13 hours after leaving Kent, I stepped off the plane onto English soil, or an English gateway terminal rather. The flights were simple enough.
Right before taking off on the first flight to Philadelphia, I realized that I only had brought my Turkish Languages books in my carry-on and not culture books, so I quickly went through Yale Library and downloaded the first online book that looked interesting after searching Turkish Travel. I ended up reading 111 pages out of a book from 1876, written by a man who visited Turkey and Greece and compared the two. Basically, he made it seem like another world filled with exotic dancers and gypsies, where East meets West, and Sultans rule with a mighty fist. Granted Turkey has probably changed a little since this wide-eyed writer visited, but my excitement climbed exponentially as I read his words.
On the second flight I sat next to a man from Baltimore who was originally from London and went to the States to get his second Masters in Engineering, and then ended up staying and working as Senior Engineer for an International Green Energy Firm. He was headed back to London to watch the Wimbledon Finals. Sleep was on and off, but I managed to get in 3-4 hours total.
After landing in London at 9:30am, successfully getting my luggage, making it through customs, and boarding the train into town, I dropped off my luggage at a holding area at Paddington Station and explored the area nearby. To my surprise and enjoyment, a huge section of Hyde Park was broken off for a concert. Later I found out that Arcade Fire was performing that night, with Mumford and Sons and Beirut as openers. The first few hours of the afternoon were spent wandering around the park. Initially I was disappointed, there were huge fields that were barren of trees and shade, the man-made lake and pathways made the park feel so artificial compared to Washington's parks and Central Park even. The park was sprinkled with tourists and children, and I was disappointed that I didn't really see much of the "Young Hip Brits" that London is known for. A small crowd of teenagers sat around the barricade for the concert, but they seemed rather tame compared to what I was expecting. After a while I realized that I was dead tired and fell asleep by the small crowd. When I woke up, the crowd had developed into a small army, the "Young Hip Brits" had started emerging from the city and I found myself in a sea of youngsters vaguely reminiscent of American "hipsters" except they looked like they showered more often.
I wandered over to the nearby shopping district and decided to look around for a bit. I kept seeing SALE __% off plastered all over every store, but after looking at a few items my practical side kicked in and reminded me of the exchange rate and the fact that I didn't need/have room for more clothing.
After my two hour chunk of walking around, I returned to the park to find that the army had multiplied many times over and the park was filled with youth and buzzing with talk and excitement. Apparently the UK also has no open liquor laws as well, so that contributed to the buzz. I sat around and people-watched. At one point I saw a man get caught for scalping tickets (here scalpers are "touts") by an undercover cop. I and a nearby girl watched in amusement as the man tried loudly and unsuccessfully to talk/cuss his way out of the charge. Eventually the police came and put him and an accomplice in their vans.
I wandered back and forth between the park, the shopping areas and surrounding streets for the rest of the afternoon before meeting up with my cousin back at Paddington Station at 7:30. I didn't get tickets to see the concert since I had to meet my cousin, but I was able to sit in the park and enjoy the sounds of Mumford and Sons as the speakers threw the sound over the high wooden barriers and bounced them around the nearby buildings.
So far London is excellent. The weather is reminiscent of Seattle's, with mild temperatures and random drizzling, and the youth scene is similar to New York's, but slight nuances remind me that I'm across the ocean from the US. Tomorrow's plan is to explore and visit as much historical sites and museums as possible. If I can get up early enough.
A few photos:
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| A statue nearby Hyde Park. |
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| The growing wave of British Hipsters...and their debris. |
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| Random Graffiti. |
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| Electric cars! Also, did you know that the double decker buses are actually used as normal buses? I thought it was just for touring. Also, I kept getting scared when I was walking down the street that drivers were insane and jumped to the wrong side of the divider until I remembered I was in London. |
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| Marble Arch by Hyde Park. |
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Rent a bike from these racks for 1£!
Another side note: Red Telephone Booths are everywhere. I don't really understand why since we all have cellphones now. |
