The Move From Pimlico to Kilburn, and Various Other Adventures

Its been a whirlwind first few days, but I’ve moved in to my flat, located northwest of central London in a nice neighborhood called Kilburn. It’s relatively quiet, but I don’t mind; I can actually sleep when I want to.


My first night here, I enjoyed a relatively cheap dinner of pizza and a beer (how deliciously American and tacky!) at the pub underneath my hostel. I tried to exchange some of my coins into notes, but the smallest note denotion that the pound exists in is 5, so I must’ve looked pretty foolish to the woman at the bar when I asked her to change my 1 pound coins into 1 pound notes. Anyway, while I was there, a nice man from outside the city sat with me and told me some different places to go and visit. Afterwards, I walked around Pimlico and across the Vauxhall Bridge into Vauxhall. I didn’t know it at the time, but it turns out that Vauxhall is one of London’s gay districts. How did I realize this? Rainbow flags, drag queens, and throes of only men. While speaking with a guy who was passing out flyers for a club, another man came up and kissed him right there in front of me. That was certainly a giveaway, too. Though I didn’t find myself going into any of the bars or clubs there, I did walk right by the headquarters of SIS (Secret Intelligence Service, better known as MI6—like from the Bond movies, I thought, but it is an actual organization!), also located in Vauxhall. The neighborhood itself was a wonderful blend of modern clubs and establishments mixed with older, more regal buildings. Upon my return to Pimlico, I quickly fell asleep to the sounds of a snoring Frenchman.


When I woke up, it was another beautiful day outside. I explored Pimlico some more, walking through the small streets and gardens. My hostel was right next to Churchill Gardens, a modern housing estate, named after the late prime minister. Good ol’ Winston, as it turns out, lived in Pimlico, hence the estate bearing his name. Laurence Olivier, too, lived in Pimlico. Walking down the streets that these two famous men use to frequent felt pretty slick. Later, I ventured around on the tube again, getting off at Westminster. Foolish me didn’t realize that this was THE Westminster. As in, Wesminster Abbey. So, I was walking up the stairs from the tube and all of a sudden BAM. There’s Big Ben! Hordes of people were all around. I felt so silly the entire time because I had this huge goofball smile plastered on my face. I kept thinking, “Wow—I’m actually in London. Like, FOR REAL.”


After my jaunt through Westminster, I went on to Waterloo. I attempted to meet up with my friend Paige, but that plan failed miserably; we didn’t realize that Waterloo had both a tube stop and a train stop, so the crowds were even bigger. Plus, I had no phone. Speaking of, I love not having a phone. I’m not constantly checking my pockets for a call or a text, and it feels so liberating. Plus, I don’t wear a watch, so I’m finding myself going places when I feel like it, rather than when I need to. This traveling alone stuff is awesome and scary and wonderful and humbling and exactly what I love. So, after waiting around for a solid 20 minutes, I walked over to the Thames and explored Embankment. There were some really neat street performers, including a mime that looked like Charlie Chaplin. Over there was the London Eye and its OUTRAGEOUS LINE. As much as I want to do it, the line is just too much for me to really handle. I should probably suck it up and just do it.


When it came close to 6, I walked to the National Theatre and met my professor. He had gotten me a ticket to see their production of Hamlet. Now, I’m an English and Drama double major, so the thought of seeing Hamlet nearly made me piss myself with excitement. And, truth be told, it was wonderful. The man playing Hamlet was brilliant, the girl playing Ophelia was crazy, and the actor playing Polonius was incredible. And the sound! I’m a sucker for well-done sound in a performance, as well as in everyday life. It was the perfect introduction to British theatre.


This morning, I packed my things and made my way over to Kilburn. I hopped on the bus to the tube, took that to Paddington, met up with a girl I knew from my class, and got on another bus to the stop nearest to my flat. Once again, I found myself lost. A lovely French fellow pointed us in the right direction. I arrived, ecstatic and amazed that I had finally gotten to my temporary home. Slowly, everyone else started to arrive! We rejoiced by walking to the pub right next door. Authentic British fish and chips really are much better when you are actually in Britain!


To say that I love it here would be an understatement. London is everything I imagined it would be, and more, as horribly cliché as that may sound. The people, the places, the food, the drinks, the British-ness. I don’t even care that I have class tomorrow!




And I still have over 3 ½ weeks left!!! ☺