London Diaries #3

 It's Wednesday night again and another week of my life in London is terminating. I didn't think time would pass by so fast, but I'm always trying to make the most out of it. This week was probably a more balanced one, as my schedule was very busy for some days, but I tried to stay at home and recharge for the others.

Last Thursday was not the best day for me, as some of my plans got ruined. When I came here for the first time, as a tourist, I was 14, and I still had some leftover cash from that trip, so I decided to bring it with me to use during this period of time. When I tried to pay at the supermarket, I found out that, two years ago, paper banknotes were changed to plastic ones and coins are different as well. For the banknotes, it was not a problem, as I managed to exchange them at the post office, but they told me I was supposed to go to the Bank of England to exchange the coins. I checked that it was possible to do it there and I organized a morning in the City of London area in order to go to the bank and also see some attractions nearby. 

The morning was soon ruined, because I was told by the employees of the bank that they no longer offer this service, and I was supposed to find a solution myself. This was very disheartening, as I was left alone to find an alternative, and I'm probably going to lose the value of that money, because it's not possible to know if other banks still offer the service and where they are located. Now that a few days have passed, I have tried to focus on everything else that I have to accomplish these days, and I'm going to try and accept that negative things like this can happen in life, and they are out of my control. But that morning the situation really demoralized me, also because if I had known, I wouldn't have wasted my time going to the bank and I would have organized my morning differently, visiting a museum nearby.

Nevertheless, I still tried to make the most of that trip to the City area and I walked around to see a little bit of it, including the ruins of a church that I really wanted to visit: it's St Dunstan in the East Church Garden. The Church was damaged by bombing during World War II and, instead of being rebuilt, it was transformed in a public garden. I think it's really beautiful, and it has such a magical atmosphere; it was one of the things that I couldn't wait to visit when I moved here.

Afterward, I walked to the Tower of London to see it from outside and from there I could also get a very nice view of the Tower Bridge, which I also crossed to get to the other bank of the river. My mood was not the best, but seeing these monuments was still exciting and magnificent, especially walking on the bridge and seeing the towers from up close.

I dedicated the rest of my day to my research and to writing my dissertation and I did the same thing the following day, as I felt like I needed to stay a little bit at home to recover from the energy that I spent on this situation and feel like I was being productive with the actual important commitments of my life.

I also needed to charge my energy, because on Saturday I was going to depart for a very nice trip that I had been dreaming about for years: I spent the day in Brighton! I am going to write a specific post about this experience, to tell you in detail how it went, but I want to anticipate that I absolutely loved the city and the seaside, and it was such a wonderful experience that I will always cherish.

As I spent the whole day outside, on Sunday I needed to rest in the comfort of my room, so it was a very cozy day, where I cleaned the house, I read a book that I got from the library, I kept writing my dissertation, and then I cooked a very hearty meal to end the day: basmati rice with beans and spinach cooked in coconut milk and masala spices.

Then, on Monday, it was time to start again, as in the morning I had booked the ticket to go see Tim Walker's photography exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. It was a wonderful exhibit that I enjoyed very much and where I really advise you to go. I have actually already written a post about it, so if you want to know more about the exhibition you can find it here.

I spent the afternoon and the time after dinner studying, in order to make up for the time that I spent at the exhibition, but this made me feel very tired in the end, so on Tuesday I decided to study from home and rest a little bit more in the morning, and I understood that I should always take my time to unwind and enjoy my interests at night, or I'm going to feel exhausted the next day.

Finally, on Wednesday, I really wanted to go back to studying at the library in order to be able to focus more, but rain started pouring, and it was not the ideal situation to go out. I wrote my dissertation from my cozy room while enjoying a hot green tea.

Another week ended and this time I feel a bit regretful that, for some days, I didn't manage to go out and experience new things, but at the same time, I realized I also needed those days of rest in order to find the energy and the right spirit to enjoy the other days full of activities. I can't wait to discover what this upcoming week has to offer and to tell you more about it really soon.