 |
| Over Iceland |
We had a great sendoff from our family and some friends at Pearson Toronto then took the redeye via Iceland Air into Reykjavik Airport for an hour stopover. The nice thing about Iceland Air is that you are allowed two pieces of checked baggage, which was good as the three of us had SO much stuff. Iceland (what we saw of it) was beautiful, I would love to be able to spend a few days there eventually. We got into Gatwick Airport in Southern London at approximately 11:45 am, or 6:45 am Toronto time. Prior to the flight, we booked a van taxi to take us and all of our stuff to our Travelodge hotel in Ilford. The fit was tight but we managed to cram all of our stuff into the cab. It was about an hour ride from the airport to our hotel and drove through the Olympic village and after getting some dinner crashed in the hotel as we were utterly exhausted from the long day.
During our first week we had to sort out a number of things, the main ones were getting a phone plan, bank account and finding a place to live. We took the bus and tube to Ilford and I got a sim card for my phone - it is great how cheap phone plans are! We did not have a very good experience in Ilford, and are looking forward to getting out of this area ASAP. While on the bus, we saw a cute little neighbourhood Wanstead and decided to get off the bus and immediately fell in love with the area. For the rest of the night we stayed in Wanstead and had dinner at a BBQ place.
For the rest of the week we had some apartment viewings, set up a bank meeting and explored our area. After what felt like disappointment after disappointment in terms of things not working out, we all felt very discouraged and thought we needed a little fun. We took the tube to Westminster Abbey and saw Big Ben and the London Eye. This definitely made us all feel better and reminded us that this move is all worth it. While walking around we spotted the Sherlock Holmes pub and wanted to get a pint. It was so cool, everyone was sitting outside and drinking.
Other highlights of the week were going to Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford which is an amazing mall. My favourite so far is Camden Lock Market (aka hipster central.) In my opinion it's way better than the markets in Venice. There were countless stalls and shops in the market selling clothing, food and other little trinkets. Overall, it's been quite the experience already but I am really looking forward to getting everything organized and moving out of this cramped hotel!
 |
| Westfield Centre in Stratford |
 |
| Pub in Camden Town |
Some difference I've noticed:
- Different names for different things (jumper = sweater, trousers = pants, etc.)
- Taking the tube everywhere! I am horrible with directions and it's actually so easy to navigate your way around. It is extremely hot though.
- Not tipping at restaurants
- At some pubs you seat yourself and go to the bar and order your food/beverage there and give them your table number.
- Looking right first when crossing the street. I still find it weird that they drive on the other side, not sure when I'll get used to that.
- Very multicultural, in some areas we actually felt like minorities.
