Any Planet members have London experience?
 

I am planning on studying abroad in London at some point next year for a semester. Anyone visited or been? What was it like for you?

Donger might...

The food is a cultural shock.

Check out the canals.

Ya I know thats gonna be very different...whats it like?

Food sucks. Pubs close early. Going out to clubs is expensive. British chicks dig Americans, provided that you aren't a typical "arrogant" American. Try to act sensitive and talk bad about our government a lot. It's the secret to getting layed overseas.;)

Neither the food nor the culture should be too shocking.

It's a big urban area that sprawls all over. Think New York with slightly nicer people (though they may be less receptive to Americans right now) and British accents. Prepare to make friends with the Underground as you travel throughout the city.

You'll find plenty of nightlife whether you prefer clubs or pubs.

And plenty of touristy stuff to do too. I suggest:

Tower of London
British Museum
British Library
Globe Theatre
Wimbledon

I'd guess you will also do day trips to Stonehenge, Oxford, Bathe, and Stratford-upon-Avon.

I also suggest you take advantage of weekends and see other parts of Europe. Sure. You're a student and it costs $ to travel, but you'll likely never be as free to see the many sights of Europe as you will be now.

Enjoy!

--Infidel Goat

I used to date a Jill London in college. That was SOME EXPERIENCE!! :p

Nice, thanks for the heads up...I am very excited.

That's better than London Fletcher, I guess . . .

Mind the Gap!

--Infidel Goat

Gimme a break! Your'e not going to study, your going to see Stamford Bridge. :)

I wil prob try to catch game in a few places...

Well then, you'll have to go to Highbury to see a real team play. ROFL

You go to hell! You go to hell and you die!

Do you plan to become fluent in the language?

That would seem to be the biggest roadblock to fully enjoying your visit.

Stationed two years in England, spent time in London.

First Pubs no longer close early; also you can find some great food and some lousy food, just like any big city.

Of all the places in England London is not one of my favorites, to big and more foreigners than English.

Having said that, I have had some great times in London, the pubs and club scene is top notch.
The Marquee Club is a great joint, anyone who is anyone started at the Marquee Club. The best bet is to pick up one or more of the entertainment papers and see what is happening.

The best way to get around London is to take the tubes, take your time to learn the system and you can get anywhere reasonably inexpensively.

As you are going to be there for a while, do the tourist stuff first to get it out of the way; i.e. ride the double Decker tour bus around London, go see the Mouse Trap, the London Zoo that kind of thing.

Then start looking for the places that the locals go to, and most importantly get the hell out of London, if you are there over the new years, get your butt up to Scotland, they throw the best new years bash in the known universe.

Oh and be polite, don't harp on how we do things bigger and better in the States, remember what your mom taught you, if you can't say something nice keep your mouth shut.

I studied a broad once.

What you reccomend city\town wise outside of London?

If you go out there, you have to take a day off and go up North to my homeland of Scotland. It's beautiful, and the people are very hospitable.

Eat some fish and chips. And take a dip in the North Sea (I fell in once. It's colder than a witches tit. But how many people can say they have been in the North Sea? :D)

I really need to go back one of these days.

Thanks for the info guys...I am not really into toursisty type stuff...maybe the museum or art places that were mentioned that would be a good deal. I think this is going to be a good deal.

When I was in that area, I had every intention of going over there, but was having WAY to much fun in Amsterdam.

If you don't like touristy type stuff, I'd suggest just taking the train into the countryside on a few weekends. Find a small town with interesting local flavor and a decent pub. Find some place to stay around there and hang out. Some of my best times in England were in the countryside.

Just stay off the moors at night.

Lots of great places and things to do.

Edinburgh is great during New Years and in the Spring, they have a cultural thing, with plays, art and music.

The New Years in Scotland is haugmanoy (sp?), you start in the pub, then take a bottle (single malted) down to High Street, at midnight you have a drink with all the guys you meet and kiss all the gals.

Then they pretty much have open parties all through the city, where you continue to drink and eat until basically you wake up the next day with a very big head and the notion that you had one hell of a good time.

The Lake District is nice, Bath is really great for a taste of old world charm. The Midlands have some nice places like Oxford and Strafford. Wales and Ireland are easy to get to and have some great things; you can also take the train through the Chunnel or hover craft over to France.

I don’t know how long you will be there or what your schedule will be like, but the best thing is to try and get a taste of all that the country has to offer and it is a bunch.

Two big negatives, right now the exchange rate sucks, and the winters are brutal, not that they have a lot of snow or anything, but it is dark, gray, cold and damp. Really starts to depress you after a while, this I found was easily cured by going to the Pub and downing a few pints of Bitter.

One note about Bitter, you will either love it or hate it. Just drink the local brand when possible, here is a good link to Beer festivals and info on what’s good to drink and what’s not. http://www.camra.org.uk/SHWebClass.A...howCat&CatID=1

Don't go anywhere by yourself,,or a least try not to. The food is pretty good actually,,although they don't have alot that you are probably used to here. If you act like you don't belong you will get taken advantage of fast. You have got to try and visit as many castles as you can, they are awesome. They will also offer you hot tea anywhere you go. If you are going to shop do not buy it the first time,,go next door and you will be suprised at the price difference.Because you are american they are gonna think you have money even if you don't. You are in for a great time,,,,,hope it is great for you.



ps,,,,the mcdonalds will be a shock for you,,,,,

**** McD's, go to mother****in Wimpy's, bitch.

How was he,... IG? ;)

ooooff, Wimpy burgers have got to be the most vile things on the face of the earth.

Do yourself a favor... take a week off and travel to Spain ;)

When I was a kid they were the best thing ever. And Mr. Wimpy was the man.

So, you're saying Duh-nese has a chance over there? :hmmm:

ENDelt has experience in Paris. Does that help? I think he has some home movies. He's the guy that makes Joanie Laurer look hung.

Bwana= :bong: ? ----------- :clap: :) :bravo: :toast:

Thats the first thing i think of about Amsterdam. Drugs galore.

Not your run of the mill, crackwhore, "Cops" variety hookers either.... nope, they've got some FINE trim for rent in Amsterdam. :D

Nah. Kick 'em in the knee cap when they have all their weight on their good leg. Makes that "tearing apart a chicken leg from the thigh" nose we all love so much. Tear that bird up while watching the McGahee knee injury. Gotta love those special effects guys.

Did you wear out the tape of Joe Theisman getting his leg broken?

It is an interesting place to say the least. :toast: The one thing that did suck over there (other than.....never mind) is the food. They have the most bland crap food I have ever had in my life. I mean salt and pepper didn't even start to make it taste like anything worth eating. I ordered a burger over at some hole in the wall and if that was beef, I'm Jimmy Hoffa.

Why do you think they smoke so much ganja? It's the only way to make the food appetizing. :D

Hahahahahaha.

stupid bastard,,,,

No, I have a father.

I guess that was my problem then. :) As bad as that food was, it may have been worth a try.

London is a great city, probably my favorite of those I have visited. Very easy to get around by walking and taking the tube. So much history and art. It is a very energetic city with many young people everywhere. Great beer. Lots of nice parks. Only downside is the dollar is weak, so everything will seem extremely expensive.

Don't pass up the opportunity.

Food in London sucks. Lots of history, lots of things to do and see. Expensive, and I bet even moreso now that our dollar has weakened since I've been.

",,,,,,,,,,"

That's not the issue. He has to be married to your mother.

Truthfully, I wasn't wowed by London. It seemed to me to be not a lot different than a big American city, and any differences are in the third decimal point. Also, most of the interesting architecture was destroyed in the war, so it just looks like any other modern city.

I guess it's a good home base for traveling to more interesting places, like Paris, which is the coolest city in the world. Paris is awesome, and I'm sure a lot of other continental places are, too.

You should consider going to Paris instead. Or if you need to stay in an English speaking place, go to Sydney or to Tasmania. Sydney is awesome.

Tokyo is much the same as you describe London except it is much cleaner than comparable US cities. The main difference is that you can't read the signs.

Good soccer clubs and beer. My friend from Wales calls England a "Mini-America".

I plan on getting a good dose of soccer in.

Both cities have good game shows, too.

Is the name Kevin French?

Other than the Louvre, I have no desire to go to France.

Best soccer in Italy and Spain, EPL decent too. BTW anybody want to come to Germany with me for the WC2006? German chicks, german beer, plenty of good soccer (international matches = teh pwn).

That would be a really good time...

I went there on vacation in 1976 and stayed a couple of weeks with my cousin who was stationed there with the Air Force.

Stayed in Grinstead Mills - about 60 miles south of London. Even got to see an actual fox hunt with all the dogs and folks dressed up in that fox hunting gear.

It was pretty cool, but the locals are really hard to understand - even though they speak "english".

But that was so long ago I don't remember a lot of the other details.

Good luck.

I'll go along with the chicks and beer but there is no such thing as good soccer. BTW, how do you tell good soccer from bad soccer?

Also, the beer was warm and very dark. Didn't care for it.

Well, the quality of players and the passion of each side.

Besides why do people hate soccer that much? Does the judgement come from watching kids or MLS games?

:Lin:

It's spelled Quevienne.

Have you ever been to Paris? The whole city is a work of art. They've also got the Musee d'Orsay, which may actually be more impressive than the Louvre, Notre Dame, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff that the Germans left behind.

thanks for the info, Rhein Mein

Zach,

Go with great expectations and excitment (it seems like you are already in the mood). Your education is about to be greatly enhanced.

Not sure who said this, but as one who has worked overseas for the last 29 years and traveled back throught Asia and Europe twice, I fully agree you need to take in the "Tourist" sights quickly before you settle into a routine. You'll be glad you did, coz as time goes on you may lose interest and never know what you missed.

I agree you should go as far into Europ as your time and money will allow. Then when news items are reported you will have the real pictures of what things are like. Plus, you will build memories of a lifetime!!

Go for it man!!!

You can't just generalize shit like that, man.

Thanks for the post...this is how I am going about it. I am very interested in visiting other places. But as for as actully staying somewhere a whole semester I didn't want the language barrier.

I really want to see Florence, Italy reeeallly bad. I think that would be an amazing trip. I am sure I will make it someday.

And watch a Milan - Inter game.

Yea ... I like the places in No. Italy much better than Rome...

As far as soccer goes my team is Chelsea. I would really like to see a Chelsea game. Outside of that it would be amazing to see the game you listed above and I would also like to see a US National game away from the US against a big time opponet.

eighty nine bucks will definitely get you there.

Man that 89 dollars has really went to your head. You might need a little more money.

What can I say...I am on top of the world!

I am going to CoinStar Machine my way to Europe!!! :)

Jim, I appreciate your advice. You and I were good friends before all the money came into my life. So I know you are not fake.

I stopped liking Chelsea after the Russian bought it. Just doesn't seem right. As far as EPL I always liked Arsenal, I fucking hated when people were amazed with ManU and always associated EPL with it.

Dammit FDE you beat me to it.

But I am jealous of that fortune you bastich.

ROFL

Why do we hate soccer so much? Uh...because it is so bundle of sticksgish? Watching queers dance around for thirty minutes while nothing happens? Gooooooooooooooooaal!

Hey, you're the one who brings that stuff into our homes with your fancy satellites and lag bolts and stuff.

90 minutes.

How is it bundle of sticksgish? Because nobody is ran into at full speed? Are all sports except football and rugby bundle of sticksgish? You've obviously never seen a game, it's pretty physical.

Long Ass Plane Ride, Pub Crawlin', Tube Ridin', Best Curry Ever; Dutch Au Pairs, Expensive Cigarettes; Kings Road, Victoria & Albert Museum, The 'Real' China Town, Meeting the Govenor of Kensington, Abuse for Ray Gun as President, Props for Ray Gun as President, Fish-n-Chips are Greasy, My First (and Last) Really Good Drag Show in the West End; Did I say the West End Rocks?; Dire Straits, English Chicks with Accents, American Chicks with Too Much Hair & Nails, First Run of La Miserables, Cinema That Isn't Poisoned by Hollywood, Walking the Streets at Midnight, Snake Bites (Tennyson's Extra + ?), Debating American Politics till You're Blue In The Face With Germans on Holiday, Marching To Protest Something, Reggae-Only Music Stores That Go On And On, Jack The Ripper, Figuring Out How Much 6 Pence Actually Is.


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Soccer is best seen as highlights. I will admit I find the highlights entertaining, it is just all the boring as hell shit that surrounds those highlights that suck.