London Travelogue, Part 1
Hackney, Highbury, Kensington, and Chelsea
Hello! This is the first half of our London trip. You can read about Days 4 to 6 here.
I wouldn’t remember anything detailed from this trip except I journaled this time. Otherwise I would’ve told you something like “London is a beautiful city!” or “We walked 50 miles!” or other general and unspecific things. Usually I get so caught up in the traveling that I forget to document the little things, but luckily I took notes for once. I’ve been meaning to visit London for a few years now, since my friend
moved there in 2020. Whenever we exchange voice memos, I’m always curious about the chatter and traffic in the background of her messages, imagining what it’d be like to live among the charming British. She’d tell me about her favorite stationary shops and fabric stores, walks through gardens, and funny British sayings that made no sense to Americans. Now I’d get to experience most of these things for myself along with Steve over seven days.We stayed in Hackney, in an art deco building with pink and blue trim, right off Urswick Road. The wood floor squeaked and the view was nothing special, but it was quiet and had hangers for our coats. It was also a 10-minute walk from Kassie.
Saturday, Day 1
As soon as we got off the train and descended the steps to the street, Kassie with her bike was the first person I spotted. Big hugs all around. She welcomed us and walked us to our Airbnb, before leaving us to rest. We had only caught a few hours of sleep on our direct flight. But Kassie was throwing a party that night to celebrate her birthday a few weeks before, so we had a reason to rally. After hanging up all of my things and laying horizontal for a few minutes, we picked up a few groceries at a convenience store across the street. Tea, milk, oatmeal, peanut butter, a few apples. Then we headed to dinner at a tiny Vietnamese place called Hai Cafe, where we ordered chicken curry and spring rolls for takeaway.
Kassie’s party was a delight. We got to see her house and meet her friends from all over. My other friend, Corey, has been living with her for the last six months. She was returning from a visit to the U.S. that night and we didn’t want to miss her. We roasted marshmallows, watched Eurovision, and snuggled the house’s dog, Tilly. Just as we started feeling woozy from jet lag around 10:30 p.m., Corey arrived. More big hugs all around.
Sunday, Day 2
Steve’s favorite soccer team is Arsenal, so he had booked a tour of the Emirates Stadium at 10:30 a.m., which meant waking up by 8:30 a.m. to account for our jet-lagged brains and the 45-minute travel time. We’ve been watching a lot of Ted Lasso, so I was on board with the visit. They had a game later that day so the energy was high. Steve kept refreshing StubHub to monitor ticket prices. If they dropped low enough, we’d try to go. But as we approached game time at 4 p.m., we made the decision to watch the match in a pub instead.
In between the tour and game, we had brunch at a placed called Beam and checked out BookBar a few storefronts down. We walked through Clissold Park, where hordes of people were sunning on the grass, and along Stoke Newington Church Street past boutiques and Abney Park Cemetery, where we sat on a stone bench nearby gravestones for people who died in the 1800s. A lady walking her small dog shared our gratitude for the nice weather. Ultimately and sadly, Arsenal lost 0-3, so we were glad we didn’t spend money on tickets. The pub was lively but polite. Kassie and Corey joined us for snacks and conversation.
Monday, Day 3
At this point, we were more used to the bus and tube system. The navigation, the screeching brakes, the difference between the Underground and Overground. Our first stop was the Kyoto Garden, a Japanese-style landscape of koi ponds, tiered waterfalls, stone lanterns, and maple trees. It’s part of Holland Park in the Kensington neighborhood of London, which felt much more posh than Hackney. The homes are bigger and cleaner, and the businesses seemed fancier. We grabbed a matcha and coffee at Lift, just down the road from The Churchill Arms, a 1750 pub decorated with flowers, flags, and Churchill memorabilia.
Portobello Road Market was only a mile away, so we decided to walk to the tourist attraction known for vintage clothing and antiques. We passed the Notting Hill Bookshop, which didn’t feel that significant because I’ve never seen the movie. A crochet vest for only £20 caught my eye, but I decided to save my money. At this point, my loafers were giving me blisters. We still had a lot of walking to do. Steve ordered a crepe from a window and scarfed it down while I took photos of wisteria hanging from a wall. Next, we stopped inside Japan House, recommended by Kassie. An exhibit in the downstairs gallery space displayed kumihimo, the art of Japanese silk braiding. I found a book to eventually add to my collection: The Beauty of Everyday Things by Soetsu Yanagi.
Kensington Gardens were nearby. My favorite part of that area was the Sunken Garden, where there’s a statue of Princess Diana, Charles, and Harry at the end of a long, turquoise pond. The terraces around the perimeter were draped with greenery. After watching ducklings bob around the Round Pond, we met up with Kassie to visit the Victoria & Albert Museum. We stopped in the collections for fashion, jewelry, sculptures, tapestries, and the Raphael Cartoons. Before heading back for the night, we grabbed a Scotch egg at Harrods, the fancy UK department store. Our night ended with a sunset walk around a park near our flat.
Come back soon! I will persuade you to move here eventually, just you wait 😉