Saturday In London

Old Jul 9th, 2005, 03:16 PM
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Saturday In London

Today was my first day back home in london since the attacks. As I set out, i didn't expect a ghost town but i also did not expect what i saw...

tourists were all about just as usual. double decker tour buses and regular city buses were nearly full. the streets were full. people snapping pictures all around. the lions in trafalgar sq were posing for pictures with people from all over the world. thames tour boats were full.

went to national theatre to see UN Inspector (excellent by the way and only £10) and as we picked up the tickets, i heard the clerk tell someone that the show was sold out. but people buy tickets in advance, surely a significant number would avoid coming into the city for the show. but as the show approached start time, not an empty seat could be seen.

soho was teeming...hen and stag parties as usual, pubs packed. a dance party was held on the thames beach just under festival pier...the small beach was filled with many people dancing. street musicians were all about. Not an empty seat at the tables in front of the film theatre. In short, it is not an exaggeration to say that it was a normal saturday. security was tighter though...police boats buzzing up the thames and the government offices locked down tight.

the weather was warm and it was a beautiful night in the capital.
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Old Jul 9th, 2005, 03:36 PM
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Thank you for this very beautiful and reassuring post! I wish I were there right now myself!
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Old Jul 9th, 2005, 04:07 PM
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Thank you, walkinaround, for this reassuring post! My brother and his family were in Ireland when the bombings occured and were planning to go to London yesterday. I've been wondering what their trip would be like. Sounds like it will be a nice time for them and the other tourists. Glad to hear that London is back in business.
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Old Jul 9th, 2005, 04:13 PM
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You're optimistic saying it's warm here...unless you've returned from Siberia!

I'm rather disillusioned with all this talk of "stoicism". People have to work to earn their living, in order to earn this living people must travel, hence they're still using the tube. At the best of times these trains are known to be like sardine cans, and now after this barbaric act of terrorism, I can assure you that people will enjoy their journeys even less. Ken Livingstone makes me sick.

Everyone must realise that it's not a quality unique to Londoners, it's just that life must go on. One must never live in fear otherwise one may as well not be living at all.
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Old Jul 9th, 2005, 06:15 PM
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Sure, m_kingdom2, that was the same in Madrid. Life must go on and people has to go back to the trains..no matter if you're afraid or not, you just have to do it.
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Old Jul 9th, 2005, 09:14 PM
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Thanks for the post. As someone who's going to arrive in 2 weeks, it's very welcome to hear your positive comments. I have to admit that my mood has been a bit up and down over the last couple of days, but I remind myself to stay reasonable. I know that London has to be full of tourists at this time, with so many more on the way.

We also hope to go see a show and take part in all the exciting activities that London offers. My girls would love to go see Phantom - do you think that they sell 1/2 price tickets to that show at the tkts booth?
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Old Jul 9th, 2005, 09:26 PM
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walkinaround: Thanks so much for posting this - all my friends I've been able to contact are doing fine and are pretty much in "normal" mode.

arewethereyet: Phantom is sometimes at TKTS and sometimes not. But when it is availble it is usually at a 25% discount and not 1/2 price. If the first time or two you try TKTS it isn't on offer - just go to the box office at Her Majesty's and you can probably get tix for sometime during your visit.
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Old Jul 9th, 2005, 11:42 PM
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M kingdom 2 is a bit acidic. It is true that most Londoners must earn their pay, so must travel to work. But on Friday and Saturday plenty of people, Londoners or no, were in the West End to enjoy themselves. Some of us had a second motive: I refuse to let barbarians change my life.

Talking with friends and neighbours I find a dichotomy. Those who are fairly new to the city worry that they are in danger. Those who have been here a while now know that people with bombs have been a London problem for a century or more, and the statistics say that any one of us is not likely to be killed or wounded. This weekend, for example, the Queen and other Londoners are marking the Blitz.

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Old Jul 10th, 2005, 01:20 AM
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As one who has lived in London all my life and worked in the City (meaning the financial area)for over 20 years I do believe we are generally more accustomed to these acts of terrorism. Everyone where I work turned up on Friday and we are but 100 yards from where the bomb in the Aldgate tunnel went off. Alot of people currently working in London were working there when the IRA were indiscriminately bombing London and the rest of Britain too. Dependent on age, our parents or grandparents lived through WWII. So we are not new to it.

Security alerts are very common in London and obviously if you work in the centre of London you do become impervious to some extent. Thursday was totally different as it was obvious from the start this was not a run of the mill security alert, due to the speed that Liverpool Street was evacuated and the palpable anxiety of the police and station staff. We were told to virtually run from the train out of the station, this was at 9:30.

I do think that the majority of visitors to London think that the risk of being involved in an incident such as what happened on Thursday is low. But of course, there are always some that will be deterred. I think that no one should change plans they may have to visit London. These acts can happen anywhere at anytime, you cannot live your life in fear and allow it you influence your choices.
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