Does anyone else really love London?

dr gonzo

I mean really love it...? Ive lived my whole 25 years in Dublin and and have the opportunity to travel a good bit (South America, Australia, America, a few cities in Europe) and ive never been in a place i love as much as London and i have absolutely no idea why. Is anyone else the same?

Otacon

Been here three years now and I can't see myself living anywhere else at the minute. Only thing I miss about home is my family TBH

Irish Halo

Same here, living in the UK 5 years and love it, miss some of my old mates sometimes but they come visit every now and then (having a spare room with a bed helps ) and assume even more will be living here soon

breadmonkey

I moved over a couple of months ago, having lived in Dublin all my life. While I do really like it here, I feel like I'm gonna need to get away for a week or two in the not too distant future. The large scale of the city, the extremely high population density and the fact that it's not on the sea makes it quite "intense" urban living imo.

mathepac

London was my first home outside Ireland as a teenager and I hated it. All I wanted was to go home permanently during the 2.5 years I spent there.

Strangely enough now I love to visit the place a couple of times a year and just wander round the old work-place, the old addresses, the streets where family lived, visit parks, museums, etc.

lima

I have traveled to many cities around the world and I have to say that there are much better cities to live in e.g. Melbourne, Montreal, San Francisco, Sydney, Stockholm, Cologne, Madrid to name a few.. In my opinion London is generally overpriced, overpopulated, unfriendly and the weather is pretty crap (apart from a few weeks in the summer).. plus the high cost of rent means the quality of living is not very good when compared to other alpha cities

However, in saying that, it is far better than anywhere in Ireland and the nightlife is second to none.. first couple of years are great but then (for me anyway) you start to realise all the things that are missing, such as the sea, friendliness, quality of living standards.. for me personally I'd like to settle in a place where the people are a little bit nicer and think less about work, but since the jobs are here I'm not going to leave just yet.. also, the fact its english speaking, no visa is required, and it's close to Ireland hands it a few extra points.. so in some ways that outweighs the crappy things about London..

ztoical

While I am enjoying living in London I'm not overly in love with the place. I lived in New York for 4+ years and have spent a good deal of time in several other large cities around the world and find London to be alright compared to them. The tubes not running 24 hours and everything around our area shutting at 5 on Sundays if they open at all just wrecks my head. It is miles ahead of living in Dublin but frankly it doesn't take much for a place to be better then the depression pit that is Dublin [which has nothing to do with the current climate, I found the place even more depressing during the whole celtic tiger phase].

Digitaljunkie

Lived in London from 1990 to 1997. I did like it but coming fron the stix in Eire
it did feel like a chicken coup some times. I moved back to Dublin in 97 just before the boom hit and it felt like a large town and way slower than LDN. Dublin was such a nice friendly slower place and then the boom destroyed it.

Thinking of maybe heading back over in the near future as been 38 put me out of range of most working visa's...

LadyMayBelle

I like london but can't say I love it. Yet. I do put that down to my circumstances of the the past six months; no stable job, no friends, living in a very small studio...but I think to love here and have fun, you need money and a tolerance to travel. I have lived and worked in Perth and Darwin, and i guess a lot of the fun is to to with the people you meet.

Digitaljunkie

Yea the company you meet is a major part of it. Also your own well being which is even greater and related also. I think it dosen't matter where you are as long as you have these, the word i'm looking for is happiness. If you are happy in LDN its a great place to be.......... I think i'm being philosophical now so i'll stop .

Dan Dare

Lived there for 15 years and loved it. Originally from Dublin but now living in Cork where my wife is from. Hated the whole Celtic Tiger thing. Good luck and I hope you settle in.

bluedolphin

It's funny, what I love about London is what I hate about home [Limerick] and vice versa. I love its vastness, its choice, its anonymity, its multiculturalism and openmindedness. Yet at the same time, when I go home I love the familiarity and closeness of everything; the small-town mind; the proximity and the sheer reliability of knowing that the same people will be sitting on the same stools in the same pub at the same time every week. But I have only learned to appreciate that since being away, and anytime longer than a few days at home I begin to feel claustrophobic again. I think there are merits to both worlds, but they are incomparable. However, I think, for the moment, London is where I want to be.

As Samuel Johnson said, "Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."

lima

bluedolphin wrote: »

As Samuel Johnson said, "Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."

There's no beach though

Also I'm sure London was the best life had to offer in the 1700's!

Digitaljunkie

lima wrote: »

There's no beach though

Souf end init!!!!:D

Fysh

lima wrote: »

There's no beach though

And that, my good sir/lady (delete as appropriate), is why the Victorians invented the Day-Trip To The Seaside At Brighton

lima

Fysh wrote: »

And that, my good sir/lady (delete as appropriate), is why the Victorians invented the Day-Trip To The Seaside At Brighton

True, but way too many pebbles of the larger kind down there!

udonwannado

i think its the mix of old and new, history and culture with all the new bands

afatbollix

Loving the christmas markets that are around the place..

I like the cold + winter but this just makes it epic!!

PARKHEAD67

dr gonzo wrote: »

I mean really love it...? Ive lived my whole 25 years in Dublin and and have the opportunity to travel a good bit (South America, Australia, America, a few cities in Europe) and ive never been in a place i love as much as London and i have absolutely no idea why. Is anyone else the same?

Was there on hols last year. An absolutely CLASS city.Almost on a par with NY.

bluedolphin

afatbollix wrote: »

I like the cold + winter but this just makes it epic!!

Winter is my favourite season and I've been battling all week to convince others of same! There's nothing more refreshing than the crispness of sub-zero temperatures. It feels so clean! I was walking along the South Bank yesterday evening and it was just sheer magic.

D-Generate

bluedolphin wrote: »

Winter is my favourite season and I've been battling all week to convince others of same! There's nothing more refreshing than the crispness of sub-zero temperatures. It feels so clean! I was walking along the South Bank yesterday evening and it was just sheer magic.

So was I! It was great and completely Christmassy.

maggiep2010

Winter Wonderland at hyde park is super (and I am a bah humbug at the best of times!), went there after ice skaing at the Natural History Museum last sunday, drank lots of mulled wine (purely to keep the cold at bay you understand) and then had cocktails in Soho watching the X factor...The perfect Sunday!!

hsi

Prefer Madrid, Paris or Berlin to London anytime. I can't say I like the city that much.

Winty

Things I love about London over Dublin

My wages - 50% higher (QS)
My job - Its safe
The tube - Its great I get across the city in 1 hour try that on Dublin Bus
My house - This time next year it will not be worth the price of a small car
My friends - Unlike my friends at home they have money and are happy
London Irish
Hearthrow Stanstead and Gatwick you can travel the world
The French House in Soho
Food food Food, try a proper Kebab
Black Cabs - they are always safe and honest
The newspapers

I could go on, but I still miss home sometimes

dr gonzo

udonwannado wrote: »

i think its the mix of old and new, history and culture with all the new bands

This is, in a nutshell, what i love about the place. There is actually anything you could want there. I love history so im in my element there (its something that not many other cities can offer) but theres also all the amenities you could want.

Of course i wont know what its like to live in the place until next summer and even then thats only for a short period of time, it could be too vast, too disconnected for me but we shall see.