Central London is bustling. Running down the escalators I notice my tube arrive. Still running, I hear beeps and as if on cue, I launch myself into the carriage. My bag is stuck in the door as I am pushed and shoved, surrounded by sweaty businesspeople desperate to get home. There isn’t a drop of space left until we spill out onto the platform at Waterloo. Just another day in London.
Walking through town there is a sense of urgency and importance that you cannot ignore. Everyone has somewhere to go, some place to be. Nobody has time to dawdle and if you do, for a moment, forget that you are in London and start to slow down, wondering at a leisurely pace… You are overtaken. Trampled.
Don’t dawdle in London! Don’t you have somewhere to be?
The beauty of London is your total invisibility to everyone else. No one cares who you are or where you are going. You are left to your own mind, where you can be as unidentifiable as you like. In London you can remain hidden from the world, totally unnoticed.
Back at home treading the cobbles of Kent, I pass families window shopping alongside Canterbury Cathedral. Filling the streets they take their time as they decide where to go for lunch. ‘Don’t they have somewhere to be?’ I ask myself. London life is catching.
So next time you take to the streets, embrace how unimportant you are to everyone else. After all, London’s a big city, and there’s nowhere I’d rather be.
Side note: if you fancy some of London’s finest Gelato and Coffee there’s a querky little cafe in Covent Garden called La Gelatiera. You can choose from white milk, 50% or 75% cocoa hot chocolates!
Changing Perspective. 