London Calls: From Subways to Bookstores

As I find myself wandering the streets of London yet again, it feels less like a simple journey and more like a homecoming. Being from Malta, which was a British colony in the past, setting foot in England is akin to stepping through the pages of a well-worn history book .

Travelling around London

London has a very efficient subway network — the London Underground. Being a tourist, I like using it, it gets me from one point to another in the shortest time possible and the smell of electricity is somehow pleasant. It’s probably cos I am just enjoying my time here.

What I like about this subway is that it started being developed back in 1863 with Baker Station being one of the oldest. It is like you are travelling back in time.

Bookstore Hopping

I am not a bookworm by any means. I cannot stick to a book for hours on end. However, I like visiting bookshops and finding something interesting. Mainly I like history and photography. and art genres to name a few. Somehow I find that they all relate to one another. While writing this article I was at Waterstones in Piccadilly. I was having a coffee after hours spent looking for books and reading snippets of each. Before this, I was in another Waterstones bookstore in Chelsea. Doing the math I just found out that I spent eight hours in total between bookshops.

Bookshops have a certain appeal to me. The way they are organized into sections and genres. The people, all with different interests but all into reading. The notebooks and assortments are stationary items. Just perfect!

In a world where everything seems to go digital, these places will never cease to exist. There is something to be said about just bookshops and the experience of being in/or visiting one. Currently, I am writing on a napkin. I could use my phone but somehow the words and ideas will not come to me like this. Looking around me in the cafeteria I am surrounded by books on walls. People reading, another man doing research and yours truly wiring on a napkin.

I like such experiences and hopefully, you liked this article. The article ends here cos I am running out of napkin space and it is also a good excuse to continue enjoying my Earl Grey with milk. The only place where having tea with milk doesn’t look out of place.