Keeping in mind the length of the post I’ll be writing a new post everyday instead of adding to the previous post.


22nd July 2007

The early sun rise and the very uncomfortable spring bed had absolutely no effect on me as I slept like a log till 7.00 am. Since I was in a hurry to see London, I got ready at 7.15 and ventured out into the unknown. Every street, every lamp post on the street was new to me. Started clicking snaps like there was no tomorrow. A person (Sri Lankan) nearby noticed the mad man and asked whether I was new to this place. I affirmed and asked whether there were any places nearby that were worth visiting. He told me about a Sunday market that’s put up temporarily every Sunday next to the famous Wembley Stadium and the best part was he told me that he’ll be taking me there if I wanted him to. Shopping and a famous stadium… This was too good an offer to resist. This meant that it would be my first bus ride here in London. The most expensive city bus ride in my life. It cost me 2 pounds one way. The person I met at the bus stop got me down at the right bus stop. The Sunday Market is a big market with lots and lots of Indians selling cheap smuggled goods. You just about get anything here. It is as good or as bad as a Heera Panna (Mumbai) or a National Market (Bangalore). It’s a very good place to buy toiletries it seems. The market’s setup temporarily every Sunday right next to the lovely Wembley stadium. The stadium has a huge arch that’s visible from quite a long distance. It’s a little engineering marvel. Since I had no idea that they allow people to get into the stadium I just clicked few snaps of the stadium and one with me in the frame. By the time I returned home my friend Ankur had left a message with the land lord asking me to call him back.

I called him and fixed a time when we could meet. Since I had already ventured out I knew the exact bus stop where I had to get down to meet him. I reached that place at 10.30 only to find out that my friend still followed Indian standard time. He reached the place at 10.45. The place was Wembley Central. It’s a tube (Underground metro or local train in London is called a tube) station. We were supposed to go to Greenwich that day. But due to some stupid reasons we could not. We roamed in and around Wembley that day. Had lunch at a restaurant called ‘Chennai Dosa’. It was not bad. But again very expensive or is that what I felt due to the currency conversion that I quickly did in my mind :). Did nothing more that day… Informed everyone through mails and telephone calls that I had reached UK safely and there was nothing to worry. It was 8.30 pm by the time I came back home. The best part was that the Sun was still shining when I returned home. I had heard about this phenomenon of early rise and late setting of sun but never really believed anyone completely. It was wonderful to witness it first hand. Had dinner, selected the dress I had to wear the next day and went to bed a little un-satisfied that I couldn’t visit any one of the major attraction in London. Little did I know that the Wembley Stadium is in that list too :)

PS: Next Post – Mind the Gap