London-The City

As someone who has spent a majority of their life in that special geographic pocket situated snuggly between New York City and Philadelphia affectionatly known as the lehigh valley, which harbors such small cities as allentown bethlehem and easton, i have suprisingly spent little or no significant amount of time exploring the concret- sidewalks-man-made jungles-The City. It is important to note i've also, more than once, struggled on the side of some lonely mountain to erect a tent in the rain, praying silently, or yelling outloud if there is any suspicion of hail, for the thunder clouds to hold off just until i can figure out how to peice together the color coded poles and find the stakes for the tent. (i admire those who can build immense structures from nothing.) For these, and most likely, many other reasons i was truly intrigued by three days in a city the size of London. Edinburgh, was the first time i realized how a city can dominate a landscape and when i look at london in the same manner, it becomes a testament to the intellect and power of Man. however, like any cynical victorian I am somewhat distraught. The city is beautiful and it is an incredible center of intellectual discourse, yet riding the tube below the busy streets of london and rushing through crowded squares one senses a loss of individuality and one feels rather more like a cog in the machine than an operator of that machine or even themselves; the city. But this is all rather cliche and dull and depressing and london is just a really big amazing place with enough going on to keep a person busy for a lifetime. my three days, really more like two, and these few paragraphs will attempt (quite vaugely) to sum up everything you ever needed or wanted to know about london, england, the city, and life in general.

I suppose it began thursday afternoon when i walked down to the national express coach station in Leeds. i carried a book of plays by Oscar Wilde that i began to read while i waited for joyce, who on her way to visit a friend in kenya decided to visit friends who are currently residing in the UK. apparently, as you do. after two nights of hobnobbing around leeds involving a necessary visit to the basement, walks down briggate, an interesting spanish resturant, and watching episodes of Friends at anna's flat, we boarded a bus early saturday morning. 4 hours later london engulfed the coach. and i was never seen again...would be a good start for the making of a sci fi novel...but we just stayed with some friends in london. Saturday night: thai resturant, servers who seem to insist i order a drink, subtle flashbacks to the chinese place in edinburgh, and a play by eugene o'neil, moon for the misbegotten i belive, starring kevin spacey. cheap seats mean you see half the stage and stretch around the guy who is actually standing in front of you so he can see himself, if you wish to see any more. it was however fantastic. Sunday: awake early for tourism, buckingham palace, cafe, Charles Dickens house. i stand looking out his window at his backyard. Dickens is larger than life, his back patio was quite small. tower bridge. big ben, note the red phone booth, double decker bus and big ben all in one photo, every conception of london. art museum, natural history museum, dinosaurs, the tube, i'm in the westminster abbey coffee club. a christmas service at st. pauls cathedral. man has created his own wide open spaces contained within structures like this cathedral. much more that i've missed. Monday: millenium bridge, very cool. the globe theater, The Tate Modern. i could only wander for 40 minutes before leaving joyce to board a bus back to leeds, but in that short time saw photographs by sherman, paintings by dali, picasso, pollock, monet and wow. london is great. very expensive, very intense, a cultural conglomeration. essentially its a crazy place and i'm learning to appreciate the city. the cafes, the pigeons, the unfriendly people, the museums, the friendly people, sidewalks and dirty sidestreets, long wide broadstreets, the gritty underground, the expensive coffee(note: i don't appreciate, and never will appreciate, the expensive coffee. just on principle.), cathedrals and used bookstores, street performers, homeless, lawyers, bus drivers, kids on skateboards, bright sun reflected on steel bridges, even the rain that falls quite differently; a cultural conglomeration, london, the city, gain a new perspective, such is life.