Before I came here, I always associated London with the famous icons such as Big Ben and the London Eye I had seen in movies. I also imagined the people were going to have posh British accents and they were going to be a bit condescending, but in the most polite way.

Of course, I knew there was more to the city than those landmarks and not everyone was going to fit the mold that popular culture had shown me. After all, most of us Midwesterners don’t fit the mold from the movie “Fargo.” With that personal example in mind, I knew there was going to be more to this experience than what we see in the movies.

Never in a million years would I have imagined London having so many parks. Moreover, they’re really nice ones. Very clean, with dogs walking around everywhere and with a lot of water features.

The closest one to me is Hyde Park, close by Kensington Palace. There are multiple paths for people to run or walk on and there are dogs literally everywhere. A man-made river splits the park and a few ponds break up the green space. One is so large that you can rent rowboats and paddleboats to go onto it.

There are also several sculptures that decorate the paths. My favorite is the Peter Pan statue which, according to the locals, was paid for and put into the park by J.M. Berrie, the author of “Peter Pan.” It was also supposedly put in so quickly that one day, it just appeared, like magic.

London is also home to a ton of open-air markets. There’s one that sells fresh-cut flowers every Sunday. It’s beautiful but, oh my, is it crowded. My friends and I were literally holding on to each other’s bags so we wouldn’t get separated.

Despite the crowd, it was beautiful. The flowers smelled so sweet and since it was getting to be closing time, the vendors were shouting and joking with the crowd, lowering the prices of their flowers just so they wouldn’t go to waste.

Besides the flower market, my other favorite market is Brick Lane. This market is a hodgepodge of everything from vintage clothing, to records, to a cab that makes and sells coffee. I know it sounds a bit sketchy, but the coffee is really good and it’s reasonably priced.

I fell in love with a fully functioning typewriter from Brick Lane, and I almost bought it but then I figured that it would be a bit tricky to try and fit it into my suitcase.

Brick Lane also has an indoor food market. It serves everything from Thai food to crêpes and foods from countries all over the world.

I did not expect to see this alternative and diverse side of London when I first came here, but it came as a pleasant surprise. Sometimes you find the coolest places when you’re just meandering through the city.