In this thread you can see some of the photos I took in the British capital. They aren't all that special, because I was on the move all the time and barely had time to stand still.
Just what is London?
Mere words cannot express my feelings. For someone like me who hasn’t travelled all that much and far, especially not in the recent years, it took the carpet from under my feet. From the moment I arrived (four hours late – thank you, British Airways!) to the departure Heathrow (one hour late – thank you, British Airways!), I was stunned and mesmorized, like living in in a dream. I’m an urban junkie, someone who feels odd pleasure from all things urban - whether it be architecture, city planning, trams or just a crowd of people on the street – so the trip was pure 100% “shock and awe” for me, amazing experience following another.
London quite simply changed the way I perceive the world. Nothing will ever be quite the same for me.
Clouds over the Baltic Sea
Above London’s suburbs – the sky was dotted with airplanes waiting for their turn to land
Above all else, I was amazed by humankind’s ability to create such a grand urban environment, a place where people from all ethnic groups and religions live side by side. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from – even if you happen to have been born in the Siberian steppes as the bastard child of a Chinese prostitute and a Kenyan short distance runner people still seem to consider you to be just as much Londoner as some Cockney from East End. Despite the fact that everything in London was so out of this world and grand, I immediately felt “at home” there. According to some statistics, only some 50-60% of the people of London are “white British”.
I'm not saying there aren't problems like racism or social injustice, but nonetheless it's a true world city.
No, that's not milk Jonas and I have had for drink.
For one evening, Jonas organised a small meet with two other people from the message board we knew each other from - Thomas (a Lithuanian who emigrated to London few years ago) and Marcus (a proper Britt). While we were waiting for Thomas to show up near the Leicester Square tube station in Soho, a metallic voice behind us said all of a sudden: "Good evening gentlemen."
We paused, looking at each other thinking “What the fuck was that?” It seemed as if the voice had come from a metallic column mounted on the street. It had a bright red light - a camera that was eerily similar to the eyes of HAL, the computer from 2001: Space Odyssey.
Marcus walked to the thing and said, "Who are you? Who's there?"
"I'm a talking lamp post."
"Really? Where are you?"
"I'm a guy stuck inside this lamp post."
"Really? That must be so cool."
A down-hearted sigh. "Not really."
"Can you see us?" Marcus asked.
We looked around, paranoid.
"Yeah, I can see you the three of you. So, what are you planning
to do, mates?"
"Do you know any good places to go?"
"Depends. What are you looking for?"
"Cheap beer, nice girls, good food... and the place should
somewhere near here," Marcus explained.
A beat.
"Are you into drugs?"
"Uh . . . no."
"How can you expect to get all four without drugs?"
Marcus and the “Talking Lamp Post” – photo taken with my cellphone
Quickly afterwards Marcus explained that "the talking lamp post" - ie.
camera-mounted speaker/microphone system - was used for controlling cars’ entry to a pedestrian street. I wonder if the same guy in the control room often plays the trick for weekend partygoers. The whole psychedelic encounter was quite memorable.
After hooking up with Thomas we went to eat at a fancy Indian restaurant. Around midnight we ended up at Marcus' place drinking beer and talking about a variety of subjects, including:
- EU integration, agricultural subsidies and the lack of proper
R&D funding for Europe
- European future in general
- Bridgette Bardot
- the message board we knew each other from
- American hegemony and Niall Ferguson's book "Colossus - Rise
and Fall of American Empire"
- Racism and prejudice
- Investment and corporate culture
- Asian porn
Orwellian "1984"-esque main hall of Tate Modern, a museum of contemporary art
I still strongly remember walking down the nocturnal Oxford street at 5 AM, listening to Coldplay's X&Y album and jumping over passed hobos.
Or taking the tube while listening to The Smiths' "Well I Wonder" (a song that defines my trip to London for me) as it shoots through the tunnels. At the back of the compartment is a group of binge-drinking British teens and next to me stands just about the most beautiful woman I've ever seen; an Indian girl with the most perfect set of eyes and face. I was ready to cut my wrists for not bringing a camera with me for that expedition into the night.
London, I miss ya.
