Tuesday 7 December 2010

U is for...

Underground

The very first time I was in London was when I was 16 and on a schooltrip. I loved it. Especially the underground (or the tube). Waiting for the train to arrive on one of those platforms with the wind wooshing in first. It was so thrilling! And I didn't even mind being packed in tighter than sardines or the smells of all those sweaty people. I just loved the whole sensation of it all. It was one of the reasons I was homesick after returning home! I wanted to go back to London. Fortunately I have many times since.

The map you can see at the top is a map from 1986 as are the tickets. There are a few more stations now and the tickets have changed a lot as well. There are still paper tickets, but people who use the tube on a regular basis use the Oyster card (I have one too), which is a pay as you go system which works really well.  
For more U-words from around the world, please check out ABC Wednesday and join in the fun!

11 comments:

  1. How long would it take you to get to London?

    And, by the way, you're so cute in that new picture up the top. ;-)

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  2. It would be nice to check it out someday.

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  3. What would London do without the Underground?

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  4. Oh geez ! I wonder how many km I have done in this tube during the 10 years my son lived in London ! I know the London tube better than the public transport in Brussels !
    Each year coming back from Eastbourne I stop for the day in London, the tube map hasn't changed a lot, lol !

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  5. Love your new pictures there Mara, Someday I hope to make it to London and see the sights. Great word for the letter U.

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  6. The underground is the only way I can find my way around London when I go there! Great U post.

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  7. Oooh, the Underground! And isn't that map wonderful? Bears very little relationship to the real route, but somehow it works.

    I have a love-hate relationship with the tube. I love its quirkiness, its 'London-ness' and the fact that you can get pretty much all over London using it, fairly cheaply, too. On the other hand, I hate that part of the experience which involves rushing about up and down endless stairs and escalators, standing on cold, grubby platforms with a bunch of strangers, the silent threat of that third rail, and the sheer boredom of a long trip.

    On behalf of the team, I now must thank you for taking part in ABC Wednesday this week! :)

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  8. Oh, how cool is this! Love your hat..., too!

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  9. I enjoyed your Underground post, and your new header is delightful. You look smashing in that cap!

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  10. Sounds like a fun thing to do. I have never been but would love to try it.

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  11. Where would London be without the underground? I was introduced to it at a very young age and will not forget the photos of all the people packed in and sleeping there during the war years. In fact we lived in Finchley which I believe was and probably still is one of the stops on the London Underground.

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Any weighty (and not so weighty) comments are welcome!