By: Blonde Two
OK so Blondees and Blondettes – here I am far away from my natural wild bog habitat in the bustling metropolis of London. Last night I think I was bemused by the wealth of shiny pink, purple, green and other coloured lights and didn’t manage to go to bed until midnight. This isn’t “the city that never sleeps” but I think it should be.
London calls for a far different set of navigation skills to those which I have been practising recently. For a start, I can’t imagine a situation when you would ever need a torch. It has gone well so far, I have successfully navigated;
Round Newton Abbot to find a car park (rainy)
Onto the correct London train and straight to our seats (backwards)
Out of Paddington Station and onto the tube (busy)
Straight to hotel (upgrade)
Tube to China town (hungry)
Negotiation of an Everest sized escalator (new fear developing nicely)
Navigation around an impressive Chinese meal (messy)
A circuit of Leicester Square (shiny)
Back to the hotel (sleepy)
So far the only place that I have lost my bearings in has been the gigantic M&M World (New York, Las Vegas, Orlando and London) – I think I went to all four cities before I found the way out again. Am about to Google to find out if there is a Jelly Baby World – if there is I will be there tomorrow.
I do like a good tube map. You don’t need a compass and it doesn’t matter which way up you hold it, you just follow the lines. Maybe Dartmoor should be set up like that, we would lose less Ten Tors kids that way (just follow the Widecombe Line and change at Hound Tor). Funny story of the day – my travelling companion’s (not-at-all Blonde) sister (Strawberry Blonde) was once on the tube with her and thought she could pick out where they were on the map because the train was going round a big bend just as the Yellow Circle line did on the train wall.
Today I have to put my indoor navigation skills to the test and find my way around a giant exhibition hall. I will let you know how I get on!
I’ve still never been brave enough to try and navigate the tube on my own – I just follow whoever I’m with and try and loo like I know what on earth is going on! Give me a Dartmoor map in the fog anyday – at least then if you’re lost you’re not trapped in some claustophobic tunnel full of wierdos!!!!
I was eleven when I got lost on the Tube. My companion was twelve. We’d never been to London before, but my companion
1. Knew that we only had to get on the next tube that came along.
2. Knew that we had to get off at —– WHERE did we have to get off? Still don’t know.
3. When we got there, knew the way to the Guide Headquarters we were visiting, even though we had never been there.
I’ve been lost in almost every part of England, except the South East. I’m saving that for next year.