Monday, March 29, 2010

Places

It's this time of the year that makes me restless.
The reason for this, I think, is the fact that I first read "The Lord Of The Rings" in early spring, and that is the ultimate travel book, right?
So my own favorite travel time is spring, too, and a couple of years ago, we went to London.





We went to London by bus, and we took 22 9th graders along, for where would be the fun in traveling alone, right?
So this is what a teacher couple looks after a night on a bus with 22 teenagers, in Calais, waiting to board the ferry.




In good spirits, but slightly disheveled. There was no coffee, either.
Or yes, there was, but it was really bad, and it did not have the desired effect.

When we started out from home, I still looked like this.



A wee bit more awake and relaxed, right? That was at 3 am in the morning.

But we made it to London safely, and checked into our hotel north of Hyde Park, in a very nice neighborhood too,  with a Starbucks not too far away and an Indian breakfast place right next door.
I don't recall the name of the narrow street, but our place was only a few steps away from Bayswater, and we could see the green rim of the park when we stepped into the driveway.
That hotel was a hovel, really.
The first thing the kids noted when they took up residence, as it were,  were the roach traps under their beds. And the dead roaches. And the dead rat on the window sill. And the empty booze bottles in the flower pots in the tiny yard. They were housed in the basement, and their breakfast served in paper cartons.
We, being teachers, lived a lot better. Our room was clean, airy, on the second floor, and we got a full English breakfast, served in the lounge. The children thought that was unfair. I thought it was great.

This is a thing I like a lot:
Going out in a new town early in the morning.
You step outside, and there is a different kind of sound, of smell, of feel around you,  and in big cities, a hum as if the soul of the place is singing to itself.
Humming to itself in praise of its own history and in welcome of another day, and this is especially strong when the sun shines and the world looks good.
As it did when we were in London, in May.
One of our students discovered the Starbucks close to the hotel, so this is what we would do:
get a tall Latte with a double shot of espresso and a poppyseed-lemon glaze muffin, get on the bus again and let it take us to some wondrous destination somewhere in the metropolis.
The first morning, we went here:






Brick Lane, because I had read the book and wanted to see the place.
The kids, because there were bangles.




We lost these two (Cathrin and Derya) to the bangles, and the Hubby and I sweated bitter tears until they showed up again in the evening, at the hotel, after a day on the town and a visit to the Hard Rock Café.
After that, we were a lot less afraid of letting the kids go out on their own. They knew how to find their way back, and it did a world of good for their self-esteem.

We went for a ride on the London Eye.
You can't go to London these days and not do it. Honestly, the prospect had me scared shitless, but the kids would not hear of it. They MADE me go, and I'm eternally grateful.
Did you know that thing never stops and you have to get on and off while it moves under your feet, and that there is a gap between it and the outside through which you can look down into the river? True!!!



But my reward for overcoming my fear of heights was this view of the city.
It gave me the feeling that I could see all the way to Scotland and to the Channel, and despite the kids in the gondola there was a kind of silence there, too, that had nothing to do with the noise around me.
This impression I saved very well, and used it later in my novel when I wanted to describe a scene there.

Driving back to the hotel later, we went across the bridge and the kids started screaming.
On the curb, a stretch-limousine with tinted windows was parked, and out of it climbed a person that made all the girls yell for our bus to stop and please could they get out, because that was "USHER!!!!!"
To this day, I have NO idea who that is or why he was the reason for such a rage, but it was funny, and memorable, and the bus nearly tipped into the Thames.




I told them that even "Usher" had the right to spend a moment looking out at the scenery and no, the bus would not stop for them to descend on the poor guy like bats out of hell.
The same way I would NOT make the bus stop and get out, even though the girls would have loved it, every time we went by the Dorchester, which was daily, to sneak in and try to catch Neil Diamond, who was residing there at that time.
There were groups of fans hanging out outside that hotel, we could see that, but I would not be one of them.
Disdainfully, I said that. They did not understand. No matter.

This pic was taken from the riverside in Greenwich, right outside the Cutty Sark Museum.




It's not the best pic in the world, but it was taken by me, and it shows the o2 Arena, where Neil was going to perform a few weeks later. So there.
I recall that was an incredibly serene and beautiful day. We had seen the lovely village, some had gone to the Observatory (not me; I had to find and pick up some lost souls again), and there was some time to dawdle away.
So I got some coffee at Starbucks, and a lemon/poppyseed muffin, again, and sat there in the sun and watched the teenagers on their skateboards and the dome of the o2 shimmering in the distance, and I thought:
Life is good. Life can be as sweet at lemon glaze, and all you need to do is let it melt on your tongue to enjoy it.
That is all.

10 comments:

  1. A lovely travel memoir.I love your relaxed attitude to your travels and rather you than me with 20+ kids! Thanks you for sharing this with us, Mariam. Nx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Its always nice to read about one's hometown through the eyes of a visitor - a lovely blog indeed.
    By the way, the concert in the Dome was breathtakingly fabulous.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yay for London! Thanks for sharing the photos - in particular of Brick Lane. It's nice to see someone sharing my London love!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tigger: so was the one here in Hamburg! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cool trip! I'm such a homebody, I enjoy seeing and hearing about places other people visit. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Some fantastic photos; I love the one taken from the London Eye, which I'd never have the courage to go on but would so love to see the view!

    CJ xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. You should! It is a fantastic, slow and silent ride, and there's no reason to be afraid at all. I'm saying this with the authority of someone who is really, really scared by heights.

    ReplyDelete
  8. FUN! My youngest went to Germany, France (Paris) and I think Switzerland on a 10-day trip with school, and had a blast. Their rule was they could go out on their own, but only in groups of 4. I guess two can go back for help while the other two stay behind?

    He said they got caught in a downpour and popped into a laundromat to dry their clothes. One of them was a girl and she refused to take off her shirt. Gotta watch those kids!

    BTW: Usher (I had to look it up): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usher_(entertainer)

    ReplyDelete
  9. These brings back great memories of my trip to London almost fifteen years ago (I can't believe it's been that long!)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hello, Susan, glad this blog did this for you! :)
    Leslie: I'm really relieved you had to look Usher up, too.

    ReplyDelete