Friday 7 March 2008

The Road Home

I love driving through London at night.

It doesn't happen very often because we use the train
but on Wednesday night I was with a friend
whose husband plays for the orchestra.
We drove in through the rush hour traffic
and back late at night after the concert.

Our route took us across Westminster Bridge
through Parliament Square
down the Mall
past Buckingham Palace
and then out through Knightsbridge.

London is not a city of regular grid lines like New York
and if you are with somebody who knows the route well
it feels like a fairground ride.
The car weaves around the complex road systems,
through the mass of black cabs
and the glittering shop fronts
and you feel quite breathless with the beauty of it.

It is very difficult to take photos
because there is the reflection of the car window,
the fact that you are driving at 40mph
and trying to make conversation at the same time.
My friends couldn't understand
why I would want to take photos at all
I rarely take pictures in public.
I said that I had a friend in Australia
who wanted to see where I had been
so Mary, Tracey and Kirsten...
these are for you.

6 comments:

Mary said...

Thank you !

And I love the photos - they bring back such sharp and clear memories of living in London ourselves. And you are right - it is a very beautiful town at night (and I loved it at Christmas time especially) - I always used to feel (rightly or wrongly) so safe in London.

BreadBox said...

Wonderful shots of London! I've only rarely been around the city at night, but those photos bring back some wonderful memories....

N.

dottycookie said...

Lovely photos. We usually take a taxi around London - it works out only marginally more expensive than the tube for all of us. Lovely to whizz around in a car!

Anonymous said...

A, thank you!!! I have never been to London but hopefully... soon! And I now also want desperately to go to Avoca. Really truly desperately!

Anonymous said...

How amazing that you just went driving by all of those places. It seems so incredible exotic to me!

I'd like to drive that route with you one day.

Ali Honey said...

That was great - Thankyou. if you do a similar trip in daylight I'd love to see that too.

My younger son lives in that big city and I haven't been there yet!