TRAVEL | back to london

Falling behind on blogging already. London was about 4 cities ago and I had just managed to finished editing all the photos today. Guess this is what happens when you're having fun.

London was just as good as I had remembered. Since I've basically visited all the spots I've had bookmarked the last time I was in town, I didn't have too much planned to see, which worked out for me because I was kind of beat from Edinburgh. It's also worth mentioning that I got extremely lucky this time in London--a tube strike was scheduled on the day I was supposed to arrive, however the whole event was suspended the night before. High fives all around!

As much as I loved my hostel from my last trip, I thought it'd be interesting to switch it up a little. This time I checked into Wombats London. I stayed at their other chains in Munich and Vienna in 2013 and was always very impressed with their facilities. And as expected, I had a great time. I was placed in the highest floor, which had a breathtaking view of Southern London

I was lucky enough to have been in the city to see the { Charles Pétillon } installation in Covent Garden. When it launched, almost every one on my facebook dashboard was posting about it, and I'm not going to lie I felt a small sense of smug satisfaction that I got to see it in person.

I also took a brief break from London and hopped on a train with Thomas to Rye for a short day trip out of the city. This little town, located in South Sussex, was recommended by a friend whom had just visited the day before. She showed me some photos that morning and I was sold.

Ok back to London

No trip to London is complete without a stop over at { Borough Market } & { Columbia Flower Market }. 

Living 20 mins by foot from Borough Market was like a dream come true. Wake up at 9 and get there by 10, which in my opinion is the perfect time to visit because all the vendors have set up, but all the tourists haven't arrived yet. 

TRAVEL | the first stop

As long as I've waited for this trip (about 2 long years), it seems like only yesterday I began my first euro journey. There was always no doubt in my mind that Edinburgh would be my first stop again. I remember visiting { the first time } and falling head-over-heels for the rolling green hills and medieval streets. On this visit, I stayed for a total of 5 nights. It still surprises me how little of the city I saw in 2013, and therefore I took it upon myself to wake up early each day to explore every nook and cranny I came across. 

I began my trip with a morning hike up { Arthur's Seat }. It was the first thing on my itinerary because wouldn't feel like a Eurotrip without it. And when I reached the top the views were just as spectacular as I had remembered. I still can't believe Edinburghers get to come here whenever they want. I wouldn't mind hiking or jogging every day if I this is the kind of environment I get to surround myself with. 

2015 has been a year of happy accidents (travel wise) because turns out I had booked days in Edinburgh without knowing that the famous { Fringe Festival } was (still) in town. I had heard of the festival a few weeks earlier and had expected to miss it but I had no idea it ran for a whole month! I was so surprised when I first arrived because the streets were just filled to the brim with people. And despite all the people, I was more than impressed as to how flawlessly everything seemed to run, especially for a festival of this magnitude. 

Here's some stats from this years Fringe Fest: 50,459 performances of 3,314 shows in 313 venues!!!!!! I mean, can you imagine the level of planning that must've gone into this. Those people must be management wizards to the highest degree. Teach me please!

I managed to catch two shows during my stay. The first, a lecture on parapsychology: { Unbelievable: The Science of the Paranormal }. It was quite interesting; during the show we played some fun games which revealed some paranormal facts about yourself. Apparently I'm very susceptible to hypnosis. 

The second show was {  Thones! The Musical }, which was hilarious and played by a ultra talented group called Baby Wants Candy. I highly recommend it to fans of GoT. Hopefully they'll return next year with an updated show!

I always see jetlag as sort of a blessing in disguise when I travel because I end up waking up so much earlier than what I'm used to back at home. The extra hours in the mornings open up a lot of opportunities to explore.

This is Leith, a harbour town just a mile or two outside of the city center. It was a pretty dreary morning and I had to admit even I found it quite depressing, but then I later came across a small farmers market which boosted moral just a little bit.

photo 7 by Paige Roche