Following our Hearts Through London

Today we visited our first design firm, which was called All of Us. The firm is a small but globally successful agency that specializes in interactive design through the focus of how the viewer engages with the work. They take a user-experience approach to design and are interested in the latest and greatest technology. The space itself was so inviting, and the design team clearly treated one another like family. It seemed like a really awesome place to work. We all got to see a presentation, put together by their staff, which explained for us the mission and process of the firm. Examples of their past work was, also, included. In particular, we both thought that their work on Mishkat Visitor Centre (everyone look that up immediately after reading this post) was very innovative. Needless to say, everyone was incredibly inspired by the presentation.

Kim and I pretty much fell in love with the woman who talked to us today. She had on a really cute outfit and was a great speaker. She made a lot of witty jokes during the presentation, which made it really interesting. We’ve deemed perfect outfits that we see in London “the London Look” and we both agreed she totally had it!

After we saw the agency, we had the rest of the day free, but because we were close to the British Museum most people started their afternoon off there. The museum is home to a huge collection of pieces that the British stole from other countries so the Egyptian and Greek art collections there are pretty impressive. Some notable artifacts that we saw at the museum were the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies, including Cleopatra’s.

Next on the agenda was some wandering around. We’ve been really lucky with the London weather since we’ve been here (40s or 50s everyday and no rain) and today was our best day yet. It was very sunny and warm, which made a perfect day for strolling down whichever road we felt like. Because the tube is so easy to navigate it’s fun to lose ourselves in the city like this. We never know what we’ll discover and all we have to do to get back is to find the nearest tube station.  Because of this the motto of the day was to just “follow our hearts”. It hasn’t steered us wrong yet.

Along the way we discovered some perfectly dressed London locals that also fit our definition of “the London Look”.

We stumbled upon Primrose bakery, which is home to some fantastic treats. One of our friends studied abroad last semester here and she had raved about it and told us it was a must-eat. We completely understand now. I had a salted caramel cupcake that had a surprise caramel chocolate baked in the center. Lesia had a rose one. Both were so delicious and we’ll most likely be back there again to have another cupcake or three. 

The other day when we went to the National Gallery Lesia had discovered a pub called The Hand and Racquet on Orange Street. Since that was a combination of two of my favorite things (tennis and the color orange), and I wasn’t with her to see it, I knew we had to find it again. Unfortunately we were unable to get lunch there considering Lesia had left out a pretty important detail…

Since The Head and Racquet was a no-go we stopped in a different pub instead. We both had some delicious fish and chips. At this point of the trip we’re starting to become connoisseurs on the dish. Every place we’ve had them have slight variations of the plate making it impossible to pick a favorite. One thing is always the same though and that’s the fish being served alongside chips and peas.

To end our day we spent the rest of our time in various stores in Soho. We found some awesome local stores that were very unique to London. We also found some great examples of typography that we thought were interesting. Like the city itself, the design in London is an interesting and eclectic mix of old and new, radical and tradition.

I love the clean look of the vending machine in the hostel. It’s unique from America in that it doesn’t show branding and has cooler photography. I like that.

We’d like to part with these wise words… follow your heart, and it will lead you to cupcakes!

Love,

Lesia and Kim