Thursday, October 25, 2007
Notes from my trip from Ilford, England to Gatwick Airport
My journey started with a cab ride from my sister’s place to Gants Hill Underground Station. I switched from the Central Line to the District Line at Mile End, in the heart of cockney East London. While getting on that train, a woman who got up from her seat rather late, gave everyone already getting on very dirty looks. Apparently, we were supposed to know that this was her stop and wait, first for her to stand up, then alight, before we entered!
The next leg was the Gatwick Express train. It’s a great service, if rather expensive. But EVERY announcement they make is repeated in 6 bloody languages! Very nice if you are German or Italian or Spanish or French or I don’t even know what the sixth one was. But irritating when you know these preternaturally happy voices are going to cascade one after the other every time an announcement is made. With how many Russians and Arabs there are living in London, and how many Japanese visit, how long before there are 9 or more languages! Good thing that Indian, African and Dutch people all speak English, or there would be no peace at all on the journey!!
Gatwick is nice now! I hadn’t been there for years. I noticed 2 restaurants and 3 coffee places: Frankie and Benny’s New York Italian Restaurant and Bar had far more people in it than Burger King, and Café Nero and Costa Coffee were more crowded than Starbucks. Quite heartening! Could that ever happen here? I somehow doubt it. From what I can tell, a majority of Americans mistake brand names for quality.
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The next leg was the Gatwick Express train. It’s a great service, if rather expensive. But EVERY announcement they make is repeated in 6 bloody languages! Very nice if you are German or Italian or Spanish or French or I don’t even know what the sixth one was. But irritating when you know these preternaturally happy voices are going to cascade one after the other every time an announcement is made. With how many Russians and Arabs there are living in London, and how many Japanese visit, how long before there are 9 or more languages! Good thing that Indian, African and Dutch people all speak English, or there would be no peace at all on the journey!!
Gatwick is nice now! I hadn’t been there for years. I noticed 2 restaurants and 3 coffee places: Frankie and Benny’s New York Italian Restaurant and Bar had far more people in it than Burger King, and Café Nero and Costa Coffee were more crowded than Starbucks. Quite heartening! Could that ever happen here? I somehow doubt it. From what I can tell, a majority of Americans mistake brand names for quality.
