Days 5-7 (11 June-13 June): The most expensive city on earth
I arrived in London Friday evening where I stayed with one of my best friends from high school, Fabian. He lives in South Kensington and works in the City (London's version of Wall Street.) My roommate from San Diego, Jaime, also came into town for the weekend. His biotech company in San Diego was bought by a British one that moved the entire staff to Bedford, England which is over an hour on the train from London where he's been living for the past 3 weeks.
In essence, we got the Fabian view of London (outside of the 18 odd hours he spends a day in his office,) since this was his first weekend off work in 10 weeks. Fabian's London involves a lot of partying in Las Vegas like clubs only they are much more international, more exclusive, and more expensive (with 40 USD cover charges and drinks with unheard of prices too.) One of the most surprising things about going out in London was that I didn't meet a single Brit, everyone seemed to be Russian, from a former Soviet State, Scandinavian, Italian, or German. We went to places called Pangea and Tantra in addition to a party at one of his friends flats.
We also spent a good bit of time seeing some other sights and enjoying good weather for London (only partly cloudy and a balmy 65 degree Fahrenheit.) On Saturday, we met up with another American expat who works in the City and played Frisbee in Kensington Gardens (near one of the Royal Palaces,) walked up millionaires' Mile, and then topped off the afternoon at a Beer Garden with a pitcher of Pimms (a British summer drink that has cucumbers floating in it among other things, making it almost like Gazpacho meets Lemonade, which is surprisingly refreshing.) On Sunday we explored Compton Town which is the center of British counter culture and a little further outside of the city. Both days we ran into 'birds' we'd met the night before on the Tube which makes me think that despite its size London's rather small.
Economic observations from the weekend:
1) Every city has its late night food. In London nights out end when the sun is rising at kebob places (rather than Pizza places like in NY, Boston, or DC or Burrito places like in California.)
2) Burritos can't be exported for some reason and Indians can't pass themselves off as Mexicans. In Compton town, we found a 'Burrito Stand' staffed by Indians pretending they spoke Spanish (but they did worse than me) and serving 'Mexican Wraps' (e.g. Burritos.) We tried it out of curiosity and ended up with some stuff that tasted like Chinese food stuffed in a tortilla. Can anyone explain why Mexican Food doesn't travel well? It shouldn't be that hard with a good recipe and the right ingredients.
3) Starbucks appeals to everyone. In the center of what might be the counter culture world, we saw a girl dressed in Goth Clothing, drinking a Latte from Starbucks. Its surprising how over-priced coffee from the place is so successful with all elements of society, all over the world.
4) De-criminalized and legal drugs don't seem to have much of a negative impact on society in London. In Compton Town, 'Magic Mushrooms' were for sale everywhere and people openly smoke marijuana with no threat of being arrested, yet the place isn't full of junkies (although it is a bit strange.)
In essence, we got the Fabian view of London (outside of the 18 odd hours he spends a day in his office,) since this was his first weekend off work in 10 weeks. Fabian's London involves a lot of partying in Las Vegas like clubs only they are much more international, more exclusive, and more expensive (with 40 USD cover charges and drinks with unheard of prices too.) One of the most surprising things about going out in London was that I didn't meet a single Brit, everyone seemed to be Russian, from a former Soviet State, Scandinavian, Italian, or German. We went to places called Pangea and Tantra in addition to a party at one of his friends flats.
We also spent a good bit of time seeing some other sights and enjoying good weather for London (only partly cloudy and a balmy 65 degree Fahrenheit.) On Saturday, we met up with another American expat who works in the City and played Frisbee in Kensington Gardens (near one of the Royal Palaces,) walked up millionaires' Mile, and then topped off the afternoon at a Beer Garden with a pitcher of Pimms (a British summer drink that has cucumbers floating in it among other things, making it almost like Gazpacho meets Lemonade, which is surprisingly refreshing.) On Sunday we explored Compton Town which is the center of British counter culture and a little further outside of the city. Both days we ran into 'birds' we'd met the night before on the Tube which makes me think that despite its size London's rather small.
Economic observations from the weekend:
1) Every city has its late night food. In London nights out end when the sun is rising at kebob places (rather than Pizza places like in NY, Boston, or DC or Burrito places like in California.)
2) Burritos can't be exported for some reason and Indians can't pass themselves off as Mexicans. In Compton town, we found a 'Burrito Stand' staffed by Indians pretending they spoke Spanish (but they did worse than me) and serving 'Mexican Wraps' (e.g. Burritos.) We tried it out of curiosity and ended up with some stuff that tasted like Chinese food stuffed in a tortilla. Can anyone explain why Mexican Food doesn't travel well? It shouldn't be that hard with a good recipe and the right ingredients.
3) Starbucks appeals to everyone. In the center of what might be the counter culture world, we saw a girl dressed in Goth Clothing, drinking a Latte from Starbucks. Its surprising how over-priced coffee from the place is so successful with all elements of society, all over the world.
4) De-criminalized and legal drugs don't seem to have much of a negative impact on society in London. In Compton Town, 'Magic Mushrooms' were for sale everywhere and people openly smoke marijuana with no threat of being arrested, yet the place isn't full of junkies (although it is a bit strange.)
posted by Traveling Brian at 6:48 AM
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