Another Motherland: Tales of a Yankee in London

I'm writing this now back at my kitchen table in Sweden, but nevertheless, a story is a story, whether or not it's told from within the place or outside it. So here it is, a recap of my first trip to London...

The Kinetica Museum wrote me telling me that, as an intern, I'd have to volunteer ten days in early February to be there for the Fair's assembly, pre-shows, public debuts, and disassembly. Naturally, I wanted to see the whole process, so I hit up my friend Ali in class for any possible connection to London. As an old Hackney Downs resident herself, she quickly connected me to her adorable friend James, who graciously let me kick it on his couch off of Rectory Road for the entire trip. Combined with the five pounds-a-day compensation the museum gave me for travel expenses, my room and travel was needless to say minimal for the loveliness that I experienced in this grand, old city.

London, as I quickly learned, is fast. The first day in, it occurred to me that despite living in Seattle, Boston, and Chicago (Gothenburg's really not a bit city), all of these cities were nothing compared to London. I imagine it's on the same degree as New York City, but much, much older. Everywhere, you get the hint of a rich and domineering past; several times, I was nearly hit by oncoming traffic and people because I either...

• ...recognized something from a history book (Westminster Abbey; Darwin and Newton's tomb!)
• ...saw something old and controversial (Benin Bronzes, Pantheon sculptures)
• ...saw another Potter reference
• ...heard another hilarious British accent on the wind
• ...didn't remember people drive on the other side of the road

All in all, fantastic. Diverse, grubby, fast-paced, old, and decorated with pubs. Wonderful.

Here, like my other posts, is a link to the Picassa Album where I visually recorded this crazy experience.

Each morning, I'd take the National Railway into main city, where I'd transfer to the Underground. Julian, my friend from Barcelona, gave me his old Oyster card (train card) so I could load and ride whenever I wanted with limited fees. His gift of a city map and rail map was also priceless, as I was definitely that tourist on the platform trying to determine which way was east... But ultimately, the commute was about 40 minutes each way, and during rush-hour (and what a rush hour it is!), I was often getting some kind of comment on the train about where my "cute accent" was from while stuffed against the glass.

I didn't have much time to really sight-see with the Fair going on (look for blog post later; there's simply too much to tell), but I did try to get to a couple things.

• the Tate Britain (marvelous adult after-hours program, Late at Tate. having wine in the cavernous, neo-roman halls of this old museum was strangely dignifying and blasphemous at the same time)
• the Tate Modern (Ai Weiwei's exhibit on Sunflower Seeds almost brought me to tears---marvelous)
• the British Museum (literally a textbook museum; epic, encompassing, and filled with stolen treasures, hehe)
• the Science Museum (ineedtogobackineedtogobackineedtogoback--fantastic)
• the Wellcome Collection (an interesting fusion of art meets medical science meets culture meets history meets cabinet of curiosities meets high-commerical-grade cafes and bookshop)

Other highlights: Big Ben (yeah, I know), Westminster bridge, the original Watson-and-Crick model of DNA (!!!), Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station (granted under construction, but still, it counts), House of Parliament, Brick Lane and Commercial Street, red double-decker buses, The Anchor and getting a pint with new Irish friends, and Shakespeare's Globe Theater.

The eats were good, too. Whether it was the fantastic, "oh-my-god"-inducing Indian food of Rasa Restaurants or a cold meat pie and mulled cider on a darkened curb of Borough Market, London certainly had enough food to keep me fed in between. Not as good as Spain...but cheap and everywhere and delicious.

Anyway, it was definitely a fantastic introduction to life in the United Kingdom. While there, I also booked my tickets to Dublin and Glasgow, so soon, I'll be experiencing more of these massive islands---you and I both can look to the comparisons.

But now, I must write about Kinetica, because after all, that's what started this whole mess...