Camden Town

Happy Friday! I’m in Groblersdal to visit my parents for the weekend and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

My definite “must see” when I was in London was probably Camden Town, and I absolutely loved it, really beautiful and really old, it was laid out as a residential district from 1791. Camden is well known for its markets, dating from the 1970’s and later.

Camden Town tube station was not designed to cope with the volume of traffic it handles since the area increased in popularity, it gets extremely crowded. As of 2011, Camden tube station is closed to outbound passengers on Sunday afternoons for safety reasons. The closest tube station is Morning Crescent which I took to see Chinatown, the Strand area and St. Paul's Cathedral.

My favorite part of Strand was a building built in 1625, and the only Strand building to survive the Great Fire of London in 1666.

Highgate Cemetery (East)

This was part of my ‘must see’ list while I was in London, Highgate Cemetery was completely worth while, we even had a little picnic under some of the massive trees. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves. The cemetery is divided into 2, East and West. The West cemetery has older graves from the Victorian era and you have to book through a tour to visit, the East cemetery is still old and extremely beautiful, but it’s only a few pounds to go in.  I have a ‘thing’ for cemeteries and this was by far one of my favorites!

Notting Hill - Portobello Market

I’ve been back in South Africa for almost 6 months now, and I still haven’t shared all of my United Kingdom photos. So I thought I might carry on sharing more photos from my travels, and this particular post will be about the famous Portobello Market in Notting Hill, the market is usually in full swing on Saturdays. I loved the beautiful colorful buildings and incredible clothes, fresh-food and antiques for sale. The market began as a fresh-food market in the 19th century, antiques dealers arrived in the late 1940s and '50s, and now have a substantial number of them trading mainly on Saturday mornings. It is the largest antiques market in the UK. I took quite a long time to walk through the whole street from beginning, but it was completely worth while, especially when you end it with beer at a local pub in Portobello Road.

Winter Wonderland

On Friday Sarah and I went to the opening night of Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, we also met with Blake, 3 friends reunited from our Scotland trip that was in August. It was wonderful to see hangout for the first time since we said goodbye in Edinburgh. Winter Wonderland was absolutely amazing, you can’t even try to describe it in words. It’s absolutely mind blowing! The night was a barrel of laughs and some Steins were had too.

 

Afterwards we ended up walking around Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Soho. I had so much fun, can’t believe I have to leave this city.

lately

I had a little laptop trouble so this post is a bit late. Although other than that the past week was really good, I met with Sarah in Wimbledon where we had coffee and Mulled Wine. I found my new favorite pub in London called Roof Terrace.  It’s probably the last time in my life I would be able to say that I was drinking beer from Spain in Wimbledon London with a great friend who’s from Australia.

It was beyond cold in London this last week and I can only imagine it will get worse. I’m really not used to this type of weather. My Cute little niece had her first Ballet Class back in South Africa and I’m sad to say I had missed it. This week was also spent with Stephanie and Riley most of the time, I only have a week left in London, it feels completely unreal to think I’ll be leaving this place so soon.

My few favorites of the week was basically the Roasted Chestnut & Amaretto Lattes from Caffé Nero (tastes like Christmas), mulled Cider was an absolutely MUST and the Roof Terrace pub (which I can’t believe I only discovered 2 weeks before I have to leave for South Africa).

British Museum

The British Museum established in 1753, is a museum in London dedicated to human history and culture. On the 2nd of August Stephanie and I visited this amazing building with its beautiful architectural glass-roofed Great Court.

Windsor Castle

For Stephanie’s birthday which was on the 29th of July, we went to Windsor Castle. I loved it, it was so beautiful. The castle is notable for its long association with the British royal family and for its architecture. The castle includes the 15th-century St George's Chapel, considered by historian John Robinson to be "one of the supreme achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic" design. More than five hundred people live and work in Windsor Castle.

London South Bank

On the 28th of July Stephanie, Wayne, Riley and I went to South Bank. During summer it’s absolutely gorgeous, it’s like a carnival with the best view in the world of the London Eye, The Parliament Buildings, Big Ben and St. Pauls Cathedral.

lately

This week basically consisted of loads of hot drinks, warm jackets, hats, gloves, scarfs and cosy blankets. Joined with the cosy blanket moments was Riley watching Curious George every chance he could get, it was basically on repeat throughout the week. My favourites from the week was going to Camden Town with Stephanie, mulled wine, Toffee Nut Lattes from Starbucks and Riley’s serious face when  he watches Curious George and the cuddles he gives early mornings and after naps.

The last photo of me and Riley was taken somewhere in July, during summer, I stumbled onto this and couldn’t even begin to imagine how much I’m going to miss this little guy when I have to go back to South Africa. I only have 15 days left in London, and my, how I’m going to miss this place.