Mind the closing doors please. . .

"Please mind the closing doors..." (The doors close... The doors reopen.) "Passengers are reminded that the big red slidey things on the side of the train are called the doors. Let's try it again, Please stand clear of the doors." (The doors close...) "Thank you."

 - The announcement on a recent tube journey in London. 

If I have learnt anything while traversing London using the Tube, it's that humour really is the only option if you intend to get home with a smile on your face and some semblance of a healthy blood pressure.

To illustrate my point, I'd like to take you on a journey of a fairly typical day out sight-seeing in London culminating in the tube ride home. Now, close your eyes and read this:  haha, just kidding. Keep your eyes open, read on and try your best to imagine it as you go: 

Now, it's getting on in the afternoon, the sun is a happily burning ball in the sky above you, and you've just spent a fabulous day in London walking around like the seasoned tourist-turned-local that you are. You've discovered new streets, eclectic stores, that amazing bakery in the dodgy side alley; you are either slightly sun burnt or possibly just flushed from all the walking; your jacket that you didn't need but wore just in case is now a lead weight over your left arm, while your handbag which is apparently full of bricks is creating a permanent dent in your right. You lost feeling in your feet somewhere around lunch time; your back is warning you that if you so much as think about walking up those stairs you're a dead woman; your bladder is nagging you like a child starved of attention, and what started off as polite hints from your head at afternoon tea time (which you ignored) have since become sincere threats that what you now need as a matter of urgency is some pain killers and a pint of cider.  

You catch sight of yourself in a shop window and wonder at what point during the day you turned into a bulldog, and it briefly occurs to you perhaps it was while you were on Oxford Street attempting to plough your way through the thronging crowd.  

You decide with questionable wisdom that it's time to make like a drummer and beat it, and it crosses your mind that it is going to be hell on the tube; but your head and feet join forces and warn, "you think the tube is going to be hell, give us half an hour and we'll double it," so you concede the point and head for the Underground. 
It is now about 6.15pm and you walk through the station entrance to join the teeming crowd and jostle your way through the gates, to be caught up by the masses and deposited on the escalator. As you descend to the depths of the tube station, a blast of slightly stale warm air greets you, signalling your arrival and that it's time to move fast or be moved. You clutch your bag and jacket in front of you like a shield, adopt a facial expression that says you know exactly where you're going and no you won't walk around them, and march on. 

Escalators at rush hour - courtesy of Google images

Having successfully found the platform you want, you stand confidently with the other commuters while running through your very simple plan: get off at Bank, take the Waterloo & City line to Waterloo. 

The train arrives, preceded by the tell-tale whoosh of hot air, and you start to politely make your way to the door, letting those next to you and with children on first. You then notice with no small amount of alarm that you are in fact further away from the door than when you started, so you throw courtesy out the proverbial window and force yourself on that baby. You spend the next few stops contemplating the interesting weave of the jacket on the elbow in front of your nose, and also wonder who is wearing that strange Kenzo perfume you tested today, while being vaguely aware that someone else's head is more or less resting on your shoulder and there might be a child hanging on to your pony tail. 

I can totally fit... - courtesy of Google images

The train arrives at Bank, the doors slide open, you manoeuvre yourself this way and that and don't so much calmly exit as are abruptly ejected from the sardine can. 
You head away from the tunnel to check which direction you need to go in for the Waterloo & City line and with a groan see signs announcing that this line is closed for maintenance. It occurs to you that this was quite possibly what the voice on the last train was announcing that you couldn't make out because the person with their head more-or-less on your shoulder was taking your hearing implements on a journey of heavy-metal discovery. 
You take a deep breath, instantly regret it, resolve to take shallow breaths from now on, and recalculate your route. 
Standing on the platform waiting to cram yourself back on a Central line to Oxford Circus so you can get the Bakerloo line, you say a quiet prayer for patience as the mother of two who is even more tired than you are parks her stroller of screaming toddlers beside you. Fleetingly, you wonder if employing the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" analogy would be any use, but your head says the pressure up there is already dangerously high, so you ditch the idea.  

Another picture just for fun - courtesy of Google images

Rousing you from your brief reverie the familiar gust of hot air signals the arrival of your train, and this time, boy are you ready. Everyone's on, the announcement to stand clear of the closing doors comes over the tannoy a few times, the warning beeps sound, the doors close... aaand then the sound of doors encountering an obstacle, followed by a grunt, is heard.  An impressive display of eye-rolls ensues, coupled with muttering and shaking heads. Just when everyone looks like they're about to take out their entire day's frustrations on the fool inserting himself between the closing doors, the guards voice comes back over the tube tannoy: 

"To the gentleman wearing the long grey coat trying to get on the second carriage, what part of 'stand clear of the doors' don't you understand?"

Followed by "Thank you," as several pairs of arms extend to tug the man in question onto the train. Since the guard has voiced everyone's frustration and suitably embarrassed the perpetrator, everyone has a chuckle at Grey-Coat's expense and the tension in the second carriage is abated. 

You hear the announcement "the next station is Waterloo" and you gratefully fall off the train and make your way out of the Underground to begin the next phase of your journey home. 

Now, tell me - wasn't that fun?!

Man I love London. 

A Valentine's Day to remember

So yesterday (Friday) was February 14th - Valentine's Day. On Thursday I decided that if everyone else got to go out for dinner, I wanted to as well; so I took matters into my own hands and called for an Awesome Foursome gathering. One of us still lives in America, and another had plans already, but the third, myself and a ring-in that we keep on standby (we love him really) made plans to meet in London for dinner.

We successfully caught our respective trains, surrounded by girls carrying over-sized (and some under-sized) bouquets of flowers that either way were quite frankly dangerous to be around if you are fond of your eyes - tulips are red, violets are blue, roses are lovely but hazardous too!
We pumped up and down escalators to get to the platforms and navigate our various ways to Leicester Square, where we had been instructed by our ever-reliable ring-in to take the exit near the ATM, turn right, walk 40 metres and enter a pub called the Bear & Staff.

I walked in the door and found myself in what I would class as a classic English Pub. Packed full of people, happy bar staff, pot plants and general mayhem; I spotted my two friends at the bar just about to order drinks - it's like they knew I'd walk in as soon as they ordered! Excellent planning on my part I must say.

We got our drinks and looked around for a table, without success. I then spotted a narrow staircase leading up, and we held a brief vote on whether or not we should venture up based on the likelihood that it led to the toilets and we would find ourselves in the awkward position of standing outside a door holding a drink, greeting people as they came out of the loo.
We decided to chance it, and as luck would have it there was a restaurant up there and a free table with three chairs just waiting for us. We wisely decided to eat there, and it was a good choice! The waitress looked relieved that our trio wasn't another love-struck couple demanding a table at no notice, and she spent a good deal of the evening laughing with us and trying to convince us to order more dessert. We liked her.

At around 10:22 I looked at the time and declared that we should get moving soon because trains would be up the creek (quite possibly literally) and the sooner we got on one going in the right direction, the better.
We all went back to Leicester square station, where I left the other two and legged it down to the Northern line to get back to Waterloo, in hopes I'd be able to catch an Alton train. I arrived at Waterloo, looked at the time, and started checking the notice board. Alas, there had been an Alton train at around 10:40 or so - I had just missed it.
But wait! An announcement was telling me the delayed service to Alton was now boarding on platform 14! Woo!! I hot-footed it to the platform and got on what would turn out to be the last train leaving Waterloo for Alton that night.

I had been entertaining myself and the bloke next to me (watching out of the corner of his eye) for the last half hour or so by watching Dynamo on BBC iPlayer, when we pulled in to Walton on Thames. This struck me as odd, because I didn't recognise the name and didn't think we usually stopped here. I figured I'd probably just forgotten or they'd added a stop, so went back to watching Dynamo.
About 10 minutes later the guard announced something but it sounded like he was calling from the bottom of an ocean on Neptune using a phone wrapped in cotton wool, so most of us just kept doing what we were doing, while others who were possibly on holiday and already lost ran around asking other passengers what was happening.
At 11:45 the guard (whose voice had mercifully  increased in volume) came over the system again to tell us that the reason we were randomly sitting at Walton on Thames still was that they had been instructed to pull in here, as there were some problems further down the line due to Mother Nature losing a gasket on the countryside. He hadn't been told much, but promised to keep us in the loop.
At 12:07 he let us know that we would possibly be here for a while. At this point I had finished two episodes of Dynamo and moved on to the last one I had, and decided it was time for a facebook update. I decided that I would do an update every half hour or so, hoping there would only be one update... For a laugh, here is the list of updates from that train journey, bearing in mind we had been stopped since about 11:30pm:

>Well, it's now 00:07 here and we've been stuck at Walton on Thames for about half an hour due to thousand-mile-an-hour winds and heaven only knows what else. Thank goodness for videos and portable chargers.

>00:40 update - still stationary. Winds are picking up, trees are falling down, the train is rocking slightly in the wind. Very disconcerting if you ask me; I expect Thor will fall out of the sky any moment now. That would be ok...

>00:55 update - the train was getting seriously stuffy so I poked my head out for some fresh air. Ghost Town:

>01:08 update - still stationary. Various passengers on the train have begun the transformation from 'human' to 'vampire' and are out for blood. I find myself considering wandering into first class and taking a nap.



>01:38 update - latest news from the guard is that an inebriated passenger is on a train trying to leave Woking (the train that is, not the drunkard - I doubt he even remembers where he's trying to go), and police have been called. Since the entire police force is a bit busy dealing with the problem of London being underwater, it could be quite a while. That train (more specifically, the aforementioned drunkard) is the only thing standing between us and forward motion. 
I wonder what it would take to reintroduce the death penalty... You know, just as a once-off? 
For the greater good?

>01:40 - 
the train was getting seriously stuffy so I poked my head out for some fresh air. Ghost Town:


























>01:45-
Hmm, I spy bed potential...




>02:00 update - WE HAVE MOVEMENT!! Apparently someone took matters into their own hands and just shot the guy. 
Just kidding. 
So far as I know...

>02:36 update - made it to Woking, then a tree fell on the line. Stopped again. The bicycle storage area chairs are a win for an impromptu bed, and thank goodness - it's looking to be a very long night.

>02: 55  - 
Proof that when you're really tired, you see beds everywhere.




>03:26 update - "this is, Ash Vale. The next station is, Aldershot". 
Thank. You. God.

>03:40 update - "we are now arriving at, Aldershot. Please mind the gap between the train and the platform edge."

>04:50 update - home at last!