Being a tourist in your own city…….. pt I

This post is the first in a series of posts of the same name. Over this summer and my time living in London, I’m going to post a load about the things I get up to in my city. There’s a gallery at the bottom so you can see more photos! 🙂

Every once in a while, my boyfriend and I decide to take what we call a ‘tourist day’ where we just buy a day travelcard and just go for a day out in central London doing what we would do if we were just visiting the city. I love doing it because even though I’ve lived in London for two years and outskirts of London for my whole life and I’ve hardly seen anything of my own city!

Borough Market

Last weekend I wandered into central on my own and explored on my own before meeting my friend from Nottingham. I caught the train from New Cross and went to London Bridge. I was aiming to get to St Dunstan’s in the East but got caught up in Borough Market, London Bridge. Such a beautiful place with loads of different stalls and eateries; I would definitely recommend a visit. The market has been there for 1000 years and has a lot of history that you can read more about here.

Price: Free entry but stalls obviously cost! A little expensive in terms of prices but good quality!

St Dunstan’s in the East

After a little wander along the river, I finally came to St Dunstan’s in the East. This church is actually one of the city’s gardens. Originally a Saxon church that was rebuilt in 1100 but heavily damaged in the great fire of London in 1666, the church was repaired and had a steeple and other elements added to it by Christopher Wren in 1695. Unfortunately during the blitz, it was so heavily damaged that it wasn’t restored, so, in 1967, the city of London decided to turn it into a garden. This place is absolutely stunning, what you’re left with is an empty shell of a medieval style building which has been taken over my nature. There is some sort of a serene feeling when you sit inside the main part of the building, as though mother earth has begun restoring everything to how it should be. I could have sat here for hours.

Price: free!

Tate Modern: Musée de la Danse

Eventually, I went to Southwark station to meet my friend so we decided to go and visit the Tate Modern before heading home. It was Saturday 16th May, so  there was a live exhibition on called “If Tate Modern was Musée de la Danse?” We walked in the side entrance and they had a massive group of people standing at the bottom of the hall with lights and a large disco ball hanging from the ceiling. Naturally, we decided to get involved. There was a man with a microphone who was talking through some different moves and showing us how and when to do them. Eventually, when he had gone through all of these, they played interesting electronic sounds in a sort of tribal music style and everyone was dancing and throwing themselves about. I really enjoyed getting involved in the art and the rest that Musée de la Danse had to offer around the art gallery. The Tate is always a sure place to visit when wandering around London as it’s free entry and they always have amazing exhibitions on.

Price: free entry to main galleries but some exhibitions are ticketed and therefore will cost. Look up before you visit!

I will be posting a lot more of these more regularly, probably one a week, and then more other articles. Please give me your feedback and have a look at my gallery below! 

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