Sarah Does Italia: I LOVE LONDON!

I LOVE LONDON! I am in complete and utter euphoria here. It’s like the first stage of culture shock but I won’t go through any of the other stages! When I met Emma, the girl who so generously let us stay in her apartment and is a high school friend of my traveling buddy, she made the remark that “London is a cleaner version of New York”. I immediately dismissed this comment because New York is my favorite city in the world and I don’t think any other city is even comparable. How could London be as fabulous, crazy, cultured, stylish, expensive (well maybe that) as New York? But getting to know the city in the three brief days I realized how many similarities there were. Namely, the diversity (of people, places, and things to do); fantastic public transit system (the tube); friendly, smart, stylish people; and even a variety of good restaurants (in England of all places). Okay, so the restaurants were definitely not like New York City but the British stereotype of terrible food was definitely ended for me. There was tons of culture, almost everywhere I went there were three languages being spoken. The tube made it so easy to get around and everywhere I went was so different. Where we stayed in Finsbury Park was like Brooklyn but where my friend Sam lived in South Kensington was more comparable to the Upper East Side. Oh and style wise, it's all about the British coat. It is freezing here so everyone has to have a cute coat! Even then men dress well! I guess it's only in America that they don't...

Family and Friends, you might have to say goodbye to me again—because I can definitely see myself living in London for a year after college. From this experience so far, I don’t think I could leave my family, friends, and good ole’ America for any more than a year.

London loved me too. I mean it really does. The firs time we rode the tube, also the only time I ever needed to ask a question (because it really only took one time to figure it out), the first woman I asked explained to me very clearly and even corrected my pronunciation (FINS-berry, not FINES-berry). At every stop, the nice British man on the loudspeaker says “Mind the Gap”—in American meaning watch out for the step. It was so nice of the loudspeaker to warn me (and I guess the other passengers too) about the space between the train and the tracks—the tube really cares about my well being. Also, when there had to be maintenance on the tube they would tell the Londoners months in advance and have replacement bus routes. Maybe I have just been stuck in Italy too long when public transit and Italian trains are mostly known for weekly strikes and doing their best to inconvenience people. Or maybe London just really cares for its citizens! Also, on all the street corners with pedestrian crosses there were signs that said “look right” or “look left” in case I forgot that Brits drive on the opposite side of the road. Thank you again London for saving me from a pedestrian car accident.

When I was walking to the station from my friend Sam’s apartment I ran into a nice old British man who started talking to me and then he confirmed I was indeed going in the right direction of the station (of course I was, I couldn’t get lost in London—London loved me too much). A man next to us overheard and said he was going to the station as well and offered to walk with me. We walked and chatted he was a director of theater company, just got back from a seven city tour in America, spoke English, French, and Farsi). Everyone in London is so nice.

By day 3 in England, I had even given someone (with a British accent) directions.

So for my actual trip, I saw a lot of the sights: Big Ben, Parliamentary Square, Westminster Abbey, King’s Cross (and Platform 9 ¾), Westminster Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, the Boardwalk, London Eye area, and Harrod’s. Now keep in mind, I have never heard of Harrod’s before so I had no idea what was instore. One of the things I really wanted to do in England was have high tea. So I asked a fellow Whittie David Deming—I always trust whittie’s judgment more than the average bloke and we also share a last name, where he suggested I go. He said Harrod’s at Knightsbridge was great so I was picturing a little tea room run by an old British lady—but oh I could not have been more wrong. Now Harrods is technically a “Department store” but it is so much more than that. It is more like an exhibit of culture. It is huge (5 stories maybe?) and filled with fabulous boutiques, fashion, art, food, and restaurants. While trying to figure out which of the many places available for high tea in Harrod’s to go to I walked by a beautiful glass sculpture and tray. I looked at the price tag and it cost 115,000 pounds—now when is the last time you saw a $200,000 glass sculpture at your local department store just sitting out unprotected. The next room had Bob Dylan’s collection of art on loan. It was the most fabulous little gallery—and still inside a department store! I am not really a fan of contemporary art, and I started to realize through this exhibit is I wasn’t a fand merely because I hadn’t seen enough! I loved all this art work!! There were also beautiful vintage prints of movie posters and photos of American and British music and movie stars. Then I saw a sign for “Christmas World”. Oh no, it’s like Love Actually coming real. Christmas is what I love. Christmas in London is my dream. I ran to try and find this “Christmas World” and nothing could stop me. I walked in and there was an explosion of red and green. It was massive the size of a normal department store’s kid’s section. There were trees, ornaments, Christmas cards, everything. The place was so lavishly decorated I felt like I was in a different store. They also hired gorgeous people just to stand there, wear black, wear “Christmas World” sashes, and look beautiful. This place put Macy’s little display in the Tacoma mall to shame. I was so happy that I was sad because I knew that I would have to leave eventually. I had to buy something—and wanted something London like. I bought a beautiful glass Big Ben ornament (unfortunately, it didn’t even make it to Barcelona). We finally slowly drew ourselves away from Christmas World and had high tea at the Harrod’s café. It was delicious! I ate five minute finger sandwiches with scones served with clotted cream and jam. Oh, and of course, tea! This entire Harrod’s journey occurred within 2 ½ hours on one floor. I could have spent all day here but it would have been somewhat torturous because I couldn’t afford anything (especially when I doubled the prices to put it in American dollars).

The experience in London streets, stores, transit, and restaurants is a stark foil to Italy. The first place Sonia and I ate outside of Italy was an Indian restaurant in Sotto. The wait staff was extremely friendly as we walked in and they took our coats. The restaurant was packed but they came by to ask how we were every five minutes anyway (I probably would have though that this was overbearing if I hadn’t been in Italy for the past two months but instead I was grateful/exuberant). There were obviously many business people taking there lunch break here and every single one ordered beer—not just a little bottle of corona but like 40 ounces of ale. The Brits start early. Oh and the Indian food was fantastic!

Hanging out with Sam, one of my friends from Whitman, was also a highlight of the trip. Sam lives in South Kensington so showed me around that and in Leicester Square. It was so nice to be with some one from Whitman again—we probably reminisced and caught up for most of the night—I pitied Sonia for being stuck with us alone until her friend Emma joined us. It was also nice to see what a way different experience Sam was having studying abroad. I think we had a normal night for him but definitely one of the craziest/longest I have had in Europe. We had dinner—asian food (I was taking a complete fast from Italian) and then we hit the Leicester Square Clubs. They were big and crazy—nothing like anything in Florence.

On Saturday night, I walked around the boardwalk area. I went to the Tate Modern museum for a little bit right before it closed and then walked down at sunset near the London Bridge (it’s not falling down…sorry, I couldn’t help myself). I was meeting my friend Kelsey on Saturday night for dinner and drinks. Kelsey is a fellow Kappa sister who graduated last May and is living in London for a year with her sister. Kelsey was the best slice of home/Whitman I ask for (somehow she just reminded me more of Whitman than Sam—probably because we talked about Kappa and our friends for so long). Hanging out with Kelsey it seemed like I had just seen her last week when it was actually almost six months ago. We just chatted and were sharing and comparing our experiences abroad. I got to bed early at midnight to prepare for the 9:30 flight to Dublin the next day.