I Went to London and Hated It

This will be a rant, not a rave.

Let me tell you about the time when I traveled to the U.K. and hated every minute.

You would think that London, England would be a wonderful time for any American holiday because the differences between the U.K. and the U.S. are subtle enough to get the adventure of exploring a foreign country without all of the confusion that comes with it. Like, believing every single Berber in Morocco that what they’re spelling in the sand is, in fact, your name in Arabic.

Yes, I could read every street sign and road map that London had on display, but traveling was an utterly impossible task that weekend.

I hate the tube. I do! I hate it- Even the ever-endearing “please mind the gap” sound bite that plays whenever the doors are closing. My experience was terrible. London did not have their “shit together” the three days we stayed.

Hungry and eager for brunch at Bad Egg that morning, Raz and I made our way to the metro station… To stand 30 minutes on the platform where this man from an undisclosed location – apparently with a camera – yelled at us over the intercom to spread out, or he would cancel the next train. Which, was supposedly on its way- for 30 minutes? You’re a liar, sir, and do you find it acceptable to cancel a train because passengers want to stand uncomfortably close to one another?

Funny enough- At this point, Raz was the one getting frustrated and I was talking him down, but here I am holding a grudge four months later.

We paid for a journey, but the train we planned to take was now canceled and the other platform was closed.  So, now was an excellent time to hop on a double-decker bus.

Except, your bus maps are absolute rubbish, London.

We had no concept of what streets were near which bus stops. Admittedly this is partly our fault because we should’ve anticipated shit hitting the fan and looked up multiple routes…

Obviously, not all travel experiences will be stellar ones. And, of course, I will be returning to London some day (but, I certainly won’t rush to buy a ticket anytime soon).

OK- fine, yes, I did like *parts* of my English adventure. There were some things I really enjoyed about the city… Like,

Harrod’s

Abbey Road

The Globe Theatre

Walking through Kensington and Chelsea

So it wasn’t a total rant.

Thanks for reading 🙂