We lived very close to the centre, in Paddington, which is about 10 minutes from Hyde Park. Our apartment was on Edgeware Road - a very Arabic area. Just about 1 kilometer to the right was Bayswater and Notting Hill, an upper class living area. From Edgeware Road to the west/north you could clearly see poverty - a lot of beggars on the street, kids hanging out in gangs on the streets, a lot of mental health issues. The class difference between the areas was HUGE, and we were stuck in the middle. Rich people from Notting Hill would NEVER venture into the streets of Edgware Road and surroundings. I never felt safe in London. I had to take the tube to work every day, and you would always keep an eye out for suspicious looking people. subconsciously. We did not live in an area which would have been particularly known for criminality, yet I once saw from our window two gangs fighting on the street, ending in one person being deliberately driven over by a car. Once when I was about to have breakfast in the morning I looked out the window and saw that one lane of the street was closed off by police tape. I then realized that there was a small tent in the middle, with blood surrounding it. You know those tents that police use to cover dead bodies with. Needless to say I didn't finish my breakfast. Once when I was waiting in line at our local Tesco supermarket I heard a voice behind me screaming - IF YA DON'T MOVE OUT OF THE WAY I WILL KILL YA, YA FAT BITCH! I turned around to find a woman staring at me, holding a pram with a small kid in it. Apparently I was blocking her way. You could see that she was out of her head on drugs, which wasn't a very unusual sight in our neighbourhood. I felt sorry for the child.
Marcus had a two year visa to stay in the UK. We only stayed for one year, safety being just one of many reasons for getting
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