Fall is on its way, the tourists are thinning, and life is returning to normal as football has started again. Sadly enough, if August is any indication, pack your parkas for September. After a beautiful July, August has brought an early reappearance of my duvet and winter socks. On the bright side, weather here is totally unpredictable (and incomprehensible) and it's entirely possible that September will be more summer-like than August.
I have just past my one-year anniversary of living in London (England, Europe, the Old World). It's been an interesting year and has provided me with incredible insight of my home country and my adoptive home. Some days I love London, some days I hate it, but there hasn't been a single day I've regretted coming here (although there's no way I could live here forever!) London may be big (bigger than you could ever imagine as a tourist in central London), dirty (I now think Rome is clean!), and impersonal but it's not without its merits.
For this month I've attempted to pass on the highlights of a year's worth of knowledge in a few words.
Language
English in England at times seems to have little in common with my native Canadian English. To start with, the various accents can be so hard to understand I've often ended up just smiling and nodding.
One very common London accent pronounces "th" as "f" or "d" and uses strange tenses. For example, "we were both there and saw it" will sound like "we was boff dare and seen it" and is often interspersed with phrases like "at the end of the day", "you know what I mean", and "get it sorted".
Honestly, count the number of times you hear these phrases in a conversation - it's comical. Especially as it's spiced with more "likes" than a valley girl could count. My all time favorite "are you all right", which translates to "hi, how are you", but I walked around my work for a month thinking I looked ill.
Lonely Planet has just published a guide "British Phrasebook", which is both informative and interesting, although I've found they've missed many key phrases like "chatting up" and "pulling" (hitting on and picking up), and included others that are widely used outside of Britain. For example, I can't think of anything to call a lock (as in where water levels are changed for boats) besides a lock, and I think we all know what a willie is.
Stereotypes
In search of all things English:
Punks
Yes, green spikes and leather studs are still alive and well and hanging out en mass on the fringes of Camden Town. You too can spot these fabulous freaks at the Devonshire Arms pub on Kentish Town Road near Hawley Lock.
Soccer Hooligans
The English are obsessed with football. It's actually rather frightening. Football comes first in the list of priorities for many people, and in response to this the season is almost year round.
With football comes lager, and with lager comes rowdiness. The police presence is strong on big match days, and they are effective at keeping the fans under control. In my year here I have only really seen one bad incident, where some painted fans threw beer bottles through the windows of a woman's BMW (as she was driving).
A good place to see fans in action is a pub called The Globe, which is across the road from Baker Street tube station. Many people meet here on their way to matches at Wembley. You can always tell if it's game day because:
a) the police barricades will be out; and
b) you will hear singing.
Castles
The Tower of London is a castle. So is Hampton Court. St James Palace "looks" like a castle, but you can't go in (I think Charles lives there). Buckingham Palace looks more like a library than a palace, but it is now open for visitors throughout the month of September.
Manor Houses
The English Manor house has long been associated with England as a symbol of the wealthy upper class (which is still alive and well - the UK has one of the most polarised distribution of wealth in the developed world) and has been romanticised in many Emma Thompson flicks.
One London example is Kenwood House, which is beautifully set in the north east section of Hampstead Heath (with great nearby vistas of the city). Some of you may recognise it as the mansion film set featured in the movie "Notting Hill". This beautiful house also features a good art collection, the highlight of which is a Rembrant self-portrait.
Tudor Buildings
Most of London's Tudor period buildings were destroyed in the fire of 1666, and therefore it is much easier to find these building styles outside the capital. However, Staple Inn is one big half-timbered example. It was built in 1586 and apparently hasn't changed much over it's 400 plus years. It's located on Holburn Street, the nearest tube station is Chancery Lane.
Tips for Your Stay
Eating Out
I love to eat out, and I've found my lifestyle severely hampered since I've been here. My budget is £10-15 per person for a dinner, strictly because that's about as cheap as it gets. There are several chains with outlets all over London that I would recommend for a decent meal at relatively affordable prices.
For some strange reason the restaurants all seem to be mainly of the Italian persuasion, but I guarantee you won't have to look more than a couple of blocks away to find any of these. Pizza Express, ASK, ITS are all Italian style pizza places that all have good atmospheres. If you want a pizza to go (or "take away") ASK and ITS sell any pizza for £4. Café Uno, Café Rouge, and Bella Pasta are more traditional and offer greater selections.
Sandwich chains include Pret a Manger, which is expensive; and Benjy's, which offers the cheapest edible lunches imaginable.
Shopping
Although London has some great stores, high costs means shopping is probably best done in your hometown. I know prices here are (at the minimum differential) twice as high as my native Toronto.
My recent trips to Paris, Rome, and Lisbon have resulted in shopping sprees spurred on by a childish giddiness at how cheap everything was. If you do want to shop I'd recommend a market, which means you'll only pay £10-20 for a t-shirt (a right bargain in this city!)
Walking
Pedestrians do not have the right of way. This means not only must you look "right let right" before crossing the street, but behind you as well. Be careful, drivers like to exercise their rights.
I have also personally witnessed no less than three pedestrians hit by buses on Oxford Street. Be careful on this street, don't assume the bus will stop if you step out in front of it because chances are it won't.
On a brighter note, almost all London crossings are marked with which way to look before crossing. This is invaluable to people coming from countries that drive on the right side, and even those that drive on the left as there are numerous one way streets.
Also, the white striped "zebra crossings" give pedestrians all the power, and once you step off the curb cars will inevitable screech to a halt. Be advised there are similar crossings all over Europe, but cars on the continent generally don't stop.
