6 weeks had passed through china, Mongolia and Russia, and as I close the whirlwind chapters of the tran Siberian co written with chloe and Eric, we all split in our separate directions. Touching down in London in the late afternoon Eric headed off to Leeds and chloe and I caught the tube into the city. Purchasing a special edition oyster card (in celebration of the upcoming jubilee weekend For the Queens 60yrs in rein), I passed over my pounds and thanked the man with "speceeba" (thank you in Russian) exchanging a strange glance and my change, I actually had to take a moment to think, the process being; "what country...right, the uk, and how do I thank them...oh, of course, yep...THANKYOU?" wow...back in an English seeking country...no more body language, pointing and bizarre charades? It's surprising how hard it is to shake the above after making it an everyday practice in order to communicate!
Having lived in London for over two years in 2008, It's hard to write about a place which had in fact become such a part of me, where I had established life long friends, worked several jobs and lived in many different areas from brick lane to the tower of london! I knew the secrets to the city, became a local and above all really lived the fast paced London life. Therefore I found it difficult at first to look at it with a new vision, through the eyes of a traveller...and no longer as I once viewed it, as a place I called my home.
First stop; I made my way out to zone 6 to a small little residential are called pinner in the north west to stay with my beautiful and inspirational friend Amrita (A). I had met A when I lived on brick lane, as her and a friend were in the flat above me. Before too long we became the closest friends and within only a month of knowing each other had booked a three month trip to India together. She is an incredibly passionate activist that will change the world for the good one step at a time! It was amazing to see her again as she was such a big part of my old London life! We spent our time catching up, lunching in parks, drinking on brick lane and watching Bollywood films!
Come the weekend; The weather was out to impress, as the sun was blazing so the streets of London were swimming with cheerful people in their trendy summer dresses...making the most of what is such a rarity...(good weather). I took myself east into my old stomping ground on that special sunny Saturday to fall back in love with London. Checking out a huge vintage kilo sale (only 15pounds per kg) I picked myself a bag full before heading to my favorite coffee; Verdes. The not so happy waitress Served me a deliciously froffy cappuccino as i sat outside on the bench seat to watch the world walk by. It is honestly ridiculous how much the weather can predict..London in the summer; there's honestly nothing else like it...the parks are full of playful groups, drinking cider and bbqing delicious treats whilst the markets are booming with colourful crowds as street buskers belt out boppy tunes, it's almost as if the city dances. Come cold, when the rain falls and the wind violently shakes you with shivers...frowns are worn on the faces of lifeless passive people...perhaps a vivid exaggeration, but it's definitely a contrast.
That afternoon I met my beautiful friend holly for a drink at our favorite local; The commercial tavern! Hols lived with A above me on brick lane so we became close then, but just last year she moved out to aus and we lived together in bondi and became inseparable! Scoring our selves a pretty window seat upstairs and a delicious jug of fruity pims life was like no time had passed as found ourselves dreamy of our next summer by the beach together! That night we caught the train to billericay, Essex to stay with hol's parents for the weekend. Feeling the need to check out the Essex nightlife which has a reputation for tacky ladies, dressed in almost nothing but fake tan and far too high heels slagging off each other...we couldn't resist. About an hour of standing in a corner sipping on drinks and laughing at the various characters we called it a night! The next day we went out for a delicious family lunch and caught an afternoon film, We also took her smart car for a leisurely drive in the country side. The lush green hills rolled into one another only to be separated by the occasional pub and the deceptively small and windy road.
Making my way back to London town the next day to be consumed by the thick city smoke and hectic underground I went all the way west and a little south to west Kensington to meet one of my incredible drama girls. I had met chloe at a drama course at Central school in 2009, so when I put on the vagina monologues in London she was one of my actresses. Chloe has this amazing intense presents, her vibrant and infectious energy is greatly missed in my life so it was amazing spending a few days at her house! She lives in a beautiful old terrace house with her sister whilst studying at lamda. During the day when she was at school I went over east again to meet one of my other vagina monologue actresses and very talented writer Juliet. I met the beautiful jules also at central school, Such a dear friend, i feel like i have known her a lifetime. After getting lost in the lush victoria park for half and hour i finally arrived to be served a delicious crab meat salad as we spent the afternoon on her sunny terrace in her 70s deck chairs catching up! Her house was the upper floor of a lovely old brick terrace and in a really nice location. Before too long the afternoon had crept by and I was on my way to meet chloe (craines) for a well earned drink on bricklane, stumbling upon cafe1001, (the prime place for people watching) one turned into two...and soon enough we were a little drunk and darkness had fallen. The next morning craines and i met for delicious breakfast at a cafe in the west to book our flights to Portugal and work out other european plans. In the afternoon I took her for a little tour through the lush parts of the west; hyde park, harrods (where i used to work) and Sloanne square before making my way back to Amritas house in Pinner.
The next morning I caught the tube back in the city with my 20kg backpack and side luggage that I seem to have accumulated, to visit the lovely Mickayla. Micky is a wonderfully kind and good hearted friend who I worked with at harrods in 2009. She lives in the tower of London as her dad is a beefeater, and I was lucky enough to have stayed there for 5 weeks before leaving London last time! It was really nice catching up with her family over lunch in the tower before heading off to Victoria coach station to meet Carly (my old house mate who now lives in Leeds) to catch the 4 and half hour megabus north with her.
We arrived into leeds just after 7 to be picked up by Nat (another of our old housies) and Eric who drove us back to Nats where I was to be staying for the weekend. I met Nat in Australia as she came over to visit Carly and Eric for a few months and ended up living with us. She is a very excitable and dear friend who i have missed in my sydney life, however not the most confident of drivers...Heading into three lanes of one way traffic in the wrong direction we almost didn't make it home! Nat served us up a delicious curry and we devoured a good part of my vodka while I met a lot of her beautiful university friends. Near to midnight we headed out to a club called wire and entertained ourselves with a few more shots and a game of 3,2,1... The next day waking a little late we went to see Eric and Carl's for breaky then went for a Rollerskate around hyde park. In the eve a group of about 12 of us (nats uni girls that all live in the same street) all went out to dinner for Amy's ( one of Nats housies) birthday drinks. After a delicious meal we made our way to a bar with an incredible view of the city lights for another drink then escaped home. The Saturday celebrations had finally arrived and we all made our way to a street party a few blocks down, paying an entrance fee of just 2pounds it was really set up, inclusive of food stalls, portaloos, and several stages with sound systems, although yet to attract the crowds. Eric, Carl's and I ran home to put on another layer and to down a few ciders before heading back to it in full force. We then dashed home to put on our summer ball attire of cocktail dresses and went for a drink to celebrate Nats brothers birthday. A few bottles of champagne and pimms back at the girls house and we were finally on our way! With so much pre drinking the ball all blends a little into a few short hours! Being impossible to keep the group all together in huge halls area with different stages set up we all broke off. There were rides, rain and copious amounts of students dressed up to the nines, It was a really fun night but I'm not sure if it was worth the amount of money we paid for the tickets. Running home in the wet at 4:30am I called it a night as I fell asleep to Lou Theroux. The next day was a bit of a ride off...spending the majority of watching the british weather drizzle down and keep me under covers before baking a few treats for the jubilee weekend. Eric, Nat and I went our for an incredible feed of curry sided with the biggest nan breads I have ever seen! Monday came around pretty quick as I said my goodbyes to all of the lovely girls I had spent the weekend with and caught a taxi to get the bus back to London.
Arriving in at about half 7 I caught the tube south to Brixton to stay with another friend I had met at harrods Bridie. Such a lovely soul, I feel so special to have her in my life! We both are very much on the same page with life and it's antics and although we have barely spoken in the past few years it feels as if no time has passed! Dumping my heavy bags we headed straight out for dinner to the ritzy cinema for a bottle of wine and some pizza, moving on from there we walked around the block to a cute little bar that prides itself on their 3pound flavorsome cocktails. Bridie had work off the next day so we headed into the Oxford st for some cheap, cheerful but not needed items from primark then headed down not covert garden area to check out an incredible women's shop originally set up by The daughter of the body shop! Coffee and cake helped us through the afternoon but soon enough the English weather drove us home to change into warmer clothes. Strolling around the lanes of Brixton most of the town was shut from the long weekend but we luckily found ourselves a cute little Japanese restaurant that were incredibly generous with their servings, we both ordered miso soup served in large ceramic plates that we couldn't finish, so quickly retired back to watch "contempt", a lovely French film with Bridget Bardot in her prime. The next morning Bridie set off for work whilst i re packed one months worth of clothes into a small 10kg backpack abiding to the weight limits for Ryan air. Stuffing the rest of my belongings under her bed I set off with my very small but liberating bag to meet some friends in covert garden! In two short hours I had frozen yogurt with Nat, craines, Dave and Fabio, then a lunch of delicious italian with Micky and Wei-yee before making my way back east towards jules house.
Arriving just after 5 we quickly set off again to meet her boyfriend James at he cinema to see a new 3d sci-fi film which I was pleasantly surprised by. Returning home just after 9 we had a lovely dinner of sausages and mash, accompanied by a few glasses of red and a white Russian. With only two hours sleep I woke at 2am to catch a cab into Liverpool street station, a half hour wait in the cold and finally the bus to stansted airport arrived. Getting in just after four I hurried to find Erica and Carly who had come straight from Leeds, and we headed towards our 6am flight to Sweden. Back on the road, with a down sized bag containing only the necessaries to last me a month I'm excited for what is to come.
Fanny xx
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