One of the most fascinating and unexpected discoveries for me in the heart of London was the King's Cross neighbourhood. It has undergone a remarkable journey, evolving from a bustling railway hub to a neglected industrial area and finally, to a vibrant, cosmopolitan district. Its captivating story showcases the area's resilience and rebirth.

Whenever I find myself in a big city, I try to use an underground railroad widely known as a subway or a metro. Why? Because it's a cheap and reliable mode of transportation. Also, it's hard to get lost (at least I haven't yet) whether it's a smaller city like Minsk or Tbilisi, or a gigantic metropolis like New York, Istanbul or Seoul. But the number one reason I like to use an underground railroad is because that's the best way to get to know a city you're in - its people, its vibe, its failures, its successes. It's a mirror of a city's real face you cannot hide behind shiny facades or tall fences. I decided to kick off a series of articles about underground systems in different cities across the world, and the London Underground or simply the Tube would be the first one of them.

I didn't have any particular reason to visit Salisbury, a city located in Wiltshire, England. Like most people do, I came to Salisbury on my way to Stonehenge. But before heading there, I did a little bit of research and found out that Salisbury has a very long and reach history way predating the Roman times. The city's main draw though is Salisbury Cathedral erected in the 1200s. The cathedral is among the finest examples of early English architecture and holds one of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta.

Stonehenge needs no introduction. It's deemed to be the oldest surviving human-made structure on Earth, predating even the Egyptian pyramids. This engineering marvel has been sitting at the heart of England for almost 5,000 years, yet its purpose still remains a mystery. Considering the age of Stonehenge, it's not exactly clear how prehistoric people managed to bring and raise these huge stones without modern construction equipment. But let's try to unveil some of those unknowns and see Stonehenge up close.

Among thousands of inventions that the British gave to the world, there is one that everyone surely uses and depends upon - a global system of time and time zones. And I'm not surprised that it was actually invented in Britain as it was once the largest empire and the greatest seapower that ever existed. As many of us know, a notion of time and its derivatives - longitude and latitude - are the key to sea navigation. So for that reason, Greenwich, a borough of London, was chosen as a centre of the world's time.

There is no other place on Earth with such a high concentration of man-made treasures than the British Museum in London. It's just unbelievable how many artifacts the British managed to collect from their former colonies and the rest of the world in the past 200-300 years. Numerous exhibitions at the British Museum give a pretty good idea of what the British Empire, the largest empire that ever existed, once looked like. The geography spans all six continents and countless epochs, cultures and civilizations. It's a must-see attraction while in London, and it's totally free!

For the majority of typical tourists, England outside of London does not exist as they never get beyond the city limits. But if you are that rare traveller who wants to see what a typical English countryside looks like, take a short train ride south of London toward the English Channel, to the county called East Sussex. 

South Downs National Park in Southern England has it all - rolling hills, grasslands, charming small towns, grazing livestock and gorgeous white chalk cliffs. Located in Southern England, South Downs National Park is definitely worth a 1.5-hour train ride from London.

This is the second part of the article about London. You can read the first part here.

My first experience with London was quite good, although I would not like to live there. Having said that, it's definitely way better than my first experience with New York City which was horrible. I put together my own top 10 of things that I found amusing, interesting or captivating in London. With too many books and online resources about London, I don't think you would want to read yet another stereotyped article about this incredible city.