Week#7

My third week in London involved visiting 1 district, along with two districts outside of London. Camden was the first district that I got explore this week. I have been living in the Camden district for my whole stay here in London. My neighborhood is a poor area of London. A lot of homeless reside around our area. Late at night it is a very unsafe area. Across the street from my apartment is the most popular pub around the Euston station area, which resides in the Camden District. This pub is called the Crown and Anchor, and I have managed to spend a few nights here speaking with the locals and enjoying their locally craft beer. Along with the pub, another interesting site in this district is the Camden Market. I would give this market a ten out of ten when it comes to ranking markets in London. Everything from the food to the shops here are amazing. I have managed to eat here a few times since I have been in London and the food is phenomenal. When it came to the shops here, there was an awesome rave shop. They sold all clothes that looks straight from an 80’s movie. London currently has around eight million citizens living in the city.

The first district that I was able to visit outside of London was Liverpool. Liverpool so far has been my favorite city in the United Kingdom. It is very much like London, but in a much smaller scale. Talking to the people here, they all did not like London. They said that Liverpool is the better version of London and I agree with them. At Liverpool I had the chance to do the British Music experience, which showcased all the big bands that have come from the United Kingdom. Being able to learn more about bands such as the Rolling Stones, Queens, and Led Zeppelin was a once and a lifetime experience. Along with this I was able to see the Beatles Museum, which went into debt about their whole life and even talked about John Lennon’s. This was a life changing experience being able to see all the Beatles work since I was lucky enough to get to see Paul McCartney live this past October. After this I got to go to the Cavern Club which is a pub underground where the Beatles first started to play. During the time I was here, several different artist went up and covered songs from the Beatles. Everyone here was much older than me but it was one of the best experiences I have had in Europe. Liverpool has a population of around five hundred thousand people, which is much smaller compared to London. Its population is around 90% white, while London’s is around 40%.

The Second district that I was able to see was Cambridge. Cambridge is a college town, since most of the town is surrounded by different schools within the college of Cambridge. Cambridge has a huge rivalry with Oxford when it comes to schools and living. While I was here in Cambridge, I got the chance to visit a cool street Market in the middle of the town. Besides the Camden market, this has been my second market so far this trip. I would give it a nine out of ten when rating the markets that I have been to. Along with this, I was able to see the Cemetery of the WWII soldiers from America that died in Europe and that chose to be buried here by their families. Before this, I had no clue that their were American soldiers buried in the UK, and this was a huge eye opening experience. Cambridge’s population is around one hundred and thirty thousand, which is extremely small compared to Liverpool and London. It has around 60% white ethnicity here which is in between London and Liverpool. Most of the people living here go to college, so it is a much richer white area when it comes to that.

All three of these cities are very rainy when it comes to weather. The beginning of my third week here London was still very rainy, but towards the end of the week it really started to clear up and get hot. Cambridge and Liverpool on the other hand were extremely cold with rain on both days that I was there. Both city’s border London and can be accessed by the train through the train stations in London. It is very easy to get to both and I could see myself coming back the next time that I am in the UK.