I've been to London airports few times but I never visited the city. This fall I had a great opportunity to visit my cousin who is working in London for 5 weeks. She was kind enough to invite me and I was keen enough to hurry to visit her. It was so much fun fun. My first time in the english speaking area! I loved hearing english people speak!
I've been around,visited many cities around Europe but I find London very different and special. There are so many things to see. The center of the town is here, there and everywhere and there are things and places for everybody. I do not know how much time would it take to see every part of the city properly. The only thing that freaks me out in London is traffic and masses of people. One should seriously be affraid of buses and cabs. Those drivers don't care if they run people over. Still, seems like they know what they are doing cuz I have not seen any accident. I was confused and couldn't get used to looking in another direction while crossing the street.. If you're a foreigner and you're not paying attention, you can get killed. It says LOOK RIGHT on the concrete but that did not help that much. By the end of my stay I just looked in all directions, prayed and then crossed the road.
The other thing is too many people. London has at least 2 times more citizens than Croatia + all the turists. Everybody is on the street. People are crossing the road with 100 other people. It's scary. It's not the city for kids and old people. I tried to avoid rush hour but one day I needed to meet my friend at 5.30pm in very busy neighborhood. That was a crazy experience, there were so many nervous working people in suits, going out of the tube station and hurrying in unknown direction with plugs in their ears, or speaking on the phone or reading trashy newspaper that they took in the street. I couldn't find my meeting point although it was huge and right in front of me, I tried to ask somebody but it was difficult to catch them. Crazy. After I have seen that I am glad to live in a small country. Still, London is not just an European capital, it's one of biggest capitals in the world so what can one expect?
Most of museums are free and that's excellent! You can't get enough! I saw 4 museums in one day and I wouldn't advise anyone to do so. You get so tired, you forget what you saw, it's too much info for short period of time. Parks are wonderful, one can get the peace and quiet even in the center of the city. I haven't seen many dogs on the street, maybe people have no time for dogs. Well, streets with that many people are not really the place for dogs. I love the fact that in London you can walk with bunch of crap on your head and no one will look at you funny. We, here, beat those. There are so many different styles but on the street no one cares what you wear. People don't comment eather! Weird but nice. There are many Petes and Kates around. I saw few Pete wannabes and I cannot figure out how those guys have legs that thin. Even if I did not have muscles, fat and celulite on my legs, my bones are bigger than those sticks. All in all, I would say that Englishmen are very goodlooking, but the women are mostly unattractive. Of course, I cannot generalise but this is just my impression.
Oh yes, if you're Balcanian, look out what you're saying because people there are politically correct! If they only knew what kind of jokes we have...
Click on the link to see the pics!
I did not do any shopping, I just bought onitsuka sneakers and that was it. London is bloooody expensive, but I was not really into shopping anyway (which is weird). Most of the money I spent on tube tickets and eating out. Since I was eating with professionals, I have tried some new and delicious food.
It was an important trip for me; I moved away from work for a while, went places and saw things and refreshed relationships with some nice people. First of all, it was great to see my cousin and spend some time with her since we do not hang together often. I am just sorry that I missed her birthday. Lepa, I hope you had even better time after I left and thank you for everything!
I met my friend from Finland that I did not think that I will see ever again. I'm so glad that I did because I had the best guide to show me the city and a great person to spend time with. I often remember how we drank coffee and smoked tabacco on a side walk at the market place in the sun. Good times Meredith, thank you! Tap!
Then I met my friends who just started studying in Brighton. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for them, I won't be seeing them for a year. We did a turistic tour together and ate some fish and chips. Nice to see you kids, come home soon!
And then, the surprising part was meeting a girlie from highschool on the plane and her friend. We never hanged out together before and we probably would not if it wasn't for this trip. It would be a shame because I got to know 2 great people. Yeah, yeah, guys I will start advertising you in my next post!
Enjoy the pics!
p.s. pics from european languages day from Cvjetni trg
Post je objavljen 17.10.2007. u 15:28 sati.