The Culture/City
My main goal during my four days in London was to gain at least a basic understanding of the culture and what it's like to live there. This is what I hope for every time I travel internationally and I always strive to achieve my objective. With that goal in mind, I opted to rent an apartment through Airbnb in a non-touristy neighborhood called Highbury near Arsenal Stadium. In addition to choosing this location, I established a rule that I would travel on foot as often as possible. Walking through the city neighborhoods and observing every day people of several ethnic backgrounds going about their daily lives, along with spending time in the restaurants and pubs was my favorite part of the trip. I loved listening to locals exchange banter and gossip about their friends and families over meals and pints of beer. By the time the trip was over, I had my day down to a routine; I would wake up, take a shower, get ready, head out the door, walk down the road to a cafe and order a traditional English breakfast (which is delicious, by the way!). After I received some guidance from a friendly girl at a pub on my first night, and observing locals at the cafe on my first morning, I learned the rules of how most cafes and pubs operate. Not all of them offer table service, but those that do offer it go about it in a slightly different fashion than that of the U.S. Rather than ask for a bill when you finish your meal, you simply walk up to the register and pay. Tips are polite, but not expected, and are left in jars near the cash registers rather than on tables. In addition to the delicious breakfasts and fish & chips at the restaurants, the staff were always kind and welcoming. After stuffing myself, I would either walk to other neighborhoods and visit the pubs, or catch the subway to Central London and go site seeing. I would return to my apartment around 4 PM, rest for a couple of hours, then head back out for the evening. To give an honest portrayal of what I learned in four days about life in London, it would only be fair of me to paint the full picture; the good, the bad, and the hilarious. London folk are extremely passionate about the Arsenal football club. This is a great thing because passion shows personality, however, as I found out, that passion comes with a dark side. On Thursday afternoon I was having pint inside a pub in Camden Town, and although the patrons seemed to be unusually rowdy compared to the crowds at the other pubs, I didn't think much of it. I walked to the bathroom and saw that the door was propped open with two guys standing outside near the door and about five guys standing inside. "Okay, whatever, there's a line, no big deal" I thought as I stood behind the two guys outside. Seconds later, a guy and girl, who were working as bartenders, came walking over and started yelling and banging on the door. The guys occupying the bathroom slowly emerged, one by one, half full glasses of beer in hand. Their glasses were promptly confiscated by the staff, and they were ordered to "get the fuck out". After reluctantly making their way through the pub, they were literally shoved out the door as the girl bartender shouted and called them "fucking assholes". A couple of minutes later the police walked in. I forgot I had to pee and instead walked back towards the bar. "What the hell just happened?" I thought. It turned out the guys in the bathroom were partaking in the use of cocaine. One of the other patrons had tipped off the staff on what was going on. Before that brief episode I was ready to head to the next pub, but this was too entertaining. Instead, I sat back down, ordered another pint, and watched more ridiculousness unfold as the bartenders continued to cut people off and kick them out. When I asked if it was always like this, the staff casually responded that sometimes on match days for Aresnal home games things can get "a bit rough". I was unaware that there was a game that evening and I was beginning to understand now. Most of the patrons weren't planning on going to the match, they were just using the excitement of the occasion as an excuse to get wasted and coked out at 1 PM on a Thursday afternoon. "That's crazy" I said as I laughed at the chaotic nature of the situation. The staff laughed along. "Welcome to Camden Town" they responded. I was beginning to understand what they meant. Camden Town was a recommended place of interest by a co-worker and I spent a decent amount of time there during my trip. Known for it's lively night life, eclectic pubs, and street vendors, the neighborhood, particularly Camden High street, closely resembles the setting of the Venice Beach and Santa Cruz boardwalks in California, minus the beach, of course. Amy Winehouse lived in Camden Town and was deeply involved with the neighborhood prior to her death. Later that night as I walked through Highbury back to my apartment from the subway stop, I passed several pubs that had signs posted on the doors reading "Arsenal Supporters Only" and "Home Fans Only". In an effort to keep the pubs safe and free of violence on match nights, the staff unfortunately had to resort to turning away fans of visiting teams for fear of fights breaking out. This is likely due in part to Arsenal's status as being an extremely successful football club and being intensely disliked by other fans, but nevertheless, it was the reality of how things were. My thoughts were interrupted as I approached a street corner and a passerby near a pub made eye contact with me. "Hey mate, you sniff?" he asked. It was one of three times during my trip that I was offered hard drugs. And when I say "offered" it wasn't in a sugar coated fashion. Each time, the guys took the straight forward, no bullshit approach to their offers by brazenly asking me if I "sniffed". "No, I'm good man" I responded as I laughed. "Alright" he answered back as he resumed walking. To my relief, all of the guys who offered didn't want any trouble and didn't try to start any drama when I declined. They were just pushers trying to make a few pounds and weren't out to hurt anybody.
The Music
Whether it's punk, hard rock, jazz, or R&B, there's no music quite like the London sound. It touches on ground that so many other musicians don't even realize exists. I've always wondered what it was about the city that produced such creative music. While there is no short or clear answer, I figured seeing live gigs at pubs would be a great experience. While exploring Camden Town on Tuesday, I visited the Elephant Head pub. Sitting at the bar, sipping a pint glass of Camden Hells Ale, I noticed that the advertisement board behind the bar mentioned open mic night every Wednesday beginning at 8:30 PM, so I returned the following evening. And the artists did not disappoint. Among the several participants was a guy playing acoustic guitar instrumentals. His tone was unique and somewhat dark, sounding something like an acoustic version of a Black Sabbath song. He played open chords and created percussive sounds by strumming muted strings, snapping his fingers, and tapping the hollow, wooden body of his guitar as the chord faded. Shortly after his set was over, an older woman stepped on stage. She looked to be about sixty-five years old, wore a multicolored dress, and rocked a dark blue bandana, tied around her short, curly gray hair. Seeing these types of outfits isn't particularly surprising to me, but what did surprise me was the gig that she performed. She stepped up to the mic and asked the crowd to clap their hands in rhythm. We all obliged and clapped in unison at a tempo of about two claps per second. Once we were all in sync, she busted into a free style rap about living in London, and continued without missing a beat for nearly two minutes before briefly pausing and asking us to "give her another beat". We did, and she then rapped for another couple of minutes with pre-written lyrics, but explained afterwards that it was "the remix". Finally, an older gentleman stepped onstage and performed an act with an acoustic guitar. He played guitar left handed, which is very rarely seen, and as his set progressed, he jumped around on the small stage and finished off by leaning back and raising his guitar towards the ceiling while strumming a major chord. The crowd clapped with enthusiasm as if if were the encore of a rock concert. I found out after he stepped off the stage from one of the other patrons that he was seventy-eight years old and had his own Youtube channel. Later that night, I saw a five-piece blues band rocking the crowd at another pub down the street, and the following night I attended a gig by a four-piece jazz band at the Marquis of Westminster, near Central London. While listening to the jazz quartet in the bar basement, I noticed there was no bass player, which struck me as odd because up until then, I didn't recall ever seeing a jazz gig without a bass to fill out the sound. But before long I realized how unique and cool the dynamic was. In between vocal verses, the guitarist and saxophone player alternated solos and melodies while the other played the harmonies. It sounded so full that they didn't need a bass player, and it came together wonderfully. I had never seen live music performances quite like those gigs before. There was something very profound and unique about it and during the plane ride home I listened to my favorite musicians from London. Because I had experienced the city and a sample of it's music scene, the songs gave me a new perspective and seemed to speak to me more.
The Pubs
This portion can partially roll up into the culture/city portion of this post because the pubs play a key role in defining London's culture. I visited a total of eighteen of them during my trip and they each had their own personality. Similar to cafes, tipping is polite but not expected, and if patrons prefer to sit at a table rather than the bar, they order their drinks first then proceed to a table, rather than have a staff member wait on them. In the States, most people don't expect bars to be very crowded during weekday afternoons, however the pubs in London are a different story. There were people having business meetings over pints, friends hanging out and gossiping, and others like me, who were there solo. In one instance, I even overhead a professional interview going on as the two men, fully suited up, sipped from their pint glasses in between questions. Often in the States when people are running errands they might stop for a coffee. In London, people stop for a pint of beer. Most pubs also served food, but unlike in the States, they opened at noon and closed at 11 PM or midnight rather than 2 AM, although there are exceptions. The more pubs I visited, the more I understood the significant role they play in people's everyday lives. Being in the presence of locals was a really cool experience, and although I knew that once I started talking I would immediately stand out, I engaged with the staff and patrons and listened to their stories. A guy I talked to at the blues bar was from a smaller city to the north and brand new to London as he had just accepted a job with Amazon. Another girl working as a bartender was originally from Paris, but had moved to London twelve years earlier and liked it so much, she never left. It was a trip to hear the locals who had previously visited the States tell me how much they loved California's surf culture, palm trees, and nice weather.
The Architecture and Sites
While trying to get a taste of life in London, since I was there, I knew it was also important for me to visit the touristy sites that millions of people from other counties visit each year. Prior to leaving, my HR Manager at work advised me that her friend Dina would be in London at the same time as me and put me in touch with her. We met in Central London on my second night there, and Dina and her cousin who was traveling with her took me to visit the Tower Bridge and Tower of London. Seeing photos on Google is one thing, but when I saw these sites in person, I was in awe. Walking across the London and Tower bridges was truly a cool experience and I loved how lit up and peaceful they were at night. I returned to Central London the following afternoon to visit other treasures such as Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Scotland Yard. Although Big Ben was covered in scaffolding, the clock was still visible, and despite the rainy weather, I was pleasantly surprised by the architectural beauty of the Parliament buildings, hotels, and Buckingham Palace. In addition to the historical sites, Central London has numerous bridges that offer splendid views of River Thames, along with several outdoor Christmas markets during the holiday season.
No comments:
Post a Comment