So much so that I can’t even begin to think straight, or put it all down in the blog. I’ll be sorting out a large amount of thoughts in the coming days, as I return to Canada — I’ve just been too busy, to amazed & engrossed…
…and too damned tired from all the exploring I’ve done. I was going to try to scan a few more photos, but the cyber cafe is simply too busy. Therefore, just some random observations:
1—The Subway system is astonishing
It wasn’t hard to learn at all, and it literally goes everywhere. The Toronto Subway cars might be larger and air conditioned, but the TTC is nothing compared to this system. Just look at this map, which covers virtually all of Central London which was available to me…
The tunnels are 5 times the depth of the TTC tunnels…and the routes cover the city like a web…going out in many directions, and touching most of the suburbs.
EVERYTHING is electronic: the fares, the signs, the annoucnements…it’s run with such efficiency that it boggels the mind. It’s a stunning achievement of engineering.
As for the damage from the bombing…what bombing? Whatever damage there was is gone — everything is back to normal. The riders, the tunnels, the routes…
This system — and this city — is indomitable.
2—I feel totally at home here
No culture shock at all. No fear, no trepidation, nothing. It’s as if I’ve lived here my entire life. In six days, not only have I seen everything I wanted to (and more!), but I know my way around without a map!
It’s as if I’m in a larger, faster, deeper version of Toronto.
That’s what I believe to be the key to my comfort level in this city of cities. London (and the UK in general), is just like Toronto (and Canada in general). It simply has more history: it’s had time to adapt, grow, and develop in a way that only time can manage. If Toronto is a laid back, if sometimes brash, kid in his/her early 20s, London is a mature, if occasionally hedonistic, 35 year old.
Leaving this place is going to be excruciatingly difficult…
