July 2025
As of 2025, England is still not a civilized EU country, so the journey from Gare du Nord in Paris begins long before actually boarding the train
Taking the Eurostar was a small dream of mine. Tickets cost a gazillion euros (just kidding, I waited for a discount). You need to be at the station an hour before departure and there's check-in
You can't bring meat or the world's most delicious French cheese into this backward country (nobody checks), and you need to stand in line for border control. The passage is complicated by France's IT sector, whose booths try their best but can't see your passport. 30 minutes of suffering, and you're in a crowded lobby: soon you can board the train
Despite all this, the train itself is great
Well, if you don't consider that a couple days after my departure, a similar train got stuck for like 10 hours without toilets
The first thing I saw in London - was London, which is different from everywhere I'd been before
Immediate life
And 5 minutes later - boats by the canal and silence. People actually live in the boats, because it's cheaper
Regular residential area
What catches your eye - how London talks to its residents. Where else do they hassle you? (oh yeah, starting to forget)
London Bus (aka doubledecker)
Where else is anyone even planning to climb over fences that they need to cover them with some shit?
Button
Angel area (not to be confused with Prague's Anděl)
English begins - don't litter
Turned out I lived by the overground (didn't know half the lines have their own name)
Hipster and gentrified neighborhood
Closer to the center
Street sign
During the day you start getting unused to not being understood somewhere (not pointing fingers specifically at Prague of my early years)
But they pour pints here (and beer's not great)
Place is called Wetherspoons, cheap food in beautiful places
Taste-wise - worked for me, "delish" (that's in English)
Fun to end up in the center in the evening and see finance bros going in packs to drink
Former glory
Went onto private property, nobody hassled us
Around 10 PM, it became clear that life in London is good at least because it gets dark very late here. Comfy
Evening courtyards. Walking is generally fine, but after Paris the distances are insane
Afro-Caribbean and Polish food. Another local feature - "off licence", something to do with alcohol sales
Houses for a fuckton
Holy texts in the library
The library, by the way, is free, with all its infrastructure. In such details you realize that native Prague is still about 15 years from civilization
Drinking water everywhere, but flows slowly. 20 years to civilization
Almost all neighborhoods seemed rich
Though someone still steals kids' milk
Very rich area
Going to the Tower
Turned out Tower of London - isn't a tower, it's a fortress. Expensive, tons of people
The City. Photo also shows dozens of finance bros glued to their phones. In a few minutes they'll gather in packs of 100 bros and drink 6 pints in an evening, mate
One pickled onion for a pound (well okay, but funny), beer decent. Finding food in a pub in the evening - difficult
At an Indian (Bengali) restaurant - cheap and fucking delicious
Metro overcrowded, new lines - nope.
Transport, of course, a bit ass-backwards. Different prices for bus and metro tickets
Bus and schedule - two things that aren't acquainted with each other
Life hack - small items can be left at the library, it's right by the station
Also visited Greenwich (joke, it's Grenich)
Just to be at the 0 meridian
And locals use it just as a park to hang out
And there's a good maritime museum
All museums are free
Uber boat
Conclusion about London for today: expensive, fucking great, big distances, everyone understands you, delicious. You return to Paris like to a quiet haven.
The main feature of the city that I remember really strongly (locals, confirm?): lots of foreigners, and in the evening they always walk with wired (why?) headphones and talk loudly on the phone with home. Literally, dozens of examples in a couple days.