Part 3 of England A-Z. Enjoy!
M Meltdown The Meltdown is a bar dedicated to gaming in London (Caledonian Road). I, personally, don't like playing computer games, but the people there are really cool, relaxed and nice. They serve drinks and although they do not serve food themselves, you can bring your own food and consume it in the bar, which is really nice. I played many funny rounds of "Fingers in!" (believe me, it is not as promising as it sounds) and N and I had lots of fun going there a couple of times. For game addicts, it is definitely a must to visit when in London, they also hold tournaments and so on, so check it out. https://www.meltdown.bar/london Musicals The musical scene in London is fantastic. Everything you want, will want, or have wanted to see is on stage there. I managed to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Guys and Dolls, Cats and Wicked - which were all really worth seeing. Of course, an affinity to for musicals should be given but who doesn't like musicals? (Don't answer). N 9 3/4 Shop, King's Cross For every Harry Potter fan, this is a must! In K/King's Cross I have already written about it, but here we go again. The shop is in King's Cross next to the half inside the wall trolley where you can take pictures. The shop is not extremely big but it has many things a Harry Potter fan dreams of: shirts, hair bands, wands, books, satchels, etc. I got a hair band, the marauder's map and a book. Admittedly, the shop in the Studios is much, much (much, much, much, much) better, but for anyone with less time or money, this is a great alternative. O Oxford Now to my most favourite city in the world. I love Oxford! The old town, the size, the people (a wonderful mix of old and young people) and the permanent reminder that Alice in Wonderland was written there and parts of Harry Potter filmed there. It is the perfect city for me: quirky, old, historic and still modern because of the incessant flow of young people coming to the city to study there. Additionally, they have a wonderful Waterstones café in which I spent some wonderful hours writing, reading and eating delicious scones. P Pottermania The major reason why living in the UK is my life-long dream is the close connection to anything related to Harry Potter. I was extremely lucky to move to London for the year in which Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was released and will be grateful forever for that. There is also the studio tour, the shop and of course the fact that Jo Rowling lives in the UK. So one day I will return and be able to enjoy the Pottermania whenever I want and will probably find a place where I feel I belong. Q Quirky Cemeteries England has the best cemeteries in the world! When you have seen them, you know why Black Romance and Goth come from there. Cracked tomb stones, coffins jutting out of the ground and significantly funny inscriptions ("Better an epic failure than a benign success" - I mean how awesome is that?). If you have time in London, visit Highgate Cemetery, it is a huge, quirky and worth seeing attraction for those attracted to the darker and yet strangely calm places of London. Queues I know, I know. Cliché. But what can you do? Queues are ever-present in London and dare of you do not obey the rule of queuing (actually, nothing happens, they are far too polite to say anything). But for the sake of not being obviously spotted as a tourist, stand in line and wait patiently until it is your turn. Everyone will be relieved. R Richmond Richmond is a beautiful city which I discovered only shortly before I left. Well, not that I literally "discovered" it as in Columbus discovered America. My dad actually went to school in Richmond once, but I could only appreciate it fully shortly before I left. Strictly speaking, I could see its beauty only when I discovered their Waterstones has a great café on top. Also the promenade along the river is really beautiful and worth walking. Richmond, as the name suggests, is a city where the rich mingle and live so it is quite exclusive and posh. Nevertheless, it has a nice inner city and plenty of cafés which are easily affordable for the everyday person.
0 Comments
This is the second part of the A-Z of my England year. Enjoy!
G Gloucestershire, Tutshill When my man came, we travelled up to Gloucestershire to visit Jo Rowling's childhood house in Tutshill. The funny thing was, when we arrived I didn't yet know where it was but as we were wandering up the road to our hotel, I stopped dead suddenly and, hysterically, pointing out a house at the side of the road next to the church. I recognised it from the documentary A Year in the Life. Awestruck, I stood there and, in the middle of the night, my man and I even broke little bit of mortar out of the wall as a souvenir. Yes, we Harry Potter fans are really people to run away from... Galaxie Hotel The Galaxie Hotel was the hotel where I stayed when I visited Oxford. If you want to see the hotel from the inside, visit my youtube channel WhateverFloatsYourBoat where you can also see other sights of Oxford. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXI1G_4VVUs The hotel room, tough quite small, was really nice but the outdoor area was just amazing. They had this gigantic back garden with terrace in which I could have spent hours if it hadn't rained (oh, England). I did, however, net a good bargain, so the usual price is quite expensive and someone who wants to save money should probably do Air BnB instead. H Harry Potter Studios The Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio Tour is, of course, a must for all Harry Potter fans. They are in Leavsden, only thirty minutes or so by train and I would recommend to take the train out there instead of hiring this insanely overpriced bus which takes you from Victoria Coach Station there. If you take the bus, you can only be in the studios a limited time because your arrival and departure time are scheduled and cannot be altered whereas if you travel by train, you can take all the time you want and stay there up to thirteen hours if you have the endurance. So, getting there is as easy as this: 1) Take a Midland train (often to Tring) from Euston Station which stops at Watford Junction. This will take about twenty minutes. 2) Take the Harry Potter Shuttle Bus (311) up to the studios, which takes about ten minutes. And that is it. All you need. Trains back to London go at least every half an hour and, as I said, you have all the time you need at the studios if you go by train. And you will need the time! Ah, the studios are AMAZING! To be honest, even if you are not a Harry Potter fan, the studios are great because you can see how such a blockbuster is designed, staged, how the props are made, what a set looks like, etc, etc, etc... You can see the Hogwarts Express, Diagon Alley, the Dursley's house and many more wonderful sets from the movies. Additionally, you can see puppets they used, animated creatures, sketches and so much more. But the shop must not be forgotten either. I could live in this shop, honestly. Although painfully overpriced, the shop sells everything from wands to shirts to Quidditch balls and uniforms to chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. So my advice, bring a lot of money when you go or you will cry if you enter the shop and realise you will not be able to buy much. Silver lining, though, the entry ticket price is really ok. About 30 pounds for adults but for more information visit their website. https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/ Also, click here to see my impressions of the Studio Tour on my Youtube Channel WhateverFloatsYourBoat https://youtu.be/O5C-PDWG-ao Hop on/Hop off busses They are touristy, you can find it in most bigger cities in the world and, in my humble opinion, they are great! Of course I am talking about hop on/hop off busses here. I know some people would rather be found dead than participating in such a touristy activity, but the bus tours really help me to get a better picture of a city and you can conveniently reach every destination which is worth seeing. The bus tour in London is great, though really expensive. In Edinburgh you get four bus tours for a good price and the one in Oxford is considerably short, but really worth trying out. I really like them and if I should come across them in another city, I am sure I will do it again! I Irregular Choice Irregular Choice is a shoe shop at Camden Market which I fell in love with. It sells crazy shoes with weird heels and are good for any crazy occasion. I wanted to treat myself to a pair for my birthday but then decided to go the HP tour instead, but as soon as I come across any money, I will definitely buy a pair of those and anyone who loves crazy and innovative fashion, should buy one, too. http://www.irregularchoice.com/eu/ J Joanne Rowling People who know me (or have been following this blog) know that I absolutely love Jo Rowling. Not only because she wrote Harry Potter but also because she is a remarkable and wonderful woman. I was very lucky to come to London when it was the year of the Harry Potter revival and I actually got to SEE her on the red carpet! Unfortunately, I didn't get an autograph (stupid children on the other side), but I will get one on day and I saw her walking right in front of me, which I will never forget! K King's Cross To be honest, King's Cross as such is not really worth visiting. It is not one of the better stations, but, of course, if you love Harry Potter you must visit it when on a trip to London. I was there on the first of September this year and I got to sign one of the huge doodle boards they had there. I also saw the platform on which they filmed parts of the film (between platform 3 and 4, by the way, not 9 and 10). The highlight, though, is the shop (see N) and the cart half inside the wall and half outside. I always wonder when Jo Rowling wanders by, how awkward it must feel for her to realise that all these things, all these people, are only there because of her...I hope I can have a similar feeling with one of my books one day... Kingston upon Thames Kingston is a town south-west of London and it has become my favourite town to shop and spend time in. When I first moved to the UK, I lived in Surbiton, which hadn't much to offer, so I would go to Kingston to do my shopping there. In Kingston there is Bentall's, a huge shopping centre with all sorts of shops (H&M, Apple Store, HMV, New Look, etc, etc, etc...and of course Bentalls). Kingston is also really beautiful. It has a really old city nucleus and there is a market there where you can buy food and drinks. It also has a Cath Kidston (see C) in which I spent most of my better time there. With the train you can be there in about 30-40 minutes from London Waterloo and I think it is really nice to shop there, go to the cinema or just roam the streets and the market. L LegoLand When one of my proteges had his birthday, the family invited me to LegoLand in Windsor. I think it is really expensive but the entertainment is great. They have various, child-friendly roller coasters, rides, a show and food stalls. Additionally, there is little Lego Town in which famous buildings are copied completely in Lego. I have to say, however, that most rides somehow include water, so if you don't want to get wet, you should probably avoid going there because water squirts are everywhere and you never know when they will attack! The train through LegoLand is also really cool (but also here, squirts, be warned) and you can see life-sized animals made out of Lego, so it's pretty cool. Leicester Square (pronunciation: Lester Sqäää) Leicester Square is where all the theatres, casinos and cinemas are. I spent a lot of time there, waiting around the Palace Theatre, hoping to net a ticket for HPCC (which I eventually did) and seeing other shows with N. I must say, I really love the atmosphere around Leicester Square and you should definitely hang out there and see a show if you are in London. If you get hungry, there are innumerable restaurants and fast food chains around there, but I always went to Garfunkel's, a pub at Leicester Square with great burgers and an outdoor area to sit and watch the people at Leicester Square and their street shows (which are often really good and worth seeing). http://www.garfunkels.co.uk/leicester-square Goodness, it's been some time. Moving back to Austria has been very exhausting - emotionally as well as physically.
Now I am sitting on my new sofa (thank God, the old one was so awful, but more about that in one of my next entries) and have finally found the time to write this entry. Before continuing to write about the experiences of the past weeks, I want to sum up my England experience by giving you an A-Z of my experiences in the UK. I have written about many places I visited which you might want to visit, too, so here is a wrap-up with my favourite experiences and places. For some letters there is more than one, for some, there is nothing and if you can think of something you loved in the UK (or other places), please comment here or on Facebook. A Abercrombie and Fitch I am normally not a brand person, but I really like A&F. I am also aware of the fact that A&F is nothing British, but the shop in London was my first one to visit and I really like the experience. It is wonderfully bizarre to go in there - as if entering a new world. The dimmed light, the naked sexy men, the gorgeous people and the smell...oh god, I LOVE the smell. When I was in Dublin, I just sensed this whiff of smell in the air and my nose led me to A&F Dublin. A&F in London is in Burlington Gardens close to Regent Street. It is easy to miss as there is only a little, elegant sign, so watch out! Arthur's Seat Arthur's Seat is the biggest hill (mountain?) in Edinburgh. I wandered up on my last day and on the top you have a wonderful view over the city. It is definitely worth the hike! B Balmoral Hotel The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh is a five-star hotel over Waverley Train Station. The reason why I mention it here is because it is the hotel in which JK Rowling finished the last Harry Potter book. One day I want to stay there and then I will let you know whether it's worth its price. Brick Lane Brick Lane is in Shoreditch in East London which is quite funky and different. You can find 50s stores there, the Cereal Killer Café, a great chocolate store and many other funny and cool shops. It is not high profile, but if you like crazy shops and people, east London is where you should go. It is very like Camden Market, though I have to say that if given the choice, I would prefer Camden Market to Brick Lane. Barmy Arms Pub The Barmy Arms is a pub in Twickenham at the embankment. You can overview the river at it is a wonderful and cosy atmosphere there and the burger is really good. Twickenham is not generally a hotspot (sorry, Twickenham), but the Barmy Arms was always a wonderful retreat to have a bite. Broadrock Hotel The Broadrock Accomodation was the hotel where my man and I stayed when we visited Wales. It is in Woodcroft and it was one of the best hotels I ever stayed in. If you ever want to visit the Forest of Dean, Tintern Abbey or see the house in which JK Rowling lived for some years of her childhood. The hotel is amazing! The owner, Richard, is a wonderful bloke, there is a kitchen which can be used and we had a wonderful bath tub and there were great outside areas - a terrace, a garden, another terrace. So, again, thank you Richard for the wonderful time and anyone who wants to go there, give my regards to Richard. http://www.broadrock.co.uk/ C Camden Market Camden Market is a market in east London at Camden Lock. It is an array of retail shops, outdoor markets, and food stalls. My man absolutely loved it and loved going there, too. The shops there are - like in Brick Lane - quite peculiar and you can buy wonderful dresses in various price categories. One of the most peculiar shops is CyberDog, a shop full of robotic and rave inspired clothes and gadgets. T-shirts with screens on them, Lego brick lamps and a really bizarre sex department with alien sex pics and dildos so big that you wonder who could shove them up their...well, holes. I wouldn't buy there - definitely no fashion - but it is definitely worth a visit and a story to tell when back home. Another great shop in Camden Market is Collectif. There you can buy clothes of the 50s which are just wonderful to wear and look at. They are slightly expensive but worth every p. and if you're lucky you might get one much cheaper during sale. Cursed Child The biggest highlight of this year was, of course, the publication and opening of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The whole journey to reading the script and watching the play was amazing and I feel so blessed that it was exactly the year that I was in the UK. It made my year perfect because I saw JK Rowling, learnt more about the Potter World and fell in love with a Malfoy. Thank you, Jo and Jack, for making my special year even more special. For anyone - Potter fan or not - make sure you see this play, as it is absolutely mind-blowing and will launch a completely new understanding of theatre for young generations - of that, I am convinced. Cambridge I also managed to visit Cambridge when I visited my former university tutor there. I was lucky enough to be accomodated in one of the colleges, which was amazing. The room was so cosy and my trip there great. The colleges are really impressive and anyone who likes old buildings, history and literature should definitely visit Cambridge once. They have a great Cath Kidston store there as well, for all the Cath fans Cath Kidston The first time I laid eyes on a Cath Kidston store I knew I was in love. It is the prefect shop for me even though it looks like the inside of Tinkerbell's vagina (or probably because it looks like the inside of Tinkerbell's vagina). It is romantic, flowery, and just 100% my style. When I moved to London I was so happy that I could go shopping there whenever I wanted. If you like the girly, flowery style, you should definitely shop there. D Dynamic Earth Exhibition In Edinburgh you can visit the Dynamic Earth Exhibition in which you learn about earth, can see what it feels like in an earthquake, volcano and rain forest weather. It was not mind-blowing but pretty entertaining and informative and especially when you visit Edinburgh with children it is worth a visit and you can visit it on foot or with the hop on/hop off bus. http://www.dynamicearth.co.uk/ E Edinburgh Shortly after I arrived in England, I took the bus up to Edinburgh, which has become one of my most favourite cities. Admittedly, taking the bus wasn't one of my cleverest ideas and if you can spare some quid, take the train or plane. Still, the city is an absolute must for fans of old cities, history lovers and people with a sense for city asthetics. And, of course, for Harry Potter fans. After all, Jo Rowling lives in Edinburgh and wrote most of the books there. This was also one of my most favourite hot spots, the Elephant House in the old town of Edinburgh. It is not only the café in which Jo Rowling wrote many parts of the first book, but it is also a great place to be, write and enjoy coffee. It is a cosy, snug place with a great back area in which anyone could imagine to find inspiration. http://www.elephanthouse.biz/ Ed's Diner Alright, there are many places in London where you can get a wonderful burger, any many where you most likely get a better burger than in the American Diner. Nevertheless, I want to list it here because I really enjoyed the American Diner atmosphere with 50s music, the funky colours and the friendly staff. There are various Ed's Diners but I went to the one close to Euston Station and it is definitely a better place to wait for your train than Nando's. In my humble opinion. F Fire The Fire is a nightclub close Vauxhall Station in which N and I went for the children entertainment inspired party. It is a really cool in which N and I took a bath in the ball pit, jumped on the bouncy castle and got balloon crowns. I don't know whether these activities are on every weekend, but the atmosphere and area in there were pretty cool, so if you like nightclubbing, it is definitely worth a visit. For the rest of the alphabet, you will soon be rewarded! Who knows me and has been following this blog regularly might have guessed by now that I am really into books. I don't only write them, but I also read them fanatically.
So it comes as no surprise that I absolutely love the bookstore Waterstones. I don't know whether I have written about it in here, but ever since I have come to the UK, I have been looking for the perfect café to write, as I sometimes have difficulties to focus in my home surroundings (probably also because JK Rowling wrote in cafés and I am ripping her habits off...who knows...). But it is true that you can find a good focus in cafés with the right establishments, after all, someone brings you food supplies regularly and it is not too loud but also loud enough to not lose the connection with the real world. Anyway, I couldn't find such a café because Starbucks is too trendy, in H+H there are too many children and the owner of the pantry around the corner of Strawberry Hill was kind of rude...(sorry, Peggy). But as it is with life, it can be a bitch and so it happened that in my last week, I found a wonderful café in the top of Richmond Waterstones which had the perfect atmosphere, especially in the morning when there was hardly anyone around. I could eat scones with jam and clotted cream, sip my tea and spread my notebooks over a huge table while typing away like a lunatic. So, the question now is...should I be grateful for having found this gem at all or feel resentful for having discovered it so late? Well, I will go for grateful as my plan is to return to the UK one day and then I can continue writing there. The people in Waterstones are also exceptionally polite and nice and I always feel really great in there. So, if you are in the UK and want some peace and a nice atmosphere, try to find a Waterstones with a café at the top (there is definitely one in Richmond and Oxford, but I am sure there are much more...there is also one in Waterstones Piccadilly Circus but after what happened the last time, I am not sure I will return there --> see my entry about the Nearly Criminal Incident from 6th September 2016) - you will never want to leave again! Goodness, my absence was literally tangible, but I have a good reason...as unbusy as this blog was, twice as busy my life has been in the past days, as I moved countries. Yes, you read correctly. Bye, bye, Britain for now and hello again, Austria.
But before I tell you about my exhausting last days and give you a resume of the past year, I would like to tell you about my last weekend in Britain. The weekend before this one, I went to see Wicked, which makes me immensely proud because I genuinely thought I wouldn't be able to do that anymore before I leave. I went up to London on Saturday (the weekend where Strawberry Hill train station was closed and I had to take the freaking bus...thank you Southern Train Lines for NOTHING) and bought a ticket for the evening show. They play it in the Victoria Theatre nearby Victoria Station and I must say it is quite a peculiar theatre. They only have stalls and one circle which is gigantic and reaches very far back. I sat in the last possible row and was so far away from the stage that I literally felt as if I was watching TV, but I had a good, unrestricted sight. Now to the musical...it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Really, if you have time in London and have to choose between one of the shows, either go and see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Wicked, they are both price-worthy and mind-blowing. The singing was incredible (thank you, Rachel Tucker, you were amazing as Elphaba and your voice could bring peace to earth, seriously, when you sang Defying Gravity, I had to cry) and the staging was brilliant, too. The only negative thing I have to say - and I have already ranted about it in a past entry - was that a little boy was sitting behind me and could hardly conceal his excitement - and had no problem informing everyone in the vicinity how excited he was. I mean, it is great that a little boy can get so exhilarated by musicals, but I can do without the audio commentary, thank you very much. Another thing that bugs me up to this day is that I bought a stupid programme. Every time I tell myself I have to stop buying these because they're expensive and boring and don't even inform you about the plot or what the show is actually about. Still, every time I talk myself into the idea that I simply NEED to buy this programme to remember the show. Such bullshit, the stupid Wicked programme cost eight pounds!! And there was hardly any information in it and I felt like a dumbass because I couldn't afford a T-shirt I wouldn't have needed either afterwards. So, children, learn this: never buy programmes. They're a waste of paper and your money and you will end up throwing them away eventually. Don't miss the ABC of the UK in my next entry, coming soon on tasteofbritain.weebly.com The internet still sucks which means the launching of my Youtube channel WhateverFloatsYourBoat is delayed and makes me slightly angry...
Whatever, video 1 of Oxford is on and two is coming soon amongst some other Youtube videos, just for you...my readers who are too lazy to read. Anyway, last weekend I went up to London to shop at Oxford Street because I only have two weekends left (one now) and wanted to make the best of it. I ended going to Regent Street because I don't have much money and, I know, that doesn't make sense at first, but believe me it does when you think about it... Still not? Right, let me explain. I don't have much money left, so I thought I would go to shops so hilariously expensive that buying something was completely out of reach. Get it? Well, it sounds brilliant, doesn't it, but it didn't really work out. I ended up buying a shirt in Abercrombie and Fitch, but still, it was the only purchase I made that day. Oh dear, it really nearly was. Last Saturday, I almost committed a felony. After my shopping trip I was hungry and decided to eat at the 5th View restaurant in Waterstones Piccadilly. I had a decent burger and coke and when I had eaten up, I stood up and left. Down the five floors, out on the street, to the crossroads, pushing the button for the traffic lights. Something felt odd, something felt unfinished. I checked my bag frantically, thinking I must have forgotten my purse or phone or key, but everything was still there. And just as the traffic lights jumped to green, it dawned on me...I HADN'T PAID MY BILL! Oh lord, what a moment of shock! Back into Waterstones, up the five floors (panting heavily), through the door, back to the waiter, apologising and... realising they hadn't even realised I had left. I apologised to the waiter who only said: "Oh right, you had a burger, haven't you, thanks for coming back." Thanks for coming back? What was the option? Well, I guess some people wouldn't have hesitated a moment to just sneak away and don't pay, but I couldn't do that. In fact, I considered not going back up to pay the bill, but not because I wanted to skip out on the bill but because I was so mortified for having forgotten to pay and didn't want to be mistaken for a criminal. In the end it all worked out...well, until I came to the Selfridges till. It was the children's dad's birthday and I went to Selfridges to get some goodies and a card for him. After some browsing, I found the adequate present and proceeded to the till. There, however, I realised that my purse was not in my bag and had a massive freak-out while the salesman was eyeing me up, annoyed. When I finally found my purse which had slipped into a side-bag, he said: "You know, you should be more careful with your purse. We have women here all the time who freak out because they can't find something, you know..." God, he was annoyed and I was annoyed, too. Annoyed that I had just proved the cliché of women and their bags. My time in Britain is drawing to a close (at least for now) and I have to say I am not necessarily looking forward to going back to Austria. Don't get me wrong, I miss my people sorely, but London has opened completely new opportunities and possibilities for me and it's been a blast of a year and I can only recommend to live in London at some point of your lives because you will definitely not forget it! Speak soon and all my kisses... Lord, technology sucks! The internet has been down for days which meant I couldn't blog and now I am using my phone as hot spot (which means I had to tape it to the ceiling close to the window to get a good signal...really, it is embarrassing how dependent we are) and am writing these lines nearly a week delayed.
What a week, what a weekend! After having had a tough week at work, I decided to take some time out and indulge in a trip to Oxford. I booked a four-star-hotel (it was a bargain, so calm down already) and left London on a sunny Sunday morning to find myself two hours later in wonderful, old Oxford. Oxford ranks among my absolute favourite cities, also including London, Edinburgh and Malaga. If you have never visited, you should definitely do so - especially if you are as bookish as I am. It is old and literary and has many impressive buildings in which innumerable famous people studied and worked, such as C.S. Lewis, Percy Shelley or Lewis Carroll. When I arrived I had some hours before I could check in and so I dashed to Waterstones, occupied a table with my laptop and notebooks in the cafe and wrote for a couple of hours, which was great, as I haven't done nearly enough writing in the past weeks, which makes me cranky. Eventually, however, it was time to check in and I enjoyed the blissfulness of a silent hotel room and my complete freedom to take a shower, sing and talk to myself. I went to Oxford, took a bus tour and dined in the Eagle and Child Pub in which C.S. Lewis liked to hang out. I also went back to Christ Church College (I visited Oxford two years ago already) and saw the Great Hall that inspired the Great Hall in Harry Potter as well as the staircase leading up to it which was actually used for filming in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I stayed at the Galaxie Hotel, which was really nice and I would recommend it, though Air BnB is surely much cheaper. I also had a great experience when I talked to a guy and he mistook me for an Englishwoman and strolling through the old city. If you want to hear about Oxford in more detail and visually underlined (or you are too lazy to read), click here or visit my Youtube channel WhateverFloatsYourBoat to watch clips about various things. Though I have to say I am only launching it only at the moment, but more is to come soon (as soon as I have better access to internet again). Another great thing that happened was today. It is the 1st September 2016, which means it is the day Harry Potter's two sons are going on the Hogwarts Express to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As I had a full day outstretched ahead of me, I decided to go up to King's Cross to actually be there when it was time to leave for Hogwarts. I packed up the children and took the train up to London. We arrived at twenty past eleven (stupid delayed trains), but as we didn't have to catch the Express ourselves, it was fine. We did, however, see that there were big boards with HP pictures on them in the middle of King's Cross and it was a free colouring in for fans and others. We picked pens and helped colour the huge boards before we proceeded to the shop and examined all the interesting things you could buy. It was really an amazing feeling to be there and mingle with other HP fans, although I must say I am sad I didn't get to go on the train myself...that would have been a dream come true... From 642 Tiny Things To Write About
Write the title of your autobiography. To be continued... What is your tiny pearl of wisdom? Failure can only make you stronger. Your last word before you die (Hopefully) You The person you want to see least. My former friend from High School, I think. Though it's weird. I consider myself to not want to see many people, which is one reason why I love London. No one knows me here and the big city gives me anonymity. However, I also do not have ONE person at the moment I would feel mortified seeing at the moment because I am in quite a good place, I think, and do not have anyone in particular who freaks me out so much I would be petrified to see them in the street, but I think she's still the first person I really don't have to see. Time is ticking on and my year in the UK has nearly come to a close...but not yet!
At the moment I am working a lot because the children have holidays (which means I don't get any) and the weekends are filled with me lying in bed, trying to recover from the week. N is gone now, too, which means I have no friend for the weekend to play with. This is what happens when you tie your leisure time to one friend - if this friend is gone you're f***ed. Also, because it is almost time to leave for me, I don't want to invest in a new friendship, nurture and tend it - only to leave in four weeks again (as if I could even find a friend in that amount of time, whom am I kidding??) Well, I am planning to go to Cambridge on one weekend, so something might happen there. Last weekend, N and I spent a day in London and went to Joe & The Juice, a juice bar around Leicester Square. The juices are very expensive (as everything healthy is), but it is really good and although I forgot to take a picture (silly me), they have lamps in there which are half inside the wall - which is pretty cool. We also hung out at Embankment which is always a good place to be on the weekends - it is probably the closest to a beach atmosphere. People are relaxed, artists perform and children cry. However, it started raining on the way back to Waterloo and I saw two hobos sitting just NOT under the bridge, begging for money. Believe me, I am not a person making fun of homeless people, quite the opposite, but why wouldn't they just move a couple of metres in, so the bridge would protect them from the pouring rain...well, I guess it wouldn't look quite so poor and pity-evoking... Yesterday, the children and I went to the Sea Life aquarium in London and it was like every Sea Life aquarium - disappointing. Seriously, has anyone ever been truly blown away by these aquariums? Tanks over tanks filled with boring, tiny fish which do not do anything and probably - if you're lucky - one remotely interesting tank. Admittedly, compared to other Sea Lifes (for instance Vienna), this one was much better as there were bigger sharks and aquariums but in the end, it was just fish swimming around and too many signs which you felt obliged to read (for 30 quid, you better do) but are damn boring. At least, as I was with the children, we went through the whole exhibition quite quickly and didn't linger at the boring parts. So, if you come to London, skip the aquarium and do something cooler like the London Dungeons, Madame Tussaud's or a Hop-on/Hop-off tour - it's better entertainment for the money - in my opinion. After we went to the aquarium, we found these cool benches around Embankment and I relaxed there – if you can call it relaxing. London’s atmosphere and art I will miss most because you just don’t find things like that in Austria – but I am sure I will come back in no time! I am sitting here in Radnor Cafe, close to the Thames, overlooking the playground and sipping my tea whilst picking out the raisins of my scone (seriously, the British and their raisin obsession...). Life is good, right? Well, it should be considering I have some time off, nice breakfast and a cup of tea; however, all I seem to be able to do is worrying about the future.
What is going to happen when I return to Austria? What if I don't find a job? What should I do with my life? What is wrong with me for pondering about the future all the time? etc, etc, etc.... I am a natural worrier (not to be confused with warrior) and I am apparently ruining my last month in the UK with worrying about my life in Austria which hasn't even started yet. Sometimes I wonder whether not knowing the future wouldn't be beyond blissful. Not knowing what is looming there, not pondering about love, career and problems. However, we don't even really know the future - which is somewhat worse. If I knew exactly what would happen, I could either dread it or look forward to it, but because we do not know exactly what is going to happen but do have an understanding of the future, all we are left to do is think about what might happen, which is the worst because it leaves so much space for hypotheses. All I am doing is mulling over things that might happen at some point, but most likely never will, and to go through various scenarios which will never happen because the thing that WILL happen, hasn't happened in my mind yet and most likely never will happen in my mind because it is the implausible in my mind which becomes the plausible in reality because reality normally works out in way we least expect, which makes preparing for the future redundant because what we assume will happen, will never happen and what does happen, has never occurred to us beforehand. Does that make sense? Is it too philosophical? Am I wrapping my head around unwrappable things? Either way, what I should do is stop obsessing about the future, right? To live in the present, but it is hard damn difficult and I am convinced in this very moment that the line between a gift and a curse is a very thin. Very thin, indeed. And by the way, it is (for once) not a typo in the heading, it is a blend of knowing and owning. |
AuthorIn September 2015 I started a new chapter of my life by moving (temporarily or permanently, not yet decided) to England where I work and socialise now. Archives
December 2017
Categories |