(the Thames)

LONDON TOWN

I have decided my relationship with London is that of a love hate relationship. An exchange student who I study sociology with couldn't figure out, in our Cities and Social Theory seminar, why the British were not too keen on their nation's capital. I put it too her like this. London is great if you have money and lots of it. Otherwise it expensive, crowded and stressful.

If the population of 7 million was cut in half along with the cost of living then it would be much more desirable.

(Waterloo Station)

Regardless, I'm attracted to the prospect of living at least near to one of the world's infamous cities. The plan of this visit was to investigate my post degree plan to do a PGCE at Kingston University London. The prospect of teacher training scares more people than the thought of living in London! The university was in a very nice location, half an hour from Waterloo station.

(Trafalgar Square, after Ashes victory parade)

For those of you who talk about “London’s Spirit” after the attacks in July, could you please point out what exactly you’re on about? People need to use the Underground. It’s a matter of necessity not some moral protest on behalf on Londoner’s to all the terrorists out there. Believe me, if they had an alternative, Londoner’s would undoubtedly leap at the opportunity to say goodbye to the crowded carriages of the underworld, but the fact of that matter is they don’t. It’s either use the Underground or get out of London.(Lambeth North, Underground Station)

While in London, one of the people I stayed with told me about her friend who recently passed out on a train in London. She was properly unconscious, her lips turned blue. She came to, to the nightmare of Londoner’s trampling her as they tried to get on and off the train. Eventually someone did stop… an American tourist!

Indeed the only smile I saw on the underground was that of a 4 year old girl with her parents.

(Berlin Wall, Imperial War Museum)

The train home stopped at Peterborough (where I used to stop before my family left the area). A crazy old man got on the train and started attempts at a conversation with the man in front of us. Although he wasn’t interested, the passenger humoured him, much more convincingly than I could have.

The old guy starting going on about his day in Oundle – “The nicest town between York and London” - apparently. I’ve done Oundle, done York, I want to do London now.