The underground (or tube, if you're a hip local like myself) can get you from across town in a matter of minutes. I've decided that I really like taking the tube - there are underground stations all over the place, and once you get the hang of knowing which line you need to be on, which way it's going, which stations to get off at to switch lines to the one you need, it's a really simple system.
Costs a lot though. A day pass on the tube costs around five pounds ($12.50NZ), but sometimes it seems to cost up to eight ($20). I haven't quite figured out how to work the system in my favour yet, but I'm sure I'll get it.
My favourite part about taking the tube is when I'm standing at the station waiting for the train to arrive. First it's just you and the tunnel. Waiting there with nothing but the muzak and posters advertising the latest musicals and denim fashions for kids to keep you company. Then others flood in to the tunnel. But the best bit is when a train approaches the platform. Before you can see or hear it, you can feel a great gush of wind from the tunnel as the train pushes the air ahead of it. That's my favourite part. Mainly because it's pretty awesome that the train makes it windy, but also mainly because it means the train is almost here.
It gets stupidly crowded on the tube during rush hour. It's often everything I can do to keep my wallet and virtue in place when you're squeezed between an overweight greek man in a singlet top (yes, they exist), a chav, and a guy in a suit. Once I didn't have a good grip on the safety handle and nearly elbowed a lady in the face. She was pretty angry, but I think I could have taken her.
If you're not in a rush to get to where you're going you can always take a bus. It's only one pound, but it's not quick - especially in town, as I discovered.
I've been staying at a friend's house in Kilburn (Camden), and it's a heck of a way to get into town, but about 10 minutes from the tube or five minutes from a bus. So one morning I decided I would take a bus into town, and see a bit of the city. I found the nearest bus stop and asked the kindly old lady if this was the bus into town. Once she ascertained that I wasn't about to rob her (people here are so suspicious!), she said that this was the bus to take into town. So I got on and enjoyed the ride. 45 minutes later, I noticed that we were going through suburbs that (on my tube map) were actually heading away from town. I looked around to find the old lady but suspect that she had gotten off the bus at an earlier stop and by now was laughing with her bridge buddies about the poor tourist she had sent off to Kentish Town.
So I got off, crossed the road, and waited for another bus - this time making sure that it went into town. After 20 minutes a great double decker arrived, so I made my way to the very top deck and sat down and watched the world crawl by.
Buses in London are slow. It seems there are stops every 200 meters or so, and the buses seem to stop at all of them. Then there's the traffic to contend with - rush hour traffic (between 10am and 2pm) seems to be the worst, and there's nothing so heartbreaking as watching people walk past you again and again - I think they do it on purpose!
This said, the bus is an excellent way to see the city from a different angle, and even gives you some idea of the topography of the city - for instance where before I might have taken a tube from one stop to another, I now know that it's only five minutes walk if I don't take the tube.
So I've been on the London overground, and the London underground. I'm kind of like a womble.
No comments:
Post a Comment