Foggy Day in London Town

Friday, 15 January 2010

10:24 London time (add ?6? hours to Chicago’s time from the previous blog
8 hours on a plane kinda sucks. I only got a couple hours of sleep and was tossing and turning the rest of the time.

But look! We’re descending into London, and the low visibility immediately reminds me of one of my favorite songs that I start humming to myself. The woman across the aisle pretends not to notice. By the time we land, at about 11:30, I’ll have a little over 8 hours between flights. Factor in time to get through customs and get back through security without being late for my next flight… let’s call it 5-6 hours of free time.

5-6 by myself to do and see whatever I want in London? Not a chance. Nope. Not nearly enough time to see the important things. Come on, this is London, one of the most historically rich cities in the world with a list of attractions as long as Big Ben is tall. There’s no way…

…um…

Well…

Fine, if you insist.

11:50
Out of customs and the cheapest and (in my opinion) most fun way to get to central London is via the world’s oldest underground metro system. 7.50 pounds for a day pass, and the city is MINE! Metro systems are so cool to ride, and once you’ve gotten comfortable with one, the rest of them seem to follow a natural order of things. Plus, they have so many fun names: metro, underground, subway, train, etc.

Sidebar: The way to get to central London from Heathrow is to jump on the blue line, Piccadilly, towards Cockfosters.

Cockfosters.

Why didn’t they just call it… never mind, that one’s too easy.

13:27
When you go to London and are navigating your way through a busy city by foot, don’t forget to walk on the left side of the staircases, not the right. If you walk on the right side, you’ll run into people going in the opposite direction, they’ll look at you like you’re crazy, you’ll feel like an idiot… Fine, whatever. I’ll just make sure to walk on the left side of things from now on.

13:53
Wait, why are the moving staircases oriented so you stay on the right? There are even signs that say to stay to the right. The British need to make up their minds.

14:04
OK, now these escalators direct you to the left side. I’m really muggled up right now (Yes, I actually heard somebody say that on the plane yesterday. I had to hold in a giggle). Confound it!

14:23
Internet café to check in with my coordinator in India and my mom. Not in that order, of course. In fact, my mom is probably monitoring my flight status from her computer and wondering why I waited three hours after landing to email her.

I saw a couple of sights at Paddington station, grabbed a bite to eat, but time’s running out. I need to get moving!

15:49
Millennium Bridge, Eye of London, Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St. James Park, the Thames, and Buckminster Palace, complete with the motionless guys in funny hats, all in 90 minutes. I rock!

Fine, I didn’t exactly stop and get the guided tour of all these places. It was more of a Top Ten Powerwalk Through London, but that’s just fine by me. I got to see them, now I can say “I’ve been there, suckers!”

By the way, can anybody tell me why there is a 20-foot bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln in Parliament Square? Right next to Westminster Abbey and behind Parliament? I thought he played for our team.

16:06
Just got on the subway to start the 1-hour+ trip back to Heathrow. I got a Union Jack to add to my flag collection, saw and did everything I wanted and more, and I’m still going to make it back to Heathrow and time to check my email. I’m going to call it speed tourism. It’ll be the new thing.

In the middle of the trip back, I noticed that throughout the day, I saw significantly more foreigners and/or ethnicities than British people. At one point, I was on a crowded subway car and could hear conversations in French, Austrian German, Catalan Spanish, Portuguese, Malay, and of course Hindi. There is a rather large minority of ethnic Hindus in the U.K., so I guess I got “warmed up” for the next few months. It’s funny how even though there are more minorities than non-minorities, they are still called minorities.

Back on the plane in a couple of hours, and I’ll be waking up in India.