Hello Earthlings,
This post would have been up last week but in true Lia style I left all my holiday homework until the last day of the holidays, I mean my A-Level exams start at the beginning of June so you would think I'd know better by now. But, why ruin the tradition of a lifetime? There is also the fact that today's topic is just too exciting to try and force into a mad 10-minute typing frenzy...but anyway, London! Recently, Mumma G and myself took our annual trip to London for the third year now and it still fascinates me that we find new things every time. For me, London is a truly magical place, I honestly just love it and I wouldn't ever hesitate to say it is one of my favourite places.
Starting our adventure off we stretched our legs on the walk off the train to the tube and headed for Covent Garden to sample some fine baking goods from my favourite ever bakery, Primrose Bakery (definitely an important factor into my love of London). I chose the Custard Cream cupcake which is the special flavour for the month, I already knew this as I follow them on Instagram and a granola cookie and I have to say that as usual I was not disappointed. The portions are just like usual portions and they taste divine yet I haven't yet had one that has been really sickly or just made me feel crappy. My Mum had a granola cupcake which gave her a power boost to last through the day.
We then ventured off to Baker Street, so my Mum could see Sherlock Holmes' house which was pretty cool and although we didn't go into the museum (we are aiming to do that next year when we have more time and can do it properly instead of rushing) we did go into the shop and that was full of many souvenirs. It had a really pleasant smell to it as well, I don't really know if that is relevant or not and I don't really know how I can describe it but it just added to the loveliness of the shop, which was paired with cosy lighting and typical pencils with a Holmes hat on and whatnot. My Mum purchased a magnet from there which is a bit of a tradition in our little family.
We then continued on a wander around Parliament Square and into this little yard behind Westminster Abbey which was actually quite surreal because it was so peaceful yet through a little gateway was the hustle and bustle of London life, all right in the centre of London. It was definitely a lovely find. Typical of us though we got a bit lost trying to navigate around some streets we ended up on so had to rely on some "I'm pretty sure that we can go this way" and Google maps to get us back into the buzz of people. On this little adventure we did go past the Department for Education though.
Even though this is our 3rd time going to London we have never ended up going near Downing Street so as we walked aimlessly we came across the Cenotaph which was a pretty spectacular sight which opened the doors to the view of Downing Street. That in itself was cool as there is just so much that happens there and we were just stood outside the gates at the end of it, there was also a small child at this point who was rather excited at the thought of seeing Theresa May at any moment.
We headed for common ground after our random adventure and ended up at Trafalgar Square and I have to say I was very moved by what I saw there. Outside the National Gallery we saw some chalk street art which said "This is our homeless street art and we hope you enjoy it" and one of the drawings was of a poppy with the Royal British Legion on it so we just popped a donation on and one of the men there started to talk to us. Just asking about if we were there for the day and what not and he was so upbeat and positive, he was telling us that the man who drew that bit of the art was an ex-serviceman, yet now he is on the streets of London and I'm not going to go into how unfair I think that is but I just couldn't get over how positive and kind this man was. You see so many different types of people in London, and other cities, who have all sorts of different lifestyles yet so many of them don't have the time to just smile at other people yet this man who probably only had what you could see was prepared to make a stranger smile. As we drew our conversation to a close, we continued to walk and saw a man sat on the floor making rings and giving them away for free, this itself really opened my eyes because once again a man who didn't have a lot was sat making things for other people just to make them happy. We gave a donation and took a ring each as others rummaged through them all and he smiled and said thank you. Now, whenever I see that ring I am reminded that really, it costs nothing to be kind.
Unfortunately, our time in London was coming to an end so we headed for some dinner where Mum was certain she saw Jay Z (it wasn't) and then made our way back to St. Pancras to look in the shops and wait for the train. I really love wandering around London with my Mum and I'm so glad that we have made it an annual trip. There's still so much we have to see!
Until next week,
Lia x
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