Lost in London

Hey there! 

 

I finished my last blog with my journey to London and want to go on with telling you about my days in there. 

I made it to London!

I took a bus from London Stansted but during the drive I fell asleep. The last night before the journey I was so nervous that I couldn’t sleep! Luckily I woke up early enough to get out of the bus at Waterloo Station. 

Completely lost I looked around. Where am I? Where do I have to go to find my hostel? Good for me that I’m quite good at reading maps so I took out a tourist map and started walking with my tiny suitcase on the one hand and a map on the other hand to find my place to stay. It felt a bit awkward, my plan was to not look like a tourist in London to meet many people but I couldn't have been more touristy than that! 

Hostellife

After a 10 minute walk I reached the hostel. It was a nice small hostel placed in the 1st floor above a pub. The staff was really kind and showed me everything but when I found out that we had 2 showers for 48 people I was really shocked! 

I shared a room with 11 other people but that wasn't a problem for me, everyone was really friendly. Some of them, especially the guys, started snoring but I was prepared. Rule Nr. 1 in a hostel: Don't forget your earplugs!

Everything else was quite good, even the breakfast surprised me! We had muesli, bread, toast and fruits, even coffe was included. The bathrooms were tiny but clean, that's more important for me. Our room was big enough for 12 people, I know hostels that have much smaller rooms that the one I stayed at. Last but not least the hostel was so cheap and right in the centre of London! 

London by Night

I was so exited that I made it to London so I couldn't sleep! So I decited to explore London and have dinner. I came to Westminster Bridge first because my hostel was south the Themse, so one of the first things I saw was the Big Ben by night. It looked amazing! The picture looks quite bright but it was quite late and already dark outside.

After I passed Westminster Bridge I explored a few smaller streets with nice looking restaurants. Everything looked so good that I wasn't able to make a decision so I ended up in a Saitsburys and bought a Sandwich with Cheddar, quite English, I'd say. After my snack I want back to the hostel and fell asleep, travelling makes me really tired!

Sun in London?!

Why has everyone told me it's always raining in London? I stayed there for 6 days and it rained for half an hour, the rest of my trip was really warm and sunny, even it was september. I wanted to use the good weather to see as much as possible but first I went to Hyde Park. I had a long walk in the park and had a nice rest at the huge lake in the middle of Hyde Park. It was beautiful! 

My plan was to have a cheap trip so I missed all the expensive things like The London Eye, Madame Tussauds, etc.. Most of the museums in London are free so I went for example to the British Museum. There are so many things you can do for free, I can't write them all down here. 

If you're interested about a Blog Post about free things you can do in London let me know! 

How I met many new people

  

I always had a prober breakfast and a small snack for lunch every day so I was quite hungry at night. A pub is a great option to have a nice dinner and a few drinks afterwards. That's how I met most of the people I talked to in London. For me it seems quite difficult to meet new people at a normal day, especially when you're a tourist travelling on your own. 

Every night when I was on a pub I met so many interesting people! I looked for a chair at the bar and when people saw that I was on my own they started talking to me. First I was really shy and felt incredibly uncomfortable but after a few minutes I got used to speaking English. Most of the people I met were English but I met two Danish guys (both had the same name, that was weird) and we had a really good conversation.

These two told me that they only speak English together when they're not in Denmark because strangers start talking to them earlier than when they're speaking Danish. And they were right, if they had spoken in Danish I would have been too shy to start talking to them. 

What I learned during my trip

Speak the lenguage! 

Even if you feel uncomfortable about speaking in another languange just give it a try, it's easier than you think!

Try different food!

Usually I only eat thing that I defenetly like but I wanted to try everything in London. Usually I'm a vegetarian but I had a short break for my holidays. It was absoluteley worth it! I had English, Mexican and Indian food and everything was soooo delicious!

It doesn't have to be perfect!

When you go on a holiday you want them to be perfect but afterwards you're disappointed if something doesn't work out like you wish. Don't put yourself under pressure, just enjoy your holidays! 

Talk to local people!

Try to be selfconfident and talk to people from there. They can give you great tips about not touristy places, restaurants, etc. They know the city better than everyone other. Your lenguage doesn't have to be perfect, they'll understand you even when you make a few mistakes. 

Be brave!
Just try to be brave during your holiday! When you want to travel on your own, do it! When you want to eat local food, try it! Be brave in every possible way, you won't regret it!


Okay, that's a pretty long post but I hope you like it. Let me know what you think about it! 

See you soon
M.