All the Nerdy Things

I have a couple of notes in my planner that go along the lines of, “Did nuffin but sat on the couch,” and, “HUMID AS TAIWAN! D:”Which is not a thing I would write lightly because I have memories of lying on the tiled floor of our apartment in Taiwan, wondering if people in humid countries had secret gills because otherwise I didn’t understand how they breathed with so much water in the air. So because I am unfortunately not that mix of human fish that is apparently needed to live close to the ocean, we had a few days of nothing. Which was fine, because other days were like this where we did ALL OF THE THINGS and it all just balanced out. 

Looking back, it’s really not a surprise that I had blisters on my feet. We did a lot of walking. The British Museum, the British Library, Primrose Hill (guys, that is a hike up that hill) and Regent’s Park, Camden Market, Baker Street and then went to SoHo for dinner.

 

The British Museum is gorgeous. Actually, all the museums and galleries that I went to while I was in London were the exact opposite of stuffy and boring. Just the way everything is displayed and arranged is so well thought out and captivating. I loved going from one exhibition to the next and it didn’t feel overwhelming or boring. Here we followed the museum’s one hour walk through, though we lingered over different things that intrigued us and were definitely there longer. But with everything we wanted to do, we couldn’t take as long as I would have liked. Which just means I’ll have to go back!

 

The British Library was one of my favourite places to visit. They even had a stamp display…that I was super excited to see and, unfortunately, had been taken down for some cleaning or some such thing. Which I was sad about because stamps, guys. Other than the disappointment of not being able to look at how inexpensive it used to be to send mail, I loved looking through the books and sheets of music that they have on display. Then we went and spent a good half an hour in the bookshop, wanting all of the things.

 

Then off we went to Camden Market where we looked through all the stalls and I marvelled at just how bright and interesting and how very not small town Saskatchewan it was. From freshly made orange juice to handmade wallets to knock off DocMartens to skirts that looked like they’d been thought up by someone who had a fascination with old westerns and the 80’s, I had a lot of fun just looking at everything. I also heavily considered getting that shirt for my dad. And then I remembered that it costs less to just send him a picture instead.

 

Off to Primrose Hill we went, where I finally had the customary picture taken with the phone booths and mail boxes. Which, I shall have you all know, I actually ended up using. The phone booth, not the mail boxes, interestingly enough. I mean, everyone has their picture taken with them, but how many people actually end up using them? Primrose really is prim and proper and definitely not Camden. The quietness and calmness after the bustle was relaxing and it just felt really quaint. We popped into Primrose Hill Books and had a look around at the overloaded shelves. I love it when bookshops are like that, where it looks like someone’s just put a book wherever there was space but there’s really an order to everything. A controlled chaos of sorts.

 

 

Since Vimbai knows that I love Sherlock Holmes, she took me down to Baker Street. Unfortunately we were about an hour too late to go in, but it was probably better for my wallet that we didn’t, so instead I just took a ridiculous amount of photos and briefly debated on how to chisel out one of the tiles at the stop.  Next time, however, I will go in because some nerdy things you just have to do.

 

We rounded off our wonderful day at BiBimBap in SoHo. Where I drank almost my weight in water and the waiter started side eying me a little as, every time he passed by our table, he’d have to refill my glass and that’s just a lot of water. The food was ridiculously delicious (we actually tried to recreate it at the house later on in my visit and got pretty close.) But vegetables and chicken with hot sauce, an egg on top for Vimabi and I got to practice my chopstick skills, so just a win all around.

 

Things I’m Loving:

+ Advice for your daughter – (Or you know, people in general.)
+ This great idea – (For when you have guests.)
+ Would you be able to do this? –  (This family lives like it’s 1986!)
+ This travel site – (Isn’t overwhelming and the design is so clean and simple.)