Cross-town

I've been living in West London since I arrived, which is odd because historically immigrants always start in East London. In fact, I've only been to East London a handful of times -- a festival in Shoreditch, a walk through the Jewish quarter, a visit to Spitalfields market, dinner on Brick Lane.

My company's office is in Islington, which is technically north London but really north-east. I've only been there a dozen times, not often enough to remember how to get there, probably because each time I plug the post codes into the Transport for London journey planner it gives me a different route.

That's not entirely true -- it does give me a consistent route, but it is so ridiculous that I end up making my own. Seriously, here is the route for this 14 mile journey:
1. Walk to St. Barnabas Church (3 minutes)
2. Take bus E2 to Ealing Broadway Station (15 minutes)
3. Take the First Great Western train to Paddington (13 minutes)
4. Walk to Paddington Underground station (7 minutes)
5. Take the Circle Line or Hammersmith & City Line to King's Cross/St. Pancras (11 minutes)
6. Walk to Pentonville Rd (8 minutes)
7. Take bus 476 from Stop K to Bouverie Road (31 minutes)
8. Walk to Stoke Newington Church Street (1 minute)

With connections, that's an hour and 34 minutes, and four changes! However, if I specify I don't want to take the train (too expensive) and I don't mind walking a little further, it will give me different routes which take 5 minutes longer, cost half as much, and only have two changes. (Driving in rush hour would take a similar amount of time.) But it always gives me different routes!

Yesterday it told me to take the Central line to Liverpool St, then a bus up Bishopsgate Road (which becomes Shoreditch High St, Kingsland Rd, then Stoke Newington Rd -- this is, after all, London), right through East London.

As I rode on my first "bendy bus," I had a chance to watch the city wake up, and it was awe-inspiring. Although every block was filled with shops, eateries, pubs, and newsagents, I hardly saw any "high street" chains -- these were all independent businesses, people who came with nothing except the desire and intent to have a better life. The office blocks and public transportation links were thronged with people, ants scurrying about just like myself. Although still cold, it was a clear day and everyone was enjoying the sun.

As I watched this mass of humanity heaving to and fro, and thinking about all of the millions of individual choices that had led us all here, against a backdrop of history that had built such a world-class city, it was both humbling and inspiring. As I came out of this reverie, I saw a street sign that read "Stoke Newington" and I jumped off the bus -- about a mile from my intended stop.

Ah well, I was early, the sun was out, and I happily joined my fellow sidewalk commuters, the "click-clack" of my rolling bag on the pavement a now familiar companion on my life's journey.

Found this bendy-bus photo on the interwebs