London: Exhilarating and Exhausting

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been in London more than a week and I haven’t found the time to post. Sorry about that. All is well. We’ve just been running non-stop to museums and tours and plays. My legs are weary with the miles we put on each day. We wake up to the sound of jack-hammers and traffic and fall into bed exhausted after the curtain drops on another incredible theatrical production.

Each day begins with a plan (there is so much to do, you have to choose). Then, the real questions start:  “Should we take the RV1, the 15, or the 23?” Which bus should we take? The underground Tube is more efficient, but the busses allow you to see where you’re going, and there’s nothing like scoring a seat on the top of a double-decker bus . . . especially the front one. Seeing sights like the London Eye, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London, the brilliant theatre marquees and the many beautiful bridges over the Thames is one of the biggest excitements of being in the big city for me.

Public transportation is amazing here—with the busses, the tube, and the ever-present black cabs of London, waiting to take you anywhere at the wave of a hand. The energy level here is palpably different than energy anywhere else I’ve ever been. People move faster here. The pace is breathless as people practically run up and down the dizzying flights of steps in the underground stations and come pouring out the doors as soon as trains arrive. You feel like everyone except you knows exactly where they’re going . . . and they should have been there five minutes ago.

That happened to us last night. We had 7:30 tickets to a play (Shakespeare in Love . . . more about that later) and thought we had plenty of time to get there. But we realized soon that we shouldn’t have had that after dinner espresso! We didn’t have nearly the time we needed. We managed to score the front seats on the top level of a number 11 bus . . . but it barely pulled away from the curb before traffic ground to a halt. We inched forward—literally only inches—and stops. Traffic was so backed up, we were terrified we wouldn’t make it in time for the opening curtain. We hopped off the bus and tore down the street. We were moving at breakneck speed, passing bus after bus and taxi after taxi . . . but the crowd around us was moving at the same speed (and picking up mass as more and more people unloaded from buses like we did and hit the streets).

When we arrived at the theatre, the ushers practically lifted the tickets out of our hands and practically carried us to our seats, where we dropped, exhausted and sweaty, just as the lights came up on the stage. Another experience that let us know we were truly in the big city.

I have so much more I want to share . . . but we’ve got a bus to catch!