My first trip to London

Well, with the Olympic fever having swept the country and in fact the whole world, I found myself away from all the fun and frolics tucked away in a corner in Southampton, struggling to join bits and pieces and give some shape to my dissertation due for submission next month. Having gone through the posts by Robin and Jo, I can indeed get a clear impression of the marvellous spectacle that I missed. In fact, at one instance whilst watching the great show by Danny Boyle during the Opening Ceremony on television here in Southampton, I was so overtaken by enthusiasm that I remember telling my wife that I might have to live with the guilt throughout my life that I missed this spectacular event even though I was here in the UK. Well, she dismissed my remark as another melodramatic act from me which I sometimes use to my advantage when I realise that I stand to lose an argument.

I am sure London was bedecked to dazzle the world, looking its best ever. At least, that is what I can make out through numerous media reports and why not? London, hosting the 2012 Olympics, has been the centre of the world’s gaze. But I won’t be talking about how London looked whilst it was ready to welcome the world anymore. Here, I will talk about my first trip to London, a city I always wanted to visit since my childhood.

Last year in October, I stole some time from my normal mundane routine of weekends spent over assignments and course work to spend a day in London and yes, I do have very fond memories of my first visit. My brother, who was working on an assignment with British Telecom in Glasgow last year, had coaxed me to come over to London to spend a day in the city of dreams. I boarded the train from Southampton Central to London and was overtly excited. A comfortable ride of an hour and a half and I reached London Waterloo station. The first look of the station with hundreds of people swarming across reminded me of Mumbai…. the only difference that hundreds are replaced by thousands in Mumbai. I believe that every city has a character and character is never built in a day.

So, the first stop of my London visit was Buckingham Palace, the abode of the Queen. The building is magnificent and stands tall and proud with people peeping through the iron bars to get a good shot with their cameras. We spent almost an hour there taking photographs and admiring the Palace before we started off for Trafalgar Square. Needless to mention, many Indian movies, Bollywood movies to be precise have been shot in London and each one of them has one thing in common, Trafalgar Square. The view not only brought back the memories of the Square as seen in so many movies, but sitting on the steps below the National Gallery one can't help but think about the great heritage which the country has been able to preserve. It brought a sense of realisation of the pride that the country feels for its war heroes, the tall Nelson’s Column resplendent with that pride.

                

At Trafalgar Square

              

Watching the Changing of the Guard

We moved ahead and crossed the famous residence of the British PM, 10 Downing Street. A brief stop before we reached Big Ben, the clock tower, an imposing piece of marvel and architecture and one of the most prominent symbols of London and perhaps the UK. We walked across Westminster Bridge and took almost an hour posing and clicking snaps of each other. Since then, I must have visited London at least a dozen times and every time I make it a point to visit Westminster Bridge and Big Ben. Every time I end up posing and clicking snaps the same way as the other, and every time I feel the same excitement and enthusiasm.

                     

Posing at Westminster Bridge

The walk along the South Bank was equally mesmerising. The view of Westminster and Big Ben from across the Thames is one of the most beautiful sights in the world. By now, we had walked a lot but there were no signs of fatigue or exhaustion. In fact, visiting these beautiful places had filled me with added vigour and I felt that I was still getting warmed up.

As we walked ahead and reached Tower Bridge, I realised that it was the best point of the whole day’s visit to London. After the initial euphoria of posing and taking pictures, both of us found ourselves relaxing and just looking at the bridge. My brother, who is four years younger than me, said that he wanted to show me Tower Bridge for a specific reason. He reminded me that when we were still at school, we had a huge poster of Tower Bridge in our study. And like a typical elder brother, I used to tell him that if he studied well, one day he would go to London and visit Tower Bridge. I almost had tears in my eyes. Life had taken a full circle. I had come to the UK as a student and he was working here. I could see a sense of achievement in his eyes and felt really proud of him. Life does take you places!

Rohit