The big London update

I’ve been meaning to get around to posting something new, but alas I’ve just not had the time or internet stability yet. I decided to punch it and pay 3 pounds for a day of internet, so I can tend to my email garden, and figure things out, etc. Anyways;

Last Thursday marked my departure from New York into London. I was pretty glad to be getting out of the States, I think 5 weeks is enough to absorb the States. My flight was a night flight so rocked up to the airport early and stayed around JFK leeching all the internets.

The guy on the plane next to be was an ex-pat aussie, and told me a few of the tips that we (the ones with shitty exchange rates) do. Got an oyster card straight off the bat for the tube/bus and saving some money that way. The public transport here is excellent, plentiful, clean, fast and not too badly priced (buses are a pound, tube maybe 2 pounds) which works out to be 2 or 4 dollars a ride. I’ve been trying to work out bus routes as it’s the cheaper option and not too much slower than the tube, and you get to see London streets. I got lost heading up to the Hostel I’m at (which is very fucking dodgy and totally misrepresented on the website), and getting caught in rain (the real welcome to London), finally getting here, and being surprised how ghetto central London can be. Being jet lagged and just hell tired, went to bed.

Next morning I woke up 5am local time, and hit the streets. I heard you can see a lot of things from embankment station, so went there and just followed some windy roads admiring London. I ended up in Trafalgar Square (which I didn’t know at the time), and it was amazing to see Nelson’s Column in the morning while it was empty. Another impressive thing that lead me towards it was the Arch near the square, and just followed that down to The Horse Guards and some memorials. I used the map and navigated my way through to Westminster Abbey. The architecture here is amazing, and there’s so much of it everywhere, such a big change from back home and the States (although DC has some really awesome buildings too). Went down and around Abbey, up some bridge to Southbank and walked up the Thames, seeing House of Parliament, Big Ben 2, London Eye ending up to Tate Modern. It was free, so I went in. Got internet access there, found out about some Couchsurfing events, back to T. Square for some free hug event. Free hugs was big in Sydney with that dude on Pitt St. and being involved with this was a bit strange. There was a picnic at Regent Park after, and that was really fun. I met a few of the locals who live there (well I lie since most weren’t from England), and had a ball just chilling with them. Afterwards was some Indian food, and some icecream, then back to the ghetto for a bit of a sleep.

The next day I met a family friend for lunch in Chinatown. It’s not too bad of a Chinatown, it’s next to Eros/Shaftsbury Ave and the theatre district, and near where I was the night previous (soho/leicester square). It was fun. Ended up going to Hendon and discovering the East.

Monday I went to Bristol, just to see the Banksy Exhibit. The bus there was 17 pounds, 5 hours there and back. The queue for it was 4.5 hours. No exaggeration. I have pictures of this proof. But it was well worth it. I was in line with two local Bristol people, cracking jokes, so the wait wasn’t too bad. Banksy is such an amazing artist, and no words can describe his work. He’s quite the genius with new media and social commentary, you will have to check out my flickr just to see a sample of his work. What was even more amazing was the fact that he went outside of his area and put works in normal exhibits like the nature section and dinosaurs, and classical paintings and hidden away some gems. As a visitor you had to discover all his pieces hidden away, which MADE the exhibit that so much more awesome. I got back into London at about 830pm then went to a pub tucked away from the Strand for a CS event, games night, where we played stuff like Uno, Jenga and Apples to Apples (which was such a fun game).

Tuesday I slept in, didn’t really go as I couldn’t be bothered and a tad burnt out. I did go to the pub at night for the London CS weekly meeting, seeing a few familiar faces and new ones. The events are really good to go to, meeting new people and travellers alike, and getting advice, finding about the town and history, and having a laugh. There’s a lot of Aussies here, in the motherland.

Anyways, today I bought internet, taking it easy, tomorrow I’ve got to move all my stuff and buy a tent for a weekend festival in Reading, just outside of London. Cheers.

London Flickr

Bristol Flickr