Sights and Sounds of London Town

Sometimes I do stupid things, like go to Stratford-upon-Avon and not take my camera. So I am procrastinating my Stratford post (among other things: cough, writing a play, cough, cough).

However, to tide you over:

I spent a bunch of yesterday wandering between Piccadilly circus and the South Bank, and found a lot of the reasons why I love this city.

1. Great signs. Dialect differences for not, Brits have a great way of putting things.
First of all, they use the wod "whilst" in every day conversation.Also, sometimes you run into signs like this. I'd love to know the story behind why this was nessecary, but the stairs were remarkably treacherous.
2. In a similar vein, restraunts and stores seem to have more creative names than I have seen in either Northfield or KC. A Chinese take-out place called "Wok and Roll" (so much word play on so many levels!!) and a houmous (which they spell funny) restaurant called "World Peas." Or this winery I saw on Oxford Street. 3. The city is a museum. Most buildings seem to be meticulously labeled with the date and under whose reign that they were built. We joke that the building build in the 1800s, which would be considered old at home, just don't seem to cut it here. I guess when there are pieces of the Roman Wall floating around, a building from 1850 just can't compete. This sign is at a construction site just outside our hostel:Even construction sites are educational!

4. The city is incredibly alive. I know I have mentioned before the sheer insanity of the place--which is a little vague--but it really doesn't seem like a city that should be able to exist in reality. And as a mouse from the suburbs, the most astonishing part is that there doesn't seem to be any attempt to regulate the insanity.

You can be walking along South Bank and then all of a sudden an elephant appears.Actually there were many elephants around the city to raise money/awareness of the plight of the Asian Elephant. Some were topical to London (the one above is a James Bond Elephant), some were whimsical, and some were just beautiful.


5. People sell everything everywhere. I was walking down the South Bank on my way to the Globe and ran into this:That is, exactly, what it looks like, tables and tables of used books for sale. I have been really proud of myself. I have only bought two non-academic books, both of which were read on my 10 hour train to Fort William and will probably get sold back to a used bookstore. However, I hope you will appreciate my restraint in not buying this:6. Finally, sometimes you can walking down the street, doing a totally mundane things like going to the theater or trying to get to class on time, and you happen upon this:

That, my friends, that is the river Thames and the Big Ben. And they are always there. They don't just bring them out for special occasions. Really.

Two Weeks Left!
Love,
The Mouse