Time is truly flying in London. Already i'm getting the hang of this commute, and beginning to see different places in London.
I decided to go to a running club this week, and picked the Nike shop in Covent Garden. I had hoped it would be a fairly sedate affair, but instead it was how iimagine a zombie apocalypse would be played out; ducking and diving commuters and tourists in a frenzied attempt not to lose sight of the Nike pacer, especially as I didn't know which bridges we were looking out for!
We saw some lovely sights though, including the Savoy hotel and the really cool Milennium bridge:
I walked back over it a day or two later so I could really take it in, the architecture is really nice.
This week I also went on a sunny stroll along the Southbank. It's a real liquorice allsorts type place; fancy wine bars next to chicken shops and a skatepark/graffiti area; all set against the backdrop of an art space. Very cool though, it feels quite European:
In other exciting news, i'm officially London now, as I got me one of these:
This is the key to getting anywhere in "the City". Its basically a plastic travelcard that you just have to tap on buses and tubes. I don't know how it *actually* works, but i like to think it's special magic. Special London magic!
Last weekend I had a lovely surprise too, as my old friend Claire came to visit me in Kingston. It's only a walk away from where I am, so I strolled down and we enjoyed a great day of gossiping and shopping in equal measure. She even treated me to a birthday lunch, in an awesome fifties diner where I had the closest thing to a SpongeBob Squarepants Krabby Patty you'll ever see!
Isn't it amazing?! So delicious. I hope I get to go back there one day!
It was a good haul for me; I spent the gift card I got when I left my old job on a flamingo print dress. Then I carried on the theme by buying some work pumps with flamingos too!
I definitely feel a summer theme coming on.
As i've been home alone for a bit, on Easter Friday I decided to go and be among people for a while. I'm staying with friends temporarily, so need to start scouting out areas for me to live in. I decided to check out Clapham. It was recommended to me a few times and was fairly close.
Finding places to live in London is harder than it sounds! You need to factor in location, proximity to work (ie how long will your commute be) and then what method of transport you want to use for work (car, bike, bus, feet, tube, train etc). Then how close to a station/stop you will be, before finally looking at things in the vicinity and then room, housemates etc. not forgetting budget! Essentially, good bloody luck. I figure you write down what you want, then cross these out and write what you NEED, and then prioritise from there. If you can get half you are probably doing alright.
Anyway, so i had a little stroll around. I actually quite liked it, although the Common (patch of grass) which gets raved about in Clapham, is basically just that. A patch of grass. However, with not many people having gardens, or any greenery whatsoever, in London, it is quite a big deal.
Coming from somewhere where parks are fairly bog standard, I can't believe this is so fantastic; however I definitely need green spaces and fresh air wherever I go, so Clapham is definitely an option. It also scored bonus points for having a Waitrose, a place which sold veggie sandwiches, and a shop full of fruit-printed dresses.
Watch this space for more Locationwatch reports over the coming weeks as I also have Wimbledon, Putney, Islington and Ealing in my sights.
:)
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