Monday 27 January 2014

London day tripper

Sometimes I get homesick. I know it's normal but it gets annoying because I get confused where my home actually is. Prague is where I grew up and I do think I want to end up there but I spent all my student years in England and this is the place which taught me to be independent. Things like setting up a bank account, making sure I have something in the fridge, getting my first proper part-time job, dealing with people not having a clue where I'm actually from (e.g. 'So when are you going back to Serbia?') etc. So whenever I do go back to Prague (I repeat, not Serbia, nowhere near.), I end up missing this damp island after a while. And vice versa of course.

Today I was waiting at the bus stop to make my way to uni when an elderly man joined me. After a few moments he dropped his walking stick and I mindlessly picked it up. A giant smile spread across his face and he said: 'This is as close as I get to a chat up line these days.' It made me laugh and reminded me how much I like the English humour and that I'm probably not done with the place just yet.

Last week I went to London just for the day with my friends Fika and Myra. It's always nice to get away from Birmingham- even though it's Tolkien's home town, nothing all that exciting actually happens here. I always get so much inspiration from London, I love how every part of it has its own character, it's like tens of villages in one. This time we explored Islington and went to The London Textile Fair.


The fair was more for business owners looking for big amounts of fabrics for good prices and not so much for designers as we hoped. But I discovered Malhia Kent, a French company with some really beautiful woven fabrics.



After we got some lunch at The Breakfast Club, one of my favourite places to eat in London, we discovered an amazing shop called SMUG. Wrapping paper, notebooks, screenprints, toys, I think you can see why I liked it so much. I want a shop like that!





We also made it to House of Hackney in Shoreditch, a luxurious brand specializing in interiors, fashion and lifestyle. When I walked in it was like stepping into another world, the place was filled with patterns of plants and lemurs playing accordions, otters with fans - I felt like Alice in Wonderland, it was amazing.

photo credit: Myra Wen.




Thank you London, once again you didn't fail to amaze me. Here's a snapshot of all of us from Liberty, another beautiful place where I hope to be able to afford at least some ribbon one day.

What's your favourite design shop in London/elsewhere?

photo credit: Myra Wen.


2 comments:

  1. Babes, as one of your friends, born n bred in London. U have brought as much to this city as it has given u... Your humour, creatuvity and vitality suits this city well, stay as long as it takes and the friends u have made means their will always be a place for u here as there will always be a place for us in Prague... K.xxx

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  2. Aww Karen, that's so sweet of you! Made my morning. Is this a hint that you wannna come to Prague? Haha you have to! Big love.

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