Quick first week impressions of London
Hi there. London has been great so far and before I go on vacation to Italy tomorrow I wanted to share with you my first few impressions of London:
- Almost everything in the supermarkets is organic, fair trade, cage free. People in London seem to be really into eating healthy and fair trade.
- The tube is very efficient, except on the weekends when repairs can easily double the travel time
- When it’s called outside and you need to get warm, just walk to the tube. It’s always hot there! A little too hot when it is 30 degrees outside. There is no airconditioning
- It takes a while to get used to cars driving on the wrong side of the road
- Tipping is not as big here as it is in the U.S.
- People love to stand just outside of the pub. Sometimes there is nobody inside, everyone is standing just outside the doors
- It is the most international city I have lived in (I lived in SF, LA and Prague)
- There are a lot of free newspapers. People usually pick them up before getting on a tube or bus and then leave it there for other riders to enjoy
- A lot of retailers require UK debit cards with a chip and don’t accept foreign cards without a chip
- People are friendly (at least to me :)
- There are so many different accents I hear every day
- The British are crazy about Michael Jackson
- London has a lot of tabloid papers
- International folks live in center of London, British people live outside of the center and commute more
Feel free to share your impressions of London.
FYI…I am going to Italy tomorrow. I will be back in London next weekend. More posts then.
