A Week in London: What I Didn’t Expect

DKehoe said:
Isn't the water in the South East generally harder than most other parts of the UK? Not that it makes it unsafe to drink, just surprised to see that area particularly highlighted.
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Hard water has it's benefits such as containing minerals like calcium and magnesium. However, there are also arguments for soft water being superior. Personal preference.

Personally, like most things in life, I like it hard.
 
INC said:
Only where the rich people live (knightsbridge, canary wharf, oxford street, the jewish section etc) the rest is dirty, full of wastemen and women, rubbish everywhere, barely hear a london accent anywhere.You can literally drive 2mins from any of these areas and it's a complete shit hole again, it's an embarrassment
Even the night life has been destroyed.

Just stay away tbh
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I used busses there just this summer. Barely heard any English and had schoolkids shouting at each other in Urdu. People were pretty rude too.

Even my mildly autistic best friend, who barely notices anything, complained to me about not hearing English on the Tube. If even he's gotten to that point... yeah.
 
IDKFA said:
Hard water has it's benefits such as containing minerals like calcium and magnesium. However, there are also arguments for soft water being superior. Personal preference.

Personally, like most things in life, I like it hard.
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That's fair. I was more just wondering why you would consider it safer to drink from the tap than the water in other parts of the UK.
 
The beer is cheaper than it is by me although (soho aside) most places seem to shut at 10pm.
It is a nightmare to drive around and the people may aswell be mute, blind NPCs for how friendly they are. Next time you are there smile at people / say good morning, I bet you will be well into double figures before you get an acknowledgement (not counting paid workers).

Everytime I visit it looks grubbier.
I can't think of a single city i've been to that wasn't better (landmarks aside).

In its' defence shitting in public is an emergency option only. At your hotel you should be showering after poops anyway.
 
Being in the UK the tap water thing still amazes at times that other countries aren't ok to drink from tap. It's just a clean water system, you'd think that'd be a priority to sort out in most places.
 
If a non European wants to visit Europe, skip Western Europe and go east instead. Check out cities like Prague or Budapest that feel 100% European. Visiting London or Paris today now has the same feeling as going to see Roman/Greek landmarks in Turkey: the monuments are still there, but the people who built them are gone and different peoples have taken over the land.
 
DKehoe said:
That's fair. I was more just wondering why you would consider it safer to drink from the tap than the water in other parts of the UK.
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My apologies, I was more pointing towards the added mineral benefit.

All water in the UK is safe to drink from the tap because water providers need to follow very strict water quality standards.
 
It's an exclusive club


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I've lived up and down of the UK and London is absolutely alien to the rest of the country.
I despise it.

The further north you get. The more friendlier and down to earth people are.
South is more laid back.

London is just a bed of chaos. One min you'll be standing in an area that is the heights of wealth. The next you will be running for the nearest escape route.
 
Donald mac Ronald said:
London's a shit hole.

400 of the UK's 650 homicides happen there annually.
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That's a crazy statistic if true. I just googled and only 13% of the UK population (16% of the English population) live in London.

That in itself is reason enough to not go that often

Edit: quick bit of research and globally it looks to be still a pretty safe city but in the UK yeah it is the most dangerous for sure. It looks like they've had 116 murders this year, where are you getting the 400 from?
 
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So damn busy!

The food and food choice is excellent. It's a global city and the quality is good. After a point, the quality is negligible in my opinion.

Restaurants are mostly too expensive, housing obviously also insanely expensive. Transport is interesting in that it works when it wants but it's expensive, mostly filthy.

It's a fast paced city. Soon as you get outside of London things are calmer. But within, you better not get caught walking slow or wasting time fumbling with keys,cards or serving coffee too slow.

The people have gotten worse and I think it's a combo of imported US beliefs, stripping of power from parents, teachers, genuine cops, and shit education. I can't blame immigrants because even some locals act like idiots and don't take care of their own property let alone public stuff.

It is true though, you won't always hear a proper English accent all the time or even the language. You might hear Euro accents and languages, Chinese, Urdu, Arabic, etc. It's global. Even born and raised Londoners have accents or twangs heavily influwnced by home language (but thats for any city). But you definitely have pockets e.g. Southall stations and vicinity are heavily south Asian with other ethnicities mostly people trying to get to the airport! You will notice this on transport every morning/evening.

It's an interesting place. It's a bit shit these last few years, but the jobs are here.

Tap water is definitely surprising. But so many foreigners still won't drink it. Stuck in their ways.
 
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RJMacready73 said:
Fuck where do you start...
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I mean, I could literally walk at 3 a.m. in Abu Dhabi with zero fear. In London, at 8 p.m., there was a guy singing and screaming—and I assure you, I'm not exaggerating. It was in one of the metro stations (Oxford Circus I believe?) and it scared everyone. My brother who visit London constantly told us that we are late we have go back.
 
hemo memo said:
I mean, I could literally walk at 3 a.m. in Abu Dhabi with zero fear. In London, at 8 p.m., there was a guy singing and screaming—and I assure you, I'm not exaggerating. It was in one of the metro stations (Oxford Circus I believe?) and it scared everyone. My brother who visit London constantly told us that we are late we have go back.
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singing and screaming scared you? I suppose if you're coming from a country where people are not allowed to be drunk in public it could be scary.
 
hemo memo said:
I mean, I could literally walk at 3 a.m. in Abu Dhabi with zero fear. In London, at 8 p.m., there was a guy singing and screaming—and I assure you, I'm not exaggerating. It was in one of the metro stations (Oxford Circus I believe?) and it scared everyone. My brother who visit London constantly told us that we are late we have go back.
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That behaviour is mad annoying. But a lot of locals don't mind mild drunken singing as long as it doesn't escalate.

No time is really safe in London. You can be stabbed at 4am, 7am or 12:32pm outside a busy tesco. It's RNG.
 
Kenneth Haight said:
singing and screaming scared you? I suppose if you're coming from a country where people are not allowed to be drunk in public it could be scary.
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I've never witnessed that behavior in my life, though, and I'm 35 years old. I was more scared for my two sisters with me. It's not like I've never traveled before. I've been to almost every Gulf country, Malaysia, and Istanbul.
 
hemo memo said:
I mean, I could literally walk at 3 a.m. in Abu Dhabi with zero fear. In London, at 8 p.m., there was a guy singing and screaming—and I assure you, I'm not exaggerating. It was in one of the metro stations (Oxford Circus I believe?) and it scared everyone. My brother who visit London constantly told us that we are late we have go back.
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And still I would pay so much not to have to live in Abu Dhabi or any Emirate for that matter.

A guy screaming lol.

Edit: just never visit Brussels or Paris my man :D
 
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kurisu_1974 said:
And still I would pay so much not to have to live in Abu Dhabi or any Emirate for that matter.

A guy screaming lol.

Edit: just never visit Brussels or Paris my man :D
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Is it worse? I was thinking of going to Paris next. Paris, Rome or Tokyo. Still not decided.
 
Werewolf Jones said:
The most miserable cunts on an island full of miserable cunts.
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I mean - they are living on a fucking island with terrible weather, crazy stabbing crime rates, shit food and ugly women. You would be miserable yourself.
hemo memo said:
Is it worse? I was thinking of going to Paris next. Paris, Rome or Tokyo. Still not decided.
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Paris is a beautiful city with a few/not so few problematic spots like any city of this size, it's virtually impossible to find a city in the West that looks like a postcard from some dystopia. So yes, right next to Opera House you have a metro station where a homeless decided to take a piss.
 
hemo memo said:
I've never witnessed that behavior in my life, though, and I'm 35 years old. I was more scared for my two sisters with me. It's not like I've never traveled before. I've been to almost every Gulf country, Malaysia, and Istanbul.
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Yeah it can be intimidating. Being completely blind drunk in public is not cool and some people turn in to absolute idiots and their personality changes a lot. It's best to just completely ignore these people if you encounter them.
 
Cyberpunkd said:
I mean - they are living on a fucking island with terrible weather, crazy stabbing crime rates, shit food and ugly women. You would be miserable yourself.

Paris is a beautiful city with a few/not so few problematic spots like any city of this size, it's virtually impossible to find a city in the West that looks like a postcard from some dystopia. So yes, right next to Opera House you have a metro station where a homeless decided to take a piss.
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That's pretty interesting, I felt less safe in Paris than I do in London.

EDIT- not to say that I was worried the whole time, just more that on a couple of occasions, I felt I needed to be extra alert to what was going on around me, definitely got approached by someone trying to scam me at one point too.
 
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Durien said:
Interesting. My daughter is in the Harry Potter phase and we were thinking of taking a trip to Europe, hitting London, Paris, and Rome. Since we have never been, we are looking at doing a group tour (we are also pressed for time due to multiple conflicting school schedules) lol we narrowed a window to where everyone is free over a 10 period. Is 3 days about right to see stuff in London?
Lol whenever I think about London, I think of the scene in Snatched, when customs says, "Anything to declare?" And he goes , "Yeah, don't go to England."
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What does London have to do with Harry Potter????

Better off going here instead

Harry Potter at Alnwick Castle | A Hogwarts Castle Experience

For a day out at Hogwarts Castle, visit Alnwick Castle, an official filming location for Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone & Chamber of Secrets!
www.alnwickcastle.com www.alnwickcastle.com

Alnwick Castle starred as the magical Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during the 2001 film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and the 2002 film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
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London, like any of the four major Alpha Cities of the World, is a fantastic place to live if you have the money to shield yourself from their shortcomings.

If you're working poor, only really living there to service the needs of the wealthy, then it's shit, like anywhere else.

...and New York makes London look like a positive paradise in comparison.
 
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London is nearly 2000 years old, like most town's and cities in the UK, they were founded by the Romans. The roads and pavements are all "upgrades" of already built Roman, Medieval, Victorian etc roads, not ideal for the volume of cars and people these days.

Water has always been fine here to drink from the tap, unlike most of Europe where you drink the tap water you're going to get the shits.
 
Sybrix said:
London is nearly 2000 years old, like most town's and cities in the UK, they were founded by the Romans. The roads and pavements are all "upgrades" of already built Roman, Medieval, Victorian etc roads, not ideal for the volume of cars and people these days.

Water has always been fine here to drink from the tap, unlike most of Europe where you drink the tap water you're going to get the shits.
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I've actually liked that aspect of London: people walking everywhere. I could have taken an Uber to where I wanted to go, but I wanted to use public transportation, which is impressive. You can use your phone to pay for buses and metros, which is so much more advanced compared to Istanbul, where you have to use a card and recharge it, so you have to carry cash. I've been in London for seven days and haven't used or had cash even once. That's normal in the UAE, but I've heard that some places in New York for example still don't accept card payments. I've never been to New York or the US, for that matter.
 
INC said:
london is a shit hole, hate it, have to drive and work around it all the time

why anyone would wanna visit it, is beyond me.
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I loved London in the early and mid 90's. I think it's an absolute shit hole these days, 3rd world in some places.
 
DKehoe said:
I would guess they're maybe going to the Warner Bros studio tour.

There's also stuff like Kings Cross having a setup for Platform 9 3/4.
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I would urge caution about setting out specifically for the latter - it's just a queue of people waiting to have a photo taken with a baggage trolley looking like it's passing into a wall. I think my girlfriend might have gone to the former, I think that's supposed to be quite well thought of. It's a bit of a trek from Central London though!
 
Mr Reasonable said:
I would urge caution about setting out specifically for the latter - it's just a queue of people waiting to have a photo taken with a baggage trolley looking like it's passing into a wall. I think my girlfriend might have gone to the former, I think that's supposed to be quite well thought of. It's a bit of a trek from Central London though!
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Yeh it's just a photo opportunity. So I wouldn't say it's something people should go out of their way for. Also worth noting that when Rowling was writing the book she was actually thinking of Euston rather than Kings Cross. So the location they have at Kings Cross isn't even what she was picturing.
 
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