Back from London

metale · December 2017

Hi everyone.
I was in London this past weekend, my first time in the UK (I'm from Portugal, by the way). I was in Frankfurt last October and really liked it. I was hopping to like London too. That turned out to be an understatment.

I became officialy in love with London. I absolutly adored the city. Each corner I turned I was in awe with the architecture and the 'feel' the city transmites. Every tube ride became the fix to an addiction. Some pretty cool stations too! My favourite was probably the Westminster one.

Being in the big cosmopolitan city it is, turning a corner and suddently being in a Charles Dickens tale - priceless.

The small restaurants in Soho, the odd vinyl store, the overwhelming King's Cross train station, the bunker-likeness of some tube stations, Denmark Street.... and the snow! We don't have snow here, so it was definitly a highlight for me. I was feeling like a child, filming with my phone and laughing my butt off.

Still, so much left to do. I wish to return when I can. On my to-do list:
- See the Big Ben clock tower without the construction stuff warped around it;
- Hyde Park (get inside it);
- Buckingham Palace;
- London Tower;
- Take a Jack The Ripper tour;
- Go to a Pub;
- Have a fry up;
- See at least one ghost

- Meet wish Ash from Oil City for a beer;
- Alot more subway!

All in all loved London and need to experience more of it. Cheers

metale · December 2017

Oh, and the people:
Despite the British sense of humor (we had Britcom here for years) I was expecting some coldness somehow... Not at all. Almost everyone I dealt with was really warm and cheerful. A pretty nice aspect which made leaving even harder.

Guitar_Slinger · December 2017

When you come back, ride on the tube from 8 to 9am with a big rucksack and you'll see how "warm and cheerful" people are.

I can understand your enjoyment. I came to London by myself on a day trip when I was 17 and soon after my 18th birthday, left home to live here.

metale · December 2017

Ahaha I did get a taste of that. Tried to avoid that time window or just wait for the next, less packed one

Advantage of not working there was, I was never late for anywhere.

I did go to a Portuguese café and yeah, they seemed pretty fed-up with everything. It's the difference of being there by choice and fun rather than being there to make a living. As for myself, I had the time of my life

BRISTOL86 · December 2017

Glad you liked it, but the snow is something of an anomaly and by no means a mainstay of winter in Britain. We actually get very little of it really.

Where I live (less than 2h from London) we had snow for about 8 hours on Sunday and that was the most snow I’ve seen in probably 4 or 5 years

metale · December 2017

Yeah, I got that ideia from the comments people were making about the snow on Sunday. I was lucky, and it was the icing on the cake. Saturday was sunny though, so I really had a bit of everything from sun to snow

I was staying in Ealing, by the way. Kind of halfway between Heathrow and the city center.

quarky · December 2017

Glad you had a good time! I've been back in the UK for 18 years now, and work in London but don't live here. I still have the odd moment though when I have to stop and think, "wow, this is London". It is a great place (apart from the tube at rush hour!).

Moominpapa · December 2017

As someone who commutes into central London for work and is therefore pretty jaded about everything to do with the place it is nice to see someone genuinely enthused about their experience. Glad you had a good visit and hope you have many more. (For Big Ben, though, I'm afraid it's going to be 4-5 years before the scaffolding comes down.)

Phil_aka_Pip · December 2017

Glad you liked it. My favourite view of it is it disappearing fast in my rear view mirror.

fields5069 · December 2017

At least you know the names of landmarks.

I was stopped on Oxford Street years ago, by an American gentleman who wanted to know how to get to "Marba Large".

metale · December 2017

Moominpapa said:

(For Big Ben, though, I'm afraid it's going to be 4-5 years before the scaffolding comes down.)

I'll have to keep returning until it's done, then

One think I would not want to try would definitly be riding the tube with bagage. Train to Ealing (or Acton, or something like that) and then going lite into the city was the right way to go IMO.

Intend to return sometime in Feb/Mar/Apr with the wife.

Kilgore · December 2017

Glad you enjoyed it. Remember there's a lot more to the UK.
If you liked London you'll love Macclesfield. There's a nightclub and Constantinople Kebab is open til 11.

Heartfeltdawn · December 2017

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Glad you liked it. My favourite view of it is it disappearing fast in my rear view mirror.

Presumably just as your flying saucer leaves our atmosphere and enters the warp tunnel bound for Planet Curmudgeon.

merlin · December 2017

Samuel Johnson said "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of Life".
I disagree and would correct his famous saying to "When a Man is tired of London, he is tired of London".

I lived there for 10 years, worked hard, played hard, travelled hard. Enough was enough, but I totally see the attraction.

FX_Munkee · December 2017

Seeing as you're not native of the UK I will forgive you for not using the correct terminology in the thread title. It should be:
"Back from that there London".

fields5069 · December 2017

I knew a twat once who used to call London "the village". He lived in Fleet FFS.

axisus · December 2017

Luck you didn't come over in the 80s when there was a ton of great instrument and record shops, you would probably have exploded with excitement.

metale · December 2017

In the mid 80s I was still in my diapers

That should have been a good time.

FelineGuitars · December 2017

London is a fantastic city but we allow some of it's heritage to go uncelebrated in my opinion.

One thing that saddens me is that we never made it's rock history iconic venues either celebrated with a plaque or still kept alive.
I can't even begin to think of how many Americans would lo=ve to visit famous venues like The Marquee club, Tin Pan Alley(Denmark Street), Hammersmith Odeon, 100 club, Eel Pie Island, Crawdaddy Club, Carnaby Street etc etc.
The musical invasion that meant so much to so many American's could be celebrated a LOT more and tours arranged (although it would be a very popular request for many to see the Cavern in Liverpool too)

Ro_S · December 2017

most of London is a shithole

ESBlonde · December 2017

Interestingly I'm in Portugal today, eastern algarve and I've been sitting in the sunshine thinking I'm glad I'm not in London. I see the attraction of the bright lights but after a few years they seem dim.

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