Oops, I lied. Scotland will be NEXT week. I know it's only bee a few days since my last post but I was a bit late on that one so technically I have another weekly post to do before I can cover Scotland next week. I will just do a quick snippet about some of my reflections on London so far. (feel free to skip it)
I’m loving it! The best part about London is that you can be in a royal park one moment and walk down the street and be in a modern market, then turn the corner and see beautiful, historical buildings, and walk a bit more and be on a high fashion, “Hugh Grant” town-house populated street. There are so many different styles of London everywhere you turn. This means that I can get my olden-day England fix but still feel like I’m in a bustling city, which I really enjoy. I have the ability to escape from the crazy, fast-paced city atmosphere whenever I want, provided it’s not raining!
London is also very diverse. I swear, probably every other person I interact with is not British. I’ve encountered many people from France, Germany, Russia, China, and Italy. It’s very fun to sit on the tube and just “people watch”. I hear three or four different languages going on at once and that is enough entertainment for me.
I’ve also discovered that the public transportation in London is extremely user-friendly. Way better than the US. Sorry. They are on top of it here! There are maps everywhere on the street and the bus stops tell you exactly where the other bus stops are, which buses go to them, and how to get there. There are live customer service updates on the tube and on screens outside of the bus stops. Everything has a sign!! It’s basically impossible to get lost in a tube station, even though it seems overwhelming, because there are arrows to point you in every direction. I can’t tell you how much of a relief it is to have confidence in the transportation system of this city. It makes me want to go to so many more places and I feel comforted by the fact that I know I can get home no matter where I am. I’m taking a train to Scotland this weekend, so hopefully that is as easy as all the other transportation systems have been so far.
One fun thing I did do in the short interim between my last post and this one was that I went to a Sherlock Holmes themed pub. They had Sherlock Holmes Ale and even a mock-up of Holmes’s study.
I’m loving it! The best part about London is that you can be in a royal park one moment and walk down the street and be in a modern market, then turn the corner and see beautiful, historical buildings, and walk a bit more and be on a high fashion, “Hugh Grant” town-house populated street. There are so many different styles of London everywhere you turn. This means that I can get my olden-day England fix but still feel like I’m in a bustling city, which I really enjoy. I have the ability to escape from the crazy, fast-paced city atmosphere whenever I want, provided it’s not raining!
London is also very diverse. I swear, probably every other person I interact with is not British. I’ve encountered many people from France, Germany, Russia, China, and Italy. It’s very fun to sit on the tube and just “people watch”. I hear three or four different languages going on at once and that is enough entertainment for me.
I’ve also discovered that the public transportation in London is extremely user-friendly. Way better than the US. Sorry. They are on top of it here! There are maps everywhere on the street and the bus stops tell you exactly where the other bus stops are, which buses go to them, and how to get there. There are live customer service updates on the tube and on screens outside of the bus stops. Everything has a sign!! It’s basically impossible to get lost in a tube station, even though it seems overwhelming, because there are arrows to point you in every direction. I can’t tell you how much of a relief it is to have confidence in the transportation system of this city. It makes me want to go to so many more places and I feel comforted by the fact that I know I can get home no matter where I am. I’m taking a train to Scotland this weekend, so hopefully that is as easy as all the other transportation systems have been so far.
One fun thing I did do in the short interim between my last post and this one was that I went to a Sherlock Holmes themed pub. They had Sherlock Holmes Ale and even a mock-up of Holmes’s study.
I will do British oddities (and Scottish ones) next week when I have more to share.
Thanks!
Thanks!