London Calling

15 March 2017


Every year or so I visit my favourite foggy town. It never stops to amaze me. I never get tired of seeing Big Ben, walking along the Thames or buying some Earl Grey in Harrods... As I exit St Pancras, I foolishly imagine myself meeting Sherlock on his way to Baker St. I think about Paddington (the Bear) rushing through Notting Hill to get his marmalade toast. I dream about all the pretty, fancy, posh houses and how they might be furnished, what books might be sitting on the shelves next to the mantel... It's difficult to explain really why I love London so much but I know lots of people do. 


It was a while since I had visited my favourite spots! Marylebone High Street is so much better than Oxford St, it's too bad I don't have much money to spend on luxurious mugs from Emma Bridgewater or on a comfy jumper from The White Company.... Anyway, I re-discovered this fabulous bookshop called Daunt Books. I love browsing British bookshops, there are quite special to me. I got lost in Foyles as well, it never disappoints. On Saturday, I wandered in sunny Notting Hill - I had forgotten how pretty it was!



I was in town for five days. I saw all the must-sees for the umpteenth time : Big Ben, Tower Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, the British Museum, the V&A, Regent's Park, Harrod's, Liberty, Carnaby Street, Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Hyde Park, Oxford Street, ... I did all of the walking and eating with a Finnish friend I met in Australia ten years ago. We had spent a gap year as exchange students over there and quickly became friends. Since then, we already have visited Copenhagen and Paris together and I've been to Helsinki twice to see her. She's getting married next year - yay! - so it'll be my third time to Finland!

We stayed at a Premier Inn hotel near Od Street and ate at the coolest spots: Full English Breakfast at Electric House, pancakes at the Breakfast Club, fish and chips (twice!) at The Princess of Shoreditch and at the Lido Bar in Hyde Park.


The highlight of my trip was definitely meeting Jim Chapman on Regent Street.

As you know, watching TB and her husband on Youtube is my guilty pleasure. I became addicted when I discovered their house in a video and following their decorating and renovating process, I became just a tiny bit obsessed with the couple for a while. 

Anyway, earlier that day, I actually thought how it would be fun if I ran into them or just one of them... If you could just have seen me that day, all red with excitement and surprise! I was on my way to Anthropologie - as you do - tired from a whole day of walking in the rain and... I saw an apparition. I don't know anyone in London - maybe three people - and I just screamed "Jim" - as you do - because his face is so familiar to me, it was like I KNEW him in person. Jim is so sweet and nice : he smiled and approached me - he is super tall - and that was at that moment that I probably became red with shame. We exchanged a few words and I got my selfie - if it isn't on Instagram, it didn't happen! - and I tried to say "say hi to Tan for me" but luckily refrained from saying such a stupidity at the last second. 

End of story.

Being in the Big Smoke for a few days made me really tired and longing for home. I'm very happy I got to share those few days with my Finnish bestie, we had a good catch up and lots of fun visiting the hot spots of London! 


If you enjoyed this post, you might like: On Both Sides of the Thames

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