Every Australian has some pre-conceived notions about what it would be like to visit the so called ‘mother-land’. Given the violent history the British inflicted on Australia (and these facts constantly berating Australian children at school and in the media) there are definitely mixed emotions when going to England at all.
When I was on the plane, I was plagued with what I would caption my first instagram post as-should it be “Finally in the motherland” or “Guess this is the land of the invaders”. Thankfully common sense won out and I didn’t choose either.
Regardless of what feelings I may or may not have had entering the country, I had hopes that the “Big Smoke” would have some really special gems to find, similar to how I expected not to like the US, and now can’t stop talking about it.
To my absolute surprise-I was totally underwhelmed.
I looked to my travel buddy and was like “Seriously, did they just fly us around for 20hrs around Australia and dump us in Melbourne?”.
Okay so it wasn’t exactly like Melbourne. A few more old crumbly buildings but it was pretty damn close!
The Lack of Culture
When I travel to large, big cities I often hold hope that there is a carry through of the traditional cultures that once existed in the country all those years ago.
I guess that in a city such as London which is so go-getter that it has to adapt, it feels very plain and not culture rich.
One night I do have to concede that I went to a traditional English Pub and the vibe and atmosphere in the room was exactly what I had envisaged.
Aside from this, you really had to look very hard to find any remnants of traditional English culture. Disappointing.
The Price
Okay so I just want to say that in London I spent $40AUD on a pie and chips. Like wot.
As an avid bargain hunter and someone who will always attempt to find the best deal possible before buying anything, I found this absolutely outrageous (thank god I’m not going to Switzerland right now, right?!).
Our hostel, the attractions, food-absolutely everything was expensive af and it actually made my soul hurt. Can’t I have a London taste on a Bali budget?
The Public Transport
Urgh so this one was probably my biggest gripe.
Our public transport system in Australia is pretty bad, however for somewhere like London (one of the biggest cities in the world) I was expecting some significantly efficient public transportation systems.
Well, no.
It took us 2 and a half hours to get from Heathrow Airport to the centre of London and we only had to change trains once. I think total distance was about 40-50km’s.
MIND BOGGLING.
Plus if you want to go anywhere on the metro, you have to change trains usually.
And also, EXPENSIVE.
The Lack of Interaciveness
So I am one of those people who originally in my life swore that they would never go to America because it was too mainstream and boring-teenage hipster Kathryn emerging.
However, when i went to America I found out that teenage hipster Kathryn was very much wrong and that it was this incredibly interactive place full of novelties. I absolutely loved it.
So when my cheapest flight was going in and out of London, you can imagine I wasn’t overly thrilled in the first place. But, I thought to myself-you know what, you thought the same thing about America, surely this will be the same thing all over again.
BUH-BOWWW (That’s the game show noise for ‘no’ in case you were wondering).
There was so little culture flowing through the city that it felt very superficial and kind of like ‘look at this’ then ‘look at this’. There was no experience or induction of emotions from any sights or locations at all. I literally felt as though I was in a giant museum. BORING.
I do have to say though, if you’re a total mondarchist, don’t let me put you off-there are several people i know who would list London as one of their favourite cities in the world! Personally, I prefer the hustle and bustle of Asia, Africa and Central/South America.
