Okay, some things about New Cross!
After talking with many British people about it, apparently New Cross is not exactly the place to be in London. It’s been known to be a bit shady (although it seemed completely fine to me) and to not have too much going on. However, my experience was generally a good one and New Cross definitely grew on me over the three months that I lived there.
There are plenty of food options, although various restaurants and stores seemed to be closed on random days of the week. There is a lot of fried chicken in New Cross– you just have to accept it and embrace it (if you’re a meat-eater). After trying out a few of the local chicken places, I determined that Chick Chicken has the best value for your pound and is very tasty too. However, my favorite food spot was a little restaurant called Chinwag, which is right across the street from Goldsmiths. It has a really cute atmosphere and serves amazing food at a decent price (which is important since things are generally really expensive in London). Another place that I wound up at a lot was the Goldsmiths Cafe (right next door to Chinwag), which is good for a cheap breakfast or just a quick coffee to go. Other local places to eat include: Cummin’ Up (a Caribbean food place with an (un)fortunate name), a couple of Chinese takeout places, Nouvelle Spice (an Indian restaurant with pretty good food), Subway (the only American chain you’ll find in New Cross), and the Goldsmiths Garden Cafe (a cheap place that offers hookah, mediterranean food and an assortment of other things). Generally the food in London is not so great, so when you find a good restaurant you stick to it!
New Cross House
Amersham Arms
The latter claim about New Cross (that there’s not much going on) is sort of true. There are definitely places to go out on the weekends or weeknights but generally things are pretty low-key. There are a few pubs within short walking distance including the Hobgoblin, which is right next to Loring Hall. The Hobgoblin is very laid back but it can get crowded on Fridays and Saturdays and it’s a pretty big hangout for Goldsmiths students. It’s a nice place to get cozy and hang out and they have a bunch of games at the bar that you can take to your table including Jenga and Scrabble! They also offer a student loyalty card which gets you money off drinks! I went to the Hobgoblin pretty often and I also went to the Amersham Arms which is a little farther away from Goldsmiths. The Amersham is a better option if you’re looking to dance and have a crazier night. It’s split into a front room and a back room, which each have a DJ on Friday and Saturday nights (the front is usually an older crowd with more classic music and the back is usually a younger crowd with bigger dancefloor and different music depending on the night). Then there was the New Cross Inn, which is a typically seedy-looking pub that hosts live music as well as DJs and has a pool table and lots of picnic tables to sit at inside. They host a pretty good open mic night every Tuesday, which a lot of students perform at. I’m not going to say much about the New Cross Inn because it could be a whole blog post in itself, but I will tell you this: you should definitely go to the New Cross Inn, but you definitely shouldn’t make a habit of it.
Telegraph Hill Park (a short walk away from Goldsmiths)
weird cat mural in New Cross
There is also a lot around New Cross, if you look for it. I spent a few days wandering around the area, just seeing what I’d find and I stumbled upon Deptford which is just north of New Cross. There are a lot of restaurants there, a few coffeeshops, a food coop, many pound-stores (!), and I even found a semi-hidden public art space/cafe called the Deptford Project right off of the main street. Lewisham is another area that’s a short bus ride away and there you can find the Lewisham Shopping Centre which has a bunch of clothing stores (including a smaller Primark and an H&M) and a Poundland among other things.
at the Deptford Project
at the Deptford Project
in Deptford
Alright, it would be cruel not to leave you with some general London tips, so here we go:
- Not only is the conversion rate from dollars to pounds pretty lousy, but everything is just more expensive in London. If all normally priced items were in dollars instead of pounds, they would still be a lot more expensive than in the U.S., which sucks. There’s no way of avoiding it. However, I did find a few ways to save a little bit of money:
- Get an Oyster card for your transportation needs! You have to buy an Oyster card outside of the tube stations (still unclear on why this is…) but you can find them at most convenience stores. A regular oyster card reduces all of your fares by about 1/4. There is a student Oyster card which you have to apply for and receive in the mail, but it reduces fares even more and I really wish I had gotten one.
- The tube is pretty cool and convenient, but it’s usually more expensive than the buses are. When you take the tube (especially from New Cross, which is in Zone 2), your fares are determined by your travel between zones which can make things pretty pricey if you’re traveling over a long distance. With an Oyster card, the bus fare is only £1.60 (although transfers aren’t free), so if you’re just going into central London, it’s cheaper option!
- For all of your grocery needs, the best place to go is the local Sainsbury’s which is super close by. You should definitely get a Nectar card! It’s free to get and will allow you to get coupons in the store as well as accumulate Nectar points, which you can redeem for cash value towards your groceries. In the three months I was at Goldsmiths, I accumulated about £15 worth of Nectar points which got me a close to free grocery trip!
- Shop at Iceland! Iceland is a sort of discount (mostly frozen) food store that sells many things for one or two pounds. Obviously, it’s not the best quality food but they have cheap basics like toilet paper, paper towels, soda, tea and coffee, and even beer.
- London’s double decker bus system provides an awesome, cheap way to tour the city. Bus routes go all around the city and past all of the sites you’ll want to see. This is also a great option for sight-seeing when it’s cold out (which it will be).
- London is full of great free museums, so you should take advantage of it! A few that I visited for free were: the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Tate Modern, the Tate Britain, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Saatchi Gallery.
- When you are at a store or at a restaurant or just on the street, people will say “You alright?” It basically means “How are you?” but I’m going to be honest, I hate it. For the first month I was in London I thought that must have been looking really distraught or something because everyone kept asking me if I was okay. I’m still not sure what the proper response is, but a “yes” will do.
Okay, I think that’s it for now! To sum up my summing up posts, I had a really great time during my semester abroad. Some things were strange at first but I met some wonderful people and it’s an experience I will never forget. If you’re getting a little tired of the Pioneer Valley and want a change of pace, going abroad (not necessarily to Goldsmiths) is really something to consider. Also, the London exchange is pretty cool because it finishes at the end of March so your summer starts early! I had some time to travel and now I’m back home and have time to find a job and even pass Div. II in the spring 🙂
Marguerite Goes to London 