London life

I have decided it is time to reflect some more on life in the big city, mostly because I am having to take an unusually strategic approach to getting to work on Sunday, thanks to the London Marathon. This has made me realise several things (in a rambly, mad-old-woman sort of way):

1. Getting in and around the city on Sundays is not usually all that challenging. Fewer buses and trains, maybe, but it's manageable. Considering the abysmal levels of local services and how depressingly early everything shuts on Sundays in the rest of England, this is impressive in and of itself. Then consider that Sunday is one of the two days off a week most people get, and how many people live and work in the city, and I'm impressed I manage to get anywhere!

2. Leading on from 1, life must be pretty hard if you live in the city centre. Where are the supermarkets? Where are the fields for impromptu football games and picnics? People must have to catch buses to get to their local pharmacy. How does anyone live like this?

3. If you take out the commuters and the tourists, the actual population must be comparatively small. Coincidentally, I think if you took all the commuters from my train route alone, you'd have quite a sizeable city's worth of people.

4. What is the point of Clapham Junction as a railway station? They're practically in London, they get tubes, and yet almost every train I catch stops there to pick up extra passengers, even on the way in.  Highjackers!

5. Why is everything more expensive in London? Do they bring it in on barges?

6. The section of the Overground I take every day runs underground, and I've been on Underground trains that have emerged from tunnels to travel overground. What is the distinction, exactly?

7. I am being asked for directions quite frequently these days. I have realised that I dress in black and usually have a bored-but-slightly-exasperated expression - I'm starting to look like a local.


That is all my ramblings for now - bed is starting to look very inviting, even though I don't have to get up in the morning (hooray!).

Goodnight!