First Day in London

This morning I took a double decker bus to Grant's Hill to set up a bank account with Lloyds. Following that, I took the Central line tube into London for the day. I got off at Tottenham Court Road and wandered about for a while, including Liberty's, a very posh spot selling everything from exotic chocolates to perfumes and leather handbags and scarves and designer clothing. I was mildly taken aback when I found a fairly ordinary-looking trench coat for about L450, but then I found another one for almost a thousand. Then I went outside looking for a place to eat my brown-bag lunch. I walked around for 10 minutes, but there were no park benches in sight, so I ended up leaning up against a wall, not too far from the original Liberty's storefront. A few people looked at me slightly askance as they walked by me eating my cheese sandwich and carrot sticks...funny.

Then I walked along Regent Street. I found a wonderful little place selling cashmere and wool products: kilts, shawls, jackets, scarves, blankets, sweaters. Plaids featured in many of them, with many allusions to "Scottish lambswool" and the like. I came down to Picadilly Circus and wandered through the market there, where I picked up some "Notting Hill" tea that smelled good. Finally, I walked over to Leicester Square and up to Covent Garden, before catching the Tube at Holborn station to come back to Barking.

I am struck everywhere I go by how everything in Britain is compressed compared to back home. Washrooms are by-and-large much smaller (though there is a very large ladies washroom in Leicester Square!) , and cars are smaller. Traffic lanes are definitely narrower too, which makes for slower traffic. As well, I really noticed on my way through Ilford and Newbury Park and Grant's Hill this morning that many people have either a garden/landscaped front yard OR a driveway, but rarely both. Occasionally you see a tiled driveway with a small edging of garden against the house or along a perimeter wall. I was amazed to see a few instances in which the owner had parked their car almost parallel to the road (just at a slight angle) and the 10 x 10 foot box (maybe less) of front yard was just barely big enough to contain the car, never mind anything else. Certainly I haven't seen a single garage since I've been here, never mind a huge three-door garage that juts out, dominating the house. The tube in the Central corridor is also very space-economical. It's probably about 7--maybe 8--ft high at the centre, but curves down towards the sides to create sort of an egg-shape. The doors themselves curve inward at the top, and the tunnel itself is just large enough to let the train through. Toronto's subway tunnels are extremely spacious by comparison.

Well, that's probably enough for now. Until the next post, adieu.

J