Grandad comes to London!

Last week my Grandaddy came to visit me in London, all the way from Liverpool. He is pretty bad at making decisions and adamantly stood by his suggestion, 'Whatever you want to do Em' regardless of my objection that, seeing as I live in London, I can do whatever I want whenever I want, so it'd probably be best for him to choose and eventually we came to a bit of a stalemate and decided to just wing it a bit, which makes for a nice post full of advice for those tourists who are a little more disorganised.

We started off with a  lunch of scrummy fish and chips at the Shakespeare's Head, a Wetherspoon pub on Kingsway near Holborn station, which I often frequent with the German lot from uni and would highly recommend. Next, we decided to wander down to Aldwych to visit my uni, walk along Waterloo Bridge (which in my opinion, is the best view of London you can get, day or night) and over to South Bank, as my Grandad loves his shows and it's always a safe bet for street performers. Sure enough we came across a group of Jamaican dancers/acrobats/contortionists who were really quite good. Seriously, the ways in which they could twist their bodies were pretty crazy! It also made a nice change from street magicians, not that they aren't talented, it's just that they are everywhere in London and as a resident it's nice to see something a little different from time to time.

This little girl was the cutest.

Sometimes it's easy to forget how certain times of year are super busy in this city, making a wander down the Thames a little more difficult than I originally anticipated, so we took a bit of a breather for a few touristy pictures.

A sneaky Grandad-being-pensive-in-the-sunshine pic

This looks like I was trying to be arty but in actual fact I literally couldn't fit any more of it in the frame...

Em and Grandad selfie, with a cheeky Big Ben photobomb.

On our eventual escape from the utter madness of South Bank, we hopped on the 453* bus to Oxford Circus. As I was after a game for a birthday party, we decided to have a gander in Hamley's toy store. As far as I can remember, it was my first visit and both Grandad and I got a little too excited by everything that was going on. My broody levels literally sky-rocketed. Of all the cool toys to buy however, I ended up buying ID twister (please don't judge me). They literally put those boys faces on EVERYTHING these days.

Clearly I love my friends very much to go through with buying this.

The rest of the afternoon was spent bumbling around Oxford Street for various things before heading back home for some home cooked sausage and mash. However, not before stopping off at Paul to grab some scrummy cream cakes for desert (FYI, their chocolate éclair is to die for). By 6.30pm we were all done and dusted and ready to accompany Grandad back to the train station; it just goes to show how much you can fit into a day when visiting London and still successfully have a lovely time. I even had time in the evening to head to The Barbican Cinema (which is always £5 on tuesdays for students, worth checking out!) with Gordon and Joe to watch Noah. 

*When travelling around London, though the tube seems the obvious choice, I can't recommend buses enough. They literally go everywhere and most of them are 24 hour AND they're much cheaper than the tube. It's honestly no more difficult then getting a grasp of the tube system.*

Proud Prestonian

'You can take the lass out of Lancashire, but you can't take the Lancashire out of the lass' - Every Lancastrian I've ever met ever.

19 Things That Northerners Miss When They Move To London

As much as I love living in London, I can't deny that there are times that I miss my good old Northern heritage. No where else in the world can I refer to my evening meal as 'tea' without responses of ridicule or the hilarious joke "you can't EAT tea stupid", or say things like "flippin heckers" and "y'all reet" without even a single flutter of an eyelid. Plus there's the pies in Wigan and Formby 'beach' and the insane nights out in Leeds. The immense beauty of the Lake District and the lovely oldy worldy feel of York and Lancaster, not to mention the incredible music scene in Manchester and Sheffield. Plus we lay claim to the beautiful Geordie accent, as well as the slightly more controversial tones found only in Scouseland (I'm allowed to say that coz I'm half Scouse and proud). 

And of course, there is my gorgeous, heart-warmingly welcoming, beautiful haven; Preston. Which almost nobody down here has heard of. Unless it's the football team. Which is rather embarrassing. ESPECIALLY when we're home to the UK's first KFC. Now if you have heard of Preston or have even been lucky enough to pay it a visit, you might think that my description is perhaps, maybe, a slight over exaggeration. Which is probably is, but bear with me.

Although Preston (and other parts of the North) may not be the most glamorous of places, don't be so quick to judge on what hear'say might tell you. I know I've been known to joke about the insanely good transport links to help you escape from Preston (Europe's biggest bus station dudes, just saying) but despite the stereotypes, we don't all live in caves and yes we have in fact discovered the wheel and just because my accent might not make me sound as intelligent as someone who speaks the Queen's English, doesn't make the assumption true. I can't deny that the picture above does make me feel a little nostalgic for home, but it does leave out some of the key elements that make the North such a special place in my heart. 

For starters, it tries to represent the down to earth, grimy Northern scene as a bad thing. We're not necessarily grimy, we're just less fussy about the places we hang out. I'd like to point out at this point that I am speaking from my own experiences and in no way assume that all Londoners are the same, nor are Northerners. However since I came down to London, I have been to some shocking so-called classy bars, full of pretense and over-priced drinks, where I've had to wear heels and a tight dress to even be considered entry and boys have to pay £20 to get in whilst girls get off scott free. If that's not elitist sexism at it's finest then I don't know what is. Give me the shelter of Longton park on a rainy afternoon with my big warm over coat and 65p scallop barm any day. Or Warehouse where I can dance around like a loon in my trainers as unselfconsciously as I wish and regardless of gender the entry is just £2. And Southerners wonder why us Northerners have a certain depiction of this half of the country in our heads.

As I wrote earlier, I realise this isn't the case for everywhere/everyone in London/the South etc. Maybe I've just missed a trick by living in central London and there's actually some really cool places to go to where I don't have to open a vein in order to pay the entrance fee or become incredibly aware of my sexuality. Please please PLEASE do not hesitate to show me them, I would be eternally grateful.

Another aspect of the North that I really miss is the general openness of people to one another. As pointed out in the link at the top of this post, sparking up a conversation with a stranger on the bus is totally normal where I'm from, in fact I regularly smile and greet people in the street, regardless of whether or not I know them. And that doesn't mean I'm a little bit unhinged; it's socially acceptable and actually quite nice that strangers can be so friendly to one another. Where as if I so much as glance at a passerby in London I risk being torn limb from limb by the dreaded death stare. Lighten up people, not everyone who is pleasant to you without being paid to be so is a complete psycho.

Above all, Preston, Lancashire and the North are simply home. Although I travel all over the world and live at the opposite end of the country, I have never felt more at home than when I'm back in my familiar surroundings of Hurst Grange Park and Fishergate High Street, where Gregg's sausage rolls are 2 for £1 and I have to stop to say hi to someone every five minutes. Not forgetting of course, my Grandma's legendary cooking. Northern Pride may seem strange to some, though to me, being proud of hearty food, cheap beer and exceedingly warm locals is a bit of a no brainer.

Get Busy Living

The past week has been a bit of a blur. I'm now back at uni, though my classes don't start until the 30th, as I'm President of my university's German Society this year. It has been a fantastic week, I don't remember being this busy since I was in high school and I used to take on absolutely everything and anything I could get my hands on! Today is my first and only day off in the next couple of weeks, so I'm spending it relaxing and catching up with my flatmates from last year. Oh and of course gorging on Nando's lovely lovely chicken.

As much as I love the freedom of travelling, it's nice to have a little routine and grounding at the moment to get my head back into gear for my second year. I've had a society event/meeting/talk pretty much every day so far and I've surprised myself with how much I've loved having structure in my days. I find that sometimes the laid back (sometimes borderline lazy) attitude can actually become a little tiresome. Even when I'm travelling I love to plan things for each day and find if I spend too many days just chilling out I become irritable and start to inhabit characteristics one would associate with someone who has far too much on their plate. It's almost like I get tired of being lazy.

However I suppose once term starts and I have to forfeit sleep time for work time I'll look back at this post with my 'What was I thinking?!' expression and pray for the days when I could choose exactly how I wanted to spend my time. I suppose it's like anything else; having a balance between the hectic organised lifestyle and the chilled-out-do-what-you-want attitude is key. Plus it makes you appreciate each one a little more (I think my liver in particular would agree on this point).

Our first event of the week was Oktoberfest last Saturday night, at which I took it upon myself to cover everyone in German face paint and a fair few people ended up dancing on the tables. We held the event at Bierschenke, a German pub just off the Strand that is run by the wonderful Oliver. I suppose it's not a particularly great place for tourists that want to experience a traditional 'English' night out on visiting London, but to be fair, as London is one of the most international cities in the world, you could claim you are getting the true 'London' experience. Also it's a lot of fun especially for those who prefer a slightly more chilled out pub-like atmosphere to that of a sweaty, crowded club.

(instagram @kclgermansoc)

Table dancing to the live Oompah Band.

I had planned my first trip in the UK for this weekend, a short night or two stay in Bristol, purely because it's only a 2 hour drive and £4 ticket fee on the Megabus from London. However I managed to party myself into a coma (surprisingly not from alcohol but just plain exhaustion) on Wednesday night and managed to oversleep and miss my bus on Thursday morning. I do plan on starting my weekend trips soon though, though I reckon I'm less likely to miss them once I've settled back into uni life a little more. If you have any suggestions on where is nice to visit please let me know! I've visited pretty much no where in the South or East at all.

So after a rather crazy week I'm very much looking forward to having a few days off and the opportunity to get myself ready for starting back at uni on Monday. Somehow I think I've managed to have a busier Freshers this year than last year and my body isn't best pleased about it... I'm getting far too old for this :P

*CHEESY POST ALERT*

'There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them' - J. K. Rowling

First year at uni and a twelve-foot mountain troll have their similarities don't you think?

We did it! We made it to the end of freshers! All in one piece with most of our sanity, which is a nice bonus. I like to say 'we' rather than 'I' as I feel it is something we achieved as a collective, rather than a single handed effort. So this post is dedicated to all those lovelies who've made my life just that little bit brighter, just by being themselves.

Overall, first year has been an amazing experience for me. I've met some of the most incredible human beings to have ever walked to earth and I feel so so blessed to know we have many more years of friendship ahead of us. Little did I know when I started out on my university adventure that I'd make friends that are scattered from Mexico City to Melbourne to São Paulo to Essex.

I was talking to a friend about the pros and cons of having friends from all over the world. Luckily, I'm super good at keeping in touch with people, even if it's just little updates now and then and I don't tend to get awkward even if I leave years before seeing a person again. I cope pretty well with long distance friendships; it's not that I don't miss people, it's just I've learned to not dwell on it. I like that I can travel almost anywhere and I can always find a familiar face. I also like living for right now, enjoying the company of those around me rather than lamenting those who aren't. Plus, it makes it all the more special when you do see someone and you can really appreciate your time together.

'There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature' - Jane Austen

This year has been a strange one as far as making friends goes, with all the exchange students coming and going at Christmas my year has had a strange divide, since the two groups were really quite different. Although I wish I'd got to spend more time with both groups, I wouldn't change it for the world. Though I am looking forward to a slightly more settled year next year, with a continuity of friends and flatmates (well flatmate, it's just me and Will next year!) Doubtless I'll be taking that back after a week or so of normality and craving the antics of Moonraker once more. We've decided there's enough drama that goes on here to create our own soap opera, without even having to exaggerate much. Maybe just chuck in a murder and a wedding scandal to really finish it off. Apparently I would be played by Ellen Page because 'she has that quirky edge'. Pretty pleased with that :)

And then of course, there's the beauts from my course who are stuck with me for another three years. Soz about that chaps. I think I got insanely lucky with this lot. Our tutors have described us as the odd year out as we all get on so well, which if you don't go to uni is extremely unusual for classmates, let alone the entire year group! So yer, it seems I hit the friend jackpot this year and I couldn't be happier about it. Being President of German Soc next year is going to be a lot of fun. 

Basically, thanks for being awesome guys. Here's to many more years of friendship/putting up with me ;) Oh and Will and I put an offer in for a flat today!! Exciting stuff. Let the excitement of summer and second year commence...

Living in London

'Guess what I do for adventure? I hand-glide on a Dorito.'



I've been thinking about writing this post for a long time and have completed loads of drafts that have eventually been discarded, due to a general lack of theme/content/anything at all interesting. However I've FINALLY come up with an angle I like (and I hope you do too), for tips about living in London that can be useful to not only us poor students who have to survive here, but for tourists and travellers too. This post is also potentially going to turn into a series - OoOoOoOoOoooo - since I'm going to be here for the next three years, so I figure I'll probably have more to say in the future.

Ok, so the video at the beginning of this post is supposed to inspire you to first of all, think creatively. Life in London and especially the student experience isn't like that of any other city (well in the UK, sorry I've never lived any other country!) Going out to bars and clubs is extremely expensive and even if there is a 'student' night with 'cheap' alcohol and food, you're only going to be paying the regular prices of your home town at best. This means that you're not always going to be able to afford to go out and are going to have to think new ways to pass away your free time.

Two rather obvious suggestions are themed flat parties and investing in board games. Even so, these are two great ways to get together with friends over a couple of drinks without even having to leave the comfort of your home, as long as you don't mind having to spend a fair amount of time cleaning up afterwards - at our 90's party someone had a butter fight with the fridge... Makes for a funny story though!

Also due to the freak weather at the moment, we've had plenty of opportunities to have fun in the snow and embrace (y)our inner child. I would say apply this to all areas of life. Dance in the street, practise a rounds of 'Doh Re Mi' in the taxi til driver tells you to 'shut the hell up!', give out free hugs, sing your favourite songs in public and try/fail to harmonise with your friends, laugh at unnecessary volumes, have lengthy chats with complete strangers on the tube... Do silly things, have fun, make people smile and get strange looks from boring people, you're NEVER going to see them again anyway. If you're not hurting anyone and having fun, who cares what anyone else thinks?

I've tended to find that the best places to go out aren't always the ones advertised all over your university bulletin boards or the ones who bombard you with flyers. In fact, the majority of these events have ended in disaster for me and my friends. So my tip to you would to be say yes to (almost/within reason) everything. At university and around London there are so many interesting people to meet and unusual places to go, that you are more than likely going to be invited to something that you've never heard of or tried before and even if it doesn't sound like your cup of tea... Don't knock it 'til you've tried it. It might be a pleasant surprise. So here's a few of my favourite and possibly underrated places to visit, which I would have never discovered had I not accepted an invitation from a friend...

The Top Secret Comedy Club with Shoot from the Hip! in Covent Garden



This event is every Tuesday night at 8.15pm and I can sincerely say I don't know when I have ever laughed so hard. It's four guys doing stand up, improvised comedy for around 2-3 hours. The skits are decided by audience suggestions and steadily get more ridiculous as everyone gets more drunk - the drinks are pretty reasonably priced too! This particular skit was actually acted on a suggestion by a friend of mine. Oh, and did I mention it's FREE?! I'd recommend it for anyone really, a great night out with your mates and it doesn't finish too late if you want to have an early one or carry on to another bar.

Click here for the website and information on other events

The Gladstone Pub, Borough

This little place is a tad difficult to hunt down but well worth a look in. With a lovely cosy atmosphere and again, reasonably priced food and drinks and free live music three times a week this place is a great venue to just chill out and relax after a long day.

Click here for the website and upcoming gigs

The Slug and Lettuce, Various Locations

I know this is a well known chain but I'd just like to alert any cheapskates out there to the half price Monday offer, which is half price off ALL FOOD. It's pretty yummy too.

Cubana, Waterloo

I've been to this place a couple of times, for a friend's birthday and another time for a rather... interesting date. But that's another story. I'd recommend the Woo-Woo cocktail, though try as many as you can, they're not too expensive and get you rather giddy. The food is DIVINE. No exaggeration. Get in early though or book if you have a big party because it fills up quick!

Click here for the website

Finally, day trips. As I work every weekend I don't get much chance to go out during daylight hours, however when I've been lucky enough to get a weekend off I've managed to explore a little bit. For those of you who are like me and can't hack staying in the same place for prolonged periods of time, university can become a little frustrating. However, there is nothing to say that we can't create adventure for ourselves, even within confines of where we live. I like to act like a tourist as often as I can and find that, combined with the knowledge of my city, makes for really exciting adventures.

My university, King's College London, has an organisation called Unlocking London, which organises events and experiences for students at extremely discounted prices. For example I went up the shard a few weeks ago for just £9!!

(Instagram emilynicolastorey)

It's definitely worth checking out whether your uni does a similar thing.

The Markets

London is famous for its vast array of markets which are spread all across the capital. I'm lucky enough to have Borough Market just around the corner, with its wide variety of fancy and tasty foods, but I've also ventured a little further a field. My favourites so far have been Brick Lane and Broadway Market, both of which I explored with my two lovely girlies from last term.

Miss you guys!

The others are obvious suggestions, such as the museums, art galleries and other attractions (Big Ben, Buckingham Palace etc etc) which are often disregarded by residents as tourist attractions. Undeniably, they are, but that doesn't mean to say they can't be enjoyed by the average Joe.

My last tip would be to walk everywhere as it allows you to see lots of pretty things you'd otherwise miss if you were to take the tube. Here's a few of my favourite snaps I and my friends have taken along the way...

(Instagram mitchellckc)

I hope you at least enjoyed this post and maybe even found something useful to take away from it. I reckon a lot of these tips can be applied to other cities and not just London, so hopefully there's something for everyone. Until next time, keep smiling :)

...and what's to come

The past few months have been an absolute BLAST for me. I'm currently at University in London studying German and Hispanic Studies (with a little French on the side too). It's incredible. I've also been mega fortunate with my flat, as somehow I've been placed in with all international students. Seriously it's like a dream come true, it's like I'm constantly in travel mode.

Just to emphasise just how multinational my uni friends are, here's a low down of my flatmates. (This probably isn't interesting to most people, but this is my blog, so you're just going to have to deal with it. Just skip a bit further down if you want to jump to the exciting up-and-coming travel plan bit... :) )

So this is my first term flat...

There's me and my fellow first year Josie (Switzerland), then exchange students Ellen (Aus), Adriana (Mexico) and Gustavo (Brazil). I MISS YOU GUYS ALREADY :'(

However, we're lucky that the Newbies are awesome too...

This is the gang boogying to Thift Shop in Winter Wonderland... (left to right) There's Brett (exchange from the USA), Caitlin (Spain), another first year who moved in just before Christmas, Josie (who's stayed, WHOOP) and Steve (exchange from Aus). The others are friends from Uni, Mexican and American if you must know. There's also Shaynah (USA) but I don't have a pic with her yet :(

Also if you don't know what Thift Shop is (and you should) here's the youtube link:



The plus side of having a completely international flat is that the exchange students want to constantly be travelling the UK and Europe and I get to tag along/invite myself because I just can't be in one place for too long. Plus despite being in travel mode, I still have a base camp in London where I can relax and feel at home.

Unfortunately it does mean that I'm still making amazing friends and then having to watch them leave again and again. Which, by the by, doesn't get easier, no matter what people tell you, especially for a particularly emotional girl like myself. However I have come to terms with the fact that no matter where I am in the world, I'm always going to be missing someone. Sounds kinda sad but if you flip it, I also know that no matter where I am in the world, I'm always going to be with someone I care about :) Which is pretty awesome.

And now for the exciting part, this years travel plans (so far!):

February reading week in Madrid and Salamanca with the Hispanic Society. This is, as well as an opportunity to get a little silly on alcohol with the course mates, mainly an opportunity to improve my rather terrible spoken Spanish. As it's my degree, it's probably important for me to learn to do it well :P

St. Patrick's Day weekend in Dublin with all the flatmates. I'm FINALLY getting to Ireland and I'm super excited.

Then finally a week or two in Croatia with friends from home travelling and attending Hideout Festival. Which is a festival. On a beach. With real sunshine and waves and sand and EVERYTHING. Here's the promo video if you're wanting to know more...



Best get working on that Bikini Bod if I don't want to do my usual in knee length board shorts and a men's XL t-shirt...