I cross all the seas, it's fine by me...

NOTA BENE: Mi-a luat 3 zile sa finalizez postarea, din lipsa de timp/inspiratie/conexiune decenta la internet si datorita complexitatii ei. Si cu siguranta nu am reusit sa scriu tot ce imi propusesem initial.

Postarea asta s-a lasat asteptata pt ca am avut parte de o perioada super-haotica. Atatea lucruri s-au intamplat intre timp...Dar va voi povesti de toate pe rand...Sa incepem, deci, cu Londra!

Prima observatie pe care am facut-o, in momentul in care eram in autocar, in drum spre capitala, e ca trebuia sa imi fi luat un carnetel sa imi notez toate gandurile care ma napadeau in clipele respective.
Am plecat de dimineata, dupa doar cateva ore de somn (am constatat mai tarziu ca am dormit aproximativ 7 ore in 2 zile), cand orasul inca se odihnea si inca nu se crapase de ziua. Era ora 05:30, de altfel...Puteam sa iau o cursa si mai tarziu, dar cum era vorba de o calatorie de o zi, am considerat ca e mai bine sa ajung cat mai devreme, mai ales ca Fiona sosea in Londra in jurul orei 08:30.

Pe drum chiar nu am reusit sa dorm si poate ca a fost mai bine asa, caci am profitat din plin de primele raze de soare care se aratau. Peisajul nu e foarte spectaculos, trebuie sa recunosc, desi sudul nu arata rau. Am intrat in zona metropolitana a Londrei in jurul orei 07:00, iar autocarul trebuia sa ajunga la destinatia finala la ora 08:20. Deci va puteti imagina ce mare e orasul (ce-i drept, traficul nu e de vis - dar nici atat de infiorator ca in Bucuresti). In cartierele marginase domnea un sentiment de liniste, era inca devreme si lumea abia incepea sa misune. A fost o alegere inspirata ziua de vineri - e o zi de lucru, deci vezi cum se misca in mod normal lucrurile in marele musuroi londonez, dar ai si sentimentul ala placut de week-end.
Venind din industrialul Midlands am fost absolut incantat de frumusetea caselor din diversele cartiere londoneze pe care le-am vazut din autocar. Am fost, insa, 'egoista' si nu am facut poze, caci nu am vrut sa pierd absolut nici un moment din punctul asta de vedere.

Planul initial a fost sa ma intalnesc cu Fiona in fata la National Gallery, asa ca am decis sa merg pe jos din Victoria, unde urma sa cobor din autocar, pe un drum de aproximativ 30 minute, caci am observat ca ar fi fost mai complicat sa iau metroul. Traiasca Google Maps & smartphones! M-am ghidat dupa poza hartii zonei, pe care am facut-o cu telefonul si chiar daca traseul era, in linii mari, destul de simplu, tot am reusit sa ma ratacesc. Vazusem dinainte numele strazilor prin care trebuia sa trec, dar imediat dupa Buckingham Palace am luat o directie gresita (am facut prea repede dreapta) si mi-am dat seama, la un moment dat, ca nu trebuia sa ma aflu pe strada respectiva. Am avut un mic moment de panica, caci traiul in Coventry 'm-a salbaticit' sau, mai bine spus, m-a 'domesticit' prea tare si nu mai sunt obisnuita cu aglomeratia...Eu, nascuta si crescuta intr-un oras agitat, cea care nu se vede traind altundeva decat intr-o mare metropola, m-am simtit atunci total dezorientata. Ce mai, eram pierduta, desi toata situatia mi se parea comico-absurda! Nu avem nici un ghid al orasului, nu aveam nici o idee unde ma aflam si nici curaj sa opresc pe cineva sa cer indicatii (zau ca imi era rusine)! Dar mi-am revenit repede si m-am amintit ca punctul meu de intalnire cu Fiona era in Trafalgar Square, asa ca m-am uitat putin de jur imprejur dupa coloana lui Nelson (da, istoria iti poate salva viata!), dar cum toate cladirile jur erau foarte inalte (mai tarziu mi-am dat seama ca ma aflasem in Westminster, in fata Parlamentului - degeaba ma uit la BBC!) nu am reperat nimic. Prin urmare, m-am indreptat catre primul colt de strada, stiind ca sigur voi gasi un indicator. Asa a si fost si nu a trebuit decat sa merg drept pe Parliament St (acum ma uit pe harta si vad ca am trecut si pe langa Downing St fara sa imi dau seama).

Cum si Fiona a incurcat destinatiile, am avut la dispozitie vreo 30 de minute in fata Galeriei sa ma bucur de soare si sa intru putin in ritmul alert al orasului. Astfel am observat ca nu exista piste de biciclisti si toata sulfarea de pe doua roti merge in fata masinilor (sau pe langa ele), ceea ce eu nu as avea vreodata curaj sa fac. Lumea se imbraca extraordinar de bine (si asta e valabil pt orice conotatie a cuvantului 'bine') si de divers, fara acele momente penibile de holbare pe care le-ai intalni in Romania la vederea unei tinute iesite din tiparele noastre anoste. Eh, probabil ca eu chiar ma holbam, dar ochelarii de soare mi-au oferit o acoperire perfecta :) Londra este, intr-adevar, plina de turisti. Ii recunosti, probabil, dupa tricourile "I heart London", caci nu cred ca rezidentii simt nevoia sa isi manifeste apartenenta prin astfel de mesaje. Prin comparatie, nici eu nu as purta tricoul cu Berlin in Berlin...
Si daca tot vorbeam de oameni, trebuie sa va spun ca daca nu esti in stare sa mergi repede, cel putin la ore de varf, atunci ai face bine sa te dai din calea celor care se grabesc. Pur si simplu totul este pe 'fast-forward' acolo, asa ca trebuie sa deprinzi repede niste miscari de slalom (sau macar de zig-zag)....

Intr-un final, a sosit si Fiona la locul de intalnire, si ea la fel de nedormita ca si mine (daca nu mai rau), am facut niste poze in jur si am decis sa mergem catre Podul Humgerford, pt a ne indrepta spre Tate Museum. S-ar putea sa va dau detalii gresite, dar acum 'refac' un pic traseul cu ajutorul pozelor si a hartii.

Pe drum ne-am oprit sa luam micul-dejun (eu mai luasem unul, pe la 3 dimineata, dar l-am considerat de fapt cina zilei anterioare :D), englezesc, evident. Nu a fost tocmai ce cautam, ne asteptam la ceva cu fasole (da, aici fasolea se mananca oricand, inclusiv la micul dejun), dar nu am avut motive sa ne plangem, a fost foarte bun si consistent. Apoi mergand usor-usor pe 'faleza' am ajuns la Tate Museum, un mega-monolit, al carui turn m-a dus cu gandul (nu stiu de ce) la furnalul crematoriilor din lagarele de concentrare naziste. Sau la ceea ce am vazut aici, la Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg (este Monumentul Eliberarii Sovietice). Cred ca structurile astea monolitice nu imi priiesc...Ce-i drept arhitectura se explica prin faptul ca la baza contructiei sta o fosta centrala electrica.





Fiind vorba de un muzeu de arta moderna, lucrarile expuse ies din sfera traditionala. Am facut multe poze, dar nu o sa le postez, cred ca puteti sa le vedeti si pe site-ul oficial. In perioada respectiva aveau expuse chiar si cateva piese a lui Brancusi, in cadrul unei expozitii internationale, dar care nu era gratuita. Si, da, am stat pt prima data in fata unui Warhol, cel care a facut cunoscuta miscarea Pop Art (si expresia "15 minute de celebritate"). Si, da, aveau o sala in care erau expuse exclusiv postere cu mesaje socialiste din Uniunea Sovietica. Ce interesant pt unii! Ce oribil pt altii!

Dupa vizita de la muzeu ne-am oprit sa bem ceva si ne-am minunat de cate persoane puteau fi pe marginea Tamisei. Si nu vorbesc de tinerii iesiti la soare cu paturica, ci de oamenii imbracati business ce ar fi trebuit sa se afle in The City (zona economica a Londrei), la munca. Nu mai spun ca noua ne era cam frig, nefiind obisnuite cu vantul, iar multi erau in tricouri/fuste/pantaloni scurti/cu sandale etc. Ne-am decis sa continuam drumul pe malul Tamisei (relativ), pt a ajunge la Tower Bridge.







Am facut cateva poze in jurul Tower Bridge, apoi am luat si noi loc pe iarba pt cateva momente. Trebuie sa recunosc ca Tower Bridge nu m-a impresionat atat de mult. Sincer ma asteptam la mai mult, iar accentele alea albastre ii dadeau un aer de plastic, de lego, ca sa nu merg mai departe si sa spun ieftin si kitschos.







Apoi ne-am hotarat sa mergem in Camden Town, cartierul hip al Londrei, si cum timpul era limitat, ne-am urcat in metrou. Ne-a luat ceva timp sa ne dam seama ce si cum, dar ne-am descurcat. Metroul londonez (The Tube) mi se pare ridicol de scump: pt un bilet de o zi, zona centrala, am platit in jur de 5,7 lire/persoana. Valabil doar la metrou! Iar daca vrei un tichet de o zi, pt toate zonele, te costa 7,5 lire. In Berlin cu 6,9 € te plimbi prin TOATE zonele (ABC), cu ORICE mijloc de transport in comun. Plus ca nu este asa eficient - la un moment dat te opresti in mijlocul unui tunel si ti se comunica faptul ca trenul stationeaza cateva minute (si nu intotdeauna primesti o scuza clara).

Revenind la Camden Town, zona asta m-a bulversat total. Inca nu stiu daca imi place sau nu. Citisem despre ea inainte si stiam ca e partea boema, cool, hip, alternativa, funky, excentrica, vibranta bla bla bla (ati prins ideea) a orasului, dar nu ma asteptam sa fie asa cum am gasit-o. Nicaieri pe unde am ajuns in Europa nu am vazut ceva asemanatator. Si, repet, nu o spun nici cu ton negativ, nici pozitiv! O groaza de ciudati (si, nah, eu sunt destul de liberala) in toata aglomeratia aia, un amalgam de orice vrei. Din pacate, nu am avut timp decat sa mancam ceva, asa ca poate cu alta ocazie o sa explorez mai bine zona, inclusiv celebra piata/targ de acolo.




Calatoria noastra in Londra se apropia de sfarsit asa ca nu am avut incotro si ne-am indreptat catre metrou, pt a ajunge din nou in Victoria, de unde trebuia sa luam un autocar. Pt ca ne-a lasat in alta parte a Coventry-ului (undeva foarte in sud), la aproximativ 1,5 ore de mers pe jos, si pt ca nu stiam exact ce autobuz putem sa luam de acolo catre centru si oricum am avut intarziere (trafic + lucrari de intretinere a drumului), am apelat la solutia comoda a unui taxi. Dar cum autocarul te lasa chiar in fata unui centru comercial, inca deschis la ora respectiva, am zis sa fim fete destepte si sa ne facem cumparaturile in Tesco (un retailer de genul Cora), daca tot nu aveam de ce sa ne facem probleme in a le cara :)

Ajunse inapoi in 131 Humber Avenue, am constatat ca s-a umplut casa :) Pauline a revenit si ea din Franta in aceeasi zi (cu avionul), impreuna cu sora ei si o prietena, aflate in vizita pt cateva zile. A fost o draguta si ne-a adus (mie si lui Sonali, non-frantuzoaicele din casa) cate o oglinda dubla, pe a carei parte superioara este gravat turnul Eiffel si "Paris". Sunt foarte incantata de ea, caci arata chiar foarte sic!

Ah, si sa nu uit: abia in taxi mi-am dat seama ca am nimerit in Londra chiar de Sf. Gheorghe (St. George), patronul Angliei! Este corespondentul St. Patrick pt Irlanda si a St. Andrew pt Scotia, doar ca festivitatile nu sunt asa de spectaculoase precum in celelalte doua regiuni. Insa asta explica toate steagurile engleze (nu britanice) pe care le-am vazut peste tot (la ferestre, la masini, la oameni pe strada) prin Londra si Coventry.


In loc de epilog, o sa adaug ca vizita in Londra m-a readus la viata, reusind sa mai evadez putin din monotonia unui oras (fost)industrial din mijlocul tarii. Mi-am dat seama ca as putea trai fericita si linistita chiar si la Londra, asa ca am decis sa imi mentin orizonturile deschise (in ceea ce priveste optiunile profesionale). Nu stiu, insa, unde ar fi mai greu sa imi fac un viitor, la Berlin sau la Londra. Clar, in Anglia ar fi avantajul ferm al limbii deja cunoscute, dar ma gandesc daca mai exista loc in furnicarul asta londonez in care atata lume isi pune sperante. E o asa mare diversitate de natii acolo (nu spun ca e un lucru rau), incat nu poti sa nu te intrebi care sunt adevaratii londonezi si in ce proportie este metropola populata de feluriti indivizi veniti de te miri unde. Si nu ma refer doar la imigranti, ci si la migranti din toata Britania, care, mai devreme sau mai tarziu, tot isi incearca norocul pe malurile Tamisei.

Toate ca toate, acum am vazut ca Anglia NU inseamna Coventry (sau invers) si probabil ca as fi judecat altfel tara asta (poate as fi si iubit-o) daca locuiam in alt oras. Caci nu am apucat sa diger bine experienta londoneza, ca am si pornit in alta directie, in mai putin de 48 de ore :) Nu va spun unde, aflati data viitoare...Indicii: mare si dragon!


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Around the Albion: LONDON!

NB: It took me three days to complete this entry due to lack of time / inspiration / decent Internet connection and because of its complexity. And certainly I did not write everything I originally planned.

This post was left pending because I had a super-hectic period. So many things happened meanwhile... But I will tell you all, everything at its time ... Let's begin, thus, with London!

The first observation that I made, when I was in the bus, on my way to the capital, is that I should have taken a notebook to write down my thoughts filling my mind in those moments.
I left Coventry really early in the morning, after just a few hours of sleep (I realised later that I slept around 7 hours in 2 days), when the city was still resting. It was 5:30 pm, for that matter... I could have taken a later ride, but since it was a one-day trip, I thought it's wiser to go early, considering that Fiona was due to arrive in London around 08:30.

In the coach I didn't manage to sleep and maybe it was better that way, because I profited greatly of the first rays of sun. The landscape is not very spectacular, I must admit, although the South doesn't look too bad. I entered the London metropolitan area at around 07:00, and coach was supposed to reach its final destination at 08:20. So you can imagine how big is the city (justly, it's not a dream traffic - but not so scary as in Bucharest). In the suburbs a sense of peace prevailed, it was still early and people were just starting to teem. It was a good choice to visit London on a Friday - is a working day, so see how things typically move in the great heap of London, but you still have that pleasant feeling of weekend.
Coming from the industrial Midlands I was absolutely charmed by the beauty of the houses that I saw from the bus in various neighbourhoods of London. I was, however, 'selfish' and I haven't taken any photos, because I did not want to lose absolutely no vista from this point of view.

The initial plan was to meet Fiona in front of the National Gallery, so I decided to walk from Victoria, where I got off the bus, on a 30-minutes route, because I noticed that it was more complicated to take the subway. Long live Google Maps & Smartphones! I was guided by a picture of the map of the area, which I had on my phone and even if the route was largely quite simply, I managed to lose my way. I noticed in advance the names of the streets that I had to pass, but after Buckingham Palace I got on a wrong way (I turned right too early) and I realised at some point that I wasn't supposed to be on that particular street. I experienced a little moment of panic, because living in Coventry 'made me wild' or, better said, I 'tamed me' too much and now I'm not accustomed to crowdedness anymore... I was born and raised in a restless city and I do not see myself living anywhere else than in a large metropolis, but there I was, totally disoriented. I was lost, although the whole situation seemed comic and absurd! I had no city guide, I had no idea where I was and no courage to stop someone to ask for directions (yeah, I was really ashamed)! But I snapped quickly and I remembered that my meeting point was in Trafalgar Square, so I looked around for a bit, trying to see Nelson's column (yes, history can save your life!). But since all the buildings around were very high (I later realised that I was in Westminster, in front of the Parliament - I uselessly watch BBC!), I spotted nothing. Therefore, I went to the first corner of a street, knowing that I will find an indicator. I was right so now I only had to go straight on Parliament St. (now while I'm checking the map I realise that I passed by Downing St. and without I noticing).

Fiona also mixed up the destination point, so I had about 30 minutes in front of the Gallery to enjoy the sun and get along in the rhythm of the city. Thus I noticed that there aren't any bicycle paths and all the cyclists ride in front of cars (or aside them), something I would never ever have the courage to do. The people are extraordinary well dressed (and that goes for any connotation of the word 'well') and diverse, without those awkward moments of stare that you get in Romania whenever you see/wear an outfit that goes beyond our dull ideas. Well, I was probably staring, but the sunglasses offered me a perfect cover:)
London is, indeed, full of tourists. You can probably recognise them by the T-shirts "I heart London", because I really don't think that any resident of the city would feel the need to express his/her belongingness through such message. By comparison, I wouldn't wear my Berlin tee in Berlin...
Speaking of people, I have to tell you that if you aren't capable of walking fast, at least during the rush-hours, you'd better step aside! Everything there is literally on 'fast-forward' so you should learn some slalom moves (or at least zig-zag)...

Fiona finally arrived to our meeting point, she was as tired as I was (if not worse), we took some photos around and decided to go to Hungerford Bridge, heading for the Tate Museum. It might give you wrong details, but I'm 'restoring' a bit the route by checking pictures and maps.


On the way we stopped to have breakfast (I had taken one before, at 3 am, but I actually considered it the dinner of the previous day :D), English, obviously. It was not quite what we were looking for, we expected something with beans (yes, here they eat beans anytime, including at breakfast), but we had no reason to complain, it was very good and filling. Then, walking by the 'promenade' we arrived at the Tate Museum, a mega-monolith, whose tower got me thinking (don't know why) at the crematory furnace in Nazi concentration camps. Or what I saw here at Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg (it's the Soviet Liberation Memorial). I think I genuinely dislike these monolithic structures... Indeed, the architecture is explained by the fact that the museum sits on a former power plant construction.


Being a museum of modern arts, the works exhibited are outside the traditional area. We took many pictures but I will not post them, I think you can see them on the official site. During that period, there were exhibited a few pieces of Brancusi, in an international exhibition, but it wasn't free admission. And yes, I gazed for the first time in front of a Warhol, the one who made Pop Art movement known (and the words "15 minutes of fame"). And yes, they had a room where they displayed posters containing only socialist messages from the former Soviet Union. How interesting for some! How horrible for others!

After visiting the museum we stopped for a drink and we couldn't stop being amazed by the numerous people we were able to see on the bank of the Thames. And I do not refer to young people out in the sun, with their blankets, but to office-dressed people should have been in the City (London's economic zone), at work. Not to mention that we found it quite cold, since we weren't accustomed to that wind, whilst many others were in shirts/skirts/shorts/sandals etc. We decided to continue our trip on Thames' bank (relatively) towards the Tower Bridge.


On the way we saw Francis Drake's ship and a beautiful cathedral, whose name I can't remember.

I took some pictures around Tower Bridge, then we sat on the grass for a few moments. I must admit that Tower Bridge didn't impress me so much. Honestly I was expecting more, and those blue accents gave it a touch of plastic, Lego, not to go further and say cheap and tacky.



Then we decided to go to Camden Town, London's hip district, and as time was limited, we jumped on the subway. It took us some time to figure it out the directions, but in the end we got the right train. London Underground (The Tube) seems ridiculously expensive: a day-ticket, central area costs about 5.7 pounds per person. Valid only on the tube! And if you want an all day-all areas ticket, you have to pay 7.5 pounds. In Berlin for 6.9€ you can travel through all areas (ABC), by whatever means of transportation. Plus it's not that effective (in London) - at some point your train can stop in the middle of a tunnel and you are being told that your train is stationing for a minutes (and you don't always get a clear excuse).

Returning to Camden Town, this area totally confused me. I don't know yet if I like it or not. I read about it before and I knew that it was the bohemian, cool, hip, alternative, funky, eccentric, vibrant blah blah blah (you get the point) of the city, but I did not expect it to be as I found it. Nowhere in Europe where I've been I saw something similar. And, again, this is not a negative or positive critique! A lot of strange people (and,yeah , I'm pretty liberal) in all that crowd, a mixture of whatever you want. Unfortunately, we only had time to eat something, so perhaps next time I'll explore better the area, including the famous market.



Our trip to London was about to end so we had no choice but to head back to the subway, in order to reach back to Victoria, from where we took a coach. Because it dropped us in another part of Coventry (somewhere very South), about 1.5 hours walk, and because we did not know exactly what bus to take from there towards the city centre and it had a delay anyway (traffic + road maintenance works), we turned to the easy solution of a taxi. However, the coach leaves you right in front of a shopping centre, still opened at that time, so we decided to act like the smart girls that we are and do our shopping in Tesco (a retailer), since we didn't need to worry about carrying the stuff :)

Reaching back to 131 Humber Avenue, we found that the house was full :) Pauline had returned from France on the same day (by plane), along with her sister and a friend, visiting for a couple of days. She was a sweetheart and brought us (me and Sonali, the non-French women in the house) a double mirror, on whose upper part is etched the Eiffel Tower and "Paris." I'm very thrilled about it, because it look very chic!

Oh, and do not forget: in the taxi I realised that we were in London on St. George's Day, England's patron! It's the correspondent of St. Patrick for Ireland and St. Andrew for Scotland, just that the festivities here are not so spectacular as in the other two regions. But that explains all the English (not British) flags I've seen everywhere (on windows, on cars, on the people on the street) in London and Coventry.


Instead of an epilogue, I want to add that the trip to London I brought me back to life, I managed to escape the monotony a little (former) industrial city in the middle of the country. I realised that I could happily and peacefully live in London too, so I decided to keep my horizons opened (in terms of professional choices). I don't know, though, where it would be harder to make myself a future, in Berlin or London. Clearly, the strong advantage in England would be the language that I already know, but I wonder if there is any place left in London, a city in which so many people put their hopes. It's such a great diversity of nations there (not saying it's a bad thing), that you cannot stop question which are the true Londoners and to what degree the city is populated by various individuals arriving from who knows where. And I'm not referring only to immigrants but also to migrants from all over Britain, which, sooner or later, are all trying their luck on the banks of the Thames.

All in all, now I know that England does not mean Coventry (or vice versa) and probably I would be judging this country (maybe even loving it) if I had lived in another city. Because I did not have the time to digest well the London experience, and I went in another direction, in less than 48 hours:) I will tell you where the next time...Clues: sea and dragon!