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July 7, 2004 I have not visited my country of birth in five years—but here I am back in the capital for ten days, in order to get a couple of visas and do some business. Has it changed? Is it the same? Am I proud? Am I entranced? Am I bored. Am I entertained? Actually, I am a little confused by my own conflicting thoughts—but I am going to try and set them down here, under the three headings given above ( thanks to Ennio Morricone and Clint Eastwood!) THE GOOD: Well…it is one of the major capitals of the world, after all. It should be at the cutting edge of new technologies and business procedures. In many ways it is. When I left London, the internet was still in its infancy. Now, wherever I go, I am confronted with internet cafes that offer broadband connections at a blazing speed: though widely diverging prices---anything from one to three sterling pounds an hour. If I wish to stay inside my hotel room and use my notebook, it will cost me a whopping fifteen sterling pounds an hour! Compare this with the five star Middle Eastern hotel where, immediately before my arrival in London, I was connected to the internet at about two sterling pounds an hour. Further remarks about my London hotel will have to be conserved for a different section of this article… Is there nothing good about it then? Well, I have missed the more comfortable British mattresses over the last five years. On the other hand, the harder mattresses I have now become accustomed to are, probably, better for my back. Swings and roundabouts! The things that were good about London before I left are still good today. The big black taxis remain the best and safest in the world, whatever you want to buy is available in the shops, the people are still an incredibly cosmopolitan mix that seem to live amicably enough together, without the prejudices and extreme racial tensions that are experienced in so many other places around the world—and even in other spots in the U.K. itself! The tube, though old, remains an incredibly efficient and fast way of moving around the city, counter staff in the shops are mostly pleasant and helpful, the restaurants are still numerous and excellent—and if you want to see top class opera, music, ballet and theater, there is probably no better capital city in the world. The general spirit remains tolerant and open to diverse and unusual opinions, while the cosmopolitan nature of the city makes you sometimes doubt whether you are really in England at all! My hotel is in the Bayswater area, which is also home to most of the London Greek community-- and their celebrations after the victory of their team at Euro 2004, must have mirrored that of Athens itself! Car horns were heard all through the night and few people seemed to sleep until dawn. THE BAD: The frenetic pace of London is killing and it is not so easy to find a quiet moment of peace and tranquility: and that is in spite of all those famous London parks that seem to be bulging at the seams with tourists from dawn to dusk! The people, though friendly and helpful initially, are still in possession of that famous British reserve when you scratch the surface-- and if you expect that first exchange of pleasantries and useful information to lead to a deeper or more personal conversation, you will probably be disappointed. Of course, you might have more luck with the many non Brits abroad in the capital during the summer months. Now back to that hotel room. I guess I’m paying more than a hundred U.S. dollars a night for a basic room that is about eight feet squared! There is no fridge or mini bar. There is no air- conditioning. There is no bath. There is no space at all! After two nights here, I inevitably stepped on my glasses and broke them while making a sudden and uncontrolled step in an unexpected direction! What they do have in the room—quite bizzarely—is a huge ironing board and a tray with tea and coffee making facilities. You just about have room to stretch out on the bed and turn on the tiny television which is connected up to about five satellite channels ( mostly the usual suspects: Sky News, Discovery, National Geographic, etc.) with a freshly made mug of tea in your hand. Heaven! By the way, you’d better get out of the room by around 9:45, as otherwise you’re going to have the cleaners shouting and knocking persistently on the door. “Hey, you in there. What are you up to? It’s a great day. Time to get out there and enjoy it.” “Well…I was just finishing some work on my lap top…” “Laptop?” (great guffaw of laughter). “Laptops are for wimps. Get yourself outside and let me clean your room.” * London is horrendously expensive. Nothing seems to come cheaper than about ten sterling pounds. A small charger for my mobile phone that cost me about three U.S. dollars in the Middle East, was almost ten pounds here! Of course, to be precise, it was the ubiquitous nine pounds, ninety nine pence. I never could figure out if that was a ploy to make the simple minded customer believe he was getting a good deal, or some Machiavellian plot to avoid paying extra tax. Either way, it’s a lot of pounds and pence for a mobile phone charger. On a conservative estimate, I’m expecting to overspend on my initial plan by about one thousand U.S. dollars. THE UGLY: There is a definite lack of spirituality in London: something that I had also noted here before—and nothing has changed from this point of view. Of course, there are lots of spiritual people here from all parts of the world and it is certainly not difficult to find churches, mosques and temples. However, in some strange way, everything seems to finally be subsumed into a kind of hybrid pagan materialism that seems to have an unflinching and sometimes arrogant certainty that it represents all the highest human values and traditions. Maybe it does—but I’m not so sure. Sometimes I find myself missing the God centered societies of the Middle East and South East Asia while I am here. No doubt it would seem absurd to passengers that travel with British Airways to have to listen to a travel prayer before every departure—but actually it is quite comforting and really does no harm at all. What is it except an admission that we don’t know and control everything? And also that there may be beneficent powers out there that might—just might-- be prepared to help us in a sticky situation? However, in this great European capital, it sometimes seems that even the spiritual urge has been sanitized and allocated its necessary and merited place on a one hour Yoga work out DVD! I’ll be here for another few days before flying off to Turkey and Thailand for the rest of the summer. It’s just possible that I might have to return to London for another week in late August. But I hope not. * Just a little fantasy dialogue! ------------ About the author Jon Aristides: Read, 'The Black Scarab of Amun-Ra'. Visit www.jon-aristides.com Email: aristidesjon2001@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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