Thursday 15 March 2007

london calling

um once again it's been a while. for which i apologize.
did i mention that i went to london? it's true. and to make it even better, i went all alone!
i left on the train from leeds station on sunday and went straight into kings cross station. during the train ride i was nervous for my solitary adventure. it didn't help much when i came above ground at the notting hill station and the wind was blowing and it was pouring down rain. not encouraging. my umbrella blew inside out five or six times during my walk in the wrong direction (i was a little disoriented) (but what can you expect? i was there two years ago!). when i realized my mistake i about faced and walked back along notting hill gate to holland park avenue and onto the little pathway leading into the park and to the hostel. when i finally got to the gate that should have taken me into the park it was closed and i had an irrational mini-breakdown as i thought "maybe i was supposed to check in before the park closed!" duh. it's a hostel. people aren't going to stay in or out starting at 6 pm. i called to find out where the night entrance was. as i did so i saw a sign straight in front of me with two lines:
day entrance <----
night entrance ---->
boy did i feel dumb. but it was okay.
the next morning was sunny and did give me some encouragement.
we'll make the rest of the trip short for all our sakes.
on monday i walked for about ten hours and saw all of the outsides of all of the buildings and soaked in the feeling and listened to the sounds and watched the busy people and smelled the london air. i found a new favorite park (okay, second favorite. nothing beats kensington gardens) in st. james' park. daffodils around every tree and small enough that you don't wonder what end of the park you're in. i felt ridiculously conspicuous as a tourist. i'm certain that everyone was watching me.
when i was there two years ago i was so careful to not stand out. i didn't say anything when i didn't have to and i purposely got used to saying "sorry" in an english accent because that was really the only word i exchanged with the locals.
this time i didn't care if i stood out. imagine, if you will, a girl in an orange sweater with a back pack and a camera around her neck walking along with a huge grin on her face and every so often saying things to herself.
so here's the question-- was i naive in 2004? did people watch me? and i was just silly enough to think that i somehow fit in? or did i really stand out differently this time because i didn't care? i would have thought that trying to fit in would immediately expose you as an impostor. but maybe not in this case? i'm still not sure of the answer.
on tuesday night i went to the london centre for some memories and a tina dinner. wade jacoby, my professor when i was in london, is the director of the study abroad program now. he and his wife were quite hospitable and accompanied me to a play that evening.
the next morning i did the things i hadn't had time to do on monday and tuesday. namely shop on kensington high street and see st. paul's.
overall the london trip was a good thing.
i saw some lovely things and ate a pain au chocolat.
i thrilled to the sound of the underground train rushing to the platform.
i even rode a bus.
#23 to be exact.
and i learned that it's good to be alone. but it's almost always better to be with people.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I love you!

Anonymous said...

spunky...just a little too spunky.
i can't believe you really did it. i wish you hadn't had to go alone but i am glad you were able to go. you can't go to england without spending a little time in london, can you?

jo said...

I can't believe you did it either! And I thought I was taking an "adventure" when I took TRAX down to SLC and came back in one piece. Gateway's no St. James' park, that's for sure.

By the way, did you see Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant on this trip at any point it time? I think they're supposed to be hangin' around those parts.