charukesi June 12th, 2007
I am off to London tomorrow for two weeks for a much needed break. June has been a month of no work and sickness - after two weeks of (advised and attempted) bed rest with a terrible back, I am just recovering from a bout of throat infection and fever. Croak. Tired of sitting at home in Bombay and doing nothing, I have decided to shift the scene of action to London. That is not strictly true. I hope to do and see all that which I did not have the time and money to (mostly the latter) during my earlier stint as a student in London. From impoverished student to impoverished tourist in five years does not sound all that impressive. I know.
I did manage to see quite a bit of London, mostly by walking around aimlessly (or sitting on the upper deck of a double-decker bus - oh, the joy!) and finding things to do that were free - and London has countless such options. The parks, the museums, street performances… I spent a whole day a the Natural History Museum, mostly staring at the dinosaurs and the gorgeous interiors of the building.
I remember when Royal Opera House had the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ ballet on, with tickets at obnoxious rates. And British Petroleum (BP) had large screens all around Covent Garden, where anyne could sit on the ground and catch the ballet for free. And the good people at BP, I remember, had also provided sacks for sitting on (even free-loaders have delicate bottoms, you know) and a soft drink each. I confess that while I enjoyed the ballet immensely, what gave me more pleasure was the thought of the suckers who had paid a fortune to watch it live.
My greatest regret was not seeing the British Museum - I used to get off at Holborn station each morning and like a homing pigeon, turn left and walk towards the LSE. Not once did I make the effort to turn right and walk a few paces towards once of the world’s best museums, and free at that. Not this time, people, not this time.
I also scrimped and saved and caught a couple of plays, and a kind friend took me to watch ‘Swan Lake’ (the ballet) for my birthday. When I was depressed, which was all the time, what with the grey weather, and being alone and all those essay deadlines looming large in front of my eyes all the time, I headed to the Haagen Daz at Leicester Square (BELIEVE me, there is no depression on earth that Belgian Chocolate at Haagen Daz cannot cure). My friend and I also figured out weekend trips out of London, and got quite addicted to the idea of jai! coach from Victoria or hire a car and ho for the open spaces. I cannot honestly admit that I fully enjoyed all these activities since part of my mind was always occupied furioiusly converting pounds into rupees - and don’t snigger - I was a student on a loan. Heh! But as I said, there are enough things to do in London that come for free - and the conversion rate is easy - 0 rupees for 0 pounds.
I have a few photographs from long ago in London at my travel blog - Itchy Feet - go check them out. And while you are at it, do read a few of the other posts there! And if you are listening to me carefully, also make it a point to drop in at Itchy Feet regularly - I do write / post pics there from time to time. I will try to post a few from London - else expect lots of photographs when I am back end of the month. If you live in London and wish to meet up, goody! let’s - email me and we’ll catch up.
Head now to Itchy Feet for photographs of London oh London…
