Thoughts on London

Hello all, apologies for the atrocious abuse of the English language in the previous post, I no learn words good.

Well, I'm still down in England, I was going to be heading back to Edinburgh today, but frankly I did not wish to cut short a lovely break unnecessarily. As many of you may know I have managed to get a voluntary job reviewing comedy shows during the Edinburgh Fringe. I had thought I would need to be back by today to get everything done (I have managed to get myself 20 shows to review throughout the month), but have realised, due to some clever timetableing courtesy of my girlfriend, that I can afford to stay a few more days.

So, dear reader, you may be wondering what I have been doing with myself down here. Well, I was taken on a day trip to London this Tuesday, a city which embarrassingly enough, I have never visited before. When we initially arrived, there was necessarily a great deal of travelling around the underground as it is by far the most efficient means of getting around this labyrinthine city. It was rather unreal popping our heads above ground and seeing famous landmarks left, right and centre, buildings I had only ever seen on television, occasionally making it seem like I had wondered onto a film set rather than a real city. It was an exciting place to be, with a real feeling of bustling, unremitting, dynamic energy. I was never aware of being less than 2 metres away from anyone else at any time.

The British Museum was impressive both in the grandeur of the artifacts collected there, and the sheer scale of the building. Trafalgar Square was strangely devoid of the supposedly ubiquitous pigeons, but absolutely bustling with humans. Leicester Square felt like a cultural hub, surrounded by cinemas, West End theatres and restaurants catering to every imaginable taste (though the Italian restaurants seemed to be in dominance). There was also a certain kind of entertainment to be found in looking around the more high-end shopping districts and staring in shock at the insanity of the prices in shop windows.

We finished off the day by going to a performance of the musical Avenue Q. Based on the format of Sesame Street, including puppets and "encouraging" songs, it subverts the former's message of the "specialness" of individuals, instead focussing on the harsh fact that, when you grow up, you realise that you are no more special than anyone else, though bringing it across in a cheerful and strangely opimistic way. It was amusing in a very dark way and the performances were superb, especially the combining of singing and "performing" with the puppets. Even though the pupeteer-actors were visible throughout the show, they were non-intrusive and did not detract from the suspension of disbelief. At the end of the day, we staggered home, exhausted and sore, but happy... or possibly delerious from the pollution, I am not sure.

London appeared to be an utterly insane place, and I am still not sure whether I could live there or not, but it has a way of grabbing you and saying "Oi, mate, come back, there's still more to see 'ere". Its a place I feel I have to visit again (and again and again...) just to see if I can find out any more about this odd, unsympathetic and fascinating city.

Up next in my adventures - off to Brighton Pride! In the meantime, dear reader, stay safe and stop looking at those websites, your mother wouldn't approve.