It's Blitz!

Exploring Eastern London was my favorite part of the London trip. I always enjoy escaping the tourists and crowded city centers. We originally ventured to this part of town to see original Banksy graffiti, which we did. At first we thought we had stumbled into the ghetto a little bit, but then after further exploration, we concluded it's a hip part of town and they prefer things that way. Eastern London is kind of vintage heaven. I did not spend a dime, which I have no idea how I managed. The pound is a lot more than the dollar and the vintage was not too cheap, not like in good ole' Springfield, Missouri. There is a Lomography store there, which also has the cutest little developing area. I'm really proud I didn't buy anything, especially here. We also went to London's first vintage department store and I was completely smitten. After, we browsed through a shop with literally hundreds of gorgeous leather weekend bags, but I did not see a single Samsonite. This surprised me a little bit, but it's probably good because lord knows I have enough.

Banksy dog. 

So much cool street art.

Scarves!

They had an entire polka dot section.

Yes, these are all vintage Burberry trenchcoats. At £100 each though, it was pretty easy to turn down.

Photobooth fun, haha, I obviously was not prepared for the first shot. 

London

I met my future roommate, Allison, in Eindhoven to fly to London. We both had our first hostel experience and I'm so happy we were together. Our London shenanigans included: joking about being "panicked on the streets of London" when almost getting hit by traffic, seeing lots of museums (despite our lack of interest in museums), exploring markets, enjoying afternoon tea, eating Hummingbird Cupcakes, meeting one of my all time favorite actors, drinking beer in the coolest bar built in an old horse stable, going to Westminster Abbey for Easter Sunday service, and endless hours searching for "rubbish bins." It was a fabulous time, although I'll be staying in Amsterdam for a bit. London is pretty expensive.

The Rosetta Stone in the British Museum.

So much lace.

Steep escalators. And This Water lemonade, which I should probably start buying in bulk online or something.

Portobello market.

Fascinators!

Meeting Zach Braff after his play All New People. It was really good.

Pimm's and lemonade, a traditional English drink we were told.

Eastern London gets it's own post because it was that amazing, so stay tuned. 

You are a Tourist.

I'm becoming much more familiar with Amsterdam and at times it even feels like home. I received this city guide moleskin for Christmas. I am starting to work on it now and can't wait to have my very own guide to this amazing city. I've had several visitors this past week and I got to explore the city as a tourist again. Namely, I went to the Heineken Experience, which I hadn't found a good excuse to spend so much money on before then. Here are some pictures from my adventures with my friend Alex.

This man in an apron taught Alex how to ride a bike. 

Chipsy King!

It had to happen eventually...

My favorite part of the Heineken tour. Minus the free beer of course. 

I bought some gawdy, Dutch slippers!

Church by my house lit up blue for Ascension week.

Right outside my apartment building. I'm in love.

And I'll leave you with this.