The London Lifestyle

4 days in London seems like a very short time for anyone to do anything but not for four college age girls with a lot of zeal and nothing better to do. In my four days in London, I had managed to learn to read a map (after years of being completely flummoxed by them!), ride the tube like a pro, walk for miles and miles without getting blisters or having to sit down to rest and realize how wonderful it is to be a student and not have to pay full price at heritage sights! :D

I definitely did the whole touristy thing and saw as much of London as humanly possible! Who would imagine that a tiny island with an even tinier capital could house so much history and so many world heritage sights! Between orientation and exploring London's pub and club life, I managed to cover most of the major attractions.

Exploring Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, St. James' Palace, The Tower of London, the Big Ben, the National Galleries, the Houses of Parliament, Hyde Park can officially be struck of my bucket list! These were just some of the places that I visited with my friends. The most interesting part of my exploring was definitely the Free Royal Walking Tour of London. We walked all over the city in a group of 20 odd people with a wonderful guide and all for FREE! Unfortunately St. Paul's Cathedral and the London Eye could not be crammed into our busy schedules but there's always next time!

However, the highlight of my 4 days in London was my night at the theatre! After a loooooong and tiring day of sightseeing, my friends and I literally rushed into the theatre 10mins before show time to watch the longest running musical in London, Les Miserables! Watching a show in a theatre in Picadilly Circus has been a dream for me since I was little. It is second, perhaps, only to watching a show on Broadway, in my mind!

I was blown away! It was better than anything I'd ever imagined! The orchestra, the actors, the lighting, the direction, but most of all...the SETS! It definitely took my breath away! All my life, I have loved the theatre but have had so little exposure to really good theatre and here, in London, I saw Victor Hugo's work come to life and my imagination take shape on stage!

So far, London has been a city of a million cultures, races and languages but also a city that is always on the move. People run instead of walking and drivers race instead of driving, tubes come into stations every 2mins and everyone is always in such a hurry! Also, Londoners can be extremely mean. I don't think they mean to be but after living in lazy cities like Calcutta and Des Moines, I probably get in the way of the pace and make people angry! LOL! But anyway, the London life has been a good one but I'm really looking forward to moving into a smaller city with (hopefully) friendlier and more relaxed people!

And Off I Go...

I pride myself on being a seasoned traveler but that doesn't mean that I don't tend to over-pack or stuff my suitcase till it bursts or that I don't get those pre-departure jitters, what it means though, is that I don't start packing until the night before and this often turns out to be a COMPLETE disaster! Despite having flown in and out of the country 4 times in the last 6months, packing my life into a box really depresses me. Today was no different but instead of depression, I felt both anticipation and anxiety!

At 7:00am (Indian Standard Time)/9:30pm (Central Time), I set off for my new adventure! The flights were really packed but pleasant enough..however, the impending task looming ahead of me made my pulse race and my stomach cramp. I had to get off at London, change my money, buy multi-pin adapters, find the train station, make my way to Paddington Station, take a cab to my hotel and check myself in!

The mere thought of all of this, kept me awake during the entire flight (even though I usually sleep like a log!) but as the PA system announced our descent at 7pm (London Time), I looked out the window and there it was...the London Eye, glittering in the soft sunlight and all at once, my anxiety and tension were gone...I was in England...and one phrase kept running through my head..."The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire"...

...And yet the ordeal was hardly over! So, I get off at London Heathrow and it's no wonder that it's called the busiest airport in the world! An hour long immigration line, a short wait at baggage claim, 20mins of monetary transactions, a loooooooooong walk to the train station and a 15min train ride to Paddington Station and I was out on the streets of Central London in the steady rain. Having successfully completed the most daunting part of my journey, I confidently stood in the queue for a cab and soon arrived at the hotel safe and sound...orientation starts tomorrow! And the journey begins...