London surprised me.

I expected something more like Berlin: a grimy, sprawling moloch where so much absolute debauchery is happening that the only way to enjoy yourself is to try not to notice most of it.

It turned out to be the exact opposite, and I could not have been more delighted. Everywhere we went was clean and beautiful, and everything and everyone smelled good. Incredible.

Not even Hamburg smells this good, and my nose was already profoundly grateful when I moved back here from Berlin. And we were in London during the worst heatwave since records began. I counted exactly one person who smelled of sweat.

This is the second—and final—part of my United Kingdom travel journal. If you’d like to see more travel journal content from me and you’re devastated that this adventure is over, consider subscribing to catapult me into a future of no real work, just travel and art.

In case you missed them, here are the first five days in which we arrived in Scotland and made our way through Glasgow, Loch Lomond and Edinburgh:

United Kingdom #1: Glasgow & Edinburgh
This is the first part of my recent trip to the United Kingdom, specifically, what we did in Scotland. Let’s dive right in! Day 1 I feel like it’s important to have an arch-enemy when traveling. Mine are Italians. I don’t actually have anything against them, and
UARRRMarcel Wichmann

Day 6

  • I felt so sick after eating that garlic-bagel. It's not like I don't like garlic, I love it. But it was just so intense and this was supposed to be our breakfast, that my body really didn't react kindly to this onslaught of vampire repellant. We had five of these bagels with us and ended up throwing away the remaining three.
  • Germany's refund rules for delayed trains are nowhere near as customer-friendly as the UK's. We got a full refund for the return journey because it took 70 minutes longer than expected. €100 saved!
  • Stepping out into the city for the first time, I could tell right away this was going to be fun. The vibe was just right. We could already feel the first signs of the incoming heat wave, and everything felt buzzy and alive. Even the people seemed different from those in Glasgow and Edinburgh. More like... my kind of people. Big city folks! No offence to the Scots, who are, once again, the nicest people I’ve ever met.

Day 7

  • I know that people consider “the Tube,” as we people who like to spend time in London call it, an unpleasant place, but I didn’t mind it. Compared to Berlin’s subway in summer, it was a civilized paradise of people knowing how to behave.
  • When we stepped out of the subway and saw Big Ben in real life for the first time ever, it greeted me with its famous ringtone. If that’s what you call it for enormous clock towers. And it was very sparkly! So clean and detailed and worth looking at. I didn’t expect that at all and thought I’d find it uninteresting and boring.
  • That was my exact reaction to Buckingham Palace, though. The Crown made me, against my will, into a small fan of the royals, and I somehow expected the palace to have a bit more oomph. Some sort of grandeur, some kind of magical aura that makes you think, “Wow, I’m really here.” Nothing of that sort happened. It’s just a huge empty place with a mid fountain, a fence, and a boring building that lacks character. I’d rate it ★★★☆☆ on Google Maps.
  • Speaking of ratings, we bought takeout noodles from a tiny place where one guy was single-handedly preparing all the food for everyone crowding into his little shop, and it was amazing. That 4.9-star rating on Google Maps is no exaggeration.

Day 8

  • We spent the morning with Anna’s friend Jonny, who was her flatmate 10 years ago when she lived in London for a couple of months. Jonny is a musician who lives and works in London, and he gave us a quick tour of Notting Hill. What a lovely place — including the person who threatened us!
  • In the evening, we met another of Anna’s former flatmates and had a great time hanging out at a food market, just talking and drinking some weird beer with 9% alcohol.
  • I love that first panel, if I can be honest and a little self-indulgent. It captures the situation perfectly. Anna and Jonny were catching up, and I was just happy to be there, eating my (mediocre) cinnamon roll, drinking my (decaf) coffee, and taking in the sights and sounds of a beautiful place. I had a lovely old time.

Day 9

  • What I like about travelling with Anna is that we’re both relaxed travellers. There’s something taxing about being somewhere new, without your usual routines, and having to make decision after decision every single day. It doesn’t help if you resist whatever comes your way. Some things won’t go to plan, and I’d much rather roll with them than complain and feel as if the whole day is ruined. Anna is exactly the same.

    I’m saying that because our trip to Hampstead Heath was meant to be one of the highlights of the whole journey. Anna had read a book about the Ladies’ Pond and loved it. For weeks, we talked about how exciting it would be when she could finally swim there herself.

    Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones with that idea. The heatwave had just begun, which didn’t help, and even though we arrived fairly early, we weren’t early enough. There was already a long, very slow-moving queue. Anna was a bit disappointed, but decided not to wait in line. Instead, we promised ourselves we’d come back to London another time and get to the pond right when it opens.

    We still had a lovely time in Hampstead Heath.
  • We then went to an art supply store because, apparently, I'm an artist now, to pick up a couple of Pith sketchbooks for me. I love them, and the only way to get them in Germany is to find a supplier that imports them from the UK. Which isn't easy; there are, like, two of them. That little interaction with the woman working in the store made me happy because she was just as excited about the Pith sketchbooks as I am.
  • We then went to Richmond to see the famous street corner from Ted Lasso. I wanted to see it because, before arriving in London, I thought it was one of those especially pretty places the city would only have a couple of. Nonsense. Yes, the corner was very pretty, but London is full of picturesque places like this. Be that as it may, we had a lovely time in Richmond, even though we couldn’t stay long, because...
  • Anna planned a surprise for me, and I loved it. We went to a tiny old chapel in the middle of the city, where a Sofar Sounds concert was about to start. I love the concept: you don’t know where you’re going or who’s going to perform. You only get the exact location a couple of hours before the concert begins, and it could be an old chapel, a pub, or even someone’s living room. Then a few artists each play for about 20 minutes. It was great. I had a lovely evening.

Day 10

  • The heatwave was in full force that day, so we allowed ourselves a slow morning and a relaxed agenda. Visiting Tower Bridge when it was 31 degrees Celsius outside might not have been our best idea, though. But just like with Big Ben, I was surprised by how pretty it is. The videos and pictures I’d seen really don’t do it justice. There are so many details, and I’d never realised those… cables, or whatever they are, are royal blue! Very nice.
  • In the evening, we met up with Julia. We’ve been friends forever; we actually met on Twitter, of all places, back when social media was truly social. She moved to London a couple of years ago and now lives in Brighton. It was great catching up!

Day 11

  • After quickly stepping outside to stock up on baked goods for our journey, we made it to Heathrow, flew back to Hamburg, and got to our apartments without any problems.
  • Even though I was happy to be back with the cats, who had been perfectly cared for by my emergency cat sitter, I quickly found myself missing Anna and our time in the UK. I could easily have stayed a couple more days!

That’s it, folks! I’ll share a couple of photos from London with paying members, just so you know I’m not exaggerating when I say everything was absolutely lovely. Thanks so much for reading. Next time, we’ll be back to plain old everyday life.

If you have any questions or there’s something in particular you’d like me to talk about, please let me know. I always love hearing from you!

Picture book time

I’ve seen so many street photography videos set in London, calling it one of the best places to capture urban images. I get it now. The city is incredibly dynamic. There’s something new around every corner. I loved wandering through London’s streets, chasing the light.

Anyway, here are a few of my pictures from London: