Go Find It

Miss Vio / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Okay, so I’ve been talking about Brighton a lot lately, and I promise I’ll stop after this post (at least for a while ) but I have to say Brighton was really cool.

We spent the day walking around, shopping, eating nice lunch, sitting on the beach and admiring all the cool street art. During our shopping we stumbled upon a very nice little shop called Posh Totty Designs. You’d quite easily miss the shop if you’re not paying attention to the little things. It’s located just off Bond Street in the North Laines and is filled with ‘hidden treasures’ according to the sign outside and I do agree: it was filled with nice bags, cool dresses and adorable jewellery that you’ll not find everyone else wearing, just what I like.

We also saw quite a few pieces of street art: one just close to the little nice shop which was some kind of community art project and it was quite cool. There was also an impressive piece located on Middle Street close to Duke Street. To be fair there’s so much street art that I can only advice you to go there by yourself and check it out (and also take a trip to Posh Totty Designs). Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!

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Travelstar / CC BY-SA 2.0

Before I moved to my first flat I lived with my mum in the middle of Stockholm. The flat is located in an area sometimes known as little Paris just by the water. It’s a beautiful part of the city but if you look closely you’ll find places that disturb the picturesque cityscape.

A few minutes’ walk from the flat is a bridge called St Eriskbron, which takes you across the water to another part of the city. Underneath it, on the side where I used to live, there’s a dark and empty space. When you walk past, you can’t really see what’s inside and it almost looks like an open storage room.

Since there’s no chance of guessing what’s hiding in there most people rather not explore this dark corner. To be honest it took me a while before I dared to explore it myself. When I finally got enough courage to walk in I found a space that was damp and smelly but completely empty. One thing really caught my eye though: the walls were covered in graffiti from famous artists as well as unknown ones. On a door just above a rusty and broken iron ladder you can for example find a piece created by Akay, one of Swedens most famous street artist.

The feeling I got the first time I visited this place was the same one I used to have when I was a little kid and I did something that I probably shouldn’t be doing. Even though it’s legal to walk in under the bridge the feeling is quite amazing, it’s empty and quiet (except for the sound of the aeration fan). And in the middle of a capital city it feels like you shouldn’t be there.

I still walk in under the bridge every now and then when I’m visiting my mum. It’s a special place in it’s own kind of way.

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Daquella manera / CC BY 2.0

I arrived in London for the first time in September 2008. I don’t know about you, but I don’t really like to plan anything. So when I came down from the train, I just had my luggage, a one-week reservation in a hotel close to Baron’s Court and… that’s it!

However, I needed to quickly find a place to live. I started to spend my time browsing the Internet and visiting flats and houses all around the city. I chose the places I wanted to visit quite randomly because at the time I didn’t know anything about London. This made the choice pretty difficult but, if on the other hand, it was an excellent way to learn more about the city.

One of the things I realised during this flat hunting is that London is full of beautiful pieces of street art. I particularly remember Obey the Giant, a Shepard Fairey’s graffiti on Talgarth Road, because that was the first one I saw when I was looking for my hotel on the first day I came to UK. Since then I can’t help looking everywhere around me to try and discover some new street art that I might not have yet seen.

Oh, by the way, if you haven’t heard about Shepard Fairey, he’s also the artist behind “Hope“, an urban style portrait of a man you may know as Barack Obama…

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