Day 140: 20 weeks later...

Time flies. Today is exactly 20 weeks of London: 3360 hours, 201.600 minutes and 12.096.000 seconds. Now it really seems that I left Rome quite time ago. And I hardly realised it. Last time I wrote a post for this blog it was the end of January and now I've been thrown to the beginning of April. Lots of adventures, experiences, happy moments and even fearful instants.

February misadventure. Someone tried to mug me with a gun during one of my night walking around London. And he didn't except that I could react as I did, thanks to my Krav Maga skills learned in Italy. I sent him to the hospital: by now he should have learned that lesson.  All's well that ends well!

Second job. As I don't believe in God, I don't believe in coincidences, but sometimes opportunities are hidden where you least expect them. Thanks to English lessons through Meetup website, I got in touch with several people and I took the chance to start writing articles for a budding commercial website. Extra money is a good reason, brave new projects have always attracted me and last but not least in this way I won't lose my Italian writing skills. That's the way.

Rome break. At the end of February I went to Italy for a few days. It was great to see again my family and all my friends, but my impression was really negative. After more than three months away, Rome wasn't changed at all, in fact it was even worse. Same life, same shops, same people, same complaints: it was a distressing view. I was truly happy to leave again: that broad mood can drag everyone down and I was lucky to have the possibility to change. 

Cold spring. March went away very fast among long nights of work, great nights of fun and a really cold weather. It was sunny most of the days, but I didn't except this freezing cold in late March, so even during spring. Anyway, the weather is not a problem: after the first cocktail it's already gone! 

April is gonna be a tough month (and I even need to find a new room!)... 

Day 10: Room... Coffee... Job!

It's a lot of time I don't write here. I had plenty of things to do and time is very short. In these days, I visited at least ten different rooms, I applied for some jobs, I dropped plenty of my CVs in the streets and more other things. Very tiring days passed in a kind of fast motion: I usually run from a place to another one, so I have just a little spare time and I prefer to spend it with the friends I met in hostel and have a beer with them every evening.

I visited many kinds of rooms and I met many strange people. Two of them were truly dirty: the space outside the door was full of garbage and inside the situation was ever worst. Others were family house, so I would have my single room, but I had to share the house with a family with children: I felt uncomfortable since I got inside. Finally, in other cases, landlords wanted particular kind of tenant, like a vegetarian one or an early night sleeper. Mankind can be really surprising. Anyway, maybe I found a room that I really like and I even went out to have a beer with the current tenants. Next week I'll be able to say more on that. 

These days were almost sunny. Wednesday was a strong windy day and Thursday evening there was a heavy shower until the next morning. Anyway, it is very pleasant to be outside and walk: cold isn't yet so strong. 

I started drinking coffee even here. In London, there is a very famous chain called Caffe' Nero that serves one of the best espresso I've ever had abroad. It's a little expensive (1,45£, about 1,80€) but it's worth it. And this company has also a loyalty card: after nine paid coffees you get one for free! I tasted even some other espresso at Starbucks, Costa and Coffee Republic but Caffe' Nero is really the best one. 

Now I have to go... see you soon in the next post. :)

Day 4: Lovely Camden

Camden, lovely Camden. Today I took a long walk from my hostel to Camden Town, around 40 minutes. I really love enjoy all places by feeling them on my skin. Every street, every corner has something different and it's very amazing to experience it. And Camden is one of my favourite place in London: a lot of curios shops, strange bunch of people, new kind of food and further more.  I went there for lunch and it was for me a great surprise. I tasted plenty of different food: Turkish wrap, Argentinian sausage, British pork, chips without fish, Chinese noodles and Brazilian chorizo. Just a place to eat after another, so the choice was pretty easy. Then, I took another long walk until Piccadilly Circus, trying to digest everything.

What about rooms? While walking on Oxford Street, I received an email to allow me to visit a room close to Shepherd's Bush Station. So, I ran by bus to get there in time, but it wasn't easy to find the place. Anyway, along the way, I met some other guys that were there for these same reason. It was a nice room, but too expensive, so I decided to extend my stay at the hostel and keep looking for it. I've already arranged some visits for tomorrow, hoping to find a nice place to stay. Finding a room is more difficult than I could think before departing. 

Beer time. After all walking day, I got hostel by bus. In these days, I'm choosing buses instead of subways as much as possible. Moving by bus is in fact the best way to enjoy the trip and look all around the city. So, after this tiring day, I really deserved a beer. And I enjoyed it. 

Day 3: Small single or large double room?

Finding a room abroad it's always a problem. Or can be an opportunity to discover new styles of life. Living in London offers a new everyday discovery. Anyway, to really enjoy the city (and to save money of public transportation) is important to stay within the zones 2 or 3. That's the problem. Room rents are pretty high, so the main question is: should I prefer a small single or a large shared double room for the same price?

Today I visited few of them both. Some small single rooms were very small like box rooms with a bed put in a closet large less the two meters, while some others missed basic stuff washing machine or internet connection. The large double rooms that I visited where spacious and comfortable with all modern cons, but I was not sure about sharing with someone else. Prices and zones are almost the same, so it's just a question of way of life. I'm still doubtful and maybe tomorrow I'll take a decision by visiting some other rooms.

Breakfast in hostel is always a great experience. Even though the quality is sometimes poor, the opportunity of talking with people from every part of the world is unbelievable. Today I met a Finnish girl and an Aussie woman. It's always nice to have a different point of view about the city, about what was going on in the world and even about own lives. In particular, the woman told me that I should act and live differently, not just following common ways of live and work, but trying to create my own one. And she gave me some good ideas. That's one of the reasons why I prefer to stay in hostel than in hotel.