Thursday, January 05, 2006

London Moments

Walking back from the London Musuem late yesterday afternoon, I shielded myself from the cold and drizzle with my triple layer of clothes and Thinsulite headgear and just contemplated the city.

I chose to walk along Jubilee walk rather than the backstreets to Waterloo. The area around the station isn't all that savoury. A few too many high rise housing developments and a nasty looking social services building with drunks hanging around waiting for a handout. Not the best place to walk in the dark and damp.

It's hard to not be inspired by the London skyline. As I climbed the steps to Black Friars bridge and gazed across the Thames, it really tugged at my senses. Anyone who isn't reasonably awestruck by the river and lights has either lived in London too long, or is dead inside.

In the middle of the bridge, it was eerily quiet, until a siren burst through the dark in the distance, lights flashing.

It soon vanished and I was left alone gazing up the river.

On Jubliee walk, something made me turn around and I was transfixed by a view of St. Pauls and surroundings in the distance, the dirty river shifting along like something alive.

What a city.

Perhaps it was the visuals still in my mind from the museum, but you can feel a tangible sense of history in the air of a city that never stops changing. A city which has seen fire, famine, plague, war, wealth and poverty countless times over the centuries.

The trees near the London eye are strewn with blue and white lights, buildings in the distance are also lit up and the Oxo tower looks incredible. There's a story behind that. Apparently, London city buildings are not allowed to display huge logos in lights. The Oxo building cleverly got around that by constructing a series of windows which just happen to spell out Oxo in a vertical line. Then again, I did hear that on a tour boat some weeks back and the tour boat guides are notorious for their tall tales. (they probably moonlight as cabbies)

I arrived at Waterloo station nicely timed for rush hour, time to hook up the CD player and zone out.
The train back to Wimbledon was packed, but I found a seat and tried not to watch people trying not to watch people. As usual, there was some light relief when the train announced we were arriving at Waterloo as opposed to leaving.

That always amazes me about trains here. Everyone sits in stoic silence, either reading, listening to music or gazing into the middle distance. However, as soon as something vaguely different happens, people look up, laugh and smile at each other.
Just for that moment, everyone connects on the same level, then, just as quickly as it arrived, the moment passes.

I glanced up at the train adverts for the umpteenth time and had an urge to scribble a message over a smiling face of a person on a South West train advert. The advert said something along the lines of "we're doing our bit to keep your journey clean" and featured a "funny" photo of a doctor getting off a train, complete with white coat, rubber gloves and a stethoscope.

"We're doing our best to keep your pockets clean" - the various train companies just increased fares dramatically. Unfortunately, service remains as bad as ever.

I would've been nabbed, most certainly. My every move tracked by the CCTV cameras that infest the city, for our protection of course.

But that's another story and I best be careful, they could be tracking me right now as I type these subversive thoughts !