My whole life I've pined to travel to one place in the world more than anywhere else: the UK. Perhaps it was due to being raised on a tv diet of gritty British police dramas (notwithstanding The Bill post-2004), or the allure of seeing iconic buildings several times older than 'Australia' itself, or even just because I like all the different accents. In December I finally realised the dream, survived a gruelling 26-hour plane trip that took me through Taiwan and Thailand and found myself inhabiting a little hostel in Shepherds Bush for a week.
I'm not one to shy away from exploring new places but looking at the tube map in my first few minutes after arriving at Heathrow I felt a little daunted by the spider's web of train lines criss-crossing one another, but it took no time before I'd figured it out, got to Hammersmith, changed lines to get to Shepherd's Bush Market, and got my first red double-decker bus to the hostel.
Exploring the city was tiring work but we squeezed a lot into what felt like a very short week - even seeing the Queen returning with her corgis to Buckingham Palace on our first afternoon! And I'd like to think I began to look like a local, after being asked directions several times by English people around town (and having the gall to direct one lady on the tube to Westminster - successfully!!).
London was everything I'd imagined - rainy, enormous, fashionable, multicultural - I could go on. I absolutely loved my time there and my ten year plan is definitely going to include a stint as a resident!
No comments:
Post a Comment