London Instadiary

3 min read

This trip to Londen differed a little bit from my previous trips to the UK capital as I had plans to discover the Britsh countryside as well. So the little time I had in London I wanted to spend wisely, Shoreditch it was. The area has been one of the hippest areas in town for some time now but is rumered that it has passed its peak. Dalton, Hackney Wick, Haggerston and other areas starting with H are tipped as up-and-coming and let’s not forget King’s Cross. In Shoreditch on Saturday I focused on a nice lunch in Albion, cocktails in The Boundary (who are conveniently located in the same builing), shopping in Boxpark (where Alex from Fashercise now has a pop-up!) and a walk in Hoxton.

In between I spent some time discovering the British countryside. A couple of hours on the train and wandering around an airfield charmed me big time. I got my fill of fresh air, managed to burn my nose, and enjoyed some Pimms. With some hilarious pics and sore muscles to prove it, it sure was a great night. Our sunday plans for Nothing Hill Carnaval (appearently worthwhile if you’re in town) fell in the water quite literally so after a quite day we were off to King’s Cross and the homecountry again. Our visit to King’s Cross was short and sweet at the Granary Square branch of Caravan. This brand new square houses the University of Arts London (otherwise known as Saint Martins) and consequently is the most convenient place for fashion in-crowd to hang out. Next to Caravan you will find Grain Store which also looked very promising with its vegetable based menu. Also in the neighbourhood, Shrimpy’s, a South American restaurant based in a filling station caught my attention even though it does have mixed reviews. Plenty for a next trip to London that is!

I would like to take a second to thank Eurostar for helping me get to and back from London. When you’re planning a trip it is easy to focus all your energy on finding the cheapest price and just coping with uncomfortable traveling conditions. I also have to admit that price still is -and will be for a while- an important factor for me. The blog however has given me the opportunity to discover other ways of traveling for which I am very grateful. Traveling in Standard Premier with the Eurostar was really a treat. Even though I was quite tired, I refused to go to sleep to enjoy every second. The seats have a very confortable width, there is a electricity plug next to you and you get served with a lovely meal. These little things make a big difference on a flight or a trainride causing you to hold on to that holiday feeling a lot longer and getting more out of your trip. In the future I will be looking into pay that little extra to travel more comfortably because it really does change your travel experience.