North London: A Walk

There's a quotation inscribed at the top of Primrose Hill written by William Blake.

"I conversed with the spiritual Sun. I saw him at Primrose Hill."

Immediately after leaving the Belsize Park tube station in North London, I felt a calmness within me that I had yet to feel since getting here. Sure, the constant thrum of engines and voices filtering through my window is quite an intense difference between CH and London. But as quiet as it can get back home, there was something different about this silence. It had a natural sort of reticence; I was almost afraid of making too much noise.

After grabbing a tea from Chamomile Cafe (which is a definite must-try if you're ever in the Hampstead area), I set off. There was nothing in particular that stood out to me other than the intricacy of some of the buildings, but it was very evident that it was a very family oriented area. Relatively deserted for the most part, probably due to the fact that it was the middle of the day on a Thursday.

It was Eid-ul-Adha that day, and I was alone. I thought that my first time experiencing the holiday by myself would bring nothing but sadness. And as I kept walking I had a fleeting thought that maybe that would hold true. But then I saw the sign for Primrose Hill Road and something pulled me down that way. When I came to the entrance of the park - a modest little gate that sits just at the bottom of the north side of the hill itself - I kept going.

Climbing up wasn't a struggle, but I took my time. It was only until I saw the looking point with a few people sitting on the benches. Curious, I soldiered on.

You can see all of London from that hill. The Eye, the tips of Parliament, the Shard. It's breathtaking. It's ethereal.

After taking a few photos of the skyline I sat down. The quotation was stuck in my head - I found myself wanting to have a conversation with the sun. And then it came - no, it arrived. It made a grand entrance with supreme extravagance. And on a day that I was truly alone, I found warmth in the sunshine.

"I conversed with the Spiritual Sun. I saw him at Primrose Hill."

Song of the Day

Gabrielle Aplin - Keep on Walking

all that glitters is not gold,
from the bruises flowers grow

LFW and a New Start

The last week has consisted of running around central London trying to track down my fashion faves. Unfortunately I had no earthly means of getting into any London Fashion Week shows, but that didn't mean I didn't enjoy taking in the scenery and events that were going on. Having shifted from Somerset House (which was located directly next to my campus... not bitter or anything) to the Brewer Street Carpark in Soho, there was definitely a new aesthetic approach to this season.

Though there's an air of intimidation surrounding everyone, my first fashion week experience was quite exciting. It was interesting to see the actual changing trends in womenswear be displayed right in front of me. The majority of the people I saw were toting mint-green lanyards and heavily priced cameras, but the day I went to the Topshop Unique show I managed to see some familiar faces in the British Fashion Sphere™(think Alexa Chung, Poppy Delevingne, Bella Hadid, etc.). Later that same evening I went to the Louis Vuitton Series 3 Exhibition Launch, where I managed to grab glimpses of Tanya Burr Douglas Booth, Cara Delevingne, and Selena Gomez.

Needless to say it was an exciting few days.

But now I'm settling back into the routine of getting up and going to places that are actually important. Like school. Being an exchange student does offer a little bit of a different experience, but the students at King's College are very much similar to the students back home: sleep-deprived, anxious, and steadily unamused at the world.

I feel right at home.

"Eurydice" - Sue Hubbard

Located on the wall of the Waterloo underpass, this poem was painted along the walkway as a way for pedestrians to feel safe while they crossed underneath the street. It uses the analogy of Eurydice descending into the Underworld as a way to remind us that though we often fall into these pits of seemingly unending despair, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. There are always stairs that lead to something higher, something better than where we are right now. The underpass itself is a brightly lit area in an otherwise grey part of London. There's a certain melancholiness to the poem; it reminds me that there are moments when life is beautiful and there are moments when life is sad.

Read more about the Underpass project here.

ak

"Eurydice" by Sue Hubbard

I am not afraid as I descend,
step by step, leaving behind the salt wind
blowing up the corrugated river,

the damp city streets, their sodium glare
of rush-hour headlights pitted with pearls of rain;
for my eyes still reflect the half remembered moon.

already your face recedes beneath the station clock,
a damp smudge among the shadows
mirrored in the train’s wet glass,

will you forget me? Steel tracks lead you out
past cranes and crematoria,
boat yards and bike sheds, ruby shards

of roman glass and wolf-bone mummified in mud,
the rows of curtained windows like eyelids
heavy with sleep, to the city’s green edge.

Now I stop my ears with wax, hold fast
the memory of the song you once whispered in my ear.
Its echoes tangle like briars in my thick hair.

You turned to look.
Second fly past like birds.
My hands grow cold. I am ice and cloud.

This path unravels.
Deep in hidden rooms filled with dust
and sour night-breath the lost city is sleeping.

Above the hurt sky is weeping,
soaked nightingales have ceased to sing.
Dusk has come early. I am drowning in blue.

I dream of a green garden
where the sun feathers my face
like your once eager kiss.

Soon, soon I will climb
from this blackened earth
into the diffident light.

Day 1

Our arrival in London is more than just getting here and getting settled in. I feel as though I've walked enough to cover the distance between home and here at least four times. But today has proved to be just a taste of what I'm going to expect for the next three months. I'm excited. I'm nervous.

First stop was to go to Paddington, which put us in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of the city. Nothing's really changed since I was here last, but there wasn't that sense of urgency that I'd always assumed there would be. Maybe it had something to do with the weather - a rare sunny day in an otherwise overcast environment. A little while later we emerged from the tube station Camden Town - London's eccentric side; the part of the city that people come to live and learn and forget. The buskers were lovely.

Now we've taken residence in Southwark, where locals frequent The Old School Yard in hoards of boozed-up twenty-somethings, ironically enough. It's midnight now, and tomorrow is the beginning of a lot of things.

Side note: my favorite bun shop in Bayswater is now closed. An unfortunate turn of events, but asi es la vida.

ak

5

"To enjoy life we must touch much of it lightly."

-Voltaire


There's a lot going through my head right now - lots of positive energy for sure, but there's still something else. Something's tugging at the base of my skull, but not hard enough to throw my head back in pain and lose my footing. But it's still there, pulling away ever so lightly. I'm curious to find out if it'll increase as the days go on but with only 5 days left until I leave, I'm not sure that I'm very keen on finding out.

It's a push and a pull, but I don't know which will give out first.


ak