London 17/02/19 - God's Own Junkyard and the Florence Nightingale Museum

A friend of mine from the USA came to London for a visit, so we had to find time to meet up! Since the meet-up wasn't until dinnertime, I of course decided to go in early to London and make a day of it. I went to God's Own Junkyard, a neon sign art gallery, the Florence Nightingale Museum, which is very much about the history of nursing and ate at HipChips and Maxwell's!

My nails looked this this, based on a dice design!

And I looked like this!
Necklace: (can't remember tbh)
Earrings: Primark
Cardigan: Primark
T-shirt: Fangamer
Not pictured: Cath Kidston strawberry bag, John Lewis purple coat
with suffragette badge, blue rose converse, jeans. 

This was my reading material on the train!

The train was the typical 2 hour journey, with a change at Eastleigh because it was a Sunday. Got into Waterloo - I think that might be my favourite station to enter London with, as you get a nice view of London landmarks, some right outside the station, and good Underground connections.

This is what Underground access from Waterloo looks like!

I was taking the Victoria line to Walthamstow, which is at the end of the line. Luckily, I could chill in the almost-empty end carriage and read. Walthamstow is lovely, and it felt more like an English village than a London borough, but there were still definitely signs that this place was part of London. Sometimes I think I forget that there is a living, working London around me when I visit.

See what I mean? Could be any English town.

I was here for God's Own Junkyard, a neon sign art gallery. I got quite a few awesome pictures here.

This is just outside where the warehouses are, and I thought the signs made a nice shot.

These are the first ones you see as you come in.

God's Own Junkyard was cool, but small, and a bit of a pain to get to between the Underground and walking from the station. Still, it was free, and I did buy a postcard to show a little support.

After that, and all that walking, it was time for lunch. I headed for HipChips, a crisp and dip restaurant. They use a variety of potatoes to get their chips. I got their large box, and half the crisps were savoury and the other half were coated in sugar. However, I liked dipping the savoury crisps into the sweet dip.

This box was huge - enough for 2!

The dips I got were Moroccan yoghurt, jalapeno lime and coriander, katsu curry, chocolate praline mousse, cheesecake and peanut butter (hold the jam). When I had it, I was thinking to myself that it was nothing special, and I could do it myself with a packet of crisps from the supermarket. But I also keep thinking about it and wishing that I had a box to snack on. Best as a takeaway and eaten in front of the TV, perhaps.

This is something that just happened to catch my eye as it was relevant to my interests.
"Woman have worked for London's transport system for over 100 years. Much of that time, they
were in back-of-house roles such as typist or canteen worker, taking up operational roles in depots or stations to
address wartime labour shortages.

In the 1970's, new roles were opened to women in transport. In 1974, Jill Viner became the first female bus driver
and in 1978, Hannah Dadds became the first female Tube driver. Soon women were filling all types of roles, like
bus inspector and line manager, that had previously been closed off for them.

Today, women count for 14% of all London Underground train operators - significantly higher than the
national average of 5%. Women are now included in all aspects of planning and operating transport across London."

Something unusual I was doing during this trip was popping into souvenir shops, as I wanted a folding fan with a London city design for my fan collection! Found one in the 4th shop I looked in.

My next stop was the Florence Nightingale Museum. I got off the Underground at Lambeth North, perhaps going the long way around compared to going via Waterloo. This museum is part of St. Thomas Hospital. I wanted to go here as Florence Nightingale was very much an extraordinary woman who basically revolutionised nursing and made it into what it is today!

"Florence was only a year younger than her sister Parthenope, but they had very different personalities. Florence was quiet, neat, observant - a brilliant mimic - and she often liked to spend time alone. She inherited her mother's skill for organisation and her strong will. Parthenope was lively, artistic, and she clung to her little sister. She was jealous of Florence's independent streak. A doctor warned their mother that their relationship was suffocatingly close.

Florence and Parthenope were victims of restrictions imposed on upper-middle class women in Victorian Britain, imprisoned in the same gilded cage. Women had the legal status of a child and their place was firmly in the home."

Apparently, Florence often refused to sit for a portrait, and as such, few surviving images of her still exist today. However, it is known that she had brown hair, grey eyes and was slim and tall. She also rather loved her pets.

Florence wasn't the only nurse featured, either. There was recordings of interviews with modern nurses. There was also a feature on Mary Seacoll, and on Edith Cavell. Edith Cavell was a First World War nurse who worked in a hospital on the front, smuggling wounded soldiers back to their home countries. She was caught and executed by the Germans. She also had a pet dog named Jack, who she picked up as a stray, and was very loyal to her. However, he could be aggressive towards others. She would go on walks with him as a cover for the escaping wounded soldiers.

There was also an exhibition on Spanish Flu, which was fascinating. I hadn't realised the extent that doctors and nurses in the past quite literally risked their own lives to treat the wounded.

Here, you can see the estimated numbers of people who died from the disease all over the world.

                    Some examples of influenza medicines and treatments from history!

I bought a bookmark from the museum (of course) to go in my collection (of course).

Passing through Waterloo after the museum, I decided to stop in Starbucks at the station for a drink and a sit down. I got a green tea lemonade, which is my go-to refreshing drink from Starbucks. This provided me with the rather amusing misspelling of my name as Fiowa. I also bought Emergency Contact from Foyles, as I'd raced through From Twinkle, with Love on the train.

After that, I made my way to Covent Garden, where I would me meeting up with my friend later! I found a store called Artbox, selling imported Japanese kawaii stationary, and I bought myself one of those clicky pencils with a cat design. Tried all the tea in Twinings, looked through Pylones and a store selling paper puppet shows. Sat down to listen to someone playing music in the centre.

Shortly after that, I walked myself to Maxwell's, where I was meeting my American friend and his group for dinner! I got myself a coke and sat at the bar, and before long I saw them outside! Was lovely to meet up and chat, and to meet the rest of his group, too.

I had mac and cheese and it was honestly one of the best mac and cheeses I've had in my life.

Once we left, it was getting late, so I went back on the Underground from Waterloo to catch my train home. But, I'd had an amazing day!

Purchases of the day! Free leaflets, Florence Nightingale museum bookmark, God's Own Junkyard postcard, cute pencil, Emergency Contact and London fan!