My second day in London I walked up and down the riverside and crossed the Thames many times, on various bridges. It was quite a day. I must have spent 12 hours on my feet! Quite crazy.
After gaping at the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, I crossed Westminster Bridge remembering Wordsworth. I doubt if Wordsworth would still say "Earth has not anything to show more fair...". The view from the bridge was non existent thanks to all the plastic billboards for the tube - hardly what he had in mind.
There were lots of places I had read about in the many books we devoured as kids. I was highly kicked to see Hyde Park, especially the Speaker's Corner where on Sundays anyone can hold forth on their pet peeve. Ring any bells, fellow Wodehouse fans? My favourite association with Speaker's Corner is Bingo Little in a false beard joining a communist rant because he wants to impress the girl he loves (one of the many!), who is communist. Bingo of course is desperate to hide his patrician background by railing at the aristocracy.
Heard of Ganga Jal? London has something similar - Canada water. Just kidding...obviously not! Canada Water I discovered is this region of London on the south side of the Thames. A cousin lives around there so I had to take the tube to the Canada Water station. Odd name. Wonder if they got water from Canada...just like Madras gets water from Andhra.
What is with the British love for silent letters and such? I was planning a trip by train to Salisbury. Stonehenge is easily accessible from Salisbury, you see. I kept pronounciating it as Salisbury, just like its spelt. Logical, I thought. Then I heard the train announcements and the guy was calling it Saulsbury! I should have just called it New Sarum. Apparently that was the original name of the town.
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