TRAVEL | weekend in london

I can never pass up and opportunity to travel to London. So when my friend, { Blessy }, asked me to go, I hopped on board immediately. I haven't added new bookmarkts to my London map over the years, so this 2-day trip was mostly spent revisiting old favourite spots, lunch and coffee dates with friends, and taking pictures of random people on the street walking in front of stuff (you'll see what I mean).

Day 1:

My go-to accomodation in London is { Wombats City Hostel }. The service, facilities, and staff
are always so realiable. The location is a convenient 8 minute walk to two different tube stations,
and within walking distance of bricklane/shoreditch area. But really the best part is their secret
rooftop reading room--a quiet nook that only two rooms have access to unless you ask for permission.
I think most guests don't even know that it's there, given that there is a huge bar in the basement.
On my longer trips I like to take my stuff up there to read or edit photos on the computer.
And I haven't even mentioned how great the view is from up there!

As usual, I stopped by Borough Market on Saturday morning for some breakfast. Since I woke up
extra early that day, most of the market hadn't even finished setting up when I arrived. To past the
time I grabbed a coffee at Monmouth and drew/wrote in my sketchbook for a bit. The German Deli
across from Monmouth caught my eye so I decided to go inside to see what they sold. It was funny to
see the random german brand chipsor Haribo gummy bears you can buy for a euro or two at any
Edeka or Späti back in Berlin displayed with so much care.

The only stop I planned for the trip was { The House of MinaLima }, a shop slash exhibition space
housing the graphic artwork from all the Harry Potter films. It was really amazing to see all the work
that the two designers put into achiving the look and feel of movies in person. I wish they sold
printed copies of the Daily Prophet, I might have bought one for myself. I highly recommend this
spot for any artist, illustrator, or fan of the series.

Spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with my friend { Pearl Law }, an illustrator living in London, walking around Shoreditch. Then I went back to my hostel for a quick power nap before Blessy was finally free to meet for a drink at my hostel. But I couldn't end the evening without a salt beef bagel from the famous Beigel Bake on Brick Lane. The bagels they serve there are so good that the snow, wind, and subzero temperatures couldn't keep me away.

Day 2:

Second day was just as cold as the first. Luckily, it had stopped snowing for a few hours in the morning so I decided to walk to Columbia Flower Market. I always love taking pictures of people here.

London will always have a special place in my heart. The first time I visited in 2012 was also the first time I traveled to a foreign country without my family. That trip changed the whole travel game for me and it's always nice to reminisce how things have changed since then. 

TRAVEL | borough market, the happiest place on earth

I have been waiting so long to get this post up and running. In the midst of all that has been happening I found very little time to upload and edit old photographs. I still can hardly believe that it's been 3 months since the big trip has ended. I still catch myself daydreaming about my old travels, and then subsequently daydreaming about new ones. However, travel plans for the near future will be put on hold since I have a lot of saving to do all over again - and not to mention, school and work will be keeping me busy as well. So in the meantime, these photos will have to do.

Presenting: Borough Market. Where do I even begin? It is the BEST food market I have ever been - and I've visited several around Europe. They have these sandwiches with fresh sausages made from wild game (boar, deer, phesants - take your pick), fresh fruit/cheese, raclette grilled to order, the most delicious mulled wine, loaves and loaves of homemade bread, and other misc. food shops. I can be there ALL DAY and just be full from eating little bits of deliciousness.

I couldn't quite capture the sheer massiveness of this sandwich but they were each about the lenght of my arm. Probably meant to feed a family of four.

I usually like to buy some cheese, bread, or pastries to take home for an afternoon snack. The hardest part is resisting the urge to buy everything I see.

Raspberry & Chilli goat cheese ice cream from [ Greedy Goat ]

As I've mentioned before, there are many so opportunities to sample at the market. Therefore, if is of the utmost importance that you arrive early in the morning with an empty stomach and a thirst for adventure because I can guarantee you'll find something new and interesting to try.

For more information check out [ Borought Market ]

Edit // 

I had actually written more but somehow blogger decided to suddenly crash on me. It's 12am and this was the best I could do to recover what I wrote. :(