Not too bad in London

Today the sunshine came to greet all the city and it’s pleasantly warm, but everyone knows it’s not usually like this. I find myself lying on the freshly cut grass near Round Pond. Children joyfully play with a kite behind me and a few tourists throw a Frisbee and stop at times to take a sip of lager. The sound of these people is silenced by a few ducks showing off their singing skills as I start to fall asleep. Suddenly, it gets cloudy and it quickly starts raining cats and dogs, forcing me to get up. I rush through the side of Kensington Palace and politely greet Queen Victoria’s statue and I’m now sprinting at maximum speed. Luckily, when I reach the zebra at Bayswater Road, a black cab stops at the red light and I don’t have to wait to get into Queensway. Clearly, I wasn’t prepared for this, but I should have. After all, this is London!

It’s quite warm inside the station as it should if there’s any chance of me getting dry. The clapping of the barriers opening and closing feels like I’m already in the train. I run to catch the lift to go down as I struggle not to lose my Oyster card. Inside the lift it’s very crowded, although everyone is comfortable, almost like we weren’t really strangers. The doors open and a nice voice tells us the train is arriving and so a man bumps into me as he speeds up his pace. He doesn’t leave, though, without saying ‘Sorry, mate!’ to which I obviously reply ‘No worries!’. Inside the train, I find one of my favourite spots. I always try to strategically seat on the two middle seats, where there’s slightly more legroom. ‘This is a central line service to Hainault via Newbury Park… Pfff, mind the doors, mind the closing doors!’. At Tottenham Court Road, I get out to change to the Northern line. There’re so many people in the endless tunnel that connects the platforms, but no one is mad about it. It’s common to say that Londoners like to complain, but I only see smiles and cheerful conversations. A nice old man wearing a suit plays the Titanic’s theme song on the harp and fills the station with a tone of prestige. I’m just walking, but I feel like I’m taking little childish jumps at each step.

I get out at Charing Cross and I’m happy to see that it’s sunny again. As I go up the staircase, I find myself in Trafalgar Square. Is there anything more iconic than Trafalgar Square? It’s full of people, as usual, with many street performers entertaining the crowd in front of the National Gallery. The ones that aren’t convinced by the performances sit casually on the stairs just contemplating the view. Oh yes, they’re looking at Big Ben that peacefully rests on the horizon pointing at the Union Jack on top of it that is graciously caressing the sky. I head towards the Thames and cross the bridge to confirm that there’s the usual long line to get into London Eye. I’ve walked numerous times along the Thames knowing, nonetheless, that even so it’s impossible to ignore how honoured you feel every time you do it. After crossing Westminster Bridge and passing through Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St. James’s Park and Buckingham Palace I start feeling a bit tired. Anywhere else in the world I would call it a day and go to bed early, but not here. There’s no worse decision than calling it a day in London. So, I go to the nearest Wetherspoon to grab a Steak and Kidney pie with mash and gravy and I wonder if I shall go to Shoreditch or Soho tonight, if not both.

At the end of the day, I lie on the bed while my brain correctly processes and stores today’s memories. It was quite an eventful day. Tomorrow will most likely be like this. And every day after that. There’s nothing you can’t do in this city and you can spend all your lifetime here with the certainty that you’ll never run out of things to do or places to explore. London is the materialisation of a life well lived and there’s a lot of truth in saying that “if you’re tired of London, you’re tired of life”.