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Published: November 6th 2009
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When I was younger, you could say that I had a mild obsession with London. When I got mad at my parents or my brother I would shout at them that they didn't have to worry, I was moving to London when I got older and I would be out of their hair. As it turns out, though London is a beautiful city, it is not entirely my style.
I first met my friend Della when she came over on an exchange program to work for Magic Sky, a girlscout camp in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado. Since that summer Della has come out to Colorado to visit nearly every six months, but I had never managed to go out to visit her in London, though I always wanted too. This summer, she came out again on a work visa for a couple of months and worked at the Millennium Harvest House with me. About mid-summer, I hit my quarter life crisis and decided to quit my job and buy a plane ticket to Europe (thank you Mom and Dad! I know I still owe you, but you know eventually I'll be good for it!) For the first time in my
life, I was off on an adventure that would take me in no direction in particular though definitely eastward bound.
As you know we spent the first couple of weeks touring mainland Europe in a little Daewoo that Della had purchased for 350 pounds, a real roadtrippin car. From there, however I spent a month wandering around London and the England area with my local tourguide, exploring the many places I had read and dreamt about for so long.
One thing that I'm sure many of you know about me, (and I'm sure some of you don't), I developed an aversion to people with my families tendencies of spending most of our free time in the woods of Colorado. I am not the type of person who can really handle enclosed spaces with large quantities of people. That said... the main transportation used by the residents of London is the Tube, a little tiny enclosed space that people cram into like sardines in the hopes of getting themselves home as quickly as possible with as little wait as possible. This is because there are simply too many people in London to make driving anywhere at all plausible. Even
at three in the morning there are lines of traffic as far as the eye can see, it is truly incredible. This is something that I appreciate about America, we may not have centuries old buildings, but we do have wide open spaces, and comparatively I have never in my life seen traffic.
The first few times Della brought me on the tube was during off times, so I had a seat, with others sitting next to me, of course, but a seat nonetheless. But then as I became more used to the idea of this little enclosed space we began to ride it during times when others were on as well, and we ended up having to stand up in the door sections with more and more people cramming themselves into the non-existent space. One time that I remember there was a man that got on in the last seconds of the door being open with barely enough time and space to keep his head inside the doors as they shut, his face pressed against the window of the door and the rest of us attempting to nudge ourselves closer together to make more space for him. This
London, England
Big Ben and Parliament from a distance. is an experience that I would say was good for me because it taught me the importance of space... (but in reality, it just made me greatful that nowhere in America will I have to be that close to so many people again... ever.) :D
Something else that many of you may know about me, I have an obsession with the monster novels written by Douglas Preston and Lincold Child, namely the book "Relic" and its sequel "Reliquary." Now, sadly enough these books have truly affected me and given me a bit of a fear of trains, specifically underground trains that come complete the with the electrified third rail. I found myself carrying my headlamp every time we went on the Tube, and at one point decided to confide in Della that I was carrying a headlamp everywhere I went, and why. Now, you may ask yourselves what significance a headlamp has, but I just want to say that when the terrifying flesh eating creatures board the train and begin slaughtering everyone in sight from cabin to cabin, everyone in my little compartment is going to be grateful as they follow me jumping and screaming from the back of
the train because they can see where they are going and won't accidentally electrocute themselves as we run to safety up the tunnel. So there... all you nutter naysayers!
Walking in London is also an experiences, as there are so many different kinds of people, so many different kinds of sights, from China Town to George Clooney, from Muslim to Christian, Black to White. So many people everywhere you look, on every surface, draped across fountains and staircases, lined up along sidewalks and in front of Churches. Outside of the National Gallery there are so many people you can see nothing but people as far as the eye can see. While I was there, they had a giant chessboard set up outside the national gallery with people playing, and pieces large enough that both black and white had two girls to move their pieces to the appropriate square. There is also a large pinnacle devoid of sculpture in lieu of having a real life person up there for hour long sessions to talk about whatever they feel like, just jabbering away to those standing below.
I'm afraid I have to go now, but I will be back to
tell you a little more about my London experience... stay tuned 😊
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Maggie
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woof
woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof(I'm glad you are home, mom)