VISITING London part 1 / Put u London prvi deo

Traveling is for me best way to spend my money and to make best memories that will last a lifetime. Noting is better than that so I try every year to visit some other country and enjoy exploring and meeting new culture.

I never thought I will visit London. It was one of those dreams that finally come true. London, the city of history, pubs, the royal family and so much more is now a town where I stayed and the city that I visited. So today I'll try to write my impressions of London and how I saw this city.

Putovanje je za mene jedan od najboljih načina da potrošim svoj novac, jer stvaram uspomene koje traju ceo život i nosim u sebi iskustvo koje je neprocenljivo. Zbog tog iskustva svake godine se trudim da otputujem negde i upoznam neki novi grad, neku novu kulturu, vidim sve ono što sam želela. 
Iskreno, nikada nisam mislila da ću moći da idem u London. Činio se suviše dalek i neostvariv, ali baš zato ova šansa nije smela da se propusti. Tokom 5 dana obilazila sam Longon - grad istorije, arhitekture, kraljevske porodice, grad različitih ljudi, pabova, piva i fudbala. Ovo je grad koji vam predstavljam u čak dva posta, jer jedan nije dovoljan da prikaže sve čari Londona. 

London is one of those cities that seems so familiar and so like you because a diversity of people you see on streets makes you feel like at home. You can hear all languages and do not think you will hear the English language like one on BBC news. People are nice and polite so much that sometimes it goes on my nerves. 

The big city of London has one of the best metro lines I was using and I saw. It is so easy to find your way into the TUBE as they call it. Everything is written, simple and useful. All lines have colors and all stations are written on maps inside every platform. If you follow signs for a line you need there is no chance to lose your way. During my trip, I used online London map true app called Ulmon map and I also had a map of Tube and they matched and when you open London map you can overwrite it with Tube map and orientate easily. 

For Tube best is to use Oyster card which you can use for multi trips and put credit on it. For 5 days I spent 15£ on Oyster. More you use this cart it is cheaper to travel so sometimes I paid just 0,5£ for one way trip true two zones. London has 6 tube zones and Heathrow airport is in the 6th zone. From this airport, you have the express line that takes you in 15 minutes from the airport to Piccadilly station. This train is not cheap and ticket in both directions costs 37 £ (you use machines to buy tickets and choose option London Heathrow multi something). From there you can use Tube all over the city. Transport in London is not cheap but it is so good and so well organized that you can wait for metro maximum 4 minutes.

London je jedan od onih gradova u koje se odmah zaljubite, jer je pun različitosti, ljudi različite boje kože, jezika, arhitekture koja se mimoilazi i preklapa i baš zato se osećate kao da tu pripadate, da niste stranac i turista. Da ne nosim mapu sa sobom bila bih jedna od njih, čini mi se. 
Ne, nećete čuti u Londonu tipičan britanski izgovor kao na BBC vestima - čućete arapski, kineski, francuski, italijanski, španksi, grčki... 
Svaki deo grada je drugačiji i zanimljiva, a snaći se u Londonu je neopisivo lako i ne mogu da zamislim da bi iko mogao ovde da se izgubi. 
London ima jednu od najboljim mreža metroa koju sam koristila. Zovu ga Tube i jako je jednostavan i dobro organizovan. U svakoj stanici imate jasno označeno koje se linije ukrštaju, gde je izlaz,  a pre ulaska na sam perom naznačeno je na koju stranu ide koja linija svakom ponaosobnom stanicom - u drugim državama u metrou se obično snalazite tako što gledate koja je posladnja stanica metroa u pravcu koji je vama potreban i na tu stranu odlazite - u Londonu sve je do detalja objašnjeno i jako jednostavno za svakoga da se snađe. 

When transport is that good it is easy to fall in love with the city, find your way around and see a lot of places in no time. 

When you come to London you will have to have a visa if you are not from EU. I paid for it 100€ and it lasts 6 months. On airport, you need to pass control and answer questions from the immigration officer. They can ask you anything so best is to have written you plan what to visit in London for every day of staying. 

The city is so big that after the first day I had to write down my plane for tomorrow so I could use best my time and money and visit most in short time. 

This city, London, is a place where I will go back as soon as possible because it feels so nice to be here.

Put u London ipak ne počinje metroom, već samim putovanjem u Veliku Britaniju i putom sa aerodroma do centra grada. 
Da biste putovali u Veliku Britaniju morate da imate vizu, koja traje 6 meseci i košta 100 evra ili 12000 dinara. 
Kada kupujete kartu za avion najbolje i najjeftinije opcije pokazaće vam sajt momondo.com, a možete gledati i letove iz Srbije, ali i iz Budimpešte, koji su mnogo jeftiniji, ali trik je u prtljagu i vremenu leta, jer za 50 evra možete da kupite kartu u jednom pravcu, ali ako ne želite da putujete iz Londona u 5-6 ujutru povratna karta će vam biti i do 100 evra za let poslepodne. 
London ima četiri aerodorma u blizini - jedan međunarodni,  veliki Hitrou aerodrom na koji sleće domaća kompanija Air Srbija i 3 manja na koje sleću jeftinije avio kompanije. 
Ipak prevoz od samog aerodroma do centra grada nije jeftin. Sa aerodroma Hitrou ide ekspres linija koja se zove Hightrow ekspress i povratna karta za nju je čak 37 funti. Sa drugih, manjih aerodroma cene su povoljnije, ali i putovanje duže.
Hitrou ekspres stiže u centar Londona za 15 minuta i poslednja stanica mu je Padington, odakle možete preći na metro i lako doći do bilo kog dela grada. 
Za korišćenje metroa i vožnju istim, ili vožnju famoznim crvenim autobusima treba da uzmete Oyster karticu koja se kupuje na automatima pri ulazu u metro stanicu. Karta se na istom automatu dopunjuje i kako koristite karticu češće cena prevoza je manja. London ima 6 zona i aerodrom Hitrou je zona 6 pa se cena prevoza računa u odnosu na to da li putujete u okviru jedne zone ili ih menjate. Za 5 dana ja sam potrošila 15 funti na ovu karticu. 

If you plan your trip to London look for cheap flights on site momondo.com. You can find low-cost companies that have flights to London but they use other smaller airports like Luton and Stansted. Flights can be 100€ for round trip but with no luggage,  just the one for a cabin. 

Accommodation in London is something you need to spend your money on. It is important to look for a clean place to be accommodated in. Hotels and hostels, it is a small difference in price so maybe it is better to spend a little bit more on it so you could have better feel of everything. Sometimes small hotels will have breakfast included in their offer.
Also be aware that hotels located in streets with familiar London feel can have basement rooms that are cheaper but also without sunlight and small.
London is a city of diversity as I told already and that applies to all - people living in this town, architecture, accommodation, food, everything.

Kada putujete u Londom treba da obratite pažnju i na smeštaj i za to ćete morati izdvojiti više novca, jer je smeštaj u Londonu poprilično skup. Takđe treba gledati čistoću hotela - hostela koji rezervišete, jer je to zaista najbitnija stavka kod organizacije smeštaja u Londonu. Ponekad je potrebno malo više novca izdvojiti, ali i utisak će biti bolji. 

Kada je hrana u pitanju uvek je tu Mek ili neki od lanaca brze hrane, gde možete jesti za sadržaj 4 funte i manje, ali ako želite da probate fish and chips to vas može koštati i do 10funti pa naviše. Hranu možete kupiti i u Tesco prodavnicama ili Marks & Spenser food court gde za 2,5£ možete uzeti sendvič ili neku salatu ili neki obrok, kao i voće, voćni jogurt, kafu, ceđenji sok itd. Verujem da ćete se snaći, ali sve naravno zavisi i od toga koliko novca ste sebi dnevno odvojili. 

When it comes to food this city offers food from all over the world. You can try almost everything and every part of the city has a dominant culture either Arabic, Chinese or Lebanese. You can smell all and try so many things but food in restaurants is not cheap. Fish and chips will cost you 10 pounds minimum, everything else is higher in price.

If you want to save some money you can buy food and Marks and Spenser food court where you can find sandwiches and salads, fruit and yogurt for a reasonable price. 

Also, you can eat in China street for good price and really good food. Traditional Chinese restaurant here with paper sheets on top of every table and with no customer service but with good food is restaurant Upstairs / downstairs in China street. For two persons you can eat for 15 pounds each.
And do not forget London Pubs. Go there, try bear enjoy feeling that they have be part of the city and feel how the city works and how people act, associate and hang out.

Još jedno mesto na kom možete da jedete super ukusnu i povoljnu klopu jeste Kineska četvrt. Lako ju je naći na svakoj mapi (predlažem da skinete aplikaciju za mapu i metro) i u restoranu Upstairs /downstairs dvoje će obrok platiti 15£ uključujući i predjela i glavno jelo. Usluga je jednostavna, kao i sam restoram, pomalo je neugledan, ali zato i svi stanovnici Londona dolaze ovde na pravu kinesku klopu koja se ne moze naći u skupljim restoranima. 

Ako putujete u Londom treba da imate novca kod sebe, ali i na kartici, jer se ne mogu sve usluge platiti papirnim novcem, već karticama. Takođe je poželjno da imate kreditnu karticu, jer vas o novcu mogu pitati i pri ulasku u zemlju kada prolazite imigracionu kontrolu. Kartica vam treba i za plaćanje prevoza, jer automati ne primaju uvek keš. Hitrow expres tkđ. je moguće platiti samo karticom ako nikoga nema na šalteru za prodaju.

Obilazak u London mora podrazumevati posetu pabovima, probanju piva. Obavezno svratite u neki običan pab i sa pivom u ruci družite se, upoznaje ljude, kulturu, vidite kako se ponašaju, šta rade, slušajte šarolikost jezika, britanski akcenat ce se uvek izdvajati. Jasno vam je da ako volite putovanja moja preporuka je da London mora biti na vašoj listi. Vredi svake pare.

I really love how it all works. Yes it is expensive, yes you need money to travel to London but it is worth it.
All galleries and Museums are free but tours and site seeing is also something you will spend your money for. Transport from airport and tours will dry most of your money. Also in London, you need to have money on cards because sometime you can't pay with cash. Even ticket from Airport Heathrow to the city you can't buy with cash if you don't see the cashier in their place.
Also buying Oyster card and credit for it is also easier with a card than with real money because not all machines accept cash and some just accept coins.

In next post, I'll share all my thoughts about special places in this city and how to find them. I'll show you what I have seen and how it feels. there are definitely some places, streets you need to visit when you are in London and on some attractions you need to go because they are worth every coin.

If you want to know more about places to visit in London stay with the blog. Tomorrow you will see a new post with all details about my full 5 days trip to London.

Till tomorrow... Buy!

Dunja!

London je zaista ostavio neverovatan utisak na mene. U narednom postu ću vam objasniti i zašto. Neverovatno iskustvo sam doživela obilazeći ga i jako sam srećna što sam imala ovu priliku. Ovo je sigurno grad u koji ću se vratiti da ponovo posetim sve ulice, obiđem muzeje i prošetam se kraj Temze i uživam u samom gradu. 

Do sutra, kada stiže novi post o Londonu sa svim detaljima... 

Pozdrav! 

Dunja! 

second part / drugi deo