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Me, Dali and Big Ben
Unfortunately the Dali Museum was a little too expensive. Damn pound! May 14 -17; London
When I imagine city life, London fits the ideal type. New York is more renowned for its intensity, but for me London is where it is at (in the Western world anyway). The city is just alive with people of all denominations, all going about their business in an individual manner which is invisibly coordinated by city structures and unconsciously shared values. All intellectual pursuit aside, the city is simply alive. You cannot but get caught up by the intensity and the individuality of it all; it is a peculiar element of the human condition that one often feels the most individual in the biggest crowds. That said, like New York we have found that Londoners have often been very willing to help out when we have needed it e.g. Carrying suitcases upstairs. But more on that latter.
I think this willingness is all part of a generally strong English belief in the value of civil society; everything will work out if we are pitch in together. Indeed, one of the major political (moral?!) issues is ‘anti-social’ behaviour and there is a major campaign going on to encourage the upholding of social norms; Ad on
the tube “I’ll give up my seat”... “I won’t turn my music up loud” TOGETHER WE CAN DO IT.
Traditionally, I think Britain has been very much a melting pot society, where immigrants are accepted as long as they become ‘British’. Now , however, with Britain’s entry into the European union and new generations of underprivileged immigrants, an underclass has developed, the existence of which civil society is still in denial over.
Nonetheless, we have really enjoyed London and British culture in general. The standard of intellectual and political dialogue is miles above home (I have really enjoyed reading the paper) and their does appear to be a strong social conscience; fair trade coffee is more popular than not, environmentalism is regularly discussed and Oxfam has a very strong presence here.
I think we could definitely live here, certainly for a short time. Victoria is in love with London and would enjoy living in the heart of the city, whereas I would prefer to live a little further out. With London now being the most expensive city in Europe, I think the latter would be the more realistic.
So, what have we done in London? Well,
the visit did not start off as positively as you might expect, given the introduction. Dragging our now overflowing belongings through the London underground was remarkably stressful, particularly as the weather was very good when we arrived. Having finally negotiated the tube, we than had about a kilometre waddle to the hotel, which we then couldn’t find. When we finally arrived they sent us to a room which was still being refurbished. Much frustration. The poor reception dude caught the full brunt of my temper; “Please sir, I think you sent us to the wrong room, may we have another?” The room itself was nice though, and we had a relaxing night catching up with some friends of Victoria’s.
Unfortunately we arrived just as the weather has turned, leaving us with three very average days (a little rain, but mostly just overcast and dank). Nonetheless, I think we have largely made the most of our stay. I have seen most of the sights before, but it was still enjoyable just being in London, particularly as Victoria was enjoying it so much. On the first day we visited the National Gallery, taking in its magnificent collection of impressionist work
(Monet and Van Gogh). From there we strolled past Buckingham palace and into Hyde Park. There we had a look at the New Zealand War memorial and the Diana Memorial, both of which were very innovative and impressive. At night we took time to catch up with friends from our bus tour, which served to remind us how much we had enjoyed, and how much we missed, the tour.
The following day we took in a hop-on hop off bus tour, which wasn’t as successful as some. It was just a day were nothing really went right; we keep just missing busses and having to wait around, we missed the changing of the guard and I was feeling rather sick. Nonetheless we did manage to see a few of the sights including the Tower of London and Tate modern, a modern art museum. I loved this museum and could of spent a whole day here. Unfortunately time was very short I didn’t get to see everything. Still, it was my favourite gallery of the trip.
We were not sure how to spend our final morning (we fly to Barcelona at six), with so much to do and so
little time. I had hoped to go to Lords to watch New Zealand play England, but 65 pound was just too much. We made a stop at the London Eye, which still had good views, despite the weather, but apart from that we kind of fizzled out. As such, we spend rest of our time shopping* on Oxford St (always insanely busy) and Harrods.
Harrods really pisses me off, more than just regular opulence. I hate that it thinks that I (and everyone else like me) are not good enough to be in its presence. As we walked around the store a security guard came off his door into the middle of the store to ask if I ‘needed any help’ e.g. Get out you poor bastard. I was not impressed. In a typically passive aggressive reply I left a fur protest leaflet I had picked up outside the store in the fashion department. Fuck you Harrods (Sorry Grandma, and possibly Mum and Mrs. Mayne).
Other than that it was goodbye London, until next time...
*Note: Victoria does not count this as a waste of time. Shopping is the biggest point of tension in our travels. If I
have to listen to Victoria tell me what diamonds she finds pretty again...
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