Columbia Street Flower Market

Today's adventure included a strip to Shoreditch to visit the Columbia Street Flower Market. The market is only open on Sundays until 2pm so we planned our day around that! The market itself was adorable, it was one street where flower vendors lined both sides. Although it was crowded and pouring rain, it was definitely worth it because the flowers were absolutely beautiful. The two pictures below are from my favorite stand at the market.

Patty & Bun Logo

Today while walking from the Liverpool underground station to the bus to Shoreditch we came across a little cafe with an adorable logo. The name of the cafe was Patty & Bun and in their logo they connected the ampersand to the B. In the smaller circle version of their logo they also use the stem of the P as part of the stem for the B. The logo in the circle is also cute because it states simply what they do at the top and then has the restaurants full name at the bottom. The cafe was also cute from the outside, their name being on a wooden sign over a red awning. We didn't stop to eat here but it is definitely somewhere that I'd like to try!

Camden Town

On our first Friday off from school we decided to check out London's famous Camden Town! It is an entirely different culture than Kensington and it feels as though you just got to Venice Beach in California. There are many street vendors and goos little places to eat. We happened to stumble upon a little food festival set up near the Camden Lock, which is definitely something I'll go back for again. Camden is definitely the place to buy tourist-y things and there are a bunch of cool photo opportunities.

Honest Burgers (With Honestly the Cutest Menus Ever)

Today while in Camden we got dinner at a local burger chain called Honest Burgers. There are about 6 of them all over London and I've only heard good things so it was definitely something I wanted to try. Little did I know that they would have the worlds cutest menus.. The typography was simple and the items on the menu were laid out in sort of a flowchart. It was easy to distinguish what kind of burger you were getting and the sections for each were clearly labeled with the bold typeface. I also liked how everything was in all caps and kept simple with just black print. Drinks were on the back laid out in a design that was equally as visually pleasing. To make it even better, the menus were on either side of a thin piece of wood and held on with thick rubber bands. It was something completely different than a menu I've ever seen before.

39 Steps at the Criterion Theatre

On our first Tuesday night in London, we saw the play The 39 Steps at the Criterion Theatre. The theatre is in the Piccadilly Circus area of Central London, which has a main area similar to Times Square in NYC. The play was pretty entertaining and there was only four actors who played all the different roles in the play. The inside of the theatre was historical looking (we weren't allowed to take pictures) and was exactly what you would imagine an old theatre to look like. After the play we went to a local bar called O'Neills, which has definitely become one of our favorites! 

 

Sunset Biking in Hyde Park

Tonight a group of us decided to ride bikes through Hyde Park to get to know the area better and see some of the statues and lakes inside the park. London has bikes all over town that you can rent, which makes it quite easy to get around. We rode through Kensington Gardens and around the edge of the rest of Hyde Park. It was a perfect night to be out for sunset (which isn't until around 10pm here!) because the weather was nice and a good end to our first Sunday here.

Day One in London

After a 10.5 hour flight from San Francisco we arrived in London around 7:30am on June 18th. With little to no direction on how to get to our flat, we got on the tube (basically the same as BART), got off at the stop we thought was right and wheeled our suitcases and carried our bags to the check-in office (we also got lost on the way). 3 hours after our plane landing we finally made it to our flat. Lucky enough to be on the first floor we unpacked and then headed out to explore Kensington. Our flat happens to be right across the street from Kensington Gardens, a 10 minute walk from school and another 10 minute walk to Kensington High Street (a main area of town). We did some grocery shopping and I went for a run, exploring more of Hyde Park and the area right around my flat. After having an orientation meeting later that night we drank wine as we watched the sunset and then called it a night since most of us had been up for over 36 hours without a nap!

At SFO before taking off. 

Our flat in Kensington!