Tubing and Training, English-Style

Before moving on to my Day 2 adventure, I thought I would share my experiences on London and England’s transportation situation--very impressive!

I love Vancouver and Canada, but we have a LOT to learn about how to make transit work seamlessly and smoothly.  The Tube is absolutely amazing--it’s quite extensive and not only covers London but the outer areas of London as well.  You can literally get across the city in minutes, you just need to know what line you’re getting on and which direction you’re going, or else you’ll get whisked away into oblivion.  I kid you not, within a day, I was a pro at the Tube.  Within a few days, I was giving tourists directions, showing them how to use the swipe thing, and how to read their Tube map with all the pretty coloured lines everywhere.  Add a British accent and remove my camera, and I could have been a local.

If you are anywhere near claustrophobic, that could be an issue, given it feels initially like you are taking journey to the centre of the earth.   When I bought my London Pass (it’s for attractions), I received a travel card with it, which allowed me to travel on the Tube, anytime and anywhere, for 6 days.  Once that card expired, I switched to an Oyster Card which you fill up with GPB and with one quick swipe, the turn-style moves, and away you go--it’s that easy.  I also had to remember that I needed to pull out my Oyster Card when I want to leave the station as well, which is a bit weird--the first time I left a station, I kept trying to force myself through the metal bars, until one of their kind transit police rescued me from the humiliation.  

I did find that during rush hour, you had better know where the hell you are going, ie. which direction and to what station, or else you will just be carried away with the crowd.  It was like watching a finely choreographed dance--there was no room for error, and if you did slip up, it was not tolerated by the crowd, tourist or not.

Unlike our sub-standard Skytrain in Vancouver, the Tube trains call out the station way in advance.  With Skytrain, when the station name is called out, you should be getting up and ready to get off.  So when I employed the same strategy on the Tube, I looked like a right idiot getting up and fighting my way to the door, only to be standing their for another 3 or 4 minutes.  Oh well, the camera around my neck was a dead give-away that there was a tourist in the house.  

The stations and the trains themselves were ridiculously clean, and you always feel safe given there are cameras everywhere (not only in the Tube stations but all over the city).  There is “the voice” which you hear in the stations, usually saying “mind the gap”, and rightly so--sometimes the gap is huge between the platform and the train.  I assumed the voice was a pre-recorded thing, until one morning I had come down to the platform, only to find out that I had just missed the train.  I stood in the doorway where people come and go from the platform to find something in my bag, when the voice said “please clear all exits and entrances”.  As I looked up in disbelief (it was said almost immediately after I stopped in the doorway), the voice said “yes, you” and I was shocked, and so were the people around me.  Someone told me that they’ve never heard “the voice” talk to an actual person before, so I quickly retorted that the voice has never met me before.

Half of my trip was spent taking day-trips out of London, so I bought a Brit Rail pass before I left Canada so I could get around.  I’m just not a tour-group kind of gal--I want to be in charge of my time spent at places and be able to come and go as I please.  Just like the Tube, the trains were fabulous.  The train stations themselves are huge, and a little intimidating until you figure out how it all works.  There’s a central electronic board with all the trains, times, and their destinations.  I vigilantly used National Rail’s website (now they have an iPhone app) that helps you figure out what train you want to go where and all the times of the trains--it was so easy to use, so when I got to the rail stations, I knew exactly what train I was taking and when it was leaving.  What I didn’t realize at first, is that they don’t let you board the train until about 10 mins before it leaves, and when it says it’s leaving at 9:12 am, it leaves right on time and waits for no one, including me. 

The trains are very nice--practically new, and no switching back and forth on the track (see my Toronto train ride from hell blog).  And even better, there was hardly anyone on them, and I went mostly at the early morning hours too!  I did figure out that they have these lovely cars called the “Quiet Zone”...ah, just like the special room on the new BC Ferry boats--no cell phones, no noise, and most of all, no kids.  It took me a few rides to find the Quiet Zone, but once found, there was no turning back.  

I met some really nice fellows that worked for the various railways...the conductor who stamped my rail pass the first day of my travel was kind enough to stamp it so I got an extra day--I think I may have had some Lululemon cleavage going on that day.  I also met a more than helpful fellow in uniform  on the platform at Clapham Junction, where I went  from Windsor to Hampton Court--hey, I was lost and needed help making sure I was on the right train (wink wink).  Unfortunately, he lived too far away from London or else a date would have ensued for sure.

As busy as they were, I found the rail stations to be wonderful and terribly romantic.  And as much as I wanted to be wearing a dress for all of my train rides, I went with the more practical approach, especially given my end destinations required a significant amount of walking and stair-climbing--there's no way a Betsey dress would have survived.  

I loved every minute of traveling in London, under London, out of London.  The best part was disappearing out into the English countryside where the views were, at times, absolutely breathtaking.

Take a look at my little video...

http://www.youtube.com/user/DeniseLevineCreative?feature=mhee

London - Day 1 - Lost in History

I can’t even begin to explain how much planning I put into this trip, in fact, I really feel that I could land a career in the travel industry after this one.  Who am I kidding--the planning was half the fun, for every Saturday morning during the months prior, I spent researching where I wanted to go and why.  Learning the intricacies of everything in my scope of interest was awesome, and when that plane landed at Heathrow, all my preparation was ready to be put into motion.

I’m so grateful for having the ability to fall asleep anytime, anywhere--so having a long sleep on the plane for the bulk of the trip allowed me to end up on London’s time zone fairly quickly.  I think if you don’t make a concerted effort to do that, then you’ll end up messing up your first few days, and there was no room in my schedule for that!  

Before I left Canada, I purchased my Brit Rail pass--it came with two tickets for the Heathrow Express.  Brilliant--15 mins from the airport into Paddington Station--that’s a fast train.   True to its name, Paddington Station had a Paddington Bear kiosk, and when I arrived there I thought of my friend Tara who lived right near the station when she lived in London (how lucky was she!).  It was so easy to find everything, including the taxi that took me from the train station to my hotel.  The taxi ride was a little frightening to say the least--not only are they driving on the wrong side of the road, but everyone there drives like a maniac (I know that might be the pot calling the kettle black)--I’m pretty sure I had my hands over my eyes for a good part of the ride (mmm...similar to my passengers).   

The hotel was on Northumberland, which is one of streets that off-shoots from Trafalgar Square--a more than perfect location!  My hotel was awesome--thanks to the internet now, nothing should be a surprise when you arrive. I literally walked into my hotel room, did a quick check of place (it was fabulous, with good, usable bath stuff too) changed, threw my camera around my neck, and with my handbag over my shoulder, away I went for a trip down Charing Cross Road, heading for the British Museum.  Sounds easy enough, right?  

Lord Nelson's Column

As I walked towards Trafalgar Square with map in hand, I quickly realized that everything was WAY bigger in reality from what I imagined, and it didn’t matter which way I turned, there was something to take a photo of--it was wonderful but confusing at the same time.  Lord Nelson’s column, the Lions, The National Gallery, the fountains, and the ship in a bottle...all amazing!  I could not believe the amount of people around--New York has nothing on London.  Tourists could be spotted at every turn, and from all over the globe as well (the Italians really stood out with all their shouting and arm waving).  I also learned through experience that pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way there and more importantly, I learned to not copy what other pedestrians were doing--I was honked back onto the curb many a time.  

Once I left Trafalgar Square and made my way down Charing Cross Road, I soon discovered that there are no street signs anywhere--there may be an occasional sign on the side of a building, but that was it.  So naturally, within minutes, I was lost.  It’s not all London’s fault for not having proper signage--I will take some of the blame since all it took was me catching a glimpse of a bunch of cute little book stores on Museum Street, and I strayed from my beaten path quite willingly. 

  

Cute Little Pub

Even though the British Museum was my destination, I was getting a bit peckish for a bite to eat.  There is certainly no shortage of pubs in London--they are so full of character, adorned with gorgeous hanging baskets and merry people spilling out into the streets.  But they are also so full of food that seemed a little artery-clogging and anti-happy stomach for me.  I needed to be fit for my museum excursion and for the rest of the trip, so I promptly passed on the pub food and reach for my protein bar instead.

And alas, I arrived at the British Museum.  The facade of the gigantic building is fashioned after an ancient Greek temple, with Ionic columns and all--so once I took a few photos of the building itself, I headed inside.  I will say that my hat is off to London for making the entrance to many of their museums free of charge, and this one was no exception--what a great way to allow everyone to enjoy.  I had already made sure I had downloaded Rick Steves’ audio guide for the museum onto my iPhone and away I went. Apparently my agenda did not match Rick Steves’ agenda.  I wanted to see Egypt and Greece, two places that really resonate with me by way of history and culture.  So, after fighting with the audio guide out loud with a lot of “no, no, I don’t want to see that, I want Egypt” and after receiving quite a few odd looks from other visitors, I decided to abandon Rick’s voice and just wing it.  

Words can’t describe the things I saw--knowing how far back the artifacts, statues, carvings, etc. dated back to, and the history surrounding them--I was in total awe.  Now, there is a specific rule of “don’t touch”, and rightly so--who wants someone’s greasy fingerprints to ruin something that is thousands of years old?  Well, it took everything I had to not touch, even with clean hands, but I made sure I didn’t because I respected what I was looking at too much.  When you believe in the laws of energy like I do, you want to take full advantage of that concept when you’re with historically significant items, so instead, I got as close as I could without setting off an alarm or alerting security (those who know me would be surprised that didn’t happen).  I did however, manage to give a lecture to a family from France who were about to stick their little French fingers all over a statue of Sekhmet--not on my watch, mon amis.  

Column from the Erechtheion (Greece)

I had mixed emotions as I walked through the museum--much of what was in there didn’t belong there--the Parthenon friezes, the statue of Rameses II, one of the columns from the Erechtheion--they belonged with the buildings or the area they came from.  But I had to get past that--everything that was in there was well taken care of and there for people to learn and enjoy, and that made me happy.  The best thing of all was being so close to so much of the history that I love.  I also felt that I should have been made an honorary curator of the museum since I was able to gather a small crowd as I described how the Parthenon was built (I originally wanted to become an architect).  Somehow, it came to light with the group that my profession was that of a Financial Advisor and naturally another 5 minutes was spent discussing the global economy--the irony being we were standing in the Greece section.

  

Crazy lunatic M&M before the attack

After I took a few photos for other tourists outside the museum, I slowly made my way back towards Trafalgar Square, passing by Piccadilly Circus.  “Circus” is a British name for round-about but I can certainly see why it’s called a circus--very cool spot though--lots of people just hanging out and having fun.  I was chatted up by a few different locals and it was great--I’m such a sucker for that British accent!  I did make the mistake of stopping briefly in the M&M Shop, and was immediately attacked by a giant yellow M&M.  It took three people to pull him off me--I have no idea what the hell happened there--I know I am starved for male affection at times, but geez, that’s a bit much.

I soon found myself back at Trafalgar Square only to find that there were about six roads that come off of that supposed square (it looks more like a giant circle to me), and I knew my hotel was down one of them (remember, no street signs).  After a few tries, I eventually found the one that I needed, and up to my room I went.  I was going on a protein bar all day, so now I was ravenous but too exhausted to go out.  So, what did I find, but a great place called Deliverance.  Instead of a creepy redneck Burt Reynold’s movie, this was a food delivery service that delivers their delicious food right to the hotel.  I noticed that the British like to use peas in a lot of their food, so I ordered a few different items, most of which had peas in them, and scooted downstairs to the lobby once the giant bags of food arrived.  Needless to say, I had dinner for the next night as well.  I always request a little fridge in my room when I travel so I can do stuff like that.  True to the rumor that the food there is expensive (but plentiful), I paid the delivery guy and had a little pea-orientated feast up in my room while watching Chicken Run on the telly.  I recorded my voice notes shortly after (best way to track a vacation as usually there is no time or energy to write), and away into dreamland I went, only to wake up to another incredible day.

Stay tuned for Day 2 in London:  Kensington and Trouble with the Law at the Marble Arch.

England - Loving all things British

Starting my series on England today is quite timely given the London 2012 Olympics have just begun!  I took a trip to England for the first time last year, and fell in love--with its history, architecture, mysticism, people, and the list goes on...I loved everything about it.  It’s hard to put into words why I felt such a strong connection to a country that in my 41 years have never laid eyes on before (maybe it was because of the tarot card reader I saw before I left who said in a past life I was part of the British Monarchy in the 1500's--y0u never know...).  I cried when it was time to come home, and not just because the vacation was over--being steeped in a fantasy and then being yanked back into reality is never any fun.  

And so, after two and half weeks, and 4000 pictures later, I have an amazing story to tell about my travels throughout England.  I travelled alone--it’s best that way for me given I probably would have driven someone crazy with the amount of things I wanted to do and see, all within the span of such a short time.  Being the huge history and architecture fan that I am, I lost my mind there--it was absolutely incredible, and was indeed a trip I will never forget.  

Thanks to my existing mind-set of “I don’t care what anyone thinks about me” coupled with the mentality when I arrived of “I don’t know anyone here”, well, let’s just say it all made for an adventure worth writing about.  I hope you enjoy reading about my journey!