Guest post: Three favourite things about London

Today one of my dearest friends, Luna, will tell you about her stay in London and why she loves this city so much. Aaah, reading it made me want to go back! Crazy, horrible, fantabulous big city... *dream*

Hello dear all, my name is, well, let's say for today, my name is Luna, and I have the honour to write a post for the blog of my lovely friend Yaga.

I'm on vacation in London at the moment, with my bf, but unfortunately we have to go back home tomorrow. The time went by way too fast. Yaga and I have in common that we both like this place very much. I might feel even a bit more connected to it, as I've lived in GB for 10 months, not in the London area though, but in Wales. However, I did 3 short trips (1 to 5 days) to London in those days. I've seen many of the tourist places, but also a few areas where you find mainly 'real Londoners' instead of holiday makers. Having lived for a while in Great Britain is the reason why I easily feel 'at home' in London, athough there was a time span of 2 years since my last visit.

It is always very exciting for me to be in this huge and crowded city. I left the small villlage where I was brought up years ago, traveled to and lived in several cities since then, but London is not similar to any other place that I've seen before....so far :) In order to illustrate you this statement, I would like to present you my "3 things I <3 most about London":

1. The Tube: I think it's fantastic that London Tube exists!! People might not understand this enthusiasm over public transport, but it has a proper reason: I grew up in a village where 2 buses in the morning and 1 bus in the afernoon drove to the next bigger city, and as soon as you were 18, it was essential to have a driver's licence and have regular access to a car, cause there was NOTHING TO DO in the village.
Since I left this desert of public transport, I was always lucky enough to have a car or live in a place with good public transport service, and London's Tube system supports an ideal living situation to me, being able to live completely without a car and being able to move around town center from place A to place B in a reasonably short time. Huge disadvantage though: the constant service interruptions on the weekends (WTH??) and the fact that they stop running between 12 and 1.

2. Camden and Vintage: I mention both things under one bulletpoint, as they go together hand in hand. I love vintage clothing, especially for dancing. My bf and I started dancing Lindy Hop (a type of Swing dancing) 1,5 years ago, and Lindy Hop is even more fun when you have the right clothes to dress up for a dance evening with Jazz and Swing music from the 20s to the 50s :) the best place I discovered so far to find original vintage stuff is Camden town. It was very hard for me not to spend all my money in second hand stores and at vintage clothing stalls :) my favourite for new clothes is a shop called 'Collectif'. As they are located in London (3 stores!!), one of my first shopping trips ended in their store at Covent Garden. Of course the second - and biggest - one can be found in Camden, and a third one is located in Whitechapel. One more tip: 'Beyond Retro' near Oxford Circus (Great Malborough Street)! Amazing stuff and very cheap, but consider the fact that you might have to repair the things you buy with the help of Mr. Needle and Miss Thread.

3. Foooood: Whatever type of food you wanna order, London will serve it!! Just as the existence of the Tube, it's no real surprise that all types of international cuisine exists. I mean, 11 Million people live there, from all kinds of nations, and they can't be bothered eating only Fish and Chips and Steak with Ale Pie all day :)
But here comes the little-village-girl-agrument again: The city that was closest to my home had as the most exotic place to eat....several chinese restaurants, for years. The first Sushi restauran established itself only 1,5 years ago. I don't want to start counting how many very great Sushi places I've tried only within the last few days in London....don't want to imagine how many different restaurants I could try if I would live here for a while longer!!!!
It Might not be necessary to mention the following any more, but I LOVE (!!!) Sushi!

I could continue, but I guess then the post will get out of hand :) let me give you a list of the things my bf and I did in the past few days, to give you a few ideas for your next/first trip to London:

- we went to several Sushi places, Soho has the best!!
- we went Lindy Hop dancing near Holborn station (Wild Court)
- we had Fish&Chips (I know, I mocked the food a bit above, but I actually like it very much) near Victoria Station (pub was called the Victorian, expensive compared to Withersoppn pubs, but very nice)

- if you are a shopaholic like me: There are the vintage stores I mentioned above, plus my favourites (which you can all find at Oxford Street): Primark, New Look, Next


- we went to the cinemas to see Harry Potter (its fun watching a movie where pictures of the city are shown in which you are currently living in^^)
- we went to the theatre and saw Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing'

I hope you enjoyed reading. Have a nice day!! xxx

Thank you so much for writing this fun London-guide for us! I really feel like I should go back soon and try all the things I'm still missing from your list! :o)