London was our first step in our trip. After a very
busy and tiring departure from Toronto and a long flight, we found
ourselves falling asleep on a red double deck tourist bus in London.
We kept pointing out to each other various beautiful sights, only to
find that the other was nodding off.....after a few hours of this we
surrendered to our fatigue and went to our hostel to sleep.
Then,
we enjoyed London-artsy, glitzy, modern, stylish and classy-the white of
the buildings, the red of the buses, the black of sleek old cabs and
iron grill. Surprisingly, the centre of London is very cozy, with lots
of space for pedestrians, little cars, except for ubiquitous cabs, nice
riverside walks and lots of pubs where we were always served by young
Polish waiters( 2 million of which apparently left Poland with no
service, therefore all Polish restaurants are now self-serve.) Although
we did not realize this at the time, London was also great because
nobody tried to sell us carpets (like in Istanbul), or Pashmina shawls
(India) or trips to Oxford :-), nobody frisked us with their suspicious
eyes at Art Galleries (like in Budapest) and nobody dressed in
oversexed sleazy miniskirts walking in front of Clubs "Orgasm"(like in
Bulgaria) and deep cleavages are not distracting from the work of Art
(like in Italy)...bit about all these-later...
We have bought day passes and enjoyed aimless rides on London subways and double deck buses.
Stylish
attire seem to be also common amongst London's cab drivers,
police,street cleaners, road workers, bike and scooter riders...(their
favourite colours are bright red, bright yellow, dark black and white)
So,
you go around London, seeing reflections of red, yellow, black and white
in shop windows, clean car windows and your eye glasses..
We have indulged in pub hopping and fish eating (sorry, Fish!)
as
well as some art: The Portrait Gallery was such a delight! The Tate
Modern was not impressive-it was interesting how mush space there was
and how little art it contained..
there was enough art on the streets though, e.g. my favourite sculpture of a pregnant disabled woman at Trafalgar Square.
There is probably more to say about London, but I am writing this log from India, so London seem like a distant story now..
you can view more of my photos from London at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/69781927@N00/sets/72157601994010917/
Next stop on our India -bound trip through Europe was Budapest.
