Invisible Mazes
Tourists are kind of a weird breed, and I count myself among them. I spent the remained of the weekend having a look around London, particularly around the well-known sites down by the river. Even after the high season is well over, the crowds are thick - even wall-to-wall on some of the bridges - with people tripping over each other because half of them are only looking where they're going through the pixelated lens of digital cameras. And cameras are a funny thing too - I can wrap my mind around the idea of taking pictures of people you know in front of cliched monuments. I got that part. The part I don't so much get is the part about taking pictures of still objects in museums and the like - I think I used to do that kind of thing when I got ahold of a camera as a kid; I think I remember being told to quit wasting film.
This whole affair makes tourist destinations into a maze. There's the maze of people who have stopped mid-stream to take whatever has captured their attention that moment, and then there's the secondary and more invisible maze made out of the line of sight between the camera and its destination, and you stumble blindly through this maze at the peril of getting brow-furrowed looks from people who were hoping you would not be included in their vacation memories. In the British Museum, I found myself cornered as a digital video-wielding man closed in on me. leaving me know way out but through his line of site, as he walked along taping, of all random things, a shelf books. The advantage to all this technical overload (besides not being related to anyone who brings home digital video to bore their family with) is that with this amassing of tantalizing hardware hanging loosely off everyone else's shoulder, I feel pretty certain that petty thieves aren't going to be coming after me with my beat-up back-pack and twice-worn jearns.
In any case, I made the rounds: through Trafalgar Square, toward the river, back north along the western bank, past Westminster Abbey and the houses of parliament and 10 Downing Street. It's too much to take in at once; it seems like an immense privilege to know that I can stroll past here any time I have a few minutes to myself, for the whole year to come. Maybe that's part of what separates tourists from residents - the relax aspect, the lack of rush, the sense that I don't have to see everything today because it will still be here next month.
Which also brings up the question of how long I plan to stay in tourist mode, trekking miles a day to see as much as I can. I've always prided myself on being able to walk all day, no matter how bad shape I might be in for anything more strenuous. And that's still true, but then the question comes up of how many days in a row I can do this before I wear out my feet. And truthfully, the endless trudge around the city does start to get - dare I admit - somewhat tiresome after a while. I look forward to things starting up at school to give me a little more to do that is not entirely on my feet.
Meanwhile, things remain quiet but uncomfortable back at the lovely Globe Hotel. No further altercations yet. I really don't like being there - it's dirty, it's loud being on the ground floor, I don't feel like I can make the trek as far as the bathroom without risking a confrontation, and I just don't want to hang around there. At the same time, I'm not entirely sure how safe my stuff is without me there, and I can't even get insurance on the laptop and other assorted goodies until I get a more permanent address. Oh, and the laptop - that's another occasion for eye-rolling on my parts. Apparently, in the 143 pounds of junk I managed to stuff into my two suitcases, I did not bother to include the power cord, which my parents found still plugged into the wall in the room where I had been staying before I left to come here. D'oh! That means I have a couple hours of battery, but for the most part I have to hit up the local internet cafe for a pound or two per hour of online access. Another reason to get started with the school thing: they must have computer labs there, right?!
This whole affair makes tourist destinations into a maze. There's the maze of people who have stopped mid-stream to take whatever has captured their attention that moment, and then there's the secondary and more invisible maze made out of the line of sight between the camera and its destination, and you stumble blindly through this maze at the peril of getting brow-furrowed looks from people who were hoping you would not be included in their vacation memories. In the British Museum, I found myself cornered as a digital video-wielding man closed in on me. leaving me know way out but through his line of site, as he walked along taping, of all random things, a shelf books. The advantage to all this technical overload (besides not being related to anyone who brings home digital video to bore their family with) is that with this amassing of tantalizing hardware hanging loosely off everyone else's shoulder, I feel pretty certain that petty thieves aren't going to be coming after me with my beat-up back-pack and twice-worn jearns.
In any case, I made the rounds: through Trafalgar Square, toward the river, back north along the western bank, past Westminster Abbey and the houses of parliament and 10 Downing Street. It's too much to take in at once; it seems like an immense privilege to know that I can stroll past here any time I have a few minutes to myself, for the whole year to come. Maybe that's part of what separates tourists from residents - the relax aspect, the lack of rush, the sense that I don't have to see everything today because it will still be here next month.
Which also brings up the question of how long I plan to stay in tourist mode, trekking miles a day to see as much as I can. I've always prided myself on being able to walk all day, no matter how bad shape I might be in for anything more strenuous. And that's still true, but then the question comes up of how many days in a row I can do this before I wear out my feet. And truthfully, the endless trudge around the city does start to get - dare I admit - somewhat tiresome after a while. I look forward to things starting up at school to give me a little more to do that is not entirely on my feet.
Meanwhile, things remain quiet but uncomfortable back at the lovely Globe Hotel. No further altercations yet. I really don't like being there - it's dirty, it's loud being on the ground floor, I don't feel like I can make the trek as far as the bathroom without risking a confrontation, and I just don't want to hang around there. At the same time, I'm not entirely sure how safe my stuff is without me there, and I can't even get insurance on the laptop and other assorted goodies until I get a more permanent address. Oh, and the laptop - that's another occasion for eye-rolling on my parts. Apparently, in the 143 pounds of junk I managed to stuff into my two suitcases, I did not bother to include the power cord, which my parents found still plugged into the wall in the room where I had been staying before I left to come here. D'oh! That means I have a couple hours of battery, but for the most part I have to hit up the local internet cafe for a pound or two per hour of online access. Another reason to get started with the school thing: they must have computer labs there, right?!
posted by skylanda at 10:07 PM
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