Friday, we went to the Horniman Museum. We had heard it had a great aquarium (which it does, albeit a small one). To get there, we took the 521 bus to London Bridge station, from which we took the National Rail service to Forest Hill. I want to take this opportunity to say how much I love rail stations.* When you're in a train station, it seems as though a world of possibility is open to you. Dotted throughout Britain, connected by a crisscrossing of rails like the veins on a leaf, rail stations are much more accessible than airports and much less depressing than their American cousins. They are breezy, inviting, bustling... and they fill my heart with lovely anticipation. The London Bridge - Forest Hill trip was short (15 or 20 minutes) and cheap (3.80 GBP return), but I could easily have bought a ticket to Edinburgh. Or Swansea. Or Dover. I could have just as easily gone almost anywhere in the country. I know, you can go anywhere in the States with a plane ticket, but it's not the same.
So, reader, I invite you to come ride the rails with me. You'll never be the same.
*I must say, I understand in some measure why King's Cross station plays such a significant part in the Harry Potter novels.
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4 comments:
i wholly agree. a train ride is such a pleasurable journey. would that i could travel up and down the east coast by rail - though i believe the notion that rail-ing in england is its own unique experience, superior to us rails. trains and stations and the surrounding details figure in to so many of my most favorite stories - a train even ended up being a doorway into narnia. twice, i believe. lovely post. and happy birthday to james!
snap. if i had 6 weeks and a thousand pounds... i'd come ride trains with you the whole time.
promises.
Oooh, please, can we? I can't think of anything more fun than to come ride trains with you in England. We took the train from Iowa to Utah at Christmastime, and it was gross and disgusting and slow for the most part, highlighted occasionally by stunning vistas in the snow-covered Rocky Mountains. But oh, we'd love to come!
It sounds so romantic!
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