Dienstag, 30. September 2014

REFLECTIONS of my journey. | Collecting moments.





One month London is over now. London is a fantastic city and I LOVE it. Before I came to London this September, I have been there one time and I was fascinated by the impressions I could make for the 5 days. Several months later, I decided that I wanted to spend a time out of my hometown and at the same time improve my English for my studies. It wasn’t a very difficult decision for me to choose the city - London. After doing some research, organizing and booking, it was official: London, here I come. Since I already reported about my individual experiences during my journey in my last posts, this should be a general reflection of my weeks.  


London definitely is a crazy, diverse and crowded city. It has such a strong identity whilst having millions of different identities. You can find a mix of people with different backgrounds. I was happy to meet a lot of new people through my school (EF- International Language Centre). The thought of knowing that every day will be different with new people and new experiences was just great. London surprises you every day. This is the one side of the city – if you want to experience and party 24/7 everything is on your doorstep. If you prefer a more peaceful lifestyle, like going to the theatre, exhibitions or just enjoying walks on one of London’s many beautiful parks then it’s easy to achieve as well. It’s so nice to just walk around and discover new things about different areas. Once you know your way around the feeling of getting asked for direction and actually knowing the answer is absolutely cool. I could really feel how comfortable and more confident I got during my time there.



Let’s talk about food for a moment. Whatever type of food you want, you’ll find it! Seriously, it’s hard resisting all the good food everywhere. For example: markets. So many markets. I’m glad I could visit a lot of them. There’s always something going on. The different stalls offer something for everyone: food, clothes, art. Must see- must  be!  You have so many options in London and  I think you could find a new thing to do every day for the rest of your life.


What’s so fantastic about London is that those places and historical buildings are around you every day. It can make your walk to work or college so fascinating. ( I mean, I’m easy to impress, but the bus drive over Waterloo bridge with this view of Big Ben to the right and London Bridge to the left was just lovely!!) 


All in all, London has been such a great experience for me. This month literally flew by. A day after my arrival in my hometown, I wanted to go back. I’m sure London is not for everyone, but you owe it to yourself to find out. I’m so happy that I took this opportunity. Living in the capital city of the UK is something that a lot of people aspire to do and after this month it’s clearly on my mind. Even if living in another country might be a little bit far-reaching for now but I’m absolutely playing with the thought of going back very soon. And I’m sure this won’t be a decision I’ll regret.  

Samstag, 27. September 2014

SOUTHBANK and other stories. | Collecting moments.


22th September
It has been my last week here in London, so I wanted to make the most of it. It included: visiting Southbank about 3 times (because it's really cool there and there's a lot to see), running some last errands, shopping at Oxford street and two exciting nights in a club at the Thames.


London Eye.
Shopping day. LIBERTY.
lunch @wagamama 
Piccadilly Circus.
 

  24th September

one of the three rainy days.
lovely café Goswell Road Coffee


25th September : Another day at beautiful Southbank. We just strolled and decided to go for lunch @giraffe restaurant. Then we walked to the London Eye and had a coffee before heading back to school for our courses.

Southbank II
FROZEN YOGURT VAN <3
<3



back to Southbank after school.
Big Ben by night.



MC Donalds with this georgeos view and lovely diner company. perfect!!!
  

All good things come to an end.

Unfortunately, it's time to say goodbye. My last day is almost over and I just received my certificate for my business course. My friend asked me, if I'm happy to come home...honestly...of course I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends, but I also know, that I will miss this city not later than Monday. I got used to the British culture, people and the lifestyle. It's difficult to describe, but I feel so comfortable here. The city with it's wonderful places is one of the things I'm going to miss. I will also miss the people I've met here. I'm so undescribably happy that I got to know a special person. She's from Swizerland and we spent a lot of time together. We always thought of new things to do and cool places to go. I'm sure, without her, my time here would have been just half as lovely and funny. She is such a honest person and a really good friend, I could count on her all the time! Now, it's time to go and get ready for one last night in crazy London. :)







Sonntag, 14. September 2014

BRIGHTON. New love. | Collecting moments.


B R I G H T O N




14th September
Definitely high on my "To-do list" was visiting the lovely town in the south coast of Great Britain. BRIGHTON. I've heard so much about it, and my all time favorite YouTuber lives there. Her blog and videos made me curious and I wanted to see how beautiful and cool the Brighton lifestyle really is. I couldn't wait to finally see it all by myself. I already knew where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see. What's absolutely convenient about Brighton is, that you can explore it all by foot.


After a 5 minute walk from the train station, I arrived at "The Lanes". It's a collection of narrow lanes, famous for their small shops, cafés and alleyways. I immediately spotted one of these charming "homeware-stationery-shops", thatI really LOVE. I could spend days in there, and never get bored. Obviously, I couldn't leave without buying something. :) Stupid me thought this was the cutest shop ever, walked 5 steps further and saw a similar shop. Fact: these lanes are full of those unique little shops. My paradise. It was so nice. In every shop I thought "why can't I buy all of this glasses,mugs,boxes and pillows?" (well, maybe because I already have 10kg bagagge overweight.....:O)


While walking through the lanes I also found a food market (surprise surprise), it was the "Brighton and Hove food and drink festival". A lot of offers from different shops and restaurants in Brighton. I tried a strawberry lemonade from the "Bluebird Tea and Co." Very delicious and refreshing.

TRUE WORDS ;)
Afterwards, I made my way to the famous Brighton Pier. You could already see the ferris wheel and the sea through the little streets. It was amazing to see this beautiful city on the seaside together with the ferris wheel and the little amusement park at the end. The sun was coming through so it was warm all afternoon!

too many seagulls :o
The next station was the "Churchill Square Shopping Centre". Because of the cuteness overload at the beginning of the journey (at the Lanes) and the feeling that I, for sure haven't explored all of the little alleyways I HAD to go back. One of the mission was the "Marwood Café", one of the 1000 brilliant and cozy cafés. Unfortunately it was full so we ended up at the "Café Coho" next to the Marwood Café. Also a good choice. The iced coffee and the pie were both very tasty. Felt like explorer on the way back to the train station because again, there were so many antique shops and cafés. It's just crazy.


choccy woccydoodah - best hot chocolate!!!
  
angel food bakery
       


Café Coho

You already know how much I love London. I think it's obvious after my last posts ;). and Brighton....you definitely have to experience it and spend a day there to really feel how vibrant and crative it is. I'm really amazed and I can imagine spending more time there than just a day. I love little shopping streets and lanes with shops other than H&M or Topshop that you can find on every corner on Oxford Street. I wish I could go to every café and restaurant because each has it's own style and flair. Of course the sea and the Brighton Pier are the icing on the cake. ;)

Dienstag, 9. September 2014

CAMDEN TOWN. | Collecting moments.


8th September

Another lovely day spent, and another wonderful area explored here in London. First, we've had a delicious lunch at the restaurant "LEON". They cook healthy fast food and offer a wide range of vegetarian,vegan, gluten free and wheat free dishes. We tried the Thai Green Chicken Curry, and it was so good. Afterwards, we walked across Millenium Bridge towards London Bridge. As we saw the Green Market on our way, Audrey decided to show me Camden Town with the Camden Market. I was totally up for it and the rest of our afternoon was great. I really liked the flair and all of the little shops and markets at Camden Market. Of course, I took a lot of pictures:)










how cool is this ice-cream van?


a lot of treats from all around the world.

we stopped at so many stalls and tried the samples, they offered :)
 
we enjoyed our coffee with this view!!!






yep, this is a restaurant ;)




It definitely wasn't the last time I visited Camden Market :)