London is so big and so very difficult to navigate. It’s completely unlike New York City, where everything is a grid and everything is numbered. No, here there are loops and turns, side streets and alleys, all the streets are named the same thing (or similar), and without a good night’s sleep, there is absolutely no way to navigate this wonder of a city.

But oh, the beautiful things you can find when you’re lost. You turn a corner, and there’s an interesting street performer who wants you to stand on top of him while he lies on a bed of nails. Or you accidentally find Buckingham Palace while wandering through a beautiful park. A single trip up a curb has you accidentally lying on the stoop of the cutest tea room you’ve ever been in.

This city is so polite and calm in all it’s dealings, I constantly feel like I am safe and welcome here. I yearn for a day where I can call one of these flats my own or where I can stroll into work in the Globe. It’s just so beautiful here and I feel so welcome. What other treasures can I find? What other mysteries are waiting for me in this beautiful, old city?

I was walking to my next meeting place and accidentally found a house the Benjamin Franklin used to live in! Apparently, the only Franklin house still in existence. Who knew? What I find fascinating is the plaques on buildings and houses that tell us who used to live there. I found Thomas Wyatt, Dickens, some architects and artists. It’s really cool to just pass a house and be like, oh cool okay John Lennon lived here.

There is so much history here. All the way back to the Anglo-Saxons, which is just incredible. Everywhere I turn, I feel like I find something new. A new theatre, a new person, a new fact, a new curiosity. How to focus on just one thing and keep myself grounded in every new moment?

It’s hard to believe we are so far into our trip already. The days are flying by, jam packed with things to see and do. It’s rare you find the time to just sit, think, soak it in, and relax. Since I last wrote we have gone to Westminster Abbey which is an incredibly ornate and impressive cathedral in which I stumbled upon the burial site of Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Mary. Next was the Saatchi Gallery, which was so exciting!!! After each corner you turn, there is another famous artwork just waiting to be discovered. To me some of the most exciting moments are when you just happen to find one of the most controversial art pieces of all time and you’re inches away, or you literally just learned about an artwork a few weeks ago and there it is waiting for you.

As I believe I mentioned before the food is amazing. From pub/tavern food to Indian food to street food… so delicious.

We took a gorgeous walk through Kensington Gardens to 2 galleries- Serpentine Sackler Gallery and the Serpentine Gallery. We also had time to stop at the Princess Diana memorial, which was this circular stone river with gushing water and twisting turns.

We also made a trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum, and what an incredible and very LARGE museum. The collections were stunning, and differed greatly from one to another. The building itself is a work of art. I could spend days in there getting lost in the galleries.

Burrough Market —- FANTASTIC and everyone needs to go. We had amazing cheese sandwiches and and if you like free samples this is the place for you.

Yesterday we visited some artist studios… and I have to say it was my least favorite part of the trip. I could not stay awake. I actually don’t think I’ve ever fallen asleep so much in one day. It was so long and uneventful, needless to say I found it boring. I feel that’s so terrible to say, but 2 artist visits would have been fine… not 4…. it was gruelling. (not sure if I spelled gruelling right, hmm…)

And today, which is not over yet, STONEHENGE!!!!!!!!!!!! So awesome!!!! I wanted to go so bad, and we did! What an amazing site. It was a long bus ride, but so worth it. It’s incredible.