumper, leather skirt and a pair of cool green socks.
After some serious thought on the matter, I eventually decided on a curry which I enjoyed by the river with the sun beating down on my back.
After circling the market once more I went to Regents Park and watched the local teams play soccer for a while.
Back at home that night Chris and I shared a bottle of red and discussed family, friends and the beauties of home.


VII.


Today I was in serious need of some culture, and so I caught the tube to Somerset House on the Strand.
'The Spanish Line', an exhibition of drawings from a variety of Spanish artists, was being shown in the gallery. Despite the fact it had works by Picasso and a few other big names, compared to some of the recent exhibitions I'd visited I didn't think much of it.
I dined in the gallery cafe for lunch and had a delicious poached chicken, cous cous, orange, rocket and pomegranate salad washed down with a coffee. 
I had a great time viewing the Dazed & Confused exhibition being exhibited in another gallery at Somerset. It had a fantastic collection of fashion photos from the twenty years of the magazine's production including some fantastic shots of Kate Moss.
The final cultural installments for the day were the Pipilotti Rist and George Condo shows at the Hayward Gallery; the former incredibly interesting, the latter rather boring.
The London eye was alight as was the rest of the city, so I had a mindless stroll along the Thames and into the city.


VIII.
Finally some familiar faces! In Shoreditch that morning I met Carly and Harry for a coffee and big catch up. After the caffeine hit we walked to Angel, grabbed a quick burrito and met another visitor to London, Joe, and together we booked tickets for the screening of Rum Diaries.
We had a great evening...the four of us bought some drinks and climbed onto Joe's roof to watch the happenings of the city. We were turn joined by Luke, and as Joe was heading to Berlin that week we discussed the things that must be seen and done in one of my favourite European cities.
At 9pm I was greeted by another very friendly face, Maryam. We had a fun few hours in her college dorm reminiscing about our times with everyone in Bolivia. At midnight we met her friends and went to a nearby pub, Rocket, and passed the evening drinking with some other British lads.

IX.

I said goodbye to Maryam as she headed off to her law lecture that morning and made my way to Holborn for a coffee & catch up with Guy, an old friend of mum and dad. We had a quick chat after which I went back to Somerset House to meet Carly and have another peek at Dazed & Confused. We had a pleasant cup of tea outside by the Thames and I then went to the National Potrait Gallery for the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize. The entrants were phenomenal, and had it not been for the gallery having to close I could have spent many hours more studying the subjects and camera techniques.

X.

Shoreditch is the place to be (or so I've heard) in London these days. For the morning I wandered through the shops and bought a wicked chunky ring from A142. I headed to Ruby's cafe where I sat for a healthy lunch and had a giggle to myself as I listened to the couple beside me discuss their punishing techniques for their child. My afternoon was comparably boring as I had to get back to the Visa Application Centre to pick up my passport, however on the way I walked past Buckingham Palace and admired it's beauty in the low lighting. My trip to the Application Centre did mean one marvelous thing...I am now definitely heading to the land of curries, spices and traffic jams.