I am experiencing the justified pleasure of visiting London twice in a row in June and September, which I visited when I was studying design at the university, and then I could not get the opportunity and I could not get it out of my mind.
It is a pleasure for me to tell you about this pleasure, believe me.
Hello, by the way, I am Kamil. I’m a designer, an entertainer, an inveterate bachelor, a man full of madness. I love having fun and entertaining so much that I even ran a bar, restaurant, and nightclub for a while. I lived in Istanbul for years, but now I have returned to the Aegean, to the land where I was born, to my quiet life. Do you think this stopped me as an Aries? Of course not. You will understand when you read my article ?
First of all, there are so many places to see in London; if you do not go and stay for 1 month, it makes the most sense to choose the places you will visit depending on your interests and time. You also need to plan your time well while doing this. In London, where I went to visit my close friends, we prepared a list for ourselves on a day-by-day basis. So much so that; thanks to them; they gave me an experience exactly as I wanted. My dream was to enjoy London like an Englishman living in England. And I did.
As soon as I stepped into London, we had a picnic in Wandsworth Park close to East Putney, the neighborhood where my friends live. The park seemed to do justice to June. It looked even more attractive with young and energetic people. It was my first day in London. As they say, the firsts are unforgettable… that first day was like meeting my ex-lover again.
In the following days, I started the day with exercise every morning without breaking my routine. I crowned every day with English breakfasts prepared carefully for me by my friends. We always adhered to our daily schedules that we prepared together. And we decorated every day with colorful details.
First of all, I would like to tell you about an important detail that you may want to take note of the public transport system is very important in London. The ticket card used in the public transport system is called Oyster. You can think of the Oyster card as a payment system in which money is loaded into it in advance and deducted from the balance as you use it. Obtaining this card will make your work very easy.
I visited the British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, Tate Modern, and Saatchi Gallery in Sloane Square, all of which are beautiful and offer the world’s favorite works of art. All museums are free and open to the public…There is a charge only for temporary exhibitions. In addition, with their locations, cafeterias, gardens, and gallery-museum stores, they offer an insatiable experience to the people of the city.
Speaking of my experience, let me tell you about the experiences we have had: In London, drinks were drunk on Tower Bridge, one of the most famous bridges in the world, in the cafe with a magnificent view of the Tate Modern, scones, the scone of English teas eaten with jam, were devoured. Soho was constantly visited as a holy place (we almost had a bistro table allocated to us …). Piccadilly Square and its back streets were traveled a lot. Chinatown was visited frequently. Because Chinese food is indispensable for all of us. Oh my God, how good it was. I still have the flavors in my mouth.
We visited Camden Town, which is considered to be the most touristic area of London, which is not preferred by Londoners and is frequented by tourists with a more alternative lifestyle. If I ask you who is the first name that comes to your mind when you say Camden Town; I seem to hear you say Amy Winehouse. Amy Winehouse’s favorite place The Hawley Arms was visited.
We took a cool tour of Nothing Hill, one of the districts of London with its different colored row houses, street market ‘Portobello Road Market’ established every Saturday, and second-hand shops and ended our tour in Knights of Nothing Hill, one of the original English pubs.
Before extinguishing the fire of our passion for theatre and show with the Grease Musical at The Dominion Theatre, we raised our glasses to health, happiness, and beauty at The Cross Keys and Greene King with its unique style decoration, and atmosphere like the others. These crowds in front of the pubs, especially after rush hour, are, in my opinion, the most beautiful manifestation of social life…. did we take advantage of this? Yes! On this occasion, we filtered our surroundings in the crowds overflowing from the pubs to the streets and got into warm contact with the English around us. We made jokes.
We shopped in Covent Garden, one of my favorite places with its street shows, stylish shops, souvenir shops, huge square, ate sandwiches, and sipped coffee at Petersham Nurseries Deli.
On one of my extraordinary days; we met with an old acquaintance of mine, half English, half New Zealander. We did our cycling tour along the Regents Canal that he had planned for me. I had the privilege of seeing Central Saint Martins, the dream university of my youth, which was on our route, and walking through it, inhaling its air. We rested in a cafe in Hackney, a neighborhood frequented by the elite of London with the change it has recently experienced, and ate delicious cakes. It was a delicious day.
I couldn’t think of a trip to London that didn’t involve getting together with everyone we knew. We explored the streets of Brick Lane, one of the most original neighborhoods of London, which has taken away the popularity of Camden Town in recent days. We feasted our eyes with graffiti wall art, which has been one of the methods of depicting, defining, or drawing attention to a situation since the early ages. But we had to feed our stomachs too, and we went to Brick Lane, where you can eat the most famous salted beef in the region ” We decided on “Beigel Bake” and we ate our fill.
We wandered around the coolest shops and stores in the city. Brick Lane was such a surprising neighborhood as I said; we came across the “New Artist Fair” where new artists participated. We visited the fair. We chatted with new and international artists. We had the opportunity to examine their works. Offering a combination of market, shop, cafe, and shopping experiences, ” We ended the day with “Spitalfields Market”.
Sometimes we started London’s nightlife with Soho and ended it in nightclubs. So, what if we didn’t have fun? We had fun, to the last drop.
At the point where we decided to escape from the city, we traveled by car to a wonderful coastline. It was an unforgettable experience for me. I thought that I should be the luckiest tourist in England. All along the coast, lush green countryside, traditionally built houses, villages, and a quiet life were in front of my eyes. We took a break in Eastbourne. I had the best Fish and Chips experience in Dolphin Fish Bar & Restaurant. We continued our journey along the coast.
Then I realized that we were in a place like the shooting plateau of BBC British TV series. We are in Birling Gap with a breathtaking view of the coast, high slopes, sea, and rural vegetation. We took plenty of photos to document our memories.
And we arrived at Brighton, our last stop. Brighton, located on the English Channel coast in the South East region of England, was an unforgettable coastal city for me with its huge beach, pier, shops, buildings, and stylish crowd.
Can you experience four seasons in one day? It does. If you wear thick clothes in the morning because of the cold and overcast weather, the sun may come out at noon and you may be overwhelmed by the heat. Keep a raincoat or umbrella with you while walking around in short sleeves. Because while the weather is sunny, you may be drenched because of the rain that comes down all of a sudden.
London Eye, one of the symbols of London, Buckingham Palace with a hundred years of history, the world-renowned Harrods Department Store, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Kings Road and Carnaby Street, the address of shopping spree…
London is a city where the metro was the first in the world, where traffic lights were used for the first time, where you can taste the world’s most essential culinary traditions in every corner, and where you can make your breaks enjoyable with the parks you can find in almost every neighborhood to relieve the tiredness of the day, where you can travel in two-story open-top red buses if you want to take a panoramic city tour, where art, especially theatre, is at its peak and history flows from every street!
Ohh bee… I am glad I went. How well I traveled.
Kamil Cakir
Instagram: kamilcakirstudio
