Jack the Ripper: I never heard about this famous serial killer. So I was surprised to find a group of earnest tourists at Aldgate station on this rainy November night. Diego brought his cameracoder to shoot some footage for his project, and raindrops, piles of fallen leaves, dark shadows from lampposts, narrow alleys and archways, all fit well to create a horror film atmosphere for the video he was working on. For the outsiders London has always been shrouded with images of intense fog, gory murders and dark mysteries, thanks to Doctor Watson and Dickenson. Jack the Ripper story has all the required ingredients to stigmatize such collective memory of London: Prostitution, disembowelment, royal scandals, and cripples. No wonder it has become quite a selling point. On the following days, I noticed more ads outside various underground stations selling these tours. The ripper certainly achieved immortality and would continue to generate cash way beyond this millennium.
AA: The Architectural Association is located at SoHo, just a block away for G-A-Y, the night club I frequented a few years ago. They take a few nondescript buildings that are connected with each other and with a whole row of others. Who would tell that this school produced some of the biggest names in the current architecture scene? On the night I stopped by, a whole group of UPenn students were partying side by side with their London peels, and fireworks broke out due to celebration for some obscure British holiday. The flames and sparkles were reflected through all these young ambitious and joyful faces around me, and I wondered how many of them would really nake it in this intensely competative field…not surprisingly I made friends with Asian students and spent most of the time talking to them. One of Chinese guys turned out to be from Taiway and is working on the opera house project back in my home city. Guess who designed it? Zala Hadid!
Stonehenge: I was ambitious enough to tour both StoneHenge and Bath in one day, and still managed to get back to London early enough for Greg’s dinner. The image of Stonehenge has been so overly used that I did not exactly know what to expect. But as the bus took a turn, I could already see that group of famous rocks from afar. They looked magnificent from the distance and under a broad sky. As sunlight shone through between the darting clouds, it projected long shadows on the gently-rolling green hills and created an awesome view. No wonder ancestors chose this site for their rituals. There is something mystical and spritual around.
Bath: I once met a fellow traveler who told me Bath was one of his favorite cities in England, but I did not get there until 4 o’clock, when the evening was already quickly falling. With just a few visitors, the ancient Roman bath ruins actually looked grander and more mysterious in that dimming light, as if each brick, each drop of hot spring water tells a story that has been forever lost. After the tour I walked aimlessly in the town, crossing the river and the circus and the Crecsent and walking through thick piles of fallen leaves. I could see lights flickering on the surrounding hills and the after-work crowd drinking in groups or by themselves in the bars. I felt a little lonely at those moments.
Night Buses: London is so expensive that I decided there was no way I would be able to afford taxi. And here we are, standing in the cold and waiting for the night bus after the night outings. Buses towards East London are notoriously crowded after bars are closed, but the atmosphere could be youthful and festive and you won’t mind rubbing with strangers. You are young and you party late and you live at the cheap ethnic neighborhoods populated by college students and foreigners. What else can be better than that? On the last night when we got back from Canary island, we had to take a night bus that took us all the way from Victoria Station to the East, passing through more upscale neighborhoods as well as SoHo and East. Sitting at the top deck and with a full front view, I saw rich ladies getting out of marbled mansions and into Bentleys, and I also saw homeless, drunkards, and street vendors just a few blocks away.
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