I had three days off between Christmas and new year and thought I best take advantage of them as much as I could! With my sister living in London I’m lucky that the only expense I have is the travel.
When I visit London I always try to do something different. Whether that’s seeing a television programme being filmed or visiting the V&A for their latest exhibition.
My visit this time had a little bit of a rocky start. Over Christmas my sister hadn’t been feeling very well and had a doctors appointment on my first day of visiting. Not wanting to waste anytime I made my way to the Victoria & Albert to visit the Balenciaga exhibition (I’ll get back onto that later).
As I was coming to the end of the exhibition I received a call letting me know that my sister had to go to A&E. Four hours later of waiting in a cold hospital with 10% battery on my phone she was given the all clear and able to go home, more importantly to a roast chicken dinner!
The next morning I found out that she had to rest up and I was left to my own devices to explore London. I feel like this trip has helped me to be a little more independent and I even found myself in a restaurant eating on my own, the idea of which, before this trip, terrified me!
So that’s that for all the drama, let’s have a look at what I actually got up to!
As briefly mentioned I spent my first afternoon at one of my favourite museums to see the Balenciaga exhibition. For just £12 I learnt more about the designer and how he inspired many others to follow in his foot steps. From this exhibition you learn about the amount of time and effort he put into his pieces and clientele.
Not only do you get to see a number of his pieces but there is also a whole section dedicated to designers who are inspired by Balenciaga.
If you’re in London before the 18th February I would highly recommend you pay it a visit and see what else the V&A has to offer!
As my visit was right after Christmas I thought it’d be silly not to take advantage of shopping in the sales on Oxford Street. This year my best bargains were from Topshop, managing to bag myself a pair of culottes, shoes and a dress for just £50! However I was so disappointed with Zara which is normally my go to place. Here’s hoping Spring/Summer brings in some amazing pieces and I can finally spend the voucher I have which I got back in October for my birthday...
While I was in the area I paid a little visit to Carnaby Street and being a typical northerner I found a great little restaurant which based all its meals around mash, my absolute dream! Some of you may know that I absolutely hate the thought of eating on my own/ seeing others on their own. As I was on this shopping trip alone I had no choice but to face my fear, and it was actually pretty good! Having a window seat meant I could people watch while enjoying a cider. I’m happy to say that I would be able to do it again, however it’s not something I want to make a massive habit out of.
This trip I got to try something a little different and visited the Science Museum. I didn’t have time to have a look around (but I will definitely be doing so on my next visit) as I had tickets to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi at their IMAX screen. We do have a couple of IMAX screens in Manchester however when I go to the cinema I normally just go to the standard ones. It was absolutely worth the experience! I think it’s a great idea to put the screen in the museum and seeing a film like Star Wars there was perfect!
I think it's safe to say that this trip had a few experiences which weren't originally planned, but I do think they worked in my favor in a weird way! I've discovered I can in fact travel around London on my own, (without getting lost, might I add) and it's the perfect place to find things to do even when you didn't necessarily have any plans.
