Week 3 Impressions by Leah Wyllie

Transportation in London

My favorite thing about visiting new cities is learning to navigate. Knowing where I am going makes me feel so powerful. Here in London, I have been spending a decent amount of time on Google Maps and studying the tube routes. In the past month, I have made a few important observations about walking and using the public transportation in London.

The first days of walking in the city were certainly interesting. As you may know, traffic in the UK operates in the opposite direction than traffic in the US. Thus, the thought of crossing the street was initially daunting. I have actually found that it is not so bad at all. Most roads have medians separating the lanes of traffic, so one can scuttle across one lane to the median and stop to take a sigh of relief before attempting to make it across the rest of the street. “Jaywalking” is completely legal here, so as I started to become comfortable with crossing streets, I was able to begin darting back and forth between breaks in traffic. It makes me feel like a rebel. In fact, I often find myself so focused on watching the traffic that I do not realize that the walk light has already turned green. Some intersections have zebra crossings (pronounced “zeh-brah” not “zee-brah”). The most famous of zebra crossings is probably the one pictured on the cover of The Beatles’ album Abbey Road. At zebra crossings, cars are required to stop for pedestrians; however, I find zebra crossings the scariest of all crossing points. London drivers are similar to American teenagers in that they slam the breaks suddenly. The technique that I have found most useful at zebra crossings is to ignore the urge to brace for impact and to just go for it. It may look like the car is not going to stop in time, but so far, it always has.

For whatever reason, I used to think that double-decker buses were mostly used for city tours, so I was surprised to discover that double-deckers are very much the regular bus here in London. I must confess that I have only rode the bus a couple times. The first time I boarded the bus, I went straight for the upper deck. For me, the weirdness about riding a double-decker bus does not stem from being above the rest of the traffic, but from the idea that there is no bus driver at the front (he or she is downstairs). I would liken the experience to that of a roller coaster minus the upside-down loop.

I love the tube. London’s underground is much cleaner and much easier to navigate than the subway in New York City. Weekends, however, have proven to be problematic as at least two lines have been closed each weekend that we have been here. When one line closes, people have to take alternate routes, which usually results in craziness as everybody tends to choose the same detour. Everybody crowds at the entry to the platform in order to fight for a spot on the next train. Once on the train, people do not fill in the aisles, so there is a clog of people near the door. It is very cozy and awkward at the same time. At one point, I was completely flat between a stranger and the wall, struggling to keep my face from coming into contact with the germs on the side of the train. This may sound like a nightmare, but these occurrences have been some of my favorite moments. When riding a full tube with classmates, there is always lots of laughter-especially when we fall on each other.

The Lewis and Clark students in London are very lucky to be in such a wonderful city. When walking around, there is always something amazing to see, and when the destination is too far for walking, we have an amazing transit system that takes us wherever we need to go. Whichever mode of transportation we choose to employ, we are guaranteed a new experience of some sort.