Day 2: I wake up with what looks like a sixth toe
OK, so go back to last night. These were my shoe choices, and because I was going to Royal Albert, I wore my fancier pair. That’s right, the black booties are my fancy shoes. #NoManolos #The anti-CarrieBradshaw
So, long story short, the booties were too tight, and somebody didn’t call a cab even though the directions on her phone froze, and she was lost, and she wandered around for about 45 minutes while her feet kept hurting worse and worse.
So I wake up like this:
#TodayIUber #IBlameMyself #WayTooStubbornForMyOwnGood
I was really worried that I had done some serious damage to my toe that would prevent me from getting around — here, on the second day of my trip. I was incredibly relieved when I put a loose Band-Aid on the toe, a thin sock on that foot and a thicker sock on the other, and found I could get my trainers on. (trainers, ha! Growing more British-y by the day! 😂)
The rest of the day Uber was my friend and everything was fantastic. I headed over to the Museum of Fashion and Textile in Bermondsey (Southwark Borough, real estate tip, if you are buying in London now buy here, it’s the Chelsea of today) to see The Beautiful People: The Boutique in 1960s Counterculture, an exhibition of the style of the 1960s.
Incredible interweaving together of the evolution of the fashion in that time period with social advances like the decriminalization of consensual homosexual activity and the pill.
It really made me think about how fashion can serve as a revolutionary act. Men’s long hair and floral jackets, related to the blurring of gender roles, women wearing pants, related to the blurring of gender roles, women wearing miniskirts and more revealing outfits, related to the sexual revolution and women’s liberation.
And of course the constant change. I loved the story of how the punk fashionista Vivienne Westwood and her partner slammed the door in Mick Jagger’s face when he came to visit her boutique in the late 70s, because he was too establishment by then.
It made me wonder how we could use fashion now to advance favorable social trends. I am certainly doing my best to disrupt and deconstruct “how women should look“ by wearing the most comfortable and seasoned clothing possible. Life‘s too short, you know?
On the way out of the neighborhood I saw a glassblowing studio and went in. They were actually blowing glass in the back, with the sharp smell of sulfur in the air, and a display of gorgeous, gorgeous pieces up front. I asked if I could take pictures, and the woman said “take as many as you like“ with a big smile. I said I couldn’t afford to buy, but would enjoy the pictures!
Then the walk over to Tower Bridge. The power of those first glimpses: the glimpse of the Bridge through the skyscrapers, then the glimpse of the Tower of London itself through the skyscrapers, then the first view of the Shard. The moment where I saw on my phone the next direction: “Take the stairs and cross the bridge.”
I wanted to savor the moment. I went into an Italian restaurant and asked if I could get a table with a view of the bridge. I explained to the hostess that I spent three incredible weeks in London in 2019 and had planned to come back every March since then, but hadn’t been back in three years. She smiled and said, “Welcome back.”
I cried, sitting there waiting for my food, looking at the bridge. I had envisioned this happening so many times. And planned and worked so hard, and it was really happening. It almost felt like pre-Covid times. It almost felt like you could plan something, anticipate something, and experience it without it being canceled or being terrifying. Not being terrified and feeling that you could plan and count on something were incredibly meaningful because fear and constant disruption and surprise have been the hallmarks of Covid. It kind of felt like Covid might someday be over and maybe already was.
The white peach Bellini went down smoothly.
I finally had my London back.
This is Day 2 of my trip to London — read the other days in this series here on my page! You can also subscribe to receive notification when I publish again at https://lindafalcao.medium.com/subscribe. Thanks!
