You always know that someone is having a great time if they haven't been on the internet too much. I have blog guilt because I barely updated at all last week. I am going to blame this on the fact that we didn't have internet in our room or a power outlet where I could safely charge my computer. I was also having a riot in London.
I've decided to break it down a little and fill you in with a heap of photos and some basic updates!
Sunday was market day, LC, Lo-P and I hit up the Spittafield markets and the Sunday up Markets. It was really awesome, heaps of stalls, lots of cool clothes and fun things, antiques, yummy Portuguese custard tarts and the most delicious vego curry. LC bought the prettiest Leighton Meester headband and Lo got one with black/opaly/emerald feathers. There was so much that I couldn't decide what to buy so I got my undercut cut instead.
Sunday afternoon we moved to our new hostel in Hyde Park. It was so nice staying with Lauren, but seeming as she was sleeping on the floor it was hardly a long term thing! Anyway, the hostel was pretty much the most unorganised, poorly managed dirty shit-hole I have ever seen. LC and I refused to use the bankets we were given (good thing we didn't need them). The only good things were that we were sharing our room with the two cutest french girls (Colette & Margeaux) and the fact that because we were on the top floor we had a beautiful view over the rooftops and of the church spire. It was like something out of Mary Poppins (chim-chimeny, Chim-chimeny chim chim cheroo)
Given the relative freedom of an english speaking country where our phones worked, Monday was a date-yourself day. LC went shopping and I went to galleries. I started of at Lisson Gallery, a decent sized contemporary art space just near edgeware road station. They were showing their Summer Exhibition (an English thing) a curated affair with a number of artists across their two gallery spaces. Downstairs in the first gallery they were showing a video piece which showed a glass eyeball being blown. Having previously blown glass i was intrigued by the process, using all of the same techniques but in miniature form. It was mesmerising. The catalogue paper said that it is the kind of exhibiion that you should go to once on your own and then revisit with a friend.
From there I went down to the west end and looked at some galleries just off of oxford street. I was fairly impressed by Stuart Shave/Modern Art and also Alan Cristea Gallery which had some pieces by Julian Opie that I really enjoyed.
In the afternoon I wandered down to Hyde park.
Tuesday was spent at the Tate modern, a full day was required by the both of us just to see what was on display. I was so excited because they had a special exhibit on Futurism (my favourite movement). It was a really great exhibition that I would recommend to anyone visiting London. It goes through the major works of the Futurist movement, their manifesto and their aims and also follows their influence through their peers. The works cover 1909-14, and go in to depth about how the Duchamp brothers were following some of the main principles of Futurism, as well as how other french artists work was effected by Futurism, especially after the exhibited in Paris. Amazingly, despite Futurism being founded by such fascist, masochistic mysoginistic men, there was also quite a few women who adopted a Futurist outlook (per say). Interesting also where the dynamisists and the works by Kazimir Malevich who later solely founded russian supremitism.
Wednesday was date-yourself, I slept in AMAZING and then went to find a pair of shoes in gap, except they didn't end up having them. After that I took a stroll in Hyde park, it was such a lovely day and the trees were like something out of an Enid Blyghton book. I was feeling bit sick (some kind of tummy bug) so I took it pretty easy. Later on I met up with LC at Trafalga square and by then I was feeling positively queasy. I sat for a while and then we stareted to walk to Leicester Square so we could see Harry Potter(!!!!!!). but then I ruined it all by gracelessly vomiting on the sidewalk. It was horrible.
Thursday we did date-yourself again, I planned to see some more galleries (in the East end) but ended up spending hours in starbucks reading Twilight. After a while I realised i\I was totally wasting my trip so I went to Old street station so I could see a bit of Shoreditch which I had been promised was excellent. I walked passed Favela where Mary used to work and kept going, discovering a sweet little ARI gallery on the way. Somehow I took a wrong turn and ended up back near the sunday markets so I decided to have a look around and wandered down brick lane.
I have never sen such a high concentration of vintage stores in one place. Soooooo much overpriced vintage. But it was fun to poke around in. I decided to head towards Vyner Street for the galleries but I never made it as far as the East End because it felt like I was walking into the ghetto and away from the cool people. I turned back and had some yummy Arabic food and read some more twilight. Then as I wandered back along Brick lane I found a shop/bazarr selling lots of small up and coming local designers. Tried on a really nice dress and ended up buying a hat.
Thursday night Lo had decided to take us out. LC and I went to her house, I made chocolate strawberries and then we went to a club name Jalouse. It was fantastic (in a crazy good/completely horrible way) we got a free drink and free entry which was pretty good. The place was full of boys that had payed heaps to be there, so we were kind of like prostitutes, and all the guys were total twats. The music was good though so we danced for a while, spent $24 on a Gin and Tonic and then danced some more. Spending that much time with a bunch of rich stuck up boys made me realise a lot about the very apparent class stratification present in London. You should ask LC about Crabtree (don't worry Mrs Cook, nothing happened!).
Bitch noisy girl was a total pain in the morning when we were trying to sleep, banging and clanging, but its not surprising that we still somehow managed to sleep in till midday when Krysten arrived. We decided to go down to the Borough markets with her, just south of the Thames. Its a cute little market under a railway overpass where apparently a scene from Harry Potter was filmed. It was all fresh and local foods and it was all really yummy! LC had a really good coffee mde using a filter sitting in a weird cup-like structure, and we poked fun at the fresh caught flounders (they have both eyes on the same side of their head). We bought two types of olives, pesto, a baguette, a cookie, cheese, turkish delight and some perfectly ripe tomatoes and then took our picnic down to a park. It was really great to catch up with Krysten whom i haven't seen for 3 years. Its funny how sometimes so much has happened, but friendships can just pick up where you left them off. Later that night we went to try and see Harry Potter (seeming as I had vommed the last time we tried), but the cinema wasn't showing it so we saw The Hangover instead. It was sooooo funny. Wen we got home just after midnight, bitch noisy girl kicked me when I was getting my PJ's off my bed by phone light (I was polite enough not to turn on the light). Stupid backpackers, if you have a problem with he 'erratic' times other people keep, don't sleep in a 5 bed dorm.
KRYSEN: this is a horrible photo to make up for the one on facebook of me with my backpack. HA. 
Lo had told us that the Portabello markets were really good, especially on saturday mornings, so LC, Krysten and I headed there in the morning. It was so crowded that by the time we got to the bit with the stalls we could barely move and definitely couldn't look at anything properly, so we decided to abort. We found a cute patisserie on the high street and had a yummy breakfast. I had organic sourdough rye and the BIGGEST cup of coffee EVER. It was like a bowl.
After breakfast LC and I went to the train station and caught the train over to France, which is where we are now, but more about that later!
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