Across the pond: Notes from London
I’ve been in London for a week now, and I’m still not sure which side of the sidewalk I should be walking on. I know which side of the road people drive on here – the wrong side; the side that makes it feel as though cars are coming from all possible directions at any given time – and I know which side of the stairs to use in the Underground stations, but when it comes to the sidewalk, any semblance of logic or order goes out the window. No matter which side I choose to walk on, I end up playing chicken with packs of tourists ambling along, businessmen striding along on a direct collision course, and women with pointy-toed shoes and determined expressions. Regardless of the neighbourhood, London’s sidewalks are a chaotic free-for-all.
It’s not just the sidewalks that seem chaotic. London feels like a jumble of smaller towns and villages melded together into one massive metropolis. The Underground stitches the city into a patchwork quilt of neighbourhoods – you vanish underground, hurtle through a series of dark tunnels, then emerge somewhere completely different, with its own style of buildings, its own flavour, its own micro-culture. And that’s what I love about it: Just as I think I’ve gotten a feel for London, I’ll round a corner and discover something entirely different and just as enticing.
A few days ago, while hunting down a pub renowned for having some of the most famous meat-filled pies in the city (this being part of a mission to taste some traditional British food), my friend and I stumbled across a district that seemed to be comprised primarily of coffee shops (the really good kind of coffee shops, not just the chains), galleries, and home decor stores. Off in East London, there’s a single street lined with brightly coloured, incredibly charming cafés, antique shops, and independent clothing boutiques tucked away into a neighbourhood of relatively nondescript homes; only a short walk away, the scene transforms into something decidedly grittier. There are edgy areas bordering swanky residential neighbourhoods and stylish streets pushing their way through relatively unremarkable business districts, with lively markets dotted throughout the whole city.
One of the things I like most about London is the way it gives me a chance to immerse myself into the big-city lifestyle that I periodically find myself craving. I enjoy the ritual of riding the Underground in the morning: the busyness, the feeling of purpose, the sense of direction and communal movement from one place to another. I like the way the sidewalks are crowded, the way the homes are packed closely together, the way I can hear trains rattling in the distance. I love the sense of history in the buildings; the way an old Tudor building, darkened and sagging slightly with age, might be sandwiched between two modern office buildings, or the way an old warehouse might find a new life as a restaurant. And I love the cultural contrasts with life back home – those subtle but noticeable differences like accents, food, and phrases – that remind me that I’m not just in any big city, I’m in London.
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