Astute Observations from an Intrepid Young Traveler

1. The tube is so much easier than the el. Not only do trains run SO much more frequently, it's also much faster, quieter, and cleaner. Nobody talks, though, so it is a little difficult being the loud American trying to figure out the system. What's nice is that each line runs more or less throughout the city, crossing over other lines all the time. This means that you're never more than one line and a few stops from where you're trying to go- no heading into the middle of the city only to get on another train that takes you back to where you want to be. Also, their train tracking system blows the el's out of the water, and the employees all wear coats and ties while being super friendly. The best part? No waiting for the purple line at Howard in the snow for 25 minutes.

2. The music played in public is all over the place. In the states, you can usually tell what kind of music will be played in a particular place, whether it's a department store, bar, or pharmacy. Here, though, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to what I'm hearing. The mobile phone store was playing Shaniah Twain followed by Local Natives followed by Boston like it was no big deal. A pub I was in the other night had that Katy Perry/Timabland song playing right before some classical music. There just doesn't seem to be any consistency to what's popular at a particular place, and I think I kind of like it. If the grocery store wants to put a Radiohead funk cover on the same playlist as the Wu Tang Clan to keep everyone happy, who am I to say no?

3. Gray is always in. Apparently people here dress to match the weather, because everyone you see is in neutral colors. You'd think that with the weather overcast all the time, people would make an effort to wear bright colors to cheer things up. Nope. If I'm not wearing dark gray, regular gray, or light gray, I feel like I'm immediately sticking out as foreign. I also didn't fully realize quite how uncool Americans are compared to Europeans when it comes to fashion. I saw man in a store yesterday wearing a maroon nylon one-piece jumper that ended in capris with an elastic belt, and I thought to myself, "Now that guy knows where it's at." I didn't really think that.


4. Whoever designed the currency here must also have made money repairing pockets. I'm going to get to the bottom of this conspiracy before I leave. There's no reason for £1 AND £2 coins. After just a few days of walking around, it sounded like there was a tambourine (or two) in my pocket. I think after another week I will have worn holes in all of my pockets. For a place with "Great" in the name, I expect to see some greater decision making in the future.