I want to lay here forever in the cold.

DAY 6 - London

We started today by walking all the way through Hyde Park over to the other side. It's got to be the most beautiful park in the world. I could never get sick of walking around there. Then we kept walking to the Victoria Albert Museum and spent hours looking at historic fashion pieces, photographs and jewellery. Then we crossed over to the Natural History Museum which was in an astonishing building with a glittering gold merry-go-round out the front. The best part of the Natural History Museum was the Wildlife Photography of The Year exhibition. It was full of completely amazing photographs of wildlife and nature. We fell in love with so many of the images so we bought a bunch of the postcard prints. The entire day (which feels like it ends at 4pm since by then its dark as midnight) was taken up in the museums and art galleries.

Off with her head.

DAY 5 - London

After some delay, thanks to clueless bus drivers, we got the Big Bus from Marble Arch to the Tower of London. The Tower is completely incredible. It's so historically significant while being architecturally magnificant. Walking up the same cobblestone pathway that Anne Boleyn did to her execution was extremely eerie and really struck a chord with me. As we stood at the spot of the execution stage I couldn't get her off my mind. I just felt a rush of sympathy for her that couldn't be ignored. We went into the chapel where she, and others, were buried. It was indescribable. Then to the crown jewels. Oh how I would've loved to rob that joint. I'd never seen anything so opulent. There's something so teasing and cruel about putting the biggest diamond in the world right there with only a glass case between you and it. So painful. Then we went all around the other towers in the fortress and the day faded away within the cold stoned grounds. That night we drank tea, ate blackberries and watched Eastenders. What of it?!

You might laugh, you might frown. Walkin' round London town.

DAY 4 - London

First thing this morning we bought tickets to the Big Bus Company's tour around London. We waited for a long time in the frosty morning air but eventually it pulled up and we took our seats; grateful for the heating and eager to see the city. We soon moved to the open top floor of the bus. In the open freezing breeze the bus swerved around the congested narrow city lanes. We drove past all the major sights. I'm not sure if up until that point I'd ever been that cold; but it's hard to care when you're glancing up at the Tower Bridge. After a lengthy and astonishing journey we hopped off at Buckingham Palace. In my mind it was a boisterous presence of towering grandeur but in reality it was mostly pavement, gates and crowds (maybe my chattering teeth were pulling my vision downwards). The Changing of the Guards was beginning but we were overwhelmed by the cold and generally disinterested in the event so we rushed up Buckingham Palace Road searching for a warm cafe. Eventually we found one and defrosted. Then we got a train from Victoria Station and bravely made our way back to the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street. I bought a pair of boots from Topshop that I fell completely in love with. Then we stopped by Tracey Perkins and I got a striped dress. After a stop at an English pub I spent the night watching Eastenders and Coronation Street. Missing those shows already...

And all the cemeteries in London, I see God come in my garden.

DAY 3 - London

We got up at 7am (still dark) to get travel cards from Paddington Station. It's such a huge bustling transit centre; I can't imagine Paddington Bear waddling around the currents of busy people. Then we walked through Hyde Park where I saw squirrels for the first time! They're so cute, leaping through the grass. They're not shy at all and came right up to us.

Then we walked to Oxford Street which is a shopping strip a mile and a half long. Wow. First shop we walked into, Primark, nearly sent me into cardiac arrest. Sequinned blazers, high-waisted ruffly skirts, colourful stockings. All falling under the 10 pound mark. I felt like my materialistic heart was just going to explode. Somehow, I walked out with only a ruffled love-heart print skirt, 2 pairs of coloured stockings and a pair of grey heels. A very controlled amount when the adrenalin rush is taken into account. I was surprised to find that the famed Marks & Spencer left me utterly unimpressed.

Topshop, however, was better than I could have ever expected. Four vast floors of overwhelming variety. Bottom floor: Shoes, vintage and designer capsule collections. Second: Topshops current season ranges. Third: Accessories and more clothes (somehow). Forth: Topman (but who cares). It really is overwhelming and utterly exhausting. I got a pair of gorgeous flats and decided to leave further Topshop exploration for another day. Next was H&M where I got a black and white embrodiered cardigan but didn't see anything else that took my fancy. Oxford Street is wonderful but tiring to the point that I wanted to just crawl back into bed.

Alas, we found the energy to track down a warm classic English pub and stopped for a few ciders. It all felt wonderfully traditional but really was stupid considering that it made me even more drained of energy (and to be honest went straight to my head). Despite this, we got the train to Trafalgar Square. I had changed out of my Converses into my new pointy-toed Topshop flats while in the pub and as we walked through Trafalgar Square I bitterly regretted this decision as I felt the crisp new shoes cutting through my socks into my heel. But as we continued walking the pain was eventually silenced as I glimped the London Eye and Big Ben for the first time. How exhausted, hungry and in pain I was became completely insignificant as I stared at the monuments that I had always longed to live amongst.

It was a tiring but wonderful day.

London calling, and I don't want to shout.

DAY 2 - LONDON

Any excitement or relief felt as the plane landed that afternoon in London was soon replaced by exhaustion, confusion and frustration as Heathrow airport robbed me of my high spirits. What a nightmare. For such a major airport it's horribly signed and full of clueless people. Anyway, we got on a train to Paddington station eventually and struggled with our luggage down the cobblestone sidewalk for a couple of blocks down London Street until we got to the Radnor Hotel. It's right near Hyde Park and has Russian employees and a very talkative elevator. It was dark when we arrived (about 5pm) and we went for a walk along the border of Hyde Park. Watching the big red double decker buses whiz past by the dozen was such a thrilling novelty. Even with the icey English air drawing roses on my cheeks it was hard to believe I was finally in England. Nothing afterwards would compare to the feeling I got the very first time I was brushing shoulders with indifferent Londoners, watching cyclists dare their way through beeping black cabs, all the while finally feeling like I'd found the place I wanted to live.

Seoul will Steal Your Soul.

DAY 1 - Korea

Humans were not put on this earth to suffer ten hour flights. No amount of Elle Magazine, 500 Days of Summer or Korean pop can keep me amused for that long. To sum it up; by the time we were flying over a Korean river I was convinced the boats were monstrous swans. Swanzillas. I was so casually convinced of this that I came close to remarking aloud about it.

One word to describe this place is bizarre. But one word doesn't cut it... it's a neon-lit, corporate mannered ball of fascination. What I've seen has left me both fascinated and completely weirded out. Boys are portrayed as having this edgy femininity about them, unlike the beer glugging boys at home that aim only to be masculine. Korean boys smile brightly dressed in neon pink in phone ads. On the music channel a Korean indie band play; the male lead singer strutting around with his carefully tossled glistening black hair. There's something undeniably female about the way he chooses to pull the audience; sauntering and strutting around. It's captivating.

Outside its bitterly freezing. Delicate burnt orange autumn leaves litter the ground. On a walk we came across a statue of Confuscious and, more interesting in my opinion, an avary of geese and bunnies. People are far from friendly but the culture is intriguing.

EUROTRIP.

So here I am back home again after a month of being overseas. I kept a diary the whole time so I could come back and post up things about how I felt at the time, seeing as I didn't bring a laptop. There were highs and lows, like anything. Smiling and laughing one day, breaking down in a Boots pharmacy the next. There's always dramas. At times I felt as if I'd found where I wanted to spend the rest of my life and at others my heart was just completely breaking over how much I missed people in Australia. It made me realise things. I really do only want what I can't have. There were people that I left Australia not giving a damn about, I was totally done with them as far as I was concerned. Then just a couple of days into the trip and they were all I could think about and I felt like my heart was completely shattered over them. Now I'm back and, after a moment of something close to anger, I just feel completely indifferent again. I may be emotionally insane, but whatever. I have a good time. SO here it is, my month in the big world. I'll post a few days at a time.
xo