mardi 12 novembre 2013

Out of My comfort zone : A Secret Paradise

As Ibn batutta said " travelling leaves you speechless then turns you into a storyteller
I believe that my Trip to England left me speechless for  over a  year or so , I had what we call an overwhelming experience  that left me unable to express myself through words instead I was just posting pictures of the places i visited but I  believe that it is high time to write about it now.

In 2012 I decided to travel abroad for the very First time  away from my home country and away from my continent . In my home University I m majoring  in English language , civilization and   Literature so England  was a perfect and interesting  Destination  for me because it will benefit me educationally and culturally add to that the fun i can get from being in a cosmopolitan area.

 My main Destination was Worthing , West sussex but I had the chance to visit London for 3 days (separately) , those days ranged from visiting Buckingham Palace ,  Oxford street , the British museum , the London eye to visiting Convent Garden market and streets  and Neal's yard which happened to be my favorite spot in central London . I visited Uxbridge (the home of Brunel University) for a couple of hours but i haven't seen much of it . 

Me and my  group arrived to Heathrow Airport Late on the afternoon of September 15th , 2012 a Taxi was waiting for us to take us to our main destination .
The following day we visited London for the First time , we woke up early to take the  train to London Victoria ,  it was a planned day visit ; we had  the chance to see  the changing of the Guards In front of Buckingham palace  , the British museum with its surreal amount of history stuffed inside of its walls and Covent Garden with its street performers and market  . 

As soon as i was able to split from the group I  went to explore what i call now  my Favorite spot "Neal's yard"  you might want to know what's special about it , well the Atmosphere of the yard is so relaxed it has a hippie and spiritual flavor that i always look for , So  in order to get to Neal's yard i had to go down the same road several times without noticing the narrow alleyways that leads to this sort of secret Garden, even though i asked a lot of Locals to show me the way their answers were all negative until i stumbled on the right alleyway by myself   , As soon as I set foot in the yard I was  overwhelmed  with the Zen-attitude that the colors bring to my mind and being.  It has a bunch of cool Pubs and restaurants and i happened to find a North African Restaurant which was Great  to satisfy my tummy  haha! the existence of unconventional  meeting rooms, a bookshop ,a hairdresser ,a wholefood shop and  alternative therapy rooms  accentuate the Zen-attitude .  All in all Neal's yard can be considerate as an Alternative and healthy place away from the hassle and bustle of central London or as   "a discreet little heaven in the center of London" other than that visiting the yard was a blast  after a long day of educational and cultural visits.

 Neal’s Yard is three minutes away  from Covent Garden tube station (on your right you'll find street performers and the market , on your left you'll find an attractive colorful building follow that way until you reach  Neal street and consequently  Neal's yard ) and five minutes from Leicester Tube station I  will leave you now with few pictures and if you have any inquiries or questions feel free to contact me .



 Buckingham Palace 


Changing of Guards



The British Museum 



with a Street Performer 



The Colorful Building 





Neal's yard Since 1982