The Diverse Lifestyle Of London - Essay Example

The Diverse Lifestyle Of London I had read once long time ago, “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford” – Samuel Johnson (Quotes, 2010). I have heard a lot about the different cultures and the diverse lifestyle of London and was very keen on going down to see the place. My aunt lives in London and we were being invited to their place for the first time on the special occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary. It was time for our spring vacations and it was now that our family could go on with my brother to check put his University and to get to know his campus a little better. We needed to be there to check for the accommodation so that parents could decide which one they needed to choose. We eagerly waited for our vacations and couldn’t wait to get to London. This was my first visit to Europe and I was overwhelmed to be there and learn the new culture of the place. The plan was to leave the night we closed for vacations so we that we get a nice long stay in London and to spend time with my Aunt and Uncle on their special day. We were all packed and ready to leave to the airport. All of us very excited and me overwhelmed and overjoyed to be visiting a new country and learning a lot about newer cultures and people. I have always had an inborn urge and motivation to learn a lot about different cultures and people from around the world. People tend to be surprised by the knowledge and in depth information that I have about the Greek history and the Indian history. As a child when others preferred to go out and play my interest lay in reading a lot about the history and culture of the different countries. Once the plans to meet my aunt and uncle for their 25th wedding anniversary I just couldn’t wait to travel. As we boarded the plane and as I sat there on the flight to London, I was shocked how much was there to see and explore in London. I knew the flight was around eight hours and I just couldn’t wait to get to London. I was so excited that I had completed my homework on the city and was now ready with a complete and detailed it nary for our stay in UK. I somehow managed to get some sleep on the flight as I wanted to be fresh to explore the new city. As we landed in London and completed the immigration formalities and got a cab to get to my cousins place in central London, the excitement was just building up to a greater extent. As I sat there in the cab and travelled on the way into the city, I couldn’t help smile at how beautiful the place was. Fresh, green and very welcoming, these were the only terms that came to my mind as I saw the place and travelled into the city. We took loads of pictures of the landscape and the ever – lasting beauty. It was a long travel from the airport to my cousins at Victoria. We got to ours cousins and the celebrations were for the next day. After meeting our cousins, aunt and uncle, we were then taken to the hotel where we had been checked in. Indeed a beautiful place to be staying at. I was over excited about visiting London and to look around the places. I just couldn’t wait. My mum and dad were trying hard to explain to me that it would not be too good for us to leave immediately as it would not be the right etiquette. I did not realise and went on to fight with my parents and even be really rude and say that I was not interested in the weding anniversary of my aunt and uncle. This conversation was overheard by my aunt, a very sweet and kind hearted lady, who was in hock and could not believe that I was saying something like this. We started a tour the same day and managed to see some exciting places like the London Bridge, Madam Tussads, The London Eye, several different museums in London, Big Ben, and Hampstead Heath on the first day. With this, we thought we had covered to whole of London and were wondering what we would do for the rest of the week. To our surprise, there was so much more to see in London and what we had seen was just a small part of the city. The next day went by with the celebrations and we met our distant relatives after years, and a few I was meeting for the first time in life. Little did I realise that my aunt had been very hurt and was unable to enjoy the party and although she was there she had a smile fixed to her face which was very clearly not one that seemed happy. Unknowingly, I had ruined the best day of my aunt’s life and had hurt here quite a bit. Despite this, she came to me later that day and explained that there was much more to see in the city and the best way to reduce the travel and the unnecessary time was to use the Big Bus. The next day went by taking a complete tour of the Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Kensington Palace and also the river cruise on River Thames. The Big Bus was a lot of fun and as we sat there on the upper deck of the bus, this was a wonderful bonding time for our family. We saw beautiful places like the Westminister Abbey, St. Pauls Cathedral, the traditional English pub in Trafalgar Square, Mansion House, Oxford Street and many more places like China town and the Hard Rock Cafes. We realised how much we had missed out in the areas that we had already visited and there was so much more to see. The seven days in London went by so fast that we did not even realise how much was there to see. It was now that I remembered the saying, “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford”. When I shared this with my family, we simply realised how much was there in the city and how it was built to meet the needs of all the different strata of society. I never actually believed that the saying, however even after seven days of seeing the city and after seeing the vast variety and range of things to do in the city, we just couldn’t believe that it was time to leave. In my urge to see the entire city and wit the youthful behaviour of impatience and aggression, I had not realised how much I hurt my aunt. But she on the other hand, was willing to let it go and was helping me see the city better. It was now that I realised that there is definitely a lot that has gone behind the scenes when experts, and well known people leave behind sayings. I now tend to laugh at myself for not believing that there was so much to do in London and those seven days were way too less a time to spend in the city. I now read a lot more about the city and am in the process of learning about the history and am working towards learning about the universities. As a dream I am at completing a course from a University in London and am now working towards pursuing the same. References Quotes. (2010). Quotes. Retrieved May 18, 2010, from http://www.studyenglishtoday.net/quotes.html Read More