Goncalo Viega, one of my favourite bloggers, has just arrived in England for a short holiday. As you will see from his blog, he has described London as one of the most beautiful cities in the modern world. Hmm...
I normally agree with everything Goncalo writes, but although I can think of many adjectives to describe London, beautiful wouldn't be one of them. London is hectic, busy, exciting, vibrant, eclectic, noisy, rude, surprising, frustrating, exhilarating, arrogant, complacent, tolerant, intelligent and exhausting, but not beautiful in the way that you might describe Venice, Stockholm, Prague or Florence.
Apparently he will also be visiting my home town of Lewes, which I think is beautiful. I'll be interested to hear what he thinks.
Hi there! I've came back late last Monday and still haven't found a free second to blog!
ReplyDeleteWell, I will have to agree with you on the "beautiful London" issue, though I do find it beautiful in a modern sense. But yes, all those adjectives would certainly describe London much more accurately than I did.
I must say that I loved Lewes!!! Much more than I did Brighton. Both me and my wife would easily move to Lewes too! Ah, Lewes is just the ideal place to live. It's close to everything and comfortably far enough just the same. I went there by train for the U of Sussex and as soon as we reached that huge ramp that accesses the centre we just loved the place. We had dinner at Ask and it was okay. I strongly recommend their lasagna now! hehee Before dinner, I did go to this pub, just five or six houses to the left from Ask and I had a pint of Scrumpy Jack there, on the terrace of the pub. From there I was able to see a tower of the castle. I also saw this house just across the terrace and through the window I noticed piles of books. I wondered if that was your place! hehe
Brighton was okay. The Dome and the Royal Pavilion are just amazing on the outside (we didn't have much time) and I really enjoying browsing around the streets of the city. I love the Lanes quarter and the North Laines streets as well. I found three second-hand bookshops there and even bought some pretty good books. It seems the city is quite vibrant at night: we saw crowds at night! And all sorts of people! Quite an ecletic place. It seems quite the place to go to Londoners, since the house where I stayed in London had two boys who frequently catch the coach to Brighton whenever they feel like fishing or having some fun.
Well, that's it. I do hope to go back. :)
Glad you liked Lewes!
ReplyDeleteThere's a good reason why Brighton is called London-on-Sea. It's a vibrant, exciting place with a cosmopolitan character, but I wouldn't want to live there. I like being able to enjoy the night life and buzz of London or Brighton, but then return to the tranquility of Lewes.