Autumn in London '06

Someone's Stolen a Train Near Aldgate...No Wait, There's Just Someone Wandering the Tracks

Hey Everyone,

Even low-key weekends end up with stories to tell.

This weekend, Kevin and I were content to just find somewhere to rent some movies, watch them, and do not much else, so Friday, we did just that. We signed up for memberships at the UK Blockbuster (somehow not directly connected to the US one) and rented a French film called Grande Ecolle. We watched it that night over fries and Danish beer, and developed a new appreciation for the complexities of sexuality (but isn't that what most French films are about?).

Saturday, we decided to check out a street market called Portobello Market. Apparently, it's one of the biggest in the world. When we got there, we found out why. Basically, the market consumed the entire length of Portobello Street in North Kensington, near Notting Hill. There you could buy just about anything, it seemed, from fresh produce to fish to flowers to antiques to rugs to clothes to (you get the idea). We spent a few hours just wandering about looking at all the things for sale and all the people gathered there. Eventually, we did end up buying some generic England National Team soccer jerseys for 30 pounds each (a bargain). Trying to get back proved interesting though.

Basically, to make a long story short, we changed buses about a dozen times and eventually ended up somewhere called Queens Park in the borough of Brent, NW of the city. Tired and frusterated, we got some food and just hung out the rest of the night. But we couldn't have imagined that the next day we'd have an even more frusterating transportation experience.

Today we decided would be dedicated to blogging, e-mailing, calling, and paper writing. But first, our movies had to be returned. So we made our way to High Street Kensington to return them. After successfully doing so, we got some coffee and headed back. On the tube ride home, however, we suddenly stopped in the middle of a tunnel.

After waiting several minutes, the conductor came over the intercom and said that a train had been stolen near Aldgate! Naturally, we were all a bit worried. That didn't sound good. A few minutes later, however, the conductor came back on the intercom and told us that it wasn't a stolen train, but rather a man had been seen wandering the tracks near Aldgate, and all power had been cut from the tracks while they went to find him. About 30 minutes later, the train crawled into the next station, and we left immediately to walk the rest of the way home.

But all is well, because the Pats are killing the Bills, and I have Mondays off :)

Till we meet again!

posted by Zachary Nicholson @ 8:55 PM