18TH BIRTHDAY & LONDON

Just over a week ago it was my birthday, and its fair to say that its probably the most memorable birthday yet, not only because it was my 18th (FINALLY!!) but was also because I was spending my birthday weekend in London. Overall we stayed there for three days and two nights (we came home later on in the third day), and the weekend was literally packed out as I had so much planned, but it was so memorable and I would do absolutely anything to re-live it!!

This post is probably gonna be really long and probably gonna take me ages to write, but it will give me something to do and focus on and I'm literally just dying to make the whole event into a blog post!!

Day 1

Journey & Arrival

The trip obviously first started off with travelling down to London, as this was a special occasion my parents paid to update ourselves to first class (I felt hella posh, and maybe a little snobby) and we had a whole carriage to ourselves which was kinda weird but really cool at the same time. On the way down there I opened all of my birthday cards as I hadn't enough time earlier on in the morning. I got a lovely selection of cards as well as a really nice amount of money from my relatives. When I thought the trip couldn't be any better, the guy who walked down the corridors with food noticed that it was my birthday and suddenly disappeared, a few minutes later he quickly walked past our table and seats and dropped off a small bag and said "compliments from el capitano" and walked off. Literally me, my mum, dad and brother all looked at each other as if to say "ey up whats going on here??". When we looked into the bag there where three small bottles of champagne and a few small cans of fizzy orange (which where probably for my brother and to make bucks fizz). We all got a little too giddy and the day was made even better as the guy gave my dad the money in which he paid to upgrade us all to first class back to him!! I'm starting to think I'm just gonna wear a massive 18 badge wherever I go for freebees now haha!! (I'm obviously joking...well,maybe)). We where all absolutely made up with the compliments and of course the money back, it really was a lovely way to start off our trip to London and made me even more excited and happy than I already was!!

Once we arrived in London we had to do the basics like get the tube tickets sorted out (this took like, a good 20 minutes). Even getting the tube tickets made me really excited because if I'm honest, the tube is literally like one of my most favourite things about London (I sound like a right tourist). Of course we also had to check into our hotel. With all of the basics done it was then up to me to choose what our first "event" of the trip was to be. I hadn't to pick anything that was too far away or should take up a large amount of time as I had a "surprise" booked for me at a specific time. I obviously hadn't got a clue of what the surprise was, but it made me think a lot!



                                                                  The National Gallery

So, the first thing that I wanted to do was visit The National Gallery. I was actually so so SO excited to go there because before the trip I found out that Van Gogh's work was on display. Before I go any further I feel like it would be appropriate to explain that I am a huge admirer of Van Gogh and his work, it's so unique and the sad story behind Van Gogh himself made me even more fonder of him and his work when I first discovered him. The first thing on my mind when stepping into the gallery was finding Gogh's work, and of course I found it in no time. It's fair to say that his work was getting the most attention in the room, it was pretty easy to find his work considering the selection of work which they had on display was really rather busy. I actually could not believe it when I was in front of his work (especially the sunflowers). I was completely lost in the moment and it just would not sink in that his work was right there in-front of me. Of course with me being me, I didn't not want to admire from a distance, I made sure that I eventually got to the very front of everyone so I could see the work so clearly with nothing in my path and just admire and let everything sink in.

After my major hard to believe moment, it was then time for me to move on to the rest of the amazing art that was hanging in the gallery. I literally love everything when it comes to galleries, from the beautiful architecture of the buildings, to the atmosphere and of course the art itself. I always get completely lost in galleries cause I am surrounded by one of the passions I have had since I was little. Not only this, I just love the fact I am with the most intricate work, along with the stories and meanings they posses.

Along with Van Gogh, I also had a few more artists in my sights. Cause I'm a bit of a sad case I had researched what art work was on show beforehand and I found a few names which sparked my interest, these including Monet (shown above), Gauguin and Lautrec (both shown below).

You may be wondering why Monet (shown above these photos), Lautrec (left photo) and Gauguin (photo on right) all stand out to me. Basically I wanted to see Monet as he is a famous painter anyways and would be a loss not to see his work. I wanted to see Gauguin as I have seen his name float around a few times when I have read art books, and I wanted to see Lautrec as I studied his work in an art nouveau history project in college, and would therefore be great to say Ive seen in real life.



Along with the favourites I was also at the gallery to admire other art work and the building itself. I know I'm probably repeating myself but I really did have the most wonderful time in there, the artistic beauty always overwhelms me and I never want to leave. It makes me feel so grateful and happy to say that I saw Van Gogh on my 18th Birthday, it will be something I will never ever forget. If you're an art lover or simply wanting something a little more peaceful, visit the National Gallery, it's such a heavenly place and will blow you away.

Of course I couldn't leave the gallery without buying some things from the gift store, I had over £150 to my name (which is like, a lot to me!!) and it would be a disgrace if I didn't buy anything. I nearly collapsed whilst in the store because there was Van Gogh merchandise everywhere, I kinda regret not taking a photograph! Anyway I bought a lovely little collection of things (shown below) and I even got the most beautiful carrier bag ever with Van Gogh's sunflowers on it!


                                                                           The Shard

With the gallery completed, it was then time for my "surprise". Turned out that the surprise was going up to the top of The Shard (you know, the pointy building shown on the left). I was actually so excited about going to the top, Im really not a "scared of heights" girl at all, in fact heights don't really bother me that much, so it wasn't even a worry! Once we got to the top I was blown away by the view, for such a tall building I didn't feel like I was that high (although my opinion did change slightly when I looked straight down). It took us two lifts to get to the viewing platform, and I'm telling you now, I have never been up a more speedy lift in my life, apparently it goes past three floors every second, it was pretty unreal and made me feel like I was entering a different dimension or something??? Whilst at the top you could get some champagne, and seeing as it was my birthday it would be a great loss not to get some whilst also enjoying the view and the whole experience itself. Whilst up there I took a few photographs.

                                                                            Walk



After The Shard event was over, we all took a longer, more sight seeing walk home instead of getting the tube, the weather was holding up (even thought the skies where grey) so we decided to make the most of our time and take a walk by the side of the Thames. Travelling to London, The National Gallery, The Shard and a lot of walking had really made up most of the day, and by the time we had got back to the room and had a rest, it was getting towards tea time, and therefore my birthday meal.

                                                                       Hard Rock Cafe

Again, as it was my birthday it was up to me to choose where we was going to have a nice meal. For me this was a real easy decision, Hard Rock Cafe! I actually plan to go to a Hard Rock Cafe wherever there is one, that restaurant is literally my most favourite ever and there are always some wonderful collectables in there (especially back home in Manchester, this is mainly due to the Arctic Monkeys stuff though!!). For my meal I think I had chicken?? In fact i dont think, I know, cause I always have chicken, and it was so damn good. Of course with it being my birthday I wasn't going to get away with the usual embarrassment of your family singing happy birthday, but luckily for me I got pulled out infront of the whole restaurant and the waitress (who was so so lovely) made everyone in the room sing happy birthday to me whilst presenting me with a really delicious looking ice cream sundae with a candle on top! I was so embarrassed at the time but now I think back on it it was actually kinda funny, it's not every day you get pulled up infront of the whole of Hard Rock Cafe!

So that was my 18th Birthday in London. The first day had been so hectic and so fulfilling, I really couldn't of asked for a better day!! I was definitely ready for bed at the end of the day though!

Day 2

Natural History Museum

When I woke up on the second day, I knew I had to prepare myself for a really busy day as it was my first (and unfortunately last for this birthday event) full day in London. I had a couple of museums planned, and even museums take a lot of time.

The first museum on the list was the Natural History Museum. I visited this museum for the first time when I went to London last year with college, and from what I remember was that it was the most impressive building with really interesting things inside. Not only was I excited for this museum, my brother was too, its always good to share the excitement. Even though I had been to this museum before, I was still extremely excited to visit as it is such a fascinating place, and I was really looking forward to visiting things I really enjoyed looking at the last time that I was there.

 Of course with this being a       museum, there where so many photo opportunities!

My most favourite section of the whole museum is where they keep the natural rocks and elements (shown above, check out my top panorama skills). I have always been interested in precious stones and stuff like that, it really amazes me what mother nature can make and produce, and their are so many different types of elements out there,  nd thats what fascinates me, as well as the beauty of course. The section in which they keep them offers and absolutely huge amount of them to look at, I can't stand still for one second as I'm trying to look at them all in their display cases!

After I had admired the rocks for too long (even though you can never admire for too long), I went into "the vault" where a collection of more treasured elements where kept, there was a wide range of things to look at from jewellery, to simple elements themselves. Along with the items there where also in depth descriptions of what they where (although I couldn't understand a word of what some of them said because it was way to scientific hahaha!).  The Vault was actually a really interesting bit of the museum to visit, the stuff that is in there (as well as the rest of the museum) is actually breathtaking, there are so many different things to look at and read about you're actually spoilt for choice!

Victoria & Albert Museum

The next trip was to the Victoria and Albert museum. This museum is located like, directly across from the natural history museum, so it really wasn't a far walk at all. I don't really know where I first heard of the V&A, I think it was when I had looked at a "museums to visit in London" list before I went, and I remember googling the museum and being really impressed by the whole place. The V&A is an art and design museum, and from the outside I could tell that it  had so much to offer! 

I was even captivated by the entrance of the building! its actually amazing the amount of serious detail that goes into the buildings, they're literally so impressive. I handnt been in the presence of the building for three minutes and I was already taking so many photographs of the place.

Once I got inside I was just blown away, like quite literally. I felt like I had died and gone to art and design heaven. I don't think I said anything for like the first 10 minutes of being in there as I just couldn't quite adjust to such an amazing building, you could probably say I was left speechless?? the architecture was absolutely spectacular, you may probably think that I make a little too much fuss over all the arty farty creative stuff, but I can never help myself at all. The whole place had a really classical vibe to it and the works in which they had in there where so interesting to look at, especially all the sculptures, it blows my mind at how intricate those scupltures are, I'm actually kinda struggling with what to write in this section as art (and the V&A itself) makes me rather speechless!

As well as all of the sculptures I noticed that certain sections of the museums where named specifically by a certain era/country (for example, Medieval and India), and one section that really got me excited me was China. Don't ask where my love of China has come from, I have never even been, but for some reason I am so fascinated by Chinese culture, Chinese art and even Chinese fashion, basically anything Chinese, I feel like it has this certain beauty to it, and it really fascinates me. There was a real mix of items to look at and admire, it felt really good to learn about a different culture and review a lot of items. The items shown below are only a small selection of what the museum had to offer. The buddha statue (shown below on the far left) instantly caught my eye, I really loved the whole antique style that it had, it was so beautiful, I just wanted to take it home with me to have in the house! There was also a lovely collection of ceramics and special items.

Unfortunately I did not have enough time to look the whole way around the museum as I had other things planned for the day, which was really upsetting really because I absolutely loved the place and wanted to see much more that it had to offer!

I'll definitely be returning when I next go to London, I really really got a great feel for the place and felt like I was really in my element. It really is an art and design heaven!! I think with galleries and museums you really need a good few hours to look at the whole place, so next time I find myself in London that's the first place I'll be at, I'm definitely gonna make a more in depth blog post for this place the next time I go, it will make a really interesting post and I know i'll enjoy the task of taking photos and writing a review! I'll see you next time V&A.

Harrods

The next event on the list was Harrods. Harrods is one of the places that I have never been to before in London. I actually felt rather intimidated by the thought of this place!! Unfortunately I didn't take many photos inside Harrods cause I wasn't sure if you where allowed?? and I really did not want to get told in a posh place like that!! I was actually rather overwhelmed with how pristine and well organised the place is, I didn't even dare getting my heart set on something cause I would dread to think what the price was like! (I sound like a proper cheapskate, i don't even have the money to spend in there anyway!)

Oxford Street

As I had a bit of money to my name, I thought it would be a waste not to go to Oxford Street, its like, the shopping capital of London. If you're a shopaholic like I am, you'd know that a bit of money and a load of big name shops add up to a lot of fun!! I went into shops such as H&M, New Look, Urban Outfitters, and of course, LUSH! I had an absolute blast in all of the stores, especially Lush. The Lush store is the biggest Lush store that I have been to, the stores in Manchester are rather small so this store was an absolute treat! It took me a while to stop smelling everything and actually buying something! Of course I did not leave the store empty handed, I bought a couple of bath bombs and a lovely smelling bubble bar.

With all the shopping done, it was then time to head back to the hotel to recover from all of the walking (which was a lot), and then spend the rest of the night in Wetherspoons for a nice meal and a few drinks.

That was the end of my second day in London! it was so eventful and I was amazed at how much me and my family fit in that day! by this time I was actually kinda sad that my trip was slowly coming to an end, but I wasn't to be too downhearted as I did have one more day!

Day 3

Camden Market

With day three being the last day, we had to make the most of our time left, so we got up early and made our way to another one of my favourite places in London, Camden Market. I've been to Camden three of the five times I have been to London, so as you can tell its a big hit for me! I've always bought something from there, Ive even found some treasures like two coloured vinyls!

Camden Market is a heaven for anyone, there is such a vast amount of stalls with their own individual themes and items, and theres something to please everybody. The amount of things you can find there is unreal, from beautiful jewellery and clothing to an item you may not have seen anywhere else.

We all went for a full walk around the market to see what we could find, I bought a lovely little collection featuring a ring, arctic monkeys vinyl and a dress. Now one of the stalls in Camden featured a stall with a wide selection of ART DRESSES! When I say art dresses I literally mean dresses with prints of famous art work on them (for example the Mona Lisa and The Starry Night). I hadn't seen anything like these anywhere else and I HAD to buy one, and in the end I bought a dress with Van Gogh's blossoms on them! shown on the left.

After Camden it was then time to make our way back to the train station to get home to Manchester. I absolutely hate goodbyes, especially when it comes to London. In a way I was happy to be going home as I was so tired, and my own bed was waiting for me. The whole birthday weekend for me could not of been better, I am so grateful for the opportunity I was given and it will definitely be a birthday to remember.