It’s been two months since I’ve arrived in Norwegian shores and I’ve been meaning to write a little bit about the last few days and the adventure it was to get here.
The last few days before I left London I managed to fit in a lot of things – my stuff had already left, the cat and I had all the necessary documents so, all that was left to do was see friends and say goodbye to the city that was my home for so many years.
On this day I travelled for the last time in the tube (for a while at least) to go meet with my friend Chris at Tate Britain to see the Aubrey Beardsley exhibition. I wore one of the handmade masks my friend Marta sent me over from Coimbra. Lovely! It was a really nice time and to be honest, a much better experience than the last time that I visited the gallery – due to social distancing it was actually possible to see all of the artwork without having to queue, as it happened at the William Blake exhibition.
Many thanks to my friend Chris for taking the photo of my outfit:
Backpack – Town and Country (from TK Maxx)
Lime ‘Champion 96’ Slogan Print Short Sleeve T-Shirt – Femme Luxe (gifted)
Black Bubble Trousers – Primark
Sneakers – New Balance (via TK Maxx)
Cat Socks- can’t remember the name of the brand but they were a gift from my boyfriend
The next day I went to the Brick Lane area and attended the opening of a friend’s new Asian streetwear store. It was a lot of fun and it was great to see Riri, for whom I designed a tattoo a couple of years back. If anyone is interested in visiting the shop, it’s called Xu London and is a multibrand store – the style reminds me a lot of the 90s.
I picked an outfit that also reminded me a lot of the 90s, so here’s the rundown:
Lilac Tie Dye Oversized T-Shirt – Femme Luxe (gifted)
Wide Leg Trousers – charity shop
Coral Furry Sliders – Primark
It was a fun end of the day, as I got to see my good friend Ross, and took one last trip to Monty’s Bar on Brick Lane where I was fed a steady diet of mojitos. What a hangover I had the next day, but totally worth it!
On my last day in London and despite the massive hangover, I dragged my butt out of the house and visited one of my favourite places, The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities at The LAst Tuesday Society. It’s based in Hackney on Mare Street and it’s a wonderful little place – the ground floor is a bar, where you can drink wonderful cocktails, mostly featuring absinthe, as well as a display of taxidermy and art. I had my birthday party there a while back, at the Austin Osman Spare room, surrounded by artwork by the latter. You can buy a ticket and access the basement, where you will find the Curiosity Museum, which is filled with a variety of objects, ranging from books with funny titles, more taxidermy, interesting objects and even the gilded skill of a rhino that belonged to Pablo Escobar. What a place! Definitely recommend a visit to anyone into the unusual.
Thanks to the staff member who took a photo of me in front of the facade
Facemask – from a set I ordered from Ali Express
Blue ‘California’ Graphic Print T-Shirt – Femme Luxe (gifted)
Black Bubble Trousers – Primark
Light Pink High Top Sneakers – Vans (not in the photo)
The next day Thomas and I got on an Uber to Victoria Station, where we met our friend John, who very graciously had agreed to lend me a hand on the train to Dover. Considering all the luggage I had with me, I called it “Operation Bag Lady”. Despite all the stress in anticipation, it went rather smoothly, thanks to the super nice staff at the station – including the baggie who drove all my stuff from one end of the station to the right track and even let me sit on his vehicle while he had a coffee I got him as a thank you for all his kindness. It was lucky that they weren’t too busy as people have been avoiding travelling due to Corona, but it did help make the last few hours in London a good memory, before leaving on a train to Dover.
For that day I decided to wear the Stay Home t-shirt, as I thought it was amusing, considering I was leaving home!
Pink ‘Stay Home’ Slogan Print T-Shirt – Femme Luxe (gifted)
Black Bubble Jeans – Primark
Trainers – New Balance (via TK Maxx)
This was the day that I was reunited with my partner, after we were separated since lockdown started. Although we lived in different countries before, this was the longest separation we had. We were both very happy to be reunited!
The next day the three of us embarked on the ferry in Dover, arriving at Dunkirk a few hours later. It was sad and emotional but I also felt happy to start a new chapter in my life. Thomas was a real champ as we drove across Europe for 3 days, until we finally got to the top edge of Denmark and got the ferry into Norway without a hitch.
More chapters to come, when I manage to make more time for blogging. It has been a real whirlwind of things to do, between creating artwork for a solo show opportunity, a radio show interview in Oslo, a giant paste-up for a festival in Germany and generally unpacking my belongings and decorating our apartment. Phew! All hard work but totally worth it!
