A Week in London (So Far)

The one photo I took on my first day. Couldn't resist this shot of the architectural detail on this random building. Also, I think this picture's only been taken a couple thousand times, not a couple million.

Phew I've been in London for over a week and finally an update.

It's been pretty spectacular. There is so much to see here. I've done a fair bit of wandering around and taking in the city, including the usual settling in: grabbing groceries, figuring out the local public transit, and getting lost at least once.

At street level, London's not terribly different from Scotland. Being back in the U.K. after Ireland, I've noticed the familiar blue traffic arrows and the red post bins and telephone booths. Many of the buildings have the same style as in Edinburgh but bigger, grander.

It's when you get into the distinct neighbourhoods that things become interesting. Among the places I've seen is Camden, a characteristic shopping area a bit north of the city center. The street is crammed with all manner of shops—many of them "alternative fashion" clothing stores with such variety that you can find everything from cowboy clothes to emo gear to glow-in-the-dark techno cyberpunk outfits.

The huge and sometimes odd selection points to the fact that London has a massive population. With so many people in one place, you get enough people of the glow-in-the-dark cyberpunk strain to warrant a big store catering to them.

It seems Stuart snuck a couple of photos of my morning insomnia singing along while I played guitar.

But you don't need to look at the shopping to see that there are loads of people in London. The sidewalks are crowded during the day and monuments are always littered with people taking respite from exploring the city.

With all the tourists, I can't help the feeling that everything here's already been photographed many times over. It seems a little pointless to take that one additional shot. On my first day in London I only took one photo. I still have only a handful. To add to it, in the city I'm a little chagrin to pull out the camera and admit I'm a tourist.

One of the great things about having so many people, though, is that there's a better chance of meeting up with folks I know. Vanessa, a friend from high school and her fiancé are letting me use their couch. Stuart, the Scottish flatmate from Edinburgh, stayed in London for a week before heading for New Zealand. Lauri and Anna also came down from Edinburgh for a small reunion. Jenya finished her one-month course at LSE and partied after exams. And on Friday, Mike and I are joining forces once again before we take off for Greece.

Outside of work, it's been a relatively relaxing week of just hanging out with friends and meeting new people like the Mighty Chef Ronan. I did have a splendid visit to Tate Modern but I'm going to have to switch gears a bit or I'm not going to see as many sights as I'd like.