Excerpt from the Black Book

While I've been here, I've been doing quite a bit of writing about London and travelling here. Mostly small observations, tips and places to see and visit here, sometimes as a reminder, but also something to pass on to if I know that someone will be visiting London. There's a lot that I wished that I knew about the city. Because it's an English speaking country, the culture shock has been very low. So, things that I've learned, and observations and thoughts that I've had along the way. Paraphrased and added to a little bit:

"It's worth it to visit locations other than the postcard scenes, ie, off the beaten path of the tourists. Museums and historical sites are well worth visiting, some more than once, but each one has a commom denominator - a large mass of other tourists, with cameras, loud children and no desire to really see anything else. This takes away from the various sites, in my opinion. Not all tourists are like this, but there's a good amount of them.
Some of the more interesting and intreging places are the ethnically concentrated areas around this city. South Hall and Brick Lane are two of these places, where there is a strong population of Sheiks from India and Muslims from Pakistan, respectively. These streets/neighborhoods are rich in culture that at first seems contrary to the traditional 'English' view from everyone. These places contain outstanding resturaunts, among other things. They usually have a very interesting history, with the current group being the lastest in a string of other ethnic groups that have inhabited the area.
It's facinating to see street signs in Hundi or Farci, and to hear those words in the air.
How interesting it is to be the odd one out. "
Last Entry, 14-3-05.