Often while I am in London, I want to go somewhere, but I don’t know where I want to go.  I am not in the mood to go to the National Gallery, or Buckingham Palace, or even St. Paul’s Cathedral.  Several years ago, I was in London with my children who came home laughing their heads off.  I asked them what they had been doing.  They reported that they had been on a “Wandering Tour.”  What in the world is a “Wandering Tour.”  They described their adventure on a Double Decker Bus going nowhere.  What?  They hopped on a bus going somewhere, and they were off on the ride.  I got interested.

Their “Wandering Tour” is catching one of the buses and riding it until they decided they would catch another bus going in some other direction.  They worked their way to the front of the top of the bus until eventually they were in the front seats up top over  the driver below.  They had the entire view in front of them as they traveled through the city.   They chatted with other young people,mostly students and waiters at restaurants who were equally happy to chat and exchange conversation.  They told me that they started their adventure on bus #137 on Lavender Hill and the Queenstown Road.  How in the world did they get there?  ”We took another bus which took us to South London.”  Bus #137 took them up Queenstown Road to Battersea Park and the Chelsea Bridge with views over the Thames.  They came up Lower Sloane Street past the east side of the Chelsea Hospital and the Ranelagh Gardens.  When they passed the Sloane Club, they knew where they were and jumped off to grab a sandwich on Duke of York Plaza.  The joined the #137 bus again and went around Sloane Square, up Sloane Street past the Cadogan Hotel to the Knightsbridge Tube Stop.  They decided they didn’t have their father’s debit card for shopping in all the shops, so on they went past the Duke of Wellington’s residence at Apsley House, #1 London, and continued along Park Lane.  When they got as far as Marble Arch, they decided they would get off at Speaker’s Corner to hear what was going on.  It was a Sunday, so they knew there would be someone on his soap box talking about something.  After a few “not interesting” moments, they caught the next #137 bus and went down Oxford Street, all the way to Oxford Circus.  At this point, they hopped off the bus to find another venture and ended up “somehow” at the London Canal Museum in North London.

Since that event, I have done this several times myself.  I am not as familiar with East London, so I thought I would get the overview of the area from the top of a London Double Decker Bus.  I usually hop off and on two or three times, especially when I spot an interesting church or a bit of interesting public art.  One day, I ended up at Spitalfield Market and had  great fun.

My point here is to encourage people to explore other than just the tourist areas of London.  London is a very diverse city with great street art, small galleries, wonderful markets, and many small neighborhood restaurants.  I understand that wandering in unknown areas is sometimes difficult and uncomfortable to do, so I agree with my children:  DISCOVER LONDON ON A “WANDERING TOUR” ON THE TOP OF THE RED DOUBLE DECKER BUS.

Somedays, I just want to ride a bus and listen to the people.  I love all the shopping bags and young people in their school uniforms.  London is a rich multi-racial city with people from all backgrounds.  It has always been that way since Roman times.  Each of the city’s residential areas has its own personality and in some ways its own accents and variations of English.  I personally thrive on diversity.  I enjoy hearing about how their families came to England.  After they see that I am just enjoying my bus ride, they open up and have lots to talk about.  I always get a laugh at their vocabulary, and they always say AH, YOU ARE AN AMERICAN, RIGHT?  I have a definite American accent, a bit softer than most, but it gives me a chance to exchange stories.  To come to London and never have this kind of experience would be a real tragedy.

My children have close friends who live in the East End.  Several of them are taxi drivers–certainly rough around the edges, but they have worked their way into our family’s lives.  They come here from time to time to ski and enjoy our lives high in the mountains.  They always get a real laugh coming to my office and see a massive portrait of the Queen in a magnificent gilt frame hanging over my desk.  One of our closest associations is a taxi driver named Johnnie Branch whom we met when Stephanie and I were leaving Sotheby’s auction house with a large package.  It was pouring.  Johnnie pulled up and said:  ”Need a taxi?”  He is a tall, engaging, east-end young man who won our hearts.  When my son Thomas Jr. is in London twice each year, Johnnie is the first person he contacts.  They go off to the taxi driver “hang outs,” have salt beef sandwiches or Kosher food and laugh the night away.  Thomas grew up in very different circumstances, but he was taught in our home that there are fabulous people everywhere whom we must know and understand.   When Johnnie comes to visit us here, all our snooty friends love to be with him–all his charm, cockney accent, and unending taxi stories.

I suggest that we want to have these experiences.  A boy named Hamilton from Jamaican parents lives on the Old Kent Road and grew up rough on the streets.  He was smart and knew that “doing the knowledge” for a taxi position was his way out of his circumstances. He is a stunning fellow with an Irish girlfriend,  and they have just gotten their “beginner”  flat together.  She is all-fire and is moving up in her bank position, and Hamilton is a great driver who has become the cook in the house.  I love these people a great deal.  I would be sad not to have them in our family’s lives.

Take a red double decker bus and explore London.  When you have had a long day and need to get back home, hop off the bus and grab a taxi or just work your way back to central London.  It is a beautiful thing to do.  I strongly recommend it.  It is a long way from the snuff boxes at the Wallace Collection, but it is HUMAN AND ENLIGHTENING AND ENRICHING.  No monuments, no guides, no loud speakers, no tickets–just you and London enjoying each other!  Wonderful.

Smiles here.

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com