Monday, March 19, 2012

{part 18}

The Outer Banks by The Album Leaf on Grooveshark
{parts 12345678, 9 10,  1112 1314, 151617}

the train pulled into london at about 10 am and, because we didn't know where we were going, we followed the crowd out of the station and down into the london underground. we'd borrowed some oyster cards from brian and anne, which we used to ride the tubes to oxford circus. we came up about 15 minutes later, kind of dizzily, into the bright sun and began winding our way along the streets, ducking into humungous toy stores and stopping to watch the street performers.
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people will warn you when you travel without a plan that you "don't just go to london and hop off the train and end up at big ben." they will, in a very matter-of-fact way, inform you of the bigness of london and the busyness of london and the costliness of transportation and so on and so forth. and if you're me, you will nod and say agreeable things about how you know it's probably just a silly idea, but keep your fingers crossed beneath the table for an afternoon sitting on the bridge over the river thames and under the shade of that ridiculously huge clock.
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because hoping is fine. hoping won't hurt anyone, as long as your hope isn't like a noose around your neck that will pull tight the second you don't get the thing you're wishing for; as long as your hope is more like a very large dog on the end of a leash that pulls you toward that thing and won't let you sit down until either you're there or you for sure can't be there.
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this is true of many things in life, but for me on this one day, it was all about finding big ben. so you can imagine my excitement when i took my camera down from my face after taking this picture and noticed a ridiculously large clock peeking back at me through the buildings.
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so, anyway, you know, i guess the moral of this story is that you can go to london, hop off the train, and end up at big ben--though you might meet some interesting people along the way {but more on that later}.
oh, and the other moral of the story is that hope is good. and follow your dreams and stuff. and big ben actually should be called massive ben.

20 comments:

the best part of my day... said...

Love these shots, Suzy. I was in London last year and this sooo brought back lovely memories for me. Cheers muchly.

larisaa said...

It is massive. Did you get to hear it chime? I would have told you that you could have gotten there right off the train even in all of London's bigness. Because that's what we did. We ran through the city to hear big Ben and see the castle and the changing of the guard and make it back for our flight. So, yeah. Follow your dreams and such. Pretty good advice.

Mich said...

aww! That's where I saw Big Ben the first time too (from Trafalgar Square that is... I didn't mean London haha). We were sitting up by the lions drinking mulled wine and I saw benny and FLIPPED OUT with excitement haha :) Glad you found him!

sarahannnoel said...

Oh my. My town.
I hope you loved it.

And I don't get why people act like the tube is so hard?! Of course you can hop on a train and hop off at Big Ben.

Anonymous said...

ahh this is amazing! I am going to London for the first time this summer and I'm so excited :)

Caitlin said...

This is so cool, I want to goooo! Love your photos :)

Shelley said...

Pffft! Plans when travelling are overrated. Plus, you miss all the good stuff. So much more fun to be had in exploring and getting lost. Give me a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-where-will-we-sleep-tonight-what-will-we-do-tomorrow trip any day.
(PS Gorgeous piccies!)

Suzy Krause said...

thanks. :) such a great city eh?

Suzy Krause said...

haha, yeah-- i think, obviously, it depends on what train you come in on and if you even know which way to run and stuff, and london IS quite an overwhelming city. but hey, don't knock it til you've tried it hey? PLUS, even if we hadn't found our way there, we saw so much other cool stuff, it wouldn't have been a wasted day. :D

Suzy Krause said...

such a weird moment! i love seeing things in real life that are so iconic, and in so many movies and books.
and trafalgar square is kind of awesome too, eh?

Suzy Krause said...

oh, haha, i don't think they meant the tube. they meant the train that comes in from edinburgh...like, who knows what area of town you'll be in, and how long it'll take you to get to where you'd need to be, and how much money that'll end up costing, etc etc {because we only had a couple of hours to spend there}. :) for someone who's never been to london before, and who lives in canada with its really crappy transportation system {in even a much smaller city, it would take a much longer time to get anywhere}, it would seem like quite a feat. but i'm glad to know what i know now! i'd recommend a day trip to london to anyone! i loved it!

Suzy Krause said...

you're going to LOVE it. can't wait to see your pictures!!!

Suzy Krause said...

you need to!! and you need to take pictures, because i bet yours would be gorgeous...

Suzy Krause said...

totally.
{and thanks!}

nova said...

London looks so nice! And fancy.

Jessica said...

These pictures make my heart go pitter patter! I've always wanted to visit London!

Suzy Krause said...

it IS! and crowded. like crazy. i really could only handle an afternoon there. but it was sweet. :)

Suzy Krause said...

aw thanks! you should, it's the best. :)

ktpland said...

Bit delayed reading this but glad you found big ben. I love the fact I can walk past it whenever I want - living in the big smoke never gets old :) x

Suzy Krause said...

SO JEALOUS. we could trade lives?