think tank forum

I'm spending a week in london starting tomorrow. suggest cool things to do here.

on my list so far:

- portobello road market
- indian food on brick lane
- outdoor market in camden on sunday
- walk all over the place
- go to every park on the map
- british museum
- imperial war museum
- transport museum
- probably more museums
- see if there's any good shows at: the relentless garage, o2 academy, koko
- rent a bike
- look up used book stores
- go to parliament
- see if I can get into the orwell archive at the university college library somehow
- orwell's grave
- london public library
- smoke inside

I think that's all for now.

traveling alone is scary, but also kind of fun. I like wandering around by myself. I think I might get homesick, but the hostel I'm staying at has free wifi and I'm bringing my laptop, so I'll be ok! I'm going to try and go without my phone the whole time, but I guess I'll see what the deal is with getting a prepaid sim card if I really need it. it's quad band so I should be good.

ok, now you suggest some stuff. I trust ttf's judgment.

I probably should have made this thread sooner.

not really sure on places to visit, but don't worry about getting homesick man! its only a week :D take a vacation from your phone and enjoy your trip without worrying about that! also, at hostels dont be afraid to talk to lots of people. they are great places to make friends and explore neat places with.

sounds like you have a good list to get through though :)

being alone forces you to be more friendly... it's like immersion.

but yes, scary and a bit dangerous.

ugh I can't sleep and every bar is closed. stupid time zones.

Props for this trip, asemi. :)

today I:

- found an apartment george orwell lived in during ww2
- walked through regent's park (which kind of sucked)
- got a reader pass at the british library so I can go back tomorrow and look at cool stuff
- saw a cool exhibit called 'magnificent maps' at the british library
- saw a bunch of other cool stuff like one of the original copies of the magna carta at the british libary
- went in a couple of used book stores (I buy way too many books when I'm traveling)
- got lost and walked around forever
- saw the american embassy
- got more chicken shawarma and ate it in hyde park while reading the evening standard

now I'm relaxing because my legs are really sore. I might upload the pictures I took today.

I'd be interested in seeing some of those photos. I've never heard "cool" and "London" used together before... seriously, everyone that went to London that I know hated it. It would be nice to see it from a positive viewpoint.

today I:

- took the tube to mile end road, where orwell purposely got drunk out of his mind and arrested for the sake of an essay
- walked to the police station where he was locked up
- walked to the courthouse where he was sentenced only to a fine
- read outside st. paul's cathedral waiting for them to stop charging admission so I could see the statue of the first protestant bishop of india ("If you are ever near St Paul's & feel in a gloomy mood, go in & have a look at the statue of the first Protestant bishop of India, which will give you a good laugh.")
- walked past the royal courts of justice, which was 'the palace of justice' in '1984'
- walked to trafalgar square and saw an impromptu rally for england's soccer team or something
- walked through leicester square (I think) to get to the tube (it was wicked busy and touristy all through here and it sucked)
- got chicken shawarma for the third day in a row and sat in hyde park reading an orwell biography I bought yesterday

oh, and I paid ~100 pounds to change my flight to tuesday because I am homesick already.

tomorrow I'm planning on taking the train out to see orwell's grave. then on monday I'm gonna go back to the british library and use my reader pass to see what orwell-related stuff they have (on microfilm I think), then probably do some touristy stuff like museums (didn't want to do these on the weekend).

oh and I might go to parliament on monday too.

an Orwellian Extravaganza !

haha. I just bought my ticket to didcot parkway for tomorrow. I'm planning on walking to sutton courtenay (where orwell is buried) from there. it's about an hour walk. should be nice, if kind of hot.

just got back from orwell's grave. I am deliriously tired. the walk there from the train station was like 3.5 miles and it's pretty hot out. the town it's in was having their town fair today so I bought a hot dog and some carrot cake. I need a shower.

I wrote this on IRC before I noticed you already left, oops. Figured I might post it here and let the keystrokes not go to complete waste:

[17:27]         brian | yeah exactly
[17:28]         brian | I also made the mistake of not bringing shorts
[17:28]         brian | I took them out of my bag at the last minute to make it a little bit smaller
[17:39]        «Quit» | brian (brian@planetsareplaces.com) has signed off (leaving)
[17:49]  Carpetsmoker | heh
[17:50]  Carpetsmoker | If it's as warm in the UK as it is in the Netherlands, then not bringing short is a serious error
[17:50]  Carpetsmoker | It was actually quite cold up to thursday/friday, after which is suddenly got quite warm
[17:51]  Carpetsmoker | Oh, Brian already left, do'h

haha. I think I got hungry and went to get food. it's been absolutely beautiful in the shade the past couple of days, but walking in the sun for hours has not been much fun. I've been carrying a lot of water though.

travel tip: remove your laptop hard drive and carry it around with you in case your laptop somehow gets stolen from a locker.

Was that just a $random_tip or did your laptop get stolen?

just a random tip.

also today I spent all day in the british library looking at orwell's pamphlet collection and a collection of press clippings relating to him.

pictures

my brother and sister in law are in london right now visiting parents.

> chicken shawarma

YES

I'm actually pretty jealous!

I was in London from 3 May to 12 May. Beautiful city.

seriously, fuck this city. cab from heathrow to central london cost gbp 75... $116. thank god it was expensed. i haven't really been back here since i passed through on my way back from india in 2010 and when i lived here for the summer in 2008. didn't miss much. it looks nice but has zero character, just wealth.

good article on how absurd central london is
http://www.vanityfair.com/society/2013/04/mys … ark-london

don't take a cab from heathrow... take tunnel. EVERY TIME.

Get a round trip ticket on Heathrow express.