Chotzi's Big Adventure: London Trip Repot - kind of
Jun 3rd, 2004, 10:44 AM
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Chotzi's Big Adventure: London Trip Repot - kind of
This isn't really a trip report, per sé. My husband and I, with our friend just got back from 10 days in London with one quick day in Paris. I'm still reeling from our whirlwind non-stop "vacation"! I don't know if anyone's interested, but for what it's worth, these are some things I learned from my first trip overseas. Keep in mind that this comes from a person who has been veeery limited in the experience department. There were a LOT of firsts for me on this trip - first real vacation, first trip out of the country, first time in a really BIG city, first train ride, first subway ride, first taxi ride - You get the idea.
Thoroughly Boring Chotzi takes the first step to becoming someone who has "Been Places"!
I learned that (unless you are from a large city), nothing, but NOTHING will prepare you for the massive crush of humanity that is London. It was staggering and awe inspiring, and on first impression, just a bit scary. Imagine the people getting let out of stadium or concert. It was like that almost all the time, almost everywhere. Next time I will take the time to go to less crowded areas just to re-group.
I had some of the worst food of my life and some of the best food of my life (usually in the same day). If you leave things to chance, these things happen. I never got around to getting a restaurant guide. I had a printout of a few recommendations from this forum but I lost it. Next time, I won't.
The most amazing things can happen right before your eyes - and you can still miss it. Had tea in the crypt at St Martins and saw (or didn't see actually) the woman next to us have her wallet lifted from her purse. She had her purse on the floor between her chair and the wall. A group of people came up, sat in the table next to her, stayed for just a minute or two and then got up and left. Next thing you know she's frantically searching for her wallet. Credit cards, ID, passport - just like that it was gone. She was no more than five feet away and we were facing her at the time. Amazing.
Never NEVER believe your husband (or anyone for that matter) when they say that they have no problem driving in a foreign city if they've never been there. It is truly a miracle that we are alive today. It was Mr.Toads Wild Ride, only for real, where you could die. London traffic is truly unbelievable. I'm surprised we didn't see cars crashing at every intersection and bodies flying every which way.
Sometimes the briefest encounters will stay with you a lifetime. While at the bus stop arguing about which bus to take, a tiny, gentle, elderly lady asked us if we "knew where we were going". We laughed and told her that we didn't even know where we were. We had gotten used to taking the tube and didn't know the busses very well. She said that she spent so much time in the tube during the war that she could never bring herself to go back. She told us how the city was so dark and so cold that they used to go down for days on end just so they could ride the trains back and forth because they were the warmest place they could find. When the bombings would start she would crouch down there thinking how she might never get out again. Yes, she much preferred the bus...
Wherever I go, I will always look for a way to do things differently. If I hadn't learned about Private Access to Stonehenge, visiting the Stones wouldn't have had nearly the impact. The sense of mystery and the weight of years that I felt walking among and touching those stones was intense. I didn't hear cars, phones, planes, or people talking. I was alone, with the wind sighing through the grass, the birds singing, and the stones looming overhead. One of the most peaceful and surreal experiences of my life. Quite different than standing behind a rope barrier and saying "yup, there they are".
It's apparently true. One either seems to love Paris or hate it. We spent one day there. My husband and I loved it. My friend hated it. Funny how you can go exactly the same places at exactly the same time and have totally opposite experiences. After the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower we wandered aimlessly and got rather lost in some narrow twisting streets with boulangeries and patisseries every block or so. We thought it really cool that we could get off a train in the middle of a foreign city and wander around lost without being able to speak the language. It freaked her out.
The most important thing I learned: All these years and it turns out that the only thing keeping me from exploring the world was me. Lack of funds? Even the kid bagging groceries at my local Wal-Mart had saved enough to go to London last year. He was very sweet and earnest with his travel advice. Fear of flying? Even my co-worker, who survived a small charter plane crash and is terrified to fly, will still screw up his courage to get somewhere by plane. There are no reasons, only excuses. Ah, well, at least I learned before I wasted any more years.
Well, time to start planning the next trip!
Thank you Fodorites! I would have been a stumbling bumpkin without you.
And thank you London! You were my gateway to the world.
Thoroughly Boring Chotzi takes the first step to becoming someone who has "Been Places"!
I learned that (unless you are from a large city), nothing, but NOTHING will prepare you for the massive crush of humanity that is London. It was staggering and awe inspiring, and on first impression, just a bit scary. Imagine the people getting let out of stadium or concert. It was like that almost all the time, almost everywhere. Next time I will take the time to go to less crowded areas just to re-group.
I had some of the worst food of my life and some of the best food of my life (usually in the same day). If you leave things to chance, these things happen. I never got around to getting a restaurant guide. I had a printout of a few recommendations from this forum but I lost it. Next time, I won't.
The most amazing things can happen right before your eyes - and you can still miss it. Had tea in the crypt at St Martins and saw (or didn't see actually) the woman next to us have her wallet lifted from her purse. She had her purse on the floor between her chair and the wall. A group of people came up, sat in the table next to her, stayed for just a minute or two and then got up and left. Next thing you know she's frantically searching for her wallet. Credit cards, ID, passport - just like that it was gone. She was no more than five feet away and we were facing her at the time. Amazing.
Never NEVER believe your husband (or anyone for that matter) when they say that they have no problem driving in a foreign city if they've never been there. It is truly a miracle that we are alive today. It was Mr.Toads Wild Ride, only for real, where you could die. London traffic is truly unbelievable. I'm surprised we didn't see cars crashing at every intersection and bodies flying every which way.
Sometimes the briefest encounters will stay with you a lifetime. While at the bus stop arguing about which bus to take, a tiny, gentle, elderly lady asked us if we "knew where we were going". We laughed and told her that we didn't even know where we were. We had gotten used to taking the tube and didn't know the busses very well. She said that she spent so much time in the tube during the war that she could never bring herself to go back. She told us how the city was so dark and so cold that they used to go down for days on end just so they could ride the trains back and forth because they were the warmest place they could find. When the bombings would start she would crouch down there thinking how she might never get out again. Yes, she much preferred the bus...
Wherever I go, I will always look for a way to do things differently. If I hadn't learned about Private Access to Stonehenge, visiting the Stones wouldn't have had nearly the impact. The sense of mystery and the weight of years that I felt walking among and touching those stones was intense. I didn't hear cars, phones, planes, or people talking. I was alone, with the wind sighing through the grass, the birds singing, and the stones looming overhead. One of the most peaceful and surreal experiences of my life. Quite different than standing behind a rope barrier and saying "yup, there they are".
It's apparently true. One either seems to love Paris or hate it. We spent one day there. My husband and I loved it. My friend hated it. Funny how you can go exactly the same places at exactly the same time and have totally opposite experiences. After the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower we wandered aimlessly and got rather lost in some narrow twisting streets with boulangeries and patisseries every block or so. We thought it really cool that we could get off a train in the middle of a foreign city and wander around lost without being able to speak the language. It freaked her out.
The most important thing I learned: All these years and it turns out that the only thing keeping me from exploring the world was me. Lack of funds? Even the kid bagging groceries at my local Wal-Mart had saved enough to go to London last year. He was very sweet and earnest with his travel advice. Fear of flying? Even my co-worker, who survived a small charter plane crash and is terrified to fly, will still screw up his courage to get somewhere by plane. There are no reasons, only excuses. Ah, well, at least I learned before I wasted any more years.
Well, time to start planning the next trip!
Thank you Fodorites! I would have been a stumbling bumpkin without you.
And thank you London! You were my gateway to the world.
Jun 3rd, 2004, 12:21 PM
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Chotzi,
Great attitude and keep it up!
"the only thing keeping me from exploring the world is me."
How true! How true!
My DW of 30 years and I have decided that now that the kids are grown and nearly through college, we are going wherever the next bargain air fare takes us.
JoeG
Great attitude and keep it up!
"the only thing keeping me from exploring the world is me."
How true! How true!
My DW of 30 years and I have decided that now that the kids are grown and nearly through college, we are going wherever the next bargain air fare takes us.
JoeG
Jun 3rd, 2004, 12:42 PM
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Chotzi,
I enjoyed your trip report .
Your newly found philosophy on traveling made me remember a fragment from a Mamas and Papas song..."You gotta go where you wanna go, do what you wanna do".
The lyric isn't grammatically correct, but the sentiment it expresses, as applied to traveling and exploring , is.
I enjoyed your trip report .
Your newly found philosophy on traveling made me remember a fragment from a Mamas and Papas song..."You gotta go where you wanna go, do what you wanna do".
The lyric isn't grammatically correct, but the sentiment it expresses, as applied to traveling and exploring , is.
