Hello Amis..Ca Va?,
Don't be surprised to see me addressing in French, I am not learning but trying to catch few words in different languages from so many European people around.
Well, I know its scorching in western part of the world..while the eastern side already started seeing monsoons. It is getting warmer here and sun stays tirelessly from 4:30 am till about 10:00 pm. Does it appear like weather forecast :P. Whatever the climate is, hope it doesn't trouble us too much.
I am back here in this space to write something about the Life in London. Most of you might be familiar with many facts about this place. And I know most of us have London in our favourite destination list. I did as well. I did not have big reasons nor did I know so much about this place, but I was very fascinated to visit London from my childhood. Somehow the name itself has got strong vibes I guess. Anyways, I already mentioned I will be moving to London in one of my previous posts. Here I am coming up with some amusing observations that I made during my stay so far.
Residents might be much familiar with most of these observations or might have ignored as time passed or might be too busy to notice anything as such. As you all know friends, this is one of the best happening place in the world. One cant stop falling in love even with some drawbacks. And I also started loving this place.
One first observation I made was almost 90% of them have their own style statement. Walk on the streets, get into a tube or rail or a bus, you find men and women dressed up in their own different style. 7 out of 10 people are so. Though I did not understand, why people here are so fascinated about dull and pale colours, I still could notice lot of style in their dressing. Interestingly, on a cold day..you would find more than half of the population coming out in black winter coats n apparel. Sometimes it appears like they all have discussed and wore an uniform. Women especially are dressed in the most recent trendy outfits along with eye catching accessories.
Not many people talk on tube/rail/bus journeys, with eyes involved in reading a book or newspaper and ears plugged in with some music player ear phones, I hardly saw anybody raising their heads to look around except some new comers like me staring all around.
When it comes to walking in and around the city, I looked like the tortoise in the hare n tortoise tale, not that the tortoise is going to win at the end..in this case..my snail walk has got no chance. Well don't get confused to see so many slow paced animal walk comparisons with mine because I have been trying to invent the best one to name mine. People here run like as if they were all set on a race..n still think they walk. An outsider/newcomer like me will surely start searching means of help in order not to get pushed away.
The very known fact is that, this place is so thickly populated that even if you miss the most obese thing you possess I bet you are not going to find it.
Now these few lines will sure be interesting for girls/ladies..... Yes ladies..its shopper's heaven. From Harrods to cheap street market, there is everything that you would love to buy, provided you are quite patient to sneak into the crowds and of course with more than considerable amount in your cards. I am sure we will loose our heart for so many beautiful stuff in the displays.
Another cool thing is that, the retail shop interiors are stunningly beautiful., more than clothing n accessories, it is the eye candy display lobbies n interiors that attracted me so much. Most of the stores I have been in USA were simple and casual, but here they had managed to design their interiors much better than their clothes. To quote few examples; Gap, Anthropologie, Banana Republic ...had alluring interiors here.
Surprisingly even food chains like Mc.Donald's and Burger King were also very decently designed with bright colours n new age furniture which wasn't common in USA and I don't think even in its (Mc.D's) state of origin. And very commonly the food isn't at all at its best quality but still cant stop myself having a bite there sometimes.
Apart from the limited space in the city, it is very amazing to find many beautiful gardens in the heart of the city. Of course the high streets hardly have tress on sides but the efforts to maintain gardens wherever possible should be appreciated.
Coming to residential areas, well one has to admit that the homes were very clumsily constructed due to lack of space. It is hard to find a spacious home within the city limits. The local councils are at their best to keep the place clean and green at the residents expense of course. The council tax collected seemed quite an expensive bill per annum. Probably that could be the reason why better quality equipment/technology is being employed to maintain the place.
Even steps to promote green is very extensive among the councils, retailers as wells as some of the residents. I see a lot of them carrying shopping bags, separating wastes for recycle and use of energy conserving appliances which is very green of them :P. I mean people have so much green consciousness which can be one of the breathing elements for this place with so much population.
Prominently, commuting is such an easy task for anybody even a new comer from one place to the other. And if you are within the city limit, probably you wouldn't worry even if you miss your destination. The tube map will put you back in track. I guess a city like this is more visited even for the ease of conveyance.
As the world knows, Football is worshipped here.., these days with the FIFA fever and Wimbledon, its like a feast for the fans n the pubs are overflowing with visitors.
Will come up more interesting facts about this place after few more months. Probably with a travelogue kind of post. Hope you enjoyed reading this new comer's version of Life in London.
Cheers
Vennela
