My UK trip 2025

Millions of people come to London every day with their dreams. Some of them return like tourists, some find a possibility to stay there, and some never come back. Every person coming to London has his/her own story: a story of loss, suffering, pain, struggle, and fight, but with a hope for a better life. London is not only the capital of Great Britain; it is a city of contrasts and gorgeous beauty, diversity and inclusion, challenges and chances, chaos and order, opportunities and hope; the unity of old and new.

I am still dreaming about studying at Cambridge or Oxford Universities, and living in London at least for some time….

Studying at such universities is not only about profound knowledge and a famous diploma; it’s also about other people, community, and connections; the atmosphere of these universities and brilliant minds from all over the world will change a person and his/her mindset forever.

Living in London is about “eating” life and saturating yourself with this life, feeling alive, and being grounded.

This trip was different from the two previous: I travelled a lot throughout England, I attended Moulin Rouge and Vivaldi Candle concert; I sat and listened to different accents of the English language, I contemplated English village life, I visited the Ukrainian Catholic Church in London on 24th of August and Evensong in the Westminster Abbey, I bought myself Paddington the bear because he resembles myself and a paper notebook to begin again to write, undeliberately I became a visitor of London Carnival one of the biggest in the world, deliberately I went to different parts of London gorgeous and expensive, creative, underground, and very poor to feel the real London, I used tube a lot like a local….and of course I went to the CLIFFS - the place where thyself can be born out of chaos and sufferings, where there is no illusion and no time….

• London - for feeling LIFE in all cells of your body.

• Cambridge - for feeling the atmosphere of brilliant minds, feeling the presence of geniuses from different epochs.

• King's Lynn with seaside villages like Hunstanton and Wells-Next-the-Sea - feeling the farm and village style and breathing the sea.

• Bury St Edmunds - for visiting the church.

• Lavenham - for being a part of Harry Potter.

• Rye - for being a part of the medieval age.

• Seven Sisters and Beachy Head Cliffs - for strong energy, grounding, and a full reset mode for mind and body.

• Brighton - for seeing the different side of the UK, poor and shabby.

• White Cliffs of Dover - for purification and transcendence.

When I bought a scone in one of the bakeries in London a girl looked at me and asked: “Where are you from?”

“Originally from Ukraine, I am Ukrainian, but I live in Germany now.”

“Я з Узбекістану. Я плохо говорить по українськи, але я буду старатися говорити вашою мовою. Я хочу вас підтримать. Я за Україну, я против war.”

I wept and thanked her….

Every city is full of stories….