On and Off

   Give yourself at least one day in which you have no idea where you will end up or what you are going to do. Jump on the tube and get off at a stop that sounds interesting. For me, this made up most of this trip (so I'd have interesting things to put up on here). But one particular day in which the only goal I had was to buy postcards took me to some interesting places.

Trafalgar's Square

   I started out on the tube and got off when the nice automated voice lady said “Alight here for Trafalgar's Square”. So I alighted (which is my new favourite word... besides higgledy-piggidly) but I digress. I came up from the subway (which is for pedestrians, not another form of underground travel) in the middle of the square. After orientating myself I started off in, well in one direction, ended up turning around. 15 minutes later I found myself back in Trafalgar's Square on the steps in front of the National Gallery. As I ate my lunch (pepperoni bread) and enjoyed the sun I became part of London that I enjoyed the most- I became London itself. I watched as tour groups converged on school children as business suits sought seats outside to enjoy the brief sunlight and of course, the omnipresent pigeons desperate for food (or a mate, some were torn).

   As I began to write my postcards the drizzle that had been undecided finally made a decision and turned into big drops of rain. I could have gone in the National Gallery behind me, but instead I fought my way back to the underground as umbrellas grew like flowers in the square. I only went one stop before I re-emerged in Leicester Square. I had no idea where to go, but looking to the left I spied two bookstores across the street tucked in between the tourist trap stores. Knowing the rain was following me (and being the book lover I am) I slipped inside.

   Stacks of books haphazardly spilled out of boxes and off the shelves, barely staying within their own categories. Old leather bounds found themselves neighbours to last years best selling hard cover novel. Make sure you hit up the basements of the bookstores, that is where the character lurks, tucked away in a corner, their nose already halfway through a book they randomly pulled off the shelf. Plus, they are a great source for cheap book on every topic, from photography to war time heroes, to just a casual read.

   There was no time limit on the day, no time that I had to be somewhere by or meet anyone. I could choose to come and go, get on and off the tube as I wished. It was a great freedom, as well as a great way to actually get to know the lady London.