{"id":422,"date":"2015-06-21T12:00:50","date_gmt":"2015-06-21T12:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/?p=422"},"modified":"2015-06-21T12:00:50","modified_gmt":"2015-06-21T12:00:50","slug":"free-fun-things-to-do-in-london-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/free-fun-things-to-do-in-london-parks\/","title":{"rendered":"Free fun things to do in London: #1 Parks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi there!<\/p>\n

As this is my first post on the blog, it makes sense to introduce myself a little bit beforehand.<\/p>\n

My name is Susana, Marketing Communications Masters<\/a> student from Brazil (more precisely Sao Paulo, the business capital of the country), where I lived my entire life before arriving in the\u00a0UK six months ago.<\/p>\n

Last year I\u00a0was\u00a0working as a PR and communications professional at a global PR agency, when I received a lifetime opportunity to come and study in one of the most exciting places to be: London!<\/p>\n

Throughout these first six months, it\u2019s been one of the greatest experiences of my life in each and every sense \u2013 and I strongly believe that 99.9% of International students like me would agree. As someone who loves to visit new places and engage in cultural activities, I don\u2019t think that there is any other city in the world with such a great variety of exciting things to do like London. In a sense, it doesn\u2019t matter what is your cultural background, lifestyle, taste or budget, you will always find yourself enjoying the city \u2013 unless you are a hermit, which I think is very unlikely.<\/p>\n

For me (and many other foreign students who adventure themselves through the city), one of the greatest things about London is its wide range of free or low-cost activities and events. Museums, exhibitions, parks, festivals, attractions\u2026 you have all sorts of entertainment in a very open and engaging atmosphere which you wouldn\u2019t find anywhere else.<\/p>\n

On top of that, due to comprehensive public transportation coverage, it is\u00a0extremely easy and safe to get anywhere you\u2019d like without getting lost or having to spend money on a taxi. For students who have a tight budget, that becomes really important while studying in London.<\/p>\n

#1: Parks and Gardens<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, based on that, one of my favourite free leisure activities is visiting London\u2019s\u00a0parks and gardens<\/a> (one more splendid than the other!) and just stay there relaxing. Now that\u00a0the summer is here\u00a0(bless!), the sunny and blue skies create an even greater feeling of enjoyment and happiness. During these warm weekends, whenever I am not at home studying or spending time with family, I love going to a park and see the natural surroundings and all of its simplicity.<\/p>\n

\"Free<\/a>
A beautiful little place called Tarn Bird Sanctuary in Mottingham (Southeast London)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So far, I have been in some of the major parks, such as Regent’s, Hyde and Green Parks, and nearby famous spots like Primrose Hill and Kensington Gardens.\u00a0Greenwich Park and Horniman gardens, though a bit further away\u00a0from central London, are worth seeing too.<\/p>\n

As I am currently working part-time, sometimes at the end of the day I walk to the Regent\u2019s Park \u2013 which is blissful 5 minutes away\u00a0from the office \u2013 and just stroll around that beautiful place. It feels really\u00a0soothing and calming.<\/p>\n

\"Free<\/a>
Garden at the Regent’s Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you like to jog or just walk, you will often find green areas across London such as huge fields and squares where you can do\u00a0some exercise. Instead of going to a gym, you can easily use these areas with an added\u00a0advantage of fresh air and beautiful landscapes \u2013 at least that\u2019s what I happily do whenever I have a break from studies.<\/p>\n

What about you? What is your favourite park in London?<\/p>\n

\"Free<\/a>
Cute squirrel in Kensington Gardens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Free<\/a>
My view after leaving work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Free<\/a>
Tarn Bird Sanctuary – a hidden place next to my house<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stay tuned for the next post, where I will talk about the\u00a0wonderful Barbican centre, a cultural and artistic hub,\u00a0which\u00a0you can enjoy without spending much money! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi there! As this is my first post on the blog, it makes sense to introduce myself a little bit beforehand. My name is Susana, Marketing Communications Masters student from Brazil (more precisely Sao Paulo, the business capital of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,14,18],"tags":[285,297,310,348,356,391,424,524,525,556,578,653],"class_list":["post-422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-favourite-memories","category-london","category-student-experience","tag-free","tag-gardens","tag-greenwich","tag-horniman-garden","tag-hyde-park","tag-kew-gardens","tag-london","tag-park","tag-parks","tag-primrose-hill","tag-regents-park","tag-student-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}