(Photo from onceuponagrime)
In strong contrast to my lovely Sunday afternoon, I spent my Monday in London. Due to a minor blip before I'd even boarded the train (involving me misplacing my railcard and having to pay a whole £6 more, which is a lot when you're a student), I was already starting to think that this whole commuting business was too much hassle. I also decided I didn't like what I was wearing - I think my trousers had shrunk in the dryer, or perhaps I've just put on weight, but I'd like to think its not the latter. Once on the train, however, I pulled out Iris Murdoch's The Black Prince (which I am currently reading), and sunk into my chair to the sounds of Mozart on my Ipod. Reading accompanied by classical music epitomizes utter bliss, and soon my mood was uplifted. Anyway, I wasn't meeting my friends until the evening, so I decided I'd get there early and spend some time walking around. And luckily enough, it was a fabulous day for it. I didn't want to do Oxford Street, because that's what I always do, so I walked down any and every street I was faced with. For the majority of the time I had absolutely no clue where I was, but that's what I like best. I soon found myself, however, on Regents Street which with my shopping addiction proved to be very bad fate. Seeing as I didn't like my outfit, I thought it was best to buy a new one and H&M is the obvious place to go for a quick, cheap outfit change. I entered the store wearing pastel pink jeans, a white tank and my vintage suede levi's jacket and exited in a blue summer dress which was complimented perfectly by my levi's jacket. It was then time to meet my friend Alex, and as we walked the back streets of the city, we suddenly noticed that Dizzee Rascal was right in front of us! If you're a fan of Dizzee, like me, then give this a listen. Anyway, we were feeling quite peckish, and with my new found love for sushi, we decided Yo!Sushi was the best idea (but turned into the worst idea as the plates gradually stacked up, and what was intended to be an afternoon snack turned into an early dinner). Soon after, we were off to meet the other girls for (more) dinner at Vapiano on Great Portland Street. And for a 'small' £3.80 salad, the portion was huge and well worth the money! And finally my day was over. So where does this all leave me? As I sat on the train on my return home, I had a slight headache, my eyes were hurting and I was absolutely exhausted, but these feelings of deterioration were well worth the £18 train fair, £3 chai tea latte and £12.99 dress. London is expensive, but at the same time (and sorry for the cheesey mastercard reference) utterly priceless.
P.s. I also found my new favourite store and I can't believe I'd never heard of it before. Check out Pull & Bear, a Spanish brand I'd describe as Bershka meets Abercrombie. Very cool and casual, and really good prices.
