Lucky me, somehow I could escape the winter chaos at Heathrow and here I am back in Germany! Really really lucky!
Well, huge delays, considering that only one runway on Heathrow was available for take off?!?! Excuse me- are we talking about the busiest airport in Europe??? Yes, it seems so!
But how can I blame them for not cleaning a few more runways when even I am surprised myself every single time I look out the window and see SNOW!
I know it's end of the year, respectively snow should be normal! And I still don't like it!
Well, apparently December arrives very surprisingly for everybody!
Speaking of the biggest airport in Europe with only one runway cleaned from the snow- I thought I will share some of my impressions for the quality of life in the nation of the industrial revolution and all times greatest inventors, writers, politicians and innovators!!!
The people who have the priority to breath the same air as the queen, to drink their beer in the city where each pub has centuries of history; to walk on streets each of which rings a bell in one's mind, with street names read many times in old covered with dust Dickens' books...
Myths, legends and reality become one in LONDON!!!
So here are the things I LIKED:
-friendliness-If you walk around looking slightly lost people would stop and ask if you needed any help, pointing you the right direction. Happened to me more then 5 times, so conclusion is: Londoners are friendly and polite and know their city well!
(bus drivers to be excluded!!!)
-spirit of freedom-crossing red lights is my favorite! Even though this is the city where you are being observed 24/7 nobody cares about the traffic lights, which gives you the I-DON'T-CARE-ABOUT -RULES-I-AM-IN-CONTROL-OF-MY-OWN-LIFE-feeling...well, comparing to Germany this is a considerable difference, since rules are religion over here!
- in London you can find lots of cute little places to have lunch and coffee, each of which is unique and the staff is extremely friendly!
If you go more than twice they already recognize you and treat you almost as an "old friend"!
Ok, I admit I exaggerate in many points with my conclusions...but this is just to highlight the difference comparing to...mostly Germany
-
self service in some supermarket chains, also popular in France but not in Germany yet :(
(I guess that explains the low rate of unemployment in Germany though);
apart from that you can do groceries until 22h and on Sundays!
-
mobile services-such as prepaid BBM service, mobile internet, tons of free text messages and free calls and... and all that for really cheap! (where as German mobile providers are really conservative and once you sign a contract you have signed your life sentence and are obliged to pay them for the rest of your life!!! grrr
-international-the half of Italy and the half of France is now resident in LONDON. The rest are some German, Japanese and Spanish tourists. Some Polish working in the service sector...some Bulgarians too...but yeah mostly French and Italian, and some Scandinavian people too. And of course all the normal ex Common Wealth "emigrants"...
But what I wanted to say: one of the most annoying things personally for me is when people lead semi-dialogues on the phone in public place in a very loud tone in some weird language! I don't mind the language, nor the people, but can you please do it QUIETLY! Some languages sound really annoying to us outsiders!!! Thanks! For that reason what you hear and what you read is not always the best English judging on the CHIDLS haircut!
- walking in a
Winter wonderland...
London is really pretty in the winter!
Cannot deny!
-ice skating-
-sunset in Hyde Park-
-sunset over Harrods-
-Oxford Street-
-and Oxford Street again-
...shopping on Oxford Street
...couldn't help taking a picture of Oxford Street every time I passed by
-Natural History Museum-
Lots of things to do, places to go, things to see... you cannot be bored!
Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park
-the markets-
Each house has a little
garden!
And ours came even with a squirrel!
English
girls wear skirts and heels! And almost no clothes when they go out party...but that's another thing...
as well as: English girls have NO temperature sensors for cold weather on their bodies!
English people in general like being
unique in their style!
And no matter what are you wearing nobody will point fingers on you..because nobody cares
Ok, those were pretty much the things I liked. But: having had lived in you-know-where (sorry for repeating GERMANY GERMANY GERMANY billion times, I know, I hate it too) for the last few years, I couldn't help noticing some little things...such as
THE THINGS I DISLIKE
-pollution-you wash your hands and it's black! you blow your nose and- it's black! you wash your face and...yeah...quite dirty everywhere!
But as I say- comparing to Germany almost everywhere is way too dirty!
-bus drivers lie-when you get on a bus and ask the driver if he /she goes to a certain place (which was most probably written on the bus stop) the answer is very likely to be
NO!
Even if they do, they will still say
NO! Happened to me a few times so I consider it was no coincidence!
Now, the question is- why would they do that to us:
- is it because they don't understand (my) English?
- or is it because they don't wanna take any responsibility of giving you a wrong answer
- is it because they don't know where that place is or where they drive their bus to
- or maybe they are just in a hurry and don't have time for small talks with passengers
- or maybe they just enjoy the POWER OF THE LONDONER BUS DRIVER- to make fool out of their potential passengers..
WELL IN ANY CASE- don't ever rely on a bus driver's word! They are not thinking in your best interest!
Good thing is- the buses nowadays talk; they will tell you the next stop and you will be fine!
Alternatively, you could take the
tube!
And here is the next point:
- delays, strikes, bad service...not so often, but happens quite a lot and if you say that you were late because there was some problem on the tube EVERYBODY WOULD BUY IT :) So, don't worry for being late!
-Cabs are even worst!
Bad bad bad bad bad
traffic!
- the
METRO and the
EVENING STANDARDThese are the free newspapers that everybody is reading on the tube, even when the train is fully packed and everybody is standing they are still ireading this paper with great interest!
...I remember last year in London I took it once, out of boredom or curiosity: the cover story featured a 13-year-old boy who became a father. And this boy and his issues were on first page for a whole week. This is why I denied reading this paper from that moment on. I mean: I am not interested in domestic drama. Thanks!
I got the paper the day before I left though, cuase I felt I need to catch up on some news. Besides, I wanted to check if the level got any better...
And the top news was: It is December and it is cold and it will be "big freeze" until February! Well that is something...-how could I express it with words- SENSATIONAL in all times news reporting!
-
hot or cold!?
Either freeze OR burn your skin!
I assume London was one of the first European cities with a proper tab system and running water in every household! So, in the 16th century it has been pretty cool to have hot and cold water, even though you couldn't mix it.
But...what are we now...21st century I believe!!! I think it is time to take the next step towards innovation! And change the windows too , please. When it's windy it get's really cold inside!
-domestic mice-
Everybody has a mouse in their house! And everybody has an environmental friendly thing to catch the mouse (no killing and no poisoning for god sake! it's a mouse!).
When they catch it they let it free again so that it can come back..
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you the
LIFE MOUSE CATCHER!
There are still a few things I am not really sure whether I hate or love- such as let's say: you can buy frozen chopped onions!?
Let's think: How is taking frozen chopped onions and putting it in a frying pan
more convenient
than taking a whole fresh onion and chopping it?
It saves the tears?
Your hands don't smell?
It is appropriate for people who don't posses a cutting board..or a kitchen knife?
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
See, this is something I don't really get!
SO I will need to spend more time in London to figure that out!
But apart from that:
You are in London!Just walk around Leicester Square and there you will see some celebs taking a walk on the red carpet in front of you...
In my case Christina Aguilera and Cher on the premiere of "Burlesque"
All in all: London is exciting, different in every corner, very crazy, dirty but fun!
All things I could live with! Be back soon!!!
