Sunday, May 17, 2009

A day late...


...but not a dollar short. It would have to be a pound since I am in London!

I love London.

I walk down the street and hear English. But it is like 31 flavors of English. And then there are all of the other languages. In 48 hours I have heard German, Italian, Ukrainian, French, Hindi, Urdu, Scottish (definitely qualifies as a different language to my ears!) and several other languages that I cannot specifically identify.

I walk down the streets and see shops. Lots and lots of shops. Shops that have things that fit me shops. Shops that have shoes that fit me shops! Really, I haven't done that much shopping. Honest. But I have enjoyed wandering into quite a few of them and admiring the styles and fabrics and such. Don't get me wrong, I like Indian clothes, but it is nice to see something different as well.

I really can't make a long list of London sights that I have seen. I have mostly just been wandering around and soaking up the city, while trying not to get soaked myself. I did enjoy the London Eye yesterday, an exhibit by Annette Messager (weirdly comic and grotesque at the same time), as well as enjoyed the Tate Modern. Fantastic museum that. I wandered back to my hotel after that and happened to catch a bit of weather. I made it about half way and realized that I was starting to get a bit soaked- so I hailed a taxi, "Where to, love?", and avoided another 30-40 minutes of walking in the rain. 10 pounds well spent.

Today I got a late start and in the end just sort of wandered aimlessly throughout Marleybone, Regent Street, Carnaby Street, and surrounding areas. The crowds were out in droves. Walking down Oxford street was a bit nuts. It was like the traffic on the streets of Bangalore except all of the autos (rickshaws) and two-wheelers (motorcycles and scooters) are people - and you have to weave your way through without getting hit. Except I think that Bangalore drivers are better at manuvering than the people I saw today!

Now I am in my "cozy" hotel room (it is quite small!) watching Eurovision. Some of these people are really quite bad. Ouch.

Here is the "Eye" view of Parliament and the Thames!

4 comments:

Maya said...

Sounds so great!

Gill said...

I love your pictures - that photography course is paying dividends! brilliant stuff, wish I could have met up with you.

Alison said...

I hope you have a great time in London. That grey sky, and grey river is making me feel quite homesick! I hope you have a plan to visit Liberty of London (to admire the architecture and vastly expensive 'objets'.

Pauline said...

Lovely pictures! Sounds like you are having such a great time. I can't wait to hear more!