One of my favorite things about London is riding on the Tube.  I love the energy and the personality it takes on at different times of the day.  During the day, it’s modest and bustling with individuals focused on work and priorities.  In the evening, it takes on a more comically brazen role, with folks in different states of dress and lucidity, creating a social reaction that should be captured as a reality television show in its own right.  I would watch that show!

I’m a people watcher and I have the skill of listening to different conversations at once.  At times, my American ears were overloaded and overwhelmed with the different British accents I’d hear on the Tube.  Every once in a while, my ears would catch another accent, breaking up the heavy flow of homogenous accents flowing throughout the car.  I’d match those conversations to different groups of people, whether it was couples going out on the town or a group of clubbers upset because their plans to go have a few drinks got changed at the last minute.  At times, I almost invited myself to go to Soho with strangers whom I’d never met.

The late night rides back to my fiancé’s flat were my favorite rides.  The trains were somewhat quiet and deserted.  After a long day or night out, it was great to sit there with his hand in mine, a quick kiss, and a deep sigh of relief, as I read the smattering of advertisements plastered throughout the train, all of which enhanced my trip to London.  I didn’t feel like a tourist or an American on those late rides back.  I felt like a local on my way back to the flat to get some rest before watching another episode of “Reality” on the Tube the next morning.