London: Sir John Soane´s Museum

Dovoluji si tvrdit, že jsem objevila to nejlepší muzeum v Londýně. A co je na tom nejlepší? Je zdarma a není to číslo jedna v turistických příručkách, takže nění naravé k prasknutí. Sir John Soane Museum jednoznačně doporučuji.

London Walks: Walthamstow Marshes

First things first, I am really sorry for the quality of the pictures, I have no idea why we did not take our camera with us. Anyway, the spring arrived to London, the real spring. It means that the dirty and depressive Walthamstow (where we live) actually looks good now. A big plus of it, next to the convenient connection to the city centre, is the high number of parks and nature in general. I am not afraid to say London is a green city, parks are everywhere, even if just small ones. However, Walthamstow has this big Marshes, the Lea river and many reservoirs. It is right next to Hackney Marsh and from there it is very close to the Victoria park so it can be a nice walk to the hipster Shoreditch. 

I made M to walk to the Lee Valley riding centre. I needed to visit those horses I see from train every morning. Finally! And it was really nice, not too many people around, only few cyclists and walkers with dogs. Ok, next time we will also brings some snack for the horses. 

After the time spent with horses we made it to the Lee river, and we actually, by an accident, met our colleague barista Nell who lives on a houseboat. She offered tea and we had a nice afternoon by her houseboat, along with her cute cat. My new dream is to live on a houseboat!

On a nice sunny spring afternoon like this you not only forget all the stress from school and work but you also forget that you are actually in middle of a huge city...

London walks: Richmond Park

Richmond park was on my list for a long time but I don't know why I have never found the time to go. Until last week. We were super lucky with the weather. January in London is not really nice. No snow (and I really miss that!) but it can still be really cold, it is sunny but really windy and it rains occasionally. But last Saturday was really beautiful. Still bit cold, but sunny all day. I didn't feel like waking up, I must admit, but thanks God M. made me get of the bed and we decided to go to Richmond. For the first time of my life. 

It took us one hour to get there from north London, maybe more as we had to walk from the tube station, but it was a nice walk. I felt like we are out of London. And I feel like I want to live in Richmond one day. The park itself is just huge, we spent there around four hours, walking, enjoying a day out of the chaotic city centre. As the weather was nice we could see the city, actually. The best thing about Richmond? The deers! There are about 300 of them living in the park and you don't really need to keep looking for them, you will just meet them. We spent several minutes standing by and watching them. That really made my day. As well as the cute little parrots flying around. 

So, if you are looking for a piece of nature in London, Richmond is the place. Don't forget to bring some bread for the ducks and swans...

London Weekends: Angel + Soho (The Breakfast Club + TAP Coffee)

During the weekends we get to know the non-turistic London. M. doesn't work during weekends and I try to remain away from the school library. We have a long list of places to visit, the hidden London I've never visited before as a tourist (and I have been to London hundred times). We also have a long list of cafes, vintage shops, markets, exhibitions and concerts we want to visit.
This Saturday we choose the famous Breakfast Club from our "food porn" list. I don't really know why but from all their restaurants we choose the one at Angel. Good choice. Angel is just amazing area. This is the first time I went to there and I am in love! I don't really know why I've never been here before, it is so close to my uni. All the cute vintage shops, cafes, restaurants, art shops. Beautiful. Well, M. got bit bored after few minutes wondering around all of the antique shops.
On Sunday, we went to the British Museum, the last day of two great exhibitions - the Buddhism in Burma and witches and wicked bodies paintings. And of course, we have to spend some time in the Japan and China sections.
I had 3 professional baristas with me so we simply had to end up in a cafe. Kit took us to TAP Coffee, close to Oxford Street. Simply brilliant!

London: Yoshitomo Nara Exhibition

Zaprvé, vůbec jsem netušila, že mám hned za rohem od školy tak parádní galerii. Dairy je předně úžasná industriální budova, skvělé prostory. Je to malá galerie a většina výstav je tu zdarma, ale to je obecně dost londýnská věc. 

Zadruhé, Yoshitomo Nara! Byla to asi ta nejroztomilejší výstava, na které jsem kdy byla. Rozpouštěla jsem se nad všemi těmi okatými postavičkami a holčičkami. Nebyly to ale jen malby, byly zde i celkem velké sochy všech možných druhů. A ta nejroztomilejší fontána, viz. první foto, plakajících postaviček. Tu bych brala domů hned. Absolutně nejlepší byla ale místnost, která mapovala autorovu tvorbu za posledních třicet let. Jednoduché, roztomilé, vtipné, originální. Yoshitoma jsem si dokonce na nějakou dobu dala na pozadí počítače. 

London: Russian Criminal Tattoo exhibition

We were lucky! Saturday was the last day of this small exhibition. I found it online, accidentally. This weekend was really windy and rainy. Perfect weather for exhibitions. Next to this very interesting one, we went to see Yoshitomo Nara's art. 

London: Highgate Cemetery

Are you tired of the crowded touristic places in London? We were. So we spent our Saturday in a quite place - a cemetery. And not just an ordinary one. Highgate Cemetery is absolutely magical. 

The cemetery was part of the Magnificent Seven project (other six cemeteries around London - Kensal Green Cemetery, West Norwood Cemetery, Abney Park Cemetery, Nunhead Cemetery, Brompton Cemetery, Tower Hamlets Cemetery), from the first half of the 19th century. There are around 170 000 people buried here, some famous - Karl Marx's grave is very popular, it took us few minutes to take a picture as there were many fans taking pictures and posing.