Not having a clear objective in my mind, I decided to disembark from the Central line at Oxford Circus. I didn't have a camera with me so I'll try and cheat a little and dig up some older photos as a guide. Here's one of good old Oxford Circus:
Ah, always insanely busy with people everywhere, half of them tourists who have no idea where they're going. This day you could go two steps without running into a police officer as the city was being inundated with 13,000 cops due to the riots the night before. I wish I could have an actual picture from the day as it would show the happy people of London going about their day and their shopping with no fear at all.
I didn't spend long on Oxford St, ducking quickly down Argyll St, past the Palladium where Morrissey had played the night before. This street ends at the faux Tudor facade of the great and wonderful Liberty, which I shall picture here:
Aye, she's a beauty on the inside as well, but not for today! I still had a lot of a-wandering to accomplish. I headed next into Carnaby St which lies behind Liberty and is famed for its modern/trendy boutique stores. Here's a picture of me there, remembering that this is from a while ago:
From hence I wandered down Broadwick St and past the ineffably trendy John Snow pub. I still don't know why crowds of hipsters flock to this place on a sunny day. Now I was beginning to break into the confusing warren of streets that is Soho. I peered in through the window of Yauatcha on the corner of Berwick St and was surprised to see an array of delicious treats displayed. I made a mental note to return soon and checked out a cheap arts supply store.
I was arching inexorably towards Covent Garden at this point and decided to make my way there, checking in at Gosh comics on the corner of Berwick and Peter before arcing around to travel up Old Compton St. I made a mental note to check out a very authentic looking American diner just before Charing Cross Rd before proceeding on to the Seven Dials.
I always get confused about which way to go from there as there are seven exits radiating out from the centre and they all seem to go nowhere. After taking out my phone to check my map, I reoriented myself and headed to Neal St which takes me right into Covent Garden. I sat there in the sun for a bit and refreshed myself with a V energy drink and some Monster Munch. Ah, nostalgia.
There were a lot of people out enjoying the sun and very many tourists out, so the people watching was good. Eventually I headed off towards Holborn and down memory lane. Holborn tube station was the first part of London that I ever stepped out into and revisiting it brought all those feelings of excitement back to me.
I headed up past the British Museum which was packed with people using its grounds for picnicking or lazing about or whatever. I didn't go in after assessing the crowds, but if I did this is what the main hall would have looked like:
I looped back to Oxford St next, walking all the way down to Bond St and doing a bit of window shopping along the way. I met up with Kristen after she finished work on Sth Molton St and I was excited to drag her over to Soho to have a look into that Yauatcha place. We were quite hungry and saw they had a full meal for 2 for only 28.88 so we went for it. We didn't know it at the time but this place has a Michelin star and the food was INCREDIBLE.
Oh if only the pictures were off the camera... I'll have to update when they are. But for now, here's Moz:
EDIT: As promised, here's pictures of the glorious food:
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