My UK Vacation

manifest · #1 (**permalink**) 03-28-2006, 02:54 AM

I'm heading to the UK for 4 months soon (May 3rd to August 28th) for a working holiday and was wondering if some of you UK PFOers could answer a few questions for me (non poker related)? I know this isn't exactly the best forum to ask questions like this, but I may as well get some opinions from here seeing as how I don't post on many message boards that often.

Anyway, my gf and I will be heading over on May 3rd and we're not so sure how we're going to get a place to live. We want to do a roomshare so we don't have to pay that much (looking at 100 pounds a week area) but we're not sure if we should arrange for a place via the Internet before we go or book a hotel for a week when we get there. We aren't made of money so it would be nice to have a place to stay before we get over there instead of staying in a hotel. Does anyone here know of any solutions to this problem? Should we try to find someone reliable for a roomshare before we go or just book appointments to look at these places when we get there? Maybe there are some cheap hostels in the London area?

What are the best places to live for a couple like us? We're obviously looking at the outskirts of London as Central London would be way to expensive for us.

What is the job situation like over there? I am a web designer and I run my own business here in Canada (www.mrstudios.net) but I want to be able to get out and experience the London culture instead of sitting in a room all day building websites (and playing poker *cough*). It would be nice to get an office job in London designing websites, so I think I am going to apply at a couple places before I get over there. Any suggestions on getting a good job quickly when we get there?

Also, how old do you have to be to get into the Gutshot Club? I will be 20 in June so hopefully the age limit isn't 21. I'm up for some home games too if any of the London PFOers are interested.

WotaWaster · #2 (**permalink**) 03-28-2006, 03:21 AM

Hi Manifest.

First things first you can play in the Gutshot when you're 20. Give us a PM closer to the time and I'll come down with you. I only played a few times but it's very easy to join as long as you have a passport or something for ID. All casinos in UK are aged 18 or over to get in.

I would be lying if I said I had any idea about the job market for web designers, you could end up like all the Australians and work in a bar!

Try looking here maybe:
www.londonjobs.co.uk

Accomodation.
You can get a hostel for £10 - £20 per person per night:
http://www.hostellondon.com

Probably best bet would be to book a couple of nights in 1 of the hostels and then when you are over here look for roomshare adverts, go to estate agencys for somewhere more permanent.

Best of Luck.

xxdemexx · #3 (**permalink**) 03-28-2006, 03:52 AM

Ho hum.

London is very expensive for what it is and travelling is a complete nightmare. By all means visit it but working there will be a pain.
You will be living in a shoebox (with an outside toilet) at those prices.

Depends what you want in the way of culture. There's isn't that much in London that doesnt cost a bomb to see and certainly places like Manchester have a more vibrant youth culture (they can afford to have one up here).

If you want a load of old buildings - we have them all over England.. (e.g my house is older than America). Art gallery/museum tours you could make a weekend visit to London to do. Not pushing Manchester but my office is 200 yards from where the atomic nucleus was discovered, 300 yards from where experimental results that led to the idenifcation of DNA were taken and 100 yards from where Turing virtually invented the computer - we got history all over the place. The point is that London is OK - but not for the whole weekend...

The question is -what do you really want?...

WotaWaster · #4 (**permalink**) 03-28-2006, 04:42 AM

"....my office is 200 yards from where the atomic nucleus was discovered, 300 yards from where experimental results that led to the idenifcation of DNA were taken and 100 yards from where Turing virtually invented the computer"

LOL. Stop it Deme - You're going to have every young red-blooded American male on the board fighting over your spare room if you carry on like this.

WotaWaster · #5 (**permalink**) 03-28-2006, 08:38 AM

Actually, how many other posters live in/near to London?

Could be fun to try and get a live PFO game going somewhere when Manifest is over.

Irexes · #6 (**permalink**) 03-28-2006, 08:51 AM

Southend here. 40 minutes by train at the end of the Fenchurch and Liverpool Street lines.

And the only thing up north worth going for is the bitter, which is clearly what Deme is

xxdemexx · #7 (**permalink**) 03-28-2006, 11:16 AM

Southerners..

oi watch it.. I was brought upin Hemel/Luton area and went on my summer holidays to Southend..... it's tough down South

Irexes · #8 (**permalink**) 03-28-2006, 01:35 PM

Cockles and whelks. I've got some associates from the Luton/Hemel area... those are mean streets

manifest · #9 (**permalink**) 03-29-2006, 02:37 AM

We looked a few hostel sites today and found a couple that looked pretty promissing including one in South Kensington that has wireless internet... obviously that's a plus for me.

We will hopefully get a few appointments for roomshares before we leave and check them out when we get there. I hope it isn't too hard to find a nice room somewhere in the outskirts of London. Kind of nervous about moving into a random persons house. Haven't had that experience in Canada where we have a quarter of a kilometer for every 1 person.

All the information is really helpful, keep it coming, I appreciate it.

It does, however, sound like deme wants us to move in with him.

I'm on my way Manchester.