How I remember (and love) London

Watching the Olympics and all the marathons through London, I was reminded of why I still think London is one of the best cities in the world. Even though 4 years have passed since I left London, the memories are still vivid in my mind.

The first thing that comes to my mind when thinking about my time spent in London are the long walks I would take from one part of the city to another. My own personal marathons. Walking for hours and hours, going from one neighborhood to another, noticing the differences and the similarities between them. I used to walk from Notting Hill, across Hyde Park, passing Oxford Street, going to Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Soho, finishing with a meal in Chinatown.

A view of Big Ben from Trafalgar Square

Or another route from Russel Square, all the way to Covent Garden, continuing to The Strand, then Trafalgar Square, Westminster, Westminster Bridge and then on the other side towards Tate Modern, one of my very favorite places in London. There were also long walks in Camden, Brick Lane, Chiswick, Hammersmith, Kensington... Sometimes alone, sometimes with my friends and sometimes with my then-boyfriend. Those beautiful days with plenty of sun... or the rainy days, with us under the umbrella. It was pure perfection.

Sometimes, the sunset would make everything even more perfect

By the second month I was there I had it all figured. The Saturdays were for Notting Hill and the Sundays for Brick Lane. I would eagerly wait for those weekends just to enjoy those wonderful markets! I have to admit I didn't buy much. I, being a well-known shopaholic, would be satisfied just by that atmosphere.

The colors of Notting Hill

Yes, London is expensive. Food is expensive, transport is pretty expensive, going out at night is ridiculously expensive, however the museums are free! Tate Modern, the British Museum, the National Gallery.. they are all free! Which is amazing!

Another thing that's amazing and free are the beautiful parks! My favorite was Regent's Park, however one should not miss St. James's Park, Hyde Park of course, and all the small gems throughout the city. I was really astonished of how they managed to have all those really well-maintained green spaces in every neighborhood.

St. James's Park

Another place I loved relaxing in (but not for free) were the pubs. I'd have a beer, mulled wine in winter, some snack or whatever. Alone, with a book, with a friend, or with a larger company. Sometimes I'd just have a conversation with a complete stranger, and it would all feel so familiar, so home-like.

Books are another thing I associate with London. I clearly remember people reading books everywhere. I admire their culture of reading and the variety of bookstores. I loved the small (and bigger) bookshops on Charing Cross with second-hand books hidden in the basement or in the attic looking older than the books themselves. (I hope they survived the economic crisis.)

In London, I loved going to the theater. Watching Kevin Spacey, Jeff Goldblum, Christian Slater, or singing along to the songs in the musicals was truly an extraordinary experience. So extraordinary that I could not afford it more often, since going to the theater costs a lot. However, I am happy with what I managed to see.

Finally, what I truly liked and could never forget about London was the politeness of the people. They always have some kind word, a smile, or an advice to offer you, even if you are not looking for it. I was stunned by people offering me help by themselves the first days when I was struggling with my map. Later I felt such pride when I was the one that could offer help to tourists!
Oh, I am so going to London again soon! :)     

When in Rome..

I've visited Rome in all seasons: in winter, in spring, in autumn, and this last time - in plain summer. Being the beginning of July, I was prepared for the heat, but one thing I wasn't prepared for was the humidity. It really felt like 100 degrees! Luckily, the Romans managed better with the heat than with the snow. When I was there in February, there was around 1 cm of snow and the whole city was literally paralyzed.

Since I had been there before I didn't need to visit all the tourist attractions, monuments, fountains etc. and that was such a relief. But it wasn't so easy for all the hoards of tourists, mainly American, that in 100 degrees Celsius sun would be brave enough to get on an open roof bus being driven around the city. Visiting Fontana di Trevi was a nightmare, at any hour of the day. I would literally just try to get away from all those people, completed with the annoying sellers of all kinds of stupid-things-no-one-would-buy! The Spanish Steps are always a little bit more relaxed because there is more space, however the annoying sellers there become even more annoying, throwing small glowing balls (I couldn't figure out what those balls were!) in the air ALL the time.

Anyhow, I should start from the beginning. My first "adventure" at the airport. My happiness of finally arriving, after the 6-hours trip from Skopje to Belgrade in the bus, was killed when I saw the line for passport control for non-EU citizens.With 3 transatlantic planes arriving at the same time and only two policemen working, I figured I'd be there in the next hour. I wanted to shout "Macedonia is IN Europe you scumbags! It's not in Africa!!!" But I didn't. I waited patiently.

Having gone through that, I decided I would take the bus to get to the city center, since it was the cheapest way (the train is 14 euro, the bus 4!). I bought the ticket, waiting for 5 minutes while the girl was talking on the phone explaining to her colleague how she flirted with the cute French guy who bought the ticket before me. I wasn't really in the mood to fight, so I just let her finish. Waited patiently again. The ticket bought, I went outside to find the bus that was supposed to leave in 10 minutes. Seeing a huge group of people waiting I knew that it was the place and that the bus was late. I tried to count how many people were there, but it was obvious to everyone there were TOO MANY! I stood in a strategic position, behind a guy who knew the woman from the company, who was standing there trying to make some order. When the bus arrived you can (or cannot) imagine the chaos, everyone trying to push their suitcase or bag in the bus, pushing people to get into the bus, while the woman was yelling "calm down, calm down"!! I successfully managed to put my luggage and find a place in the bus, and had to watch around 15 people outside being told just to wait for the next bus, who-knows-when! I felt sorry for those people, but in the same time I was proud of myself that I managed to act in Italian mode!

What unintentionally marked my trip to Rome was their win in the semi-finals of the European Championship against Germany. Seeing all the people on the streets celebrating, drinking, singing, yelling, breaking bottles, joking, laughing, chanting.. you would think they won the World Cup! It was the creation of this euphoria why their loss in the finals was so tragic. 100 000 people were gathered in Circo Massimo to watch the final.. and I didn't see (but I can clearly imagine) how they left it after they lost 4:0 from Spain.

I knew that the beaches around Rome are very crowded and not very nice, but with that weather the beach was inevitable. So, me and my friend decided to visit Ostia Antica, which is an archaeological spot on the way to the beach and then continue and just randomly choose where to go. I don't know what I'd expected from Ostia, but in that sun it might as well have been the Taj Mahal, I would only think of the beach and the water. A lot of ruins, a confused person at the entrance, no proper map or guide, a bunch of Americans, toilets with no toilet paper, a nice sandwich at the restaurant and we were good to go. Oh, and google-translated-signs:

We decided we would go to the last train station, hoping that the beach there would be less crowded, being further from the city. But, my eagerness and excitement was killed when we got close to the beach and we couldn't enter, because they were "private". I couldn't understand how can a person say that the sand or the water is their, and that you have to pay to "use" them!! We would not pay for something that is there for free so we decided we would look for a "spiaggia libera" (free beach). Luckily, we walked only for about 5 minutes and we saw the sign.. small, neglected, rusty sign. We immediately said we were going to the free beach, but the guy at the entrance would not let us in, instructing us to go up the stairs, pass the official entrance and explain there where we were going. I kept thinking how a tourist that doesn't speak Italian, would not menage with all that or would not want to be bothered and would simply pay. In the end, we got in, we found a nice spot and we enjoyed our day at the beach.

Another thing I truly enjoyed this time in Rome was Castel Sant'Angelo. I hadn't been there before and I always wanted to see it. It's really worth the money and the time. The view of Rome from there is spectacular. I'd recommend it to everyone!

With all that, the best part of the trip was spending time with my friends and eating some really really tasty food. I ate some great home-made meals, and I went to some amazing restaurants. However, it's definitely the common rule: always avoid the places where you can see more than 5 tourists!! :)