London: dreams really do come true

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London. I've been dreaming all my life to visit London and now I've finally done it!




I didn't really have time to prepare our sightseeing because I had to devote all my time to Erasmus-freaking-out. As a result, I didn't have a clue what will turn out of our London trip without any previous planning. I was both scared and nervous. 

However, the most amazing things happened! 

I've found out that travelling does not necessarily need to be about "I've seen that and I've done that" checklist. It's rather about little moments, funny and unexpected surprises and spontaneous action. We planned little (a rare exception to my rules) but we have seen a lot! The unexpected luck was the best. Right at the airport (although our flight was delayed and passport control at Stansted just went nuts and we've thought that thanks to the combination of these unlucky events we will miss our last bus to London) we snatched a free map and it immediately solved all our troubles! It was called "Free Tours of London" map and I heartily recommend it! With this company we did three tours: Royal Tour, Old City Tour and Jack the Ripper Tour. These were fully-fledged professional tours around London, each of them lasted around two hours. Our tourist guides were professionals and provided us with interesting and relevant information. Certainly no boring history lectures. And the best thing? These are "pay-what-it's-worth" based tours so everyone can chose the amount to pay. Just the right thing for poor students! (Each time we gave around 10 pounds and we enjoyed it a lot!)
For more info, see their webpage: http://www.freetoursoflondon.com/. 

And what's the lesson? Don't freak out, everything will turn out good. Enjoy your dream instead. Everything will go out surprisingly well. 

Few interesting tips and things I've learned about London: 


  • mind the gap in tubes
  • birds don't poo on Churchill's statue because it's electrified
  • Big Ben is not Big Ben (Big Ben is only nickname for the bell inside, the tower is officially called the Elizabeth Tower)
  • big museums are free of charge (British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Britain, Science Museum, Natural History Museum) and nobody cares if you take pictures or not
  • you don't have to be British to have your statue in Parliament Square (this means I still have a chance! :D)
  • hot and cold taps - gorgeous but nonsensical AND annoying! (you can have either extremely hot or freezing cold water, and there's nothing in between)
  • Jack the Ripper was the most terrifying murderer ever
  • don't go to tube platform by steps (surely you want to avoid 175 steps after walking around London on foot all day)
  • sailors drank Captain Nelson
  • don't freak out when you suddenly don't see a driver in a car, he/she is just sitting in the next seat
  • the majority of the British adore the royal family; it's their hobby, accept it
  • bring walking shoes and warm clothes; walk as much as possible
  • it's an amazing idea to re-use the telephone boxes as free wifi hotspots 
  • an American guy bought London Bridge in 1970s and moved it to Arizona
  • Anne Boleyn was living in the Tower of London for two years with the view directly at the place of her execution
  • English tea with milk? You think that's a nonsense, right? Well, actually I really like it. 
  • the Great Fire might as well be the best thing that ever happened to London
  • they really have crazy squirrels in Hyde Park... and crazy swans as well 
  • signs like "don't even think of parking here" and "danger of dying" are common
  • warning: a girl next to you can really pass out during the most scary part of Jack the Ripper story (she really did)
  • favourite Victorian pastime was watching the Tower Bridge open 
  • YOU CANNOT SEE EVERYTHING IN TWO DAYS ... that means, you definitely need to come back!

What about you? Have you ever visited the UK? Share your experience and tips :)

Here are some pictures from London! See our nice and happy faces and give us like!




























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4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. páčia sa mi všetky fotky, dokonca aj tá s hrochmi ;) nech sa Ti objektív nezarosí, tešíme sa na ďalšie krásne zábery z Tvojich ciest :-))

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  3. great post on London. i need this kind of writing for my website

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