My Bag Still Smells like Persil—a brief account of London

            When many people think of London, Persil is not the first thing that comes to mind. In fact, Persil, a laundry soap found in Britain is probably one of the last. Ever since the day I unpacked my bags from Europe, the smell of this laundry detergent has stuck with me, as well as having been stuck to both my clothes and bags. While it has been over a month since returning from London, I am still surprised by how this city also seems to stick with me, soap and all. And although the smell of Persil will soon diminish and fade away, the lessons I have learned and taken seem only to grow with each passing day. So what else have I learned or taken from London?

            First, London became the place where I learned to face the unexpected and improvise. The best example of this was with the Rotary Club. Only moments after getting off of the plane at Heathrow Airport, I called our Rotary contact, Samy Dallal to assure him that our group had arrived safely. However, after talking with him for several minutes, he extended an invitation to our group to attend a Rotary luncheon. This came as a surprise, but upon discussing it with the group and arranging to leave school one day, we accepted the Rotary Club’s invitation. Only that day did we discover that it was customary to have someone give a speech on behalf of our group. This was a bombshell to us, since none of us had prepared a speech and we only had 20 minutes notice. Rather than make a bad first impression, we quickly scrambled for ideas and I volunteered to give the speech after noticing some of the others drawing too many blanks for ideas. To this day, I do not know how I managed to get through a speech, as I have a fear of giving speeches, but pulled it off. Coincidentally, that made talking with the Rotarians at my table much easier afterwards, and two tablemates ended up giving me their business cards before we left, all thanks to a little spontaneity.

Second, I inadvertently started learning to be a leader. What does that mean? Well, it started with making sure that our group stayed together the instant we got off of the airplane and to Furnival House. It also meant making sure that we got to any event on time, from our lunch with Christine Shine & Erin Mott to Guildhall, even down to checking maps and timing tube routes beforehand. It also meant making the follow-up phone calls, sending thank you notes, or even reassuring the school and COLAET by e-mail that we were all safe on the day of the bombings. I sought to make a good impression during any occasion where others might expect the best out of us, in spite of it often feeling like a thankless task. During class, this meant just expressing my honest opinion to non-Americans and dispelling any myths that they had about Arizona and the United States, which earned me their respect and friendship in some cases. And when it came time to part ways with my classmates, I began collecting and putting together an e-mail list for maintaining contact in the future, taking the initiative and garnering the appreciation of my classmates. I eventually learned that being a leader really meant just taking the initiative to do things that others would not do or had not thought to do yet, having candor in spite of what others might think and following through on every detail.

Third, I learned about setting my standards higher than ever before. Although my International Relations course lasted only 11 days, it gave me a preview of what to expect in graduate school, which was something I had never seriously considered previously. At the point where we were told that our oral presentations would last at least 45 minutes per group, all done on PowerPoint and with no assistance from the instructor, no one in the class flinched, let alone complained. This was quite different from the squeamishness I grew to expect in undergraduate courses where very few students could make it through five minute presentations and would try and find ways around speaking in front of others. When it came time for discussions, it took little, if no prodding to get students to start talking, and it seemed as if you never quite heard the same three or four students contributing to any discussion (again, unlike my undergrad experience). I was impressed by this, and immediately picked up my participation level in the classroom to match that of my classmates.

When it came time for my group’s presentation on 9/11 and International Terrorism, we astounded our classmates with our ideas regarding the subject. Between a Londoner, a Palestinian, and I, we each gave our perspectives into terrorism and different terrorist events, challenging the idea that September 11^th, 2001 was the first pivotal event marking International Terrorism. During this time, I was able to contribute my own unique views on the Madrid bombings, as well as background on Islamic culture from my studies at the UA and from living in Spain—something of which other students had little or no knowledge and insight—and tying these into July’s London bombings. Finally, after over two hours of debate regarding these subjects, we left everyone with different perspectives on the field that they had carried before, with many students keen to learn more about the Middle East. Although I ended up not taking the class for credit, my experience encouraged me to believe that I was now capable of taking on graduate school and raising my own bar for what I could accomplish.

Fourth and finally, when I look back now, I feel that London was great for showing me the possibility to do more and turning what I thought impossible into reality. Having given a speech to Rotary and an oral presentation to my Westminster class, I appreciated the importance of good public speaking abilities, and have since joined Catmasters (the University of Arizona’s division of Toastmasters) in order to further this skill. I still e-mail or instant message my London classmates, house mates and acquaintances, maintaining the bond with them that I had established only weeks ago while not letting any friendship fall through the cracks. After discovering the need for good information and insight to the Middle East, I have begun applying to different graduate schools with Masters Programs in Near Eastern Studies. This, along with having studied within two cities under terrorist attack within the past two years, has imparted the idea on me that there is still a lot to be learned about Islamic culture if one aims to confront the unsavory elements within it. Going to England has only whetted my appetite to return there and studying/traveling in other places, including the Middle East.

London is Persil, the unexpected, a place where leaders are made, higher standards are set, and even possibility, all rolled into one. For one month, London was the place I called home and still consider fondly. I can only hope this city sticks with future students the way in which it stuck with me and doing what they once thought was unimaginable. And maybe, just maybe, that that odd object like laundry soap remains with them as well.

London: a larger account and guide for future COLAET Scholars

London defies expectation. If there was one way in which I could describe both studying and living in London those three words would sum it up. How does this city meet, exceed, or not quite reach expectation? I will break down just how through my own experience there this summer, July and August 2005 into several subject headings in the hope that each reader can a better sense of London and, with any luck, answer their questions. Also, I hope to clear up any misconceptions about the city as well as encourage future Arizonans visiting there to come in with an open mind and take advantage of the London’s many unique quirks, should the COLAET program continue to use Furnival House and the University of Westminster (UW).

Residence and Roommates

Furnival House is essentially a dormitory style house, consisting of four floors of individual rooms (with sink) as well as shared bathroom, kitchen, laundry and living room spaces. The house serves University of Westminster students (in both summer courses and English language instruction) but also serves students from other universities (such as Saint Gill’s), vacationers, and some London residents. Residents range from 16 years old to senior citizens, and come from a variety of countries such as Croatia, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The house is located on Highgate Hill at 50 Cholmeley Place, about four kilometers directly north of Regents Park and about a kilometer from two Tube stations—Archway and Highgate, as well as being near to several bus routes.

Room

Room sizes are not uniform and range from fairly small (about 9 by 12 feet) to extremely large size (about 12 by 18 feet), some of which contain beds perched in a loft area on the ground floor. However, much of a room’s space is taken by the sink area, a desk with shelf space, the twin-sized bed with two drawers underneath for storage, and a wardrobe closet with a space to lock valuables, so available space might be smaller. There is a small area for hanging clothes in the closet (though no hangers are provided), and about five shelves in the wardrobe. Sink areas come with a big cabinet space underneath and usually a place to hang one towel (in my case, about three inches between the end of the sink cabinet and the wall). Towels are provided weekly, and the rooms also come with one hotel-size bar of soap. There are no air conditioners in the bedrooms so if you are staying in London during the two hot weeks of the year, be prepared. On hot days, one can open the window, purchase a mini fan, or go someplace else.

If possible, I would recommend that COLAET reserve the ground floor rooms with the loft for students, for more space (especially for having room to dry out clothes), for a slightly cooler room temperature, and a less obstructed view of the grounds to the back of the House.

Kitchen, Bathroom, and Laundry

            Each kitchen comes equipped with some cookware, cooking utensils, and plate ware/silverware for each group of students (usually around 10 students per kitchen). Also, each kitchen comes with two dorm-size freezers and refrigerators to be shared between residents, as well as to electric grill/ovens and a microwave. There is a wash space with some dish towels, however, paper towels and oven mitts are not provided. Also, should you be interested in any cabinet spices for your food, you will have to go out and buy them along with the rest of your food. There are no automatic dishwashers in the kitchens, so you will also have to wash the dishes yourself. Finally, there is a table in each kitchen along with four to six chairs to seat people, although most tables have room for only four people.

            As to the bathrooms, these are located on every floor, with the shower in a separate room from the toilet/bath room. I believe that there were two toilet rooms for every shower room, with every two toilets and a shower room for roughly ten people. One towel is provided weekly in bedrooms, so if you want an extra wash towel, you will have to purchase this, along with any soap, shampoo or other toiletries. While there is an outlet for hair dryers/shavers, I would advise students to either purchase English adapters before arriving in London (different from the rest of Europe). If not, the least expensive adapters can probably be found on Tottenham Court Road, just north of the Tottenham Court Road tube station. This street is where you can find many electronics stores.

            Finally, the laundry room can be found in the basement, with two combined washer/dryers (that is a dryer stacked on top of a washer that used the same coin dispenser. Prices were £1.60 per wash—about 38-42 minutes depending on the type of wash such as permanent press, colors, or whites. Drying loads cost £0.20 per 12 minutes cycles of drying, and it tended to take two to three cycles to fully dry a load. The machines only take exact change, with one taking only 20p, 50p, £1, and £2 while the other took 10p, 20p, 50p, and £1 coins. Because the front desk would not give (or have) change as well as anyone else in the house, many students like me would tend to save and watch our change closely—something I would also recommend to future students. Fortunately, there is an ironing board and iron provided in the laundry room. However, you will still need to buy laundry soap in London if you plan to wash your clothes yourself and guess your soap quantity as needed (laundry detergents do not come with measuring scoops like here). If you are able and have the time, it may just be easier to let clothes dry in your room and iron any clothes you might need for special occasions. If you don’t like the idea of washing clothes in Furnival, there is at least one Laundromat on the road east of Archway station that may be cheaper—though for the effort involved in carrying clothes to and from there, it may not be convenient (I never checked the prices).

Transportation (Getting around)

            I would encourage all students to buy an Oyster Card, which allows them unlimited rides on the Tube (subway), city buses, and the Docklands light rail (good for making trips to Greenwich and the Royal Observatory). I should add that London is divided into different transport zones and that an Oyster card’s cost is dependent upon the zones through which you travel.

First, let’s start with a person who prefers to use the Tube the majority of the time. For example, if you were to use Archway station as your main departure point each morning, you would need an Oyster card covering zones 1 and 2, which costs £82.20 for a month. However, if you do not like walking up and down Highgate Hill daily or waiting for a bus (as many students complained), it may be easier to use Highgate station, which is slightly closer to Furnival and less of a climb. In that case, you would pay around £93 for the month. The main reason that you would choose the Tube is that it is a little faster than the bus system.

If you are a person who prefers the bus, you can get a bus pass for all six zones of London for the month for considerably less. Reasons why students choose the bus often took into account that Tube lines would shut down, or even a student’s anxiety over Tube transport after bombings and security alerts (something which prompted a group of Galician (Spanish) girls to switch from the tube to the buses).

The School

            The University of Westminster is split between four main buildings in the heart of London. Summer Orientation took place at the Main Campus on Regent Street (Oxford Circus station) while the majority of summer courses took place at the School of Law campus on Little Titchfield Street, in between Oxford Circus and Great Portland Street Stations.

            We were treated to at least two free meals by the school during the Welcome and Farewell parties, both of which served a lot of fried food and h’or deouvres and provided all students with at least one drink. The school also provided orientation packets with materials on keeping healthy, coping with culture shock, an introduction to the British grading system and even a London student guide.

All students were assigned a computer account, given a student e-mail address, and access to the Blackboard system for their courses. For my course, Blackboard was essential, as my instructor assigned at least two readings daily with at least 20 pages worth of electronic material to refresh us on Pluralism, International Terrorism, the European Union, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Marxism within the context of International Relations (IR). Student computer labs opened from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. (distinct to the 24-hour labs at the UA), with technical support running from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Generally, there would be one or two available terminals at any time for students but sometimes, it became easier to find a spot in an Internet café.

The Course Load, Instructor, and Classmates

            My course was on International Relations in the Contemporary World and was taught by Larbi Sadiki. The course was treated as a preparation course for students wanting to enter graduate school at the University of Westminster or other British universities. The course grade was determined in three sections: 20% based upon a 1200-word book report, 20% based upon an oral presentation to the class and 60% based upon the final exam. The student was also required to go through assigned readings as posted electronically on Blackboard (one to two daily), and encouraged to attend and actively participate in class discussions. The book report was on a student’s choice of any book relating to IR. Classroom time was divided evenly between lectures and discussion/debate regarding questions related to the topic.

Professor Sadiki was a visiting professor from Exeter University who teaches two summer courses at UW every summer, the other being the course on the Middle East. In addition to his teaching, the instructor also leads trips to other countries such as Bulgaria and Syria, and puts on Lebanese dinners for his students to introduce them to Middle Eastern cuisine and culture. His greatest strength is posing questions to student to stimulate discussions and he made us feel that we really wanted to be involved in every discussion. For example, you tended to have at least 8 or 9 different student viewpoints (whether shy or loud) on his questions rather than the same 2 or 3 students that I have come to expect in UA classes. During our time there, Professor Sadiki was also an excellent source of information on understanding Arabic, Sunni Islamic culture, especially in giving reasoning as to why different Arab and Sunni communities within London and England reacted in the ways that they did to the London bombings.

            My class ended up being the most diverse of the COLAET group, with students representing 16 different nations. As a result, we had a lot of good discussions, with many students contributing their insights to current global conflicts from their own first-hand basis. Debates were lively and fast-paced, and we ran over our class time frequently as well as continuing our discussions outside of the classroom. To give you an idea of the diversity, my table consisted of an Italian, a Brazilian, a Chinese man and a Cypriot while my presentation group on 9/11 and International Terrorism was me, a Londoner and a Palestinian. Presentations themselves were better formulated and organized by the students than I had ever seen before, though that could be due to the fact that many of those students were entering grad school at Westminster that fall. Another thing that could have helped the class was that many of these students had professional lives outside of the course, including one staff member to an MP, one student working in travel and tourism, and still another working for the Palestinian authority. Even so, after comparing my experience with the other COLAET students, I firmly believe that the strong diversity of my classmates made this International Relations course at UW one of a kind in comparison to IR classes elsewhere.

Potential Problems

London is not Arizona. There are many things that one may take for granted in Tucson, Tempe, or Flagstaff that could cause them some difficulty. I address some of these below.

Weather

Although our group had arrived in London expecting inclement fog, with rainy, cold weather, we were quite surprised to find clear skies, with heat and high humidity waiting for us. More strangely, the weather stayed warm the majority of the time. This left many Londoners complaining it was that one time of year when things were unbearably warm.

That said, I would advise future students to have at least a few sets of shorts or other clothes for London, as it can be surprisingly like the US South during the summer. Also, students could bring mini-fans to cool off and there is even an indoor community pool near to Archway station that might help alleviate their suffering on a hot day.

Tube and Bus Delays

One bit of good news for Arizonans is that public transport is a lot more frequent and convenient than they would find in Arizona. The bad news is that this transport: 1) breaks down, 2) is subject to major traffic delays both above and below ground, 3) can be delayed by workers’ strikes and security alerts, and 4) is always jam packed during the morning rush before classes…just to name a few things.

To combat this, the best option is to be aware of multiple ways of getting to and from places, including taking different tube routes, using a combination of tube and bus or even walking. Many times, it was faster to walk up or down Highgate Hill than to take a bus. Also, by just leaving an hour earlier in the morning, I tended to avoid more of the rush (and delays), and could use the spare time to study or catch up reading e-mail messages.

One all too common concern in London has been the threat of a terrorist attack since at least the 1970s (from what friends and London residents have told me). Should a bombing occur and/or a station or tube line be closed due to a security alert, the important thing is to keep one’s cool and be patient, much like Londoners. The University of Westminster’s teachers and administrators understand that things happen from time to time, allowing for being late or absent on a given day. Fortunately, many Londoners serve as good role models in these instances, so I encourage future students to follow their lead in pressing situations.

Currency

Even though being warned beforehand, the currency exchange rate and prices in London were so astoundingly high that I began to understand why Karl Marx (a London resident) came up with communism. A good way of looking at pricing is to replace our prices in dollars with pounds (i.e. a crate of raspberries costing between $1.99 and $3.49 here would cost between £1.99 and £3.49; a $7.49 spaghetti plate would cost £7.49, etc.). For reference to future students, each pound was worth $1.82 when we were in London, and one might expect the pound to be worth anywhere between $1.60 and $2.20 next year.

Besides cash back debit purchases and less frequent, but larger quantity ATM withdrawals, my advice would be to be a smart shopper. As there is not much refrigerator or freezer space, students who prepare their own meals will buy their food more frequently and not in bulk. That said, one could always buy reduced price food for preparation or cooking that night, as well as to try and organize communal cooking (to defray some costs). Many of the city’s museums have free exhibitions, while some salsa and other dance clubs do not charge admission before a certain time in the evenings. Do not be afraid to ask about student discounts, because many places do offer discounts to UW students (even if not openly).

Above all, remember that London is a priceless opportunity, which means that sometimes you will have to spend a bit to enjoy it.

Potential Opportunities

            Again, London is not Arizona and is very distinct to this state in some of the unique opportunities that it offers visitors. Here were some of the points that I remembered most.

Socializing with an international crowd

Between Furnival House and Westminster classes, I have mentioned several places where one can meet other non-Londoners and other foreigners to Britain. One reason this is a good thing is the food.

Many Furnival residents (especially the Japanese and Spaniards) tend to stay at the residence to prepare their own meals or have a few drinks before a night on the town. At the same time, these same students are such need of English-speaking practice partners that they will share these meals/drinks and a little bit about their culture in exchange. Whether you want to learn new ways of cooking, learn about other students’ countries, or just want to mooch, the kitchen and the common room tend to be a good place to start meeting others. The common room is also a great springboard during the evenings to go out with these groups later on in the evening.

Another good place to meet people is through the university itself. Besides classmates (with whom you will share a common interest in courses), the library, welcome party, and even the front steps of the school buildings are great places to meet others. And if that is not enough, any of the guided tours or weekend trips are excellent ways to socialize with others, as we discovered on one weekend trip through the school’s travel agent to Amsterdam.

Outside of Furnival House and classes, other good places to meet people include pubs, dance clubs (in my case, salsa), parks, and markets (such as the Camden Town or Portabello Road markets). Depending on your interests, you will find all that you want in London and others with the same interests. The point is to not stay in your room but rather seize the opportunity.

Eating London

Although many people now associate Indian food with London with some claiming that Indian food is better there than even India itself, there is much more to the city than this. For example, Edgware Road is famous for Middle Eastern cuisine (and markets filled with imported sodas and other materials from Arabic-speaking countries) while the Soho district just between Oxford Circus and Leicester Square is an area filled with Chinese food. Portabello Road is also a good destination for picking up food from around the world. Besides this, there are plenty of other foods to make mouths water—from Brazilian to Vietnamese. Still, do not count out Pub food or such chain restaurants as Pret a Manger or even McDonald’s—each place offers an experience distinct to that of the US.

Music and Cultural Scene

Many will tell you that London is a priceless source for musicals and plays. I would add that you would find just as good entertainment outside of major venues and for a fraction of the price. Where?

First, do not be afraid to check out Royal Albert Hall or Saint Martin in the Fields. While both of these serve as good classical music venues, they are more. At Royal Albert Hall, you might find Bobby McFerrin, Andrea Bocelli or even 60s rock artists perform with orchestral performers, giving an different take on more traditional scores. Saint Martin in the Fields has its own Jazz gigs performed in the crypt and along with Choral acts and Candlelight tango performances add up to form a not-so ordinary church.

Second, check out such places as the market on Portabello Road or Edgware Road. Edgware Road, directly Northeast of Hyde Park is where you can truly get a feel for the Middle East, since many of the stores serve food and goods with an Arabic flavor, perhaps even with Arabic written on it. Portabello Road is famous for “having anything and everything a truck can unload,” and besides being a great place to shop is also a good stop for musical performances from around the world.

Finally, do not discount any of the suggestions in the weekly Time Out magazine—a good source for Entertainment in and around London, and do not be afraid to look around. With any luck, you might catch a great concert in one of the city’s parks, such as this year’s Live Aid concert series in Hyde Park. You never know when you will find: 1) a great African theatre troupe performing (such as in the British Museum), 2) the up and coming street performer weeks away from a recording deal (in the tunnels between Tube lines at Charing Cross station), or even 3) that chalk painting of the Last Supper (at Trafalgar Square) that will make a lasting impression on your memories of London.

Meetings and Social Events

            In total, I believe I attended five official social events in London, including a visit to Guildhall, a Rotary Club meeting, the welcome and farewell luncheons, and the IR class dinner. I mention this to give future students a sense of the variety of social events. In some, such as the Rotary luncheon or Guildhall, one would feel out of place if they wore anything less than a shirt and tie (for men) or dress (for women). This is completely opposite from the welcome party, where one might feel guilty for not dressing casually.

            That said, I would recommend bringing at least one or two nicer sets of clothes for events such as the Rotary Club, Guildhall, or any more formal event on next year’s itinerary. There will be plenty of occasions to dress casual but not too many times to really stand out and shine for Arizona and COLAET by making good first impressions.

            Besides dressing well, it is imperative that students be prepared with some knowledge about COLAET and not be afraid to share it. At the school luncheons, many students were interested to know what brought us to London and liked to hear something out of the ordinary.  On the more formal end, we were asked as a group minutes before the Rotary luncheon if anyone of us would be willing to give a two-minute speech to the Rotarians, as it was custom for a group of guests to have someone speak for them. None of us had prepared anything for that day, but fortunately, I had brought a copy of some background material on COLAET. By quickly highlighting some of the important points from COLAET with the other’s support and giving a speech for our group, I quickly saved face. Even so, this just serves as a reminder to future students that as representatives and scholars (Rotary’s term for us); they are held to a higher standard and more scrutiny than before.

            This is not to say that everything you will do will be as stressful as I make it seem. Many social events are a good place to network, whether it is getting invitations to visit new friends in their home countries, for future career prospects, or even for a good restaurant or dance club. The point is to put your best face forward, and then, you never know when you might get someone’s business card or that invitation that you have always wanted to visit Italy.

Further Travel Opportunities

            For many students, this may be their first time in London, if not the United Kingdom or Europe. In many ways, the city is a crossroads of the world, both for those passing through it, as well as its close proximity to other places.  If someone is interested in travelling around to some of these places, how do they get there?

National Express buses

This is probably one of the cheapest, but quite comfortable ways of getting around England and to some parts of Europe, such as France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Tickets can be purchased on the day of departure, and bus schedules and fares can be found online at National Express’ web site. If you look carefully and far enough in advance, there are also reduced rates on certain buses. Again do not be afraid to ask about student or return fare (round trip ticket) discounts for this and other transportation services.

Trains

            Trains, although more expensive, come in handy when you need to get places quickly. Like buses, many train tickets can be purchased on the day of departure, though you may be fighting with other passengers over seats on more popular routes. For example, the airport Express trains (such as the Gatwick or Stansted Express) will get you to your airport in half the time as a bus would on average, due to the lack of stops or traffic congestion. Eurostar’s train between London’s Liverpool Station to Paris, which takes approximately three hours ride versus nine hours by bus, is also a unique experience, as it will take you under the English Channel through the Chunnel. Just be sure to confirm that your ticket gets you to the station that you want (as some ticket agents may key in your ticket to a station just outside of your target destination or on the wrong route).

Ferries

            The refreshing sea air is the main reason that you would choose ferries. PO Ferries, DFDS Seaways, and Red Funnel ferries serve destinations in the British Isles (such as the Ireland, the Isle of Wight, Guernsey, and Jersey), as well as Europe (Calais, France; Oostende, Belgium; Rotterdam, Holland; Amsterdam, Holland; and Kristiansand, Norway). Ferries are not as fast as either trains or buses, and the waiting time while docking and unloading may seem annoying. However, the views from the boat more than make up for the dark space under the English Channel.

Official Tours through UW’s travel agent

One surprise for our group upon arrival to the University of Westminster was that the school offered several pre-arranged trips, both around London and outside of London during the weekends through the school’s travel agent, Travel and Treats. Some of the walking tours included a Jack the Ripper tour, as well as a tour of the Hidden Pubs of London. The two extended trips included a weekend trip to Amsterdam (Netherlands) & Brugge (Belgium) in the Low Countries as well as a day trip to Wales for horseback riding.

A benefit of these trips is that they may introduce a good trip idea that you had never thought of undertaking—in our case this was the trip to the Low Countries (Belgium and the Netherlands). The trip included our transportation to and from Amsterdam (via a ferry to Calais, France), two nights lodging with breakfast in Amsterdam, and opportunity to visit a chocolate factory and the city of Brugge. Although our tour bus felt a bit cramped, the trip gave us the chance to get to know fellow Westminster students and see some unique sights.

At the same time, any trip with a large group means that you will be limited by the actions of the group as a whole. Since we only had one bus, we would have to wait for any latecomers before we could depart a city, such as when we left London the first day and when we left Amsterdam Sunday. Often, this cut into the time that we would spend someplace else (I will admit, I became a bit bitter for not getting to spend that much time in Brugge). Having said that, any person with a more independent travel streak should be aware as to the limitations of a school sponsored trip.

Discount Airlines—RyanAir, easyJet, AirBerlin

If buses, trains or ferries just can’t get you far or fast enough, a good solution is a discount airline. Between Ryan Air (an Irish airline), easy Jet (British), and Air Berlin (German), you will find almost criminally low fares to and from major cities around Europe and even North Africa from London’s four major airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, and Stansted). Of these, I would recommend Ryan Air the most, due to their professionality, safety record, and promptness.

            What is/are the catch (es) to these airlines? Many of the flights with the most ideal destinations tend to fly out of London Stansted Airport—a 45 to 90 minute ride from London, depending on whether you take the train (Stansted Express) or bus (National Express). Depending on how early your flight leaves, this might mean that you have to stay in Stansted overnight. Some of these airlines do not include food in their price (hence the term, no frills), and you will have to purchase food items in flight. Also, many have certain restrictions on baggage weight, as well as how late you can check your baggage in. For example, Ryan Air closes its luggage check-in an hour before the flight. And finally, many of the airports listed are not in the target city (Oslo Torp airport is not actually 100 km south of Oslo near to Sandefjord, Norway), meaning that you will have to arrange for a ride from the airport to the city center.

            The good news is that you will not need to set up or register for an account with these airlines before booking a fare, and all offer extra insurance, should you want it. Also, make a strong effort to publish reports and press releases on flight promptness, baggage delivery percentage, and safety in order to distinguish them from the more expensive, established airlines (many of these releases are quite entertaining to read). Lastly, you will tend to find a better variety of food as well as better quality on these discount airlines, as many do not prepare hot dishes until you order them.

Other inexpensive means of travel

            If discount airlines do not work for you or your weekend travel plans involve a frantic search days before, travelocity.com (travelocity.co.uk in Britain), orbitz.com, and priceline.com are good sources for finding flights to, as well as lodging in other destinations. Both of these will give you several options for getting to your destination city with the cheapest price highlighted. This is a good way to introduce you to other airlines you may be unfamiliar with that could help you towards your destination (in one particular case, I found an Argentine airline that went to Buenos Aires from London via Madrid).

One final note: any time that you leave or enter Britain, you will be required to show your passport, in spite of Britain being included in the European Union’s Schengen Zone. Be sure to have your passport with you anytime you travel outside of Britain, including Ireland. Although some might complain at these more stringent security measures, one advantage to this (at least for passport stamp collectors) is that they will get a stamp every time they enter Britain.

Suggested Reading and Helpful Guides

London Walking Guide           distributed by Knopf in the US with a light blue cover

distributed by Everyman in the UK with a red cover

This pocket-sized guide, broken down into a series of small foldable maps, is an excellent source for familiarizing oneself with London. Each section-by-section map includes major and minor attractions (with costs), restaurants, and tube stations not only helping the reader to get around but also to get a general sense of what there is to see, do, and when to do it. An added bonus is that the map comes with information on getting into and outside of London, holidays, guides for tipping, descriptions of popular English dishes and even conversion tables (whether liters to cups, or meters to miles).

Walking in England (Lonely Planet)

Although designed primarily for hikers, this guide gives an outsider to England great insight into England, from English culture and customs, to the costs/means of getting around England. Apart from a London map, it goes much further in depth in describing what you can expect in London and the rest of the country (such as the British culture’s love of dogs) to distances and fares between cities. The guide also has links to many transportation web sites, great restaurant picks for reasonable prices, and even a glossary of English terms to help Yanks, Kiwis, and Aussies acclimate to British English. Probably the most valuable feature of the guide are the web site links and phone numbers interspersed through the book’s pages, which will save you a lot of time and work should you decide to research other English cities for visits or little known facts about British history and traditions.

Walking in London

            For those that want to explore the not so common corners of London, this is a good resource. The book gives several hikes between three and six miles, taking you to historical points of interest and not so common pubs. The book introduces the reader to the many boroughs of London, aiming to make outsiders and Londoners alike more familiar (and attached) to the little nooks and crannies of this city of eight million. One distinct advantage of this is that you never have to pay a tour guide for it, much less be constrained by their time. Another advantage of the book is that it gives you the best times to walk an area, including when to visit markets (such as Camden Town or Portabello Road).