Exploring London

Following the doctors orders, I rested as much as I could those first few days.

I slowly wondered through the city, taking in all the sites and sounds and stopping to take photos. I did things I'd never imagine doing by myself, such as going to the movies and eating in restaurants. It was fun, liberating and I didn't feel lonely at all. I really enjoyed people watching, siting in silence and listening to my thoughts.

I found a hidden salad bar and looked around the Covent Garden shops. I lay in parks and took in the sunshine. I wandered through Camden Market and found a crazy little antique shop. Every now and then I put my foot up to rest.  One day whilst sitting on a park bench, two squirrels came to say hello! What a special surprise.

Back at the hostel a girl called Kathy had just moved into my room. She was a lovely girl from Sydney, who came to London looking for a nanny job. She was a trained nurse and offered to rub down the swelling in my foot for me. I was so lucky to have met two nurses in my first week, just when I needed them too.

I've found these coincidental events to happen quite often during my travels. When you send out a request to the Universe, it provides you with the right people at the right time.

One night when I felt better, I took myself to "The Coach and Horses" an old pub recommended by Lonely Planet that has Wednesday night singalongs. There I met group of lovely people from Manchester, celebrating a friend's birthday.

We grouped around the piano together and sung some old English tunes, some Elvis Presley, Beatles and Tom Jones. My favourite song of the night would have to be "Getting Married in the Morning" from My Fair Lady. Kate and Will's royal wedding was just 2 weeks prior and the lyrics were still scattered around the pub. Everyone sung with great gusto and enthusiasm, the atmosphere was incredible.

The swelling in my foot had started to go down, so later that week I picked up the pace. I went and saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, checked out the Tate Modern and stood in the stands and watched "All's Well That End's Well" at Shakespeare's Globe; just like the poor would have back in the day.

I spoilt myself with Afternoon Tea at Harrods. Oh it was so good! Tea with sandwiches, scones with jam and cream and a selection of desserts including THE most delicious strawberry cheescake EVER (honestly not exaggerating here!)

I went to Portobello Rd Market, Borough Market (where Jamie Oliver apparently does the food shopping for his tv show!) and the Brick Lane Sunday(Up) Market.

I felt like a teenage girl on the Harry Potter walking tour and got creeped out on the Jack the Ripper walking tour. I learnt about the violent past of the Tower of London, marveled at the works in the National Portrait Gallery and sat on the steps of St Pauls Cathedral. Being a huge Black Books fan, I rushed to find the Black Books shopfront.

My foodie highlight in London was finding the Scandinavian-style cafe: the Nordic Bakery. Their biggest seller are their cinnamon buns and there's no doubt why (see mouth-watering picture below). They're light, fluffy and buttery on the inside and perfectly spiced, glazed and crunchy on the outside.

....perfect after a big day running around London.

Meeting John and The Tale of the Fat Foot

I arrived at the hostel feeling restless. There are so many places and things to see. I want to see and explore it all NOW!

I saw there was a free walking tour leaving in 20 minutes. Perfect! I'm in!

Trafalgar Square. Buckingham Palace. Hyde Park. Westminster Abbey. Big Ben. St Pauls Cathedral. Tower of London. Tower Bridge.

So much history, so many stories.

I'd noticed during the walking tour that my ankle I'd injured 2 weeks earlier was getting progressively sorer and harder to walk on. I'd injured it while jogging back home and thought it was on the mend. I regularly got up, walked and stretched during the flight too. So why it was hurting was a mystery to me.

When I got back to the hostel and took my shoe off, my ankle was not an ankle anymore. It was a full-blown CANKLE! Not only that, my whole foot was double it's normal size. One of the girls I'd met on the tour was a nurse and got me some ice, extra pillows from reception and helped me put my foot up. What a gem.

A few hours and a short rest later it was still huge! I hopped down to reception (literally!) and showed them my foot. When people react with "Oh my God!!! Look at your foot!! Hey come and see this girls foot" you know it can't be good! They called a taxi for me and off I went to hospital. It was 10pm.

Sitting in the Accident & Emergency waiting room was not where I expected I'd be my first night in London. The mood was stale, awkward, depressing. People muttered quietly between each other, babies cried, people coughed, a few looked at my foot and gasped.

Yeah I know it's big and swollen, I just want to see a doctor now pleaseeeee!!

An hour later I saw a nurse who quickly assessed my cankle then sent me back out to the waiting room. When I sat down, two policemen were walking a middle-aged drunk man down the corridor and sat him down 2 seats from me. He was wearing a white shirt covered in blood stains, his right sleeve completely blood-soaked. He'd been in a pub fight that night. Lovely.

"What's your surname John?" the police asked him.

"John"

"So your name is John John then is it?!"

"Yes"

The banter was hilarious. It was like an episode of The Bill. When the police had finished questioning him and left, he turned and looked at me. My stomach churned. Ohh no, pleeeease don't talk to me.

"Hello, I'm John." (Go figure). He offered his blood stained hand for me to shake. I looked down at his hand and politely declined: "no thankyou."

Luckily the nurses called him out soon after, so I didn't have to talk to John for too long. I found a pen and paper in my pocket and drew flowers and smiley faces to keep myself positive.

Another 3 hours later I finally got to see a doctor. It was about 2am by this stage. He took a look at my ankle then told me he wanted to take some blood tests to see whether I had deep vein thrombosis. It took him 4 shots to find my vein. I sat there tired, sore and determined to hold myself together.

Then I thought of how proud mum would be if she knew I was sitting in the hospital doctors office, by myself, in a foreign country, at 2am, being stabbed 4 times. "Aww you're so strong darling" she would say. Tears started rolling down my cheeks.

The doctor smiled at me with a cheeky grin and asked if I was ok.

"I'm exhausted and haven't slept in 50 hours, and I am in a great deal of pain here. Could anything be more wrong?!" I thought.

He then asked about my trip and where I was from. His mother was Turkish, so we talked a bit about Turkey which cheered me up.

Then I hopped in a taxi straight to the hostel and into bed!

WHAT A DAY!

Leaving home

Driving with mum in the car on the way to the airport, so many thoughts were racing through my mind.

It will be a year before I'm driving in the car with mum again.

This will be the last time I drive past the local primary school, petrol station, train station, supermarket and everything that is now a part of me.

Goodbye beach, I'll miss you.

The car was silent. I was lost in thought, and I think mum was too. Or she wasn't trying to think about me leaving too much, one or the other.

After a coffee and a good chat at the airport, it was time to go. I'll miss these mum chats, I thought.

All the flights went smoothly and on schedule, which was a dream. There were hardly any people on the flight from Sydney to Hong Kong, so I got to lie down along a row of chairs (bonus!). We even arrived in London ahead of schedule.

Travelling on the Piccadilly line to my hostel, I couldn't believe it. I'm in LONDON. On my own. All that's going to get me around is me, my legs and my brain. I am free.

New beginnings

Hello loved ones!!

Welcome! :D

After 5 months of travel through Europe, I'm now all settled in Berlin. And as the weather is getting colder and colder day by day *brrrrr!!*, it's the perfect time to sit inside and get this blog rolling.

I decided to start this blog to reminisce and journal the stories from my travels. Mostly so I don't forget them, but also to bring you a few laughs along the way as well.

What I noticed about myself while travelling is that I am driven by FOOD. Anything food related I went ga-ga over. A recommended market, bakery, cafe, restaurant, specialty of the area, cooking class ...I was there! With a fork in one hand, and a pen in the other! So stay tuned for lots of food stories and recipes!

I really can't wait to share all my stories with you.

Lots of love,

Yas xx