London Adventure II.: The Day of Extreme Hardship & Kensington

the inner courtyard of the V&A. read below.

I'm baaaack with more of my London stories. Sorry it takes so long, but that's just the way it is with perfectionists, who keep polishing the text, moving paragraphs, deleting TMI... If you've been reading me for a while, you know very well that I don't do short and sweet. I do long. And not limit myself to sweet... Beware, I guess. As always, there are photos to save the day.

Oh, before I forget, I have an important announcement: Dance the Drizzle has a page on facebook now :) This is me encouraging you to go over there and click the like button ;)

Anyway, here is

Day 2: 4th June 2014 (Wed)

I got up early (compared to my usual habits), but everybody else had already left for school/work/wherever. I took aaaages to get ready, which was some lovely recharging time for my introverted self - listening to music, doing my make-up, taking good care of me :) I had breakfast and then bravely hit the streets.

I wandered towards the river and found a neighbourhood of lovely little houses :) It wasn't anything too special. To a Londoner/an English person they would probably seem quite common and ordinary. However, I find that often it is the small and the most ordinary things that capture and express a certain culture. (And we're talking Great Britain here. My favourite "different culture" of them all.) I just enjoy soaking up all the little details :)

When I got back to the main road and walked to the tube station, all of the sudden I got all anxious and worked up. The road was so busy, I kept getting nastily shocked by the traffic coming in from the wrong side (i.e. the side where I wasn't expecting it) and then there was a guy, who walked uncomfortably near to me for a while and it made me so frustrated and scared.

I got on the tube, which was a bit crowded and I decided to go to South Kensington and go hide inside the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum). I just needed somewhere safe, where there would be less people, where I could sit down and write… for there was a lot of things on my mind and I was growing ever so nervous and anxious. I actually almost burst into tears on my way out of the tube station. It was just so overwhelming being there on my own and having to fend for myself. Then the tears were averted by a busker who was playing some nice jazz music in the tunnels and that is something I could enjoy even in that frustrating moment. I find it helps to focus on small and lovely details, one after another. It helps me not to get overwhelmed by the big picture which can be scary.

The V&A was very lovely. It's a museum of decorative arts and design, sort of home decor throughout the history and the world, if you wish. One day I would like to come back and spend about 3 days in it :) First I sat down, had a little rest and wrote a little.

detail of the pediment from the inner courtyard, commemorating the Great Exhibition in 1851. the inscription reads: THE FIRST EXHIBITION OF THE WORKS OF INDUSTRY OF ALL NATIONS ANNO DOMINI MDCCCLI * UNITED KINGDOM, BRITISH COLONIES, AUSTRALIA, INDIA, CANADA, RUSSIA, DENMARK, SWITZERLAND, TURKEY, ITALY, FRANCE, BELGIUM, HOLLAND, EGYPT, PRUSSIA, ZOLLVEREIN, AUSTRIA, SWED-NORWAY, SPAIN PORTUGAL, UNITED STATES *

Then I wandered around Medieval Europe and into Britain kind of 16th ct onwards. All sorts of pretty and interesting things illustrating not only art and the techniques used in the particular periods, but also people's lifestyle. I think my sister would enjoy the exhibitions tremendously. There are these little bits where you can...try on a petticoat or a gauntlet, try the basic technique of making a tapestry, or write a story inspired by a picture… All sorts of interactive fun stuff. But mainly interesting historical stuff :) I took some photos here and there, but I had to keep watching the time carefully. I was supposed to meet a friend later and had to make sure I would not be late.

One of the exhibited objects in the museum: a staircase. Sure, why not? :)

If we can have a staircase, why not have a whole room :) The parlour from II Henrietta Street, London.

Pity I didn’t have time to explore the fashion part, for there was a room full of dresses :) Or maybe it was for the best, because I would have spent a lifetime admiring the craft and style of our predecessors' attire. There is a special exhibition of Wedding Dresses (1775-2014) at the moment, although I think you have to pay for that part, and a couple of other exhibitions e.g. The Glamour of Italian Fashion, which closes only in a couple of days. On the whole, if you are at all interested in cultural history and art, I heartily recommend visiting the V&A. You will not regret it. For me, it was like a sanctuary of calm, a place of clean and safe atmosphere, with lots of interesting and beautiful objects for me to delight in. Also, let me make a formal appreciative nod to the number of friendly and helpful staff members :) a bookshop :) and a giant gift shop, where you can find anything and everything :) There's also a café and other facilities that I did not pay a visit to, but I am sure they are equally lovely.

*Now just a little, but I am afraid necessary, side-note explanation about who the friend I was meeting was: A couple of years ago I became a big fan of Take That (the story of which heavily featured on my previous blog. mostly in Czech, half of it eventually got translated into English.) Anyway, I joined the official Take That discussion forum and there in the thread dedicated to my favourite member of the band (Jason Orange), ran into a group of fabulous ladies whom I befriended :) We became a sort of a support group for each other not only in our Take That madness, but in all other matters of life. Since then a lot of things have changed. As TT have been quiet for a while, the conversation on the forum died out, but the core of Jasonettes has more or less moved onto Facebook and we always keep in touch. There have even been international Jasonette meet-ups, that I sadly could not partake in. Anyway, now that I finally was in the UK, I was very glad to have a chance to meet at least one of our little online gang and that was Barbara :)*

I couldn’t wait to be WITH somebody, not all distressed by myself. Guided by my super awesome street plan, I walked to Kensington High St. tube station, where we were to meet. Before Barbara arrived I had a little lunch (plus points for making sure I feed myself ;) and then I bought some quote postcards. One of them was a lovely graphic picture of London skyline and it said: “KEEP CALM AND LOVE LONDON”, which is for me and it shall be my motto for this trip and it shall help me not to lose my mind. I texted Barbara that she should follow the sound of music, ‘cause there was a busker slappin’ da base :) and that’s where I was waiting. Only in the couple of minutes before she got there, he packed it up and left :D That made me laugh :D Nevertheless, we finally met up.

I will spare you the details of what two Jasonettes go look at when in Kensington High St. :D :D Anyway, we went into a Costa to hide from the rain and for a cup of coffee. And there we were. At first, it all seemed slightly awkward to me. I had a bit of trouble understanding Barbara, or rather hearing at all. The music in the café was a little too loud for my liking, though very pleasant to listen to. (They played Gabrielle Aplin at one point :) Somehow I decided that a little awkwardness didn’t matter and I consciously prevented myself from worrying about it too much. Good girl! When we finished our coffee and it stopped raining, we continued our tour of Take That related places. This consisted mainly of a very special pub where TT4 decided to come back into business in 2005 :) 

Then we went to Kensington Park, which was very lovely, quiet, big and green :) 

Kensington Palace - where Lady Diana used to live. now official London royal residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry and some other members of the royal family.

Moving on to Notting Hill, we walked up and down Portobello Road. No, we did not find the shop that played the travel bookstore in “Notting Hill”. Mainly because I am a silly monkey and I didn’t write down the no. of the house when I was looking it up. Later it turned out that we did indeed walk past it, but I was too busy inspecting the houses across the road and forgot to look on my side of the street. Ah well,... Nevertheless, we did find interesting places.

If you're looking for a sign, this is the place to go ;)

My clever and knowledgeable companion led me into one of the streets, just off Portobello Road where we found The Sarm Studios - a recording studio which has hosted such big names of the music industry that any attempt to name a few of the bands would be rude to the ones I would be leaving out. But just to give you a scale of what kind of bands I'm talking about, let's just say that it's where Queen recorded "We Are the Champions". And Take That recorded some bits of their 2010 album Progress in there. Seeing this place infused with decades of creative genius of so many talented artists made my music-y soul very happy :) (Even though the building is undergoing reconstruction atm.)

And then we went to Holland Park, which turned out to be the most beautiful garden! There was a number of different sections: some parts were a bit more wilder, like a natural type of a park, and then there were flower gardens, a rose garden and a million lovely benches...  :)

a random pretty house.

By this time, me and Barbara were chatting away. I got a bit more into it, got used to her speech and everything was great :) It felt so nice to properly speak to somebody. I could hear these little quirks developing in my accent as I was getting more and more comfortable in it. (Tracing the long term influence of all my favourite Irish, Scottish and Northern people.) I wonder what I would sound like, if I lived in an English-speaking environment for a longer period of time. For now, I'm quite happy with not having a foreign accent. But eventually I would like to develop one that would be mine and that would be stable, not fluctuating all over the place :D

 

Anyway, it was nice to walk with somebody who knew how to cross the roads and not get run over. I still kept getting freaked out by the traffic :D Seriously, I wasn't expecting this to be such an issue for me. Even if I remember to look right first, I forget that I need to look left straight after. Worse, if there's a car turning round a corner, into the road that I am crossing, I keep misjudging where exactly it's heading and a) I look like a silly person and wait unnecessarily far away until it passes, b) I almost get run over. Dear me! It shouldn't be this hard! :D :D

We said goodbye back on Kensington High St., but I didn’t feel like going home yet, so I went back and sat in a corner of the Sports Field in Holland Park for a while and wrote some diary :) On my way home I was much more OK than in the morning. Calmer and stronger. Both in the streets and on the tube. I had to change the lines this time and everything was cool :) I even listened to some music on my phone (i.e. I dared to stop being ever so careful about everything :) And then I walked down the busy road in the setting sun and I got home just before the rain kicked in. Good times :)

The day ended on a bit of a low. There had been a mix up with my ticket to the Hudson Taylor concert. Nothing major, only I had been changing the delivery address and what not, end result: ticket had not arrived. A part of me was pretty sure it would be at the venue box office, because that was my previous choice, before changing the address... Anyway, the sensible thing to do would be to call the customer services and sort it out. Only I couldn't. Anybody else have  a problem with phone calls or calling people you don't know...? I do. And I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this one. I am improving slowly.. .Sometimes I even answer a call from an unknown number. But at the end of this long and exhausting London day I just couldn't do it.

It was all so immensely difficult for me. All of it! Travelling, being in London, having to do things on my own, not having a nervous break down every time I walk down the street. I'm not kidding. Every time I walked down a busy street and I did not break down in tears was a victory worth celebrating! At the same time, it was really hard for me to find some peace, to rest and recharge my batteries. I can manage. I can get through and keep living, have a good time even, but it drains so much energy from me… And on the top of all that I’m supposed to make an official type of a phone call?! I can’t. I’m too busy not crying about everything else. The phone call was just over the top of what I was capable of bearing.

In the end, Elizabeth kindly offered to make the call for me.

I did feel like an idiot, but to be honest, I didn’t really care any more.

I was focusing on… surviving.

Join me next time (God knows when that will be) for a hopefully more optimistic episode of London Adventures. xx M

***

P.S. I did not want to paint pretty pictures by leaving out the things that were not so nice. I want this to be honest and true. And the truth is that nothing in life is only good or only bad. It's always both of them together. I'm not miserable about it or anything. Sometimes things are not great, and that's fine. And other times are great and that's even better ;)

Take care of yourselves, darlings, be brave and have a lovely summer!