A Love Letter

I admit I've fallen in love.  And no, it's not to Henry the Fifth, nor is it Richard, the handsome young man from Kensington Palace who played a game of Go Fish with us.

I.  Love.  The Tube.

Otherwise known as the Underground.  It runs underneath all of London, and the best part about it is that it's incredibly reliable.  During peak daytime travel hours, you don't need to know a train departure time so much as you just need to go to the appropriate platform and wait a few minutes.  The longest I've had to wait was 5 minutes before a train showed up.

This is great for me, since I'm eternally late for everything.  When there's no schedule to keep track of, there's no such thing as late! You just need to make sure to leave enough time for travel.

Of all the things about London that I'm going to miss, the dependability and ease of the tube is going to be the biggest.  I wish I could take it home with me.

Most Londoners have what's called an Oyster card (no idea where the name came from).  It's an all-in-one travel expense debit card that works for your tube, bus, boat, and National Rail rides.  You just put money on it, and you're good to go.  The drawback is that the tube is more expensive than other modes of transportation - they gave us 70 pounds on our Oyster cards when we got here, and I'm down to 15 pounds after 2.5 weeks.  Then again, we do travel a lot.

The really strange thing is that the people on the tube are so quiet.  There's not a lot of talking - everyone keeps to themselves, but are also very aware of what's going on around them.  That observation alone greatly contributes to my respect for Londoners.

And yes, they do have these adorable reminders to "Mind the Gap" everywhere.  Those Brits - so courteous.

If I had more time (and more money on my Oyster card), I would love to collect pictures of all the tube stops around the city.  They're all so unique (see my picture of the Baker Street station in my post about Sherlock Holmes); our "home" station is Tottenham Court Road, and the walls are covered with bright, abstract mosaics.

While I wish I could take advantage of the Tube back in the States, but I have to say, I'm also really looking forward to getting on my bike again.