london

After Rome, I went to London.

My friend Kinzie lives in London. She moved there for work last October and has spent the past number of months busily exploring her new home. I wanted to visit before she came back to the Bay Area and figured that it would be the perfect opportunity to improve my opinion of London, a city that never managed to wow me in visits past.

This time, I was wowed. Completely and thoroughly. Staying with someone who knows the city and also knows me made an enormous difference. Of course. I had done some research on my own and planned things like a visit to the Tate Modern to see the Damien Hirst exhibit (bizarre, fun) and the Maltby Market (tiny, delightful) and lunch reservations at spots like The Ledbury and Nopi (excellent & excellent). Kinzie made sure I didn't miss out on things I never would have found on my own. We walked along Regent's canal, visited the Columbia Road flower market, drank Pimm's Cup, watched Wimbledon, ate pig's head stew at St. John's Bread and Wine, listened to jazz at Nightjar, and fell asleep to Harry Potter movies. Among many, many other things. Kinzie knows me well.

I couldn't have imagined a more delightful time and was happy to revise my previous assessment of London's charms. Turns out, it's a pretty fabulous place.