London Town

It's been three weeks since I went on my trip to London. I've been meaning to write about it but things have been a little crazy around here. So here goes...

Upon my arrival at the Gatwick airport, I got through alright except we, being my travel partners and I, got asked to sit in the "naughty zone". That's what the sweet old man at the door told us with a wink in his eye. We had forgotten to fill out some form on the plane stating what we were in England for so we took a seat and filled them out. After we got cleared to leave customs our seemingly endless exit out of the airport began. I felt liked we walked for days. Finally we were out, now onto getting to Victoria station. That was a 45 minute trip by train and then my eyes feasted on the illustriousness of the city.
We bought our tickets for public transportation then headed immediately to Big Ben (which is not big at all. BIG disappointment) and Parliment. It was awesome to say the least. I have always had a fascination with the UK and to finally be in London at that! In the five days that I was there, I am proud to say that I have seen everything touristic and even got time to squeeze in some cool local stuff too.

Funny story.
My roommate got separated from our group because she booked her flight later and so wasn't on our plane. She arrived several hours after us, but because we were couchsurfing together I had to wait for her at Hamsteadheath station. I do not have a phone so before leaving we set a time and place to meet. I got to the station and waited patiently. An half hour passed and a very big and tall African man who was working at the office in the metro station asked me if I needed help. I smiled and said no thanks, I was just waiting for a friend. The sun was shining and I figured I would be alright. Fifteen minutes later however the sun hid it's face and the temperature was steadily dropping while a brisk and cold wind decided to introduce itself.
Two hours later, after much probing and concern from my african friend, she finally arrived. And he was livid! He angrily explained to her that what she did was wrong, keeping me in the cold waiting like that, and that she owed me a meal or something. We turned to each other and laughed about it for a little bit as we walked to our host's home which happened to be not too far from the station. Each morning, we greeted our african friend on our way out and each morning he greeted us with a smile and look as if to say, "you two take better care of each other." We were touched that he cared so much.The rest of the week was filled with discovering London, meeting really interesting and friendly people, dinner date and good conversation about religion with a muslim and really good food! I don't normally like fish, but the fish n' chips I ate had me sold.

I must say that in my comparison between London and Paris, both cities being exceptional in their own way, Paris took some time to love, but London I loved right off the bat. Maybe it has to do with that good ole english charm and the accent helps too, I guess. It was more relatable and more like the states more than any other place I've been to here in Europe.
Paris has a certain je ne sais quoi about it. It's aggressive, passionate, romantic and artistic all at the same time. There's a certain mystery being the parisian life. It helps if you go there knowing someone who can show you the way around Paris or meet people there who show you all the well hidden secret treasures of Paris. London was easier to navigate and discover and a lot cleaner. To be honest though, both cities have a special place for me. I enjoyed them both. Hopefully I'll be able to come back and visit again one day.

P.S If you ever get a chance to visit, I suggest you find Camden Market. It is HUGE and has so much market-y stuff at reasonable prices to buy!!

London Eye


Underground-first and oldest metro station EVER in the world.


Abbey Road


We went to an extremely and pricey restaurant called Sketch but only to use the bathrooms. They were pretty remarkable.
Pod toilets. That's definitely the way to go.


Trafalgar Square


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