Read online to see the pictures

After so many adventures around the world (see the previous newsletters in Guatemala, United States, Thaïland, etc), a time for a more settled and simple lifestyle arrived again. I needed to rest a bit from the very high rhythm of adventures I had experienced during my first Year of Solo Traveling and I decided this would happen in the UK, a culture and country very dear to my heart.

I lived in London for two years a decade ago, and since then, I have always kept this culture and everything I learned there in a special place.

What I learnt in London and that shaped a big part of who I have become was:

• tolerance, like true tolerance and what it means to be around real non-judgmental people,
• the healthy side of punk culture that defends personal freedom and the right to be who you are and live beyond societal expectations,
• having the right to try many different things to find out what you really want, the diversity being seen as a form of richness, not a problem
• experiencing patience and kindness with foreigners, when your English and your accent is so broken but they try their best not to hurt your feelings
• open-mindedness in many different areas of life, agreeing that life doesn’t have to be lived in one way and always being open to new possibilities

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Walking and wandering around London on my own, ten years ago, was something I truly enjoyed as it always made me create inspirational thoughts…

Scientists say that we physically become a completely different person every 7 years, as something like 90% of our cells and entire body gets renewed – and so our mentalities, ideas, beliefs and thoughts. So, ten years later, I embraced the opportunity to travel to London for a day and appreciated discovering the city again, from a complete different lens: the NEW ME.

A proper Book Worm

As books have been the thing that have brought me some of the deepest forms of satisfaction, I prioritized going to discover a beautiful bookstore I had discovered on Instagram.

Watch the reel here

I really liked the atmosphere of the quaint Daunts Bookstore, in chic Marylebone and saw many books I wish I could buy (traveling makes collecting books hard!!)! In this type of old building, you can really see and feel how architecture was made in the previous centuries and I’m glad it’s protected.

Because I’m curious and always seem to have a sixth sense about where to go to get the best food, ten years ago, I intuitively found the best places where to eat in London that made me disagree with the usual saying that British food isn’t tasty.

To me, if you say that England doesn’t have great food, it only means that you don’t know where to eat.

Favorite books of those last years

I ran into a book criticizing Prince Harry‘s book called “Spare”.

I personally read “Spare” and found it pretty extraordinary and very progressive in the way it was written, especially in how Harry dared bringing his almost unfiltered authenticity into the world, how he painted himself, with so much honesty about his bright and dark sides, delivering a really interesting perspective into what the life of a Prince can be made of.

I quickly read what the author wanted to spit and turned the book upside down so no one would see the cover again haha! As a fan of British culture, I had to be in love with Prince Harry at some point, wishing we would meet one day so I had to defend him. I don’t think you can call yourself a British at heart if you have never spent at least a few minutes wondering which one of Prince Harry or Prince William would be best for you! :)))

To conclude about this book written to criticize Prince Harry’s work – the statement I’d like to make lies in the beginning of this sentence: why would someone spend time and energy writing about someone else’s work? Don’t they have to say anything interesting to say about their own?

I finally settled for an Elena Ferrante book, Ferrante being one of my favorite authors, an anonymous Italian writer. After the wonderful journey she took me in with “My brilliant friend“, I let myself slip into “The lying life of adults” – and what a name – I could write an encyclopedia on that topic and thought her talent for writing would inspire me, like always…

After a good Book, what about a good Movie?

I had the chance to have tea with a Polish woman in Bedford where I was staying. And she kindly advised me to go watch a new movie called “The Outrun“. I saw it was played at the Regent Street Cinema which is very elegant and cosy and I was glad I could make my return into the dark rooms in such a beautiful place.

“The outrun“ held all of its promises and surprised me beyond my expectations. I wanted to watch it especially because the main character had developed her own language to communicate with the sea’s energies and I felt very curious about that.

She used that strength, inherited from her father, to rescue herself from alcoholism—a problem that, through my travels and encounters with many different people around the world, I have come to realize is sadly all too common.

But let’s stop being dramatic: something very funny happened during the movie. The main character’s phone started to ring and I was so involved in the story that I thought:
“oh funny, she has the same ring tone as me…”
Then she picked the phone and started to talk to her mum.
But… it kept ringing haha!!
And I realized she didn’t have the same ring tone as me, it was my phone ringing but the way it started to ring at the exact same time as hers was pretty hilarious!!

Time to Eat!

After a while day walking around, I felt tired and checked my phone to see how many steps I had walked and it gave me a shock: 20 kilometers!! I didn’t realize I had walked that much!! But this is So London! You have to walk it!

So now, if you need a good hot meal to recover from your crazy adventures when you’re in the UK, let me guide you on what to eat.

Go for a Meat Pie (on the left) or a Fish Pie (on the right) if you’ve never tried them – BUT you need to try them out from an excellent old fashioned style British pub so you won’t be disappointed!

Good food in the UK is attached to your level of competence in choosing the right Pubs 🙂 Some of them have excellent kitchens and chefs, some just don’t!

Let me know your thoughts and good addresses about London!! And also your favorite books!

With Love & Adventures,

Emi

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