Mrs SC and I have been in England. We went for my mother’s 100th birthday, but before the party, we spent a couple of days as tourists in London.
It’s two years since we’ve been out of Sweden, and exactly two years since I was last in London. We stayed at a hotel in Bloomsbury. Mrs SC has decided this the part of London where we are going to own a house. (If we ever achieve the financial status of a Russian oligarch.) The first evening we walked around and took photographs in the fading light.
London from a bus in the rain
The next day, our only full day in town, we went sightseeing by bus. We caught a number 91 from Euston Station, changed at Aldwych (a number 11), and on through Westminster. In a double-decker bus we thought we’d be able to see more, and indeed we could. On both buses, we climbed to the top floor and sat in one of the front window seats looking out over the street and the traffic.
Oh, the traffic! While the number of people, tourists, around in London is definitely down on the numbers we both remember from previous visits, traffic seems to be just the same as ever. The buses, but especially the number 11, stood almost still in traffic jams; creeping forward, stopping, creeping forward, stopping. From Kingsway and Aldwych, all along the Strand to Trafalgar Square, then down Whitehall to Horse Guards. On to the Victoria Embankment, past the Ministry of Defence and New Scotland Yard, around the Houses of Parliament and Parliament Square. It wasn’t until we passed Westminster Abbey that the traffic picked up.
And it rained. It rained and rained, and though we could see, yet we couldn’t see. Under the circumstances there was nothing to do but take out the camera and try and photograph London through the distorting rain. At least we stayed dry.
Still, we visited London.
(And if you want to know how to get about London on the buses, here’s a good place to start.)
