From a young age I have always had a love for double decker buses. On my very first visit to London at the wee age of 4, I watched in awe at the glorious vehicles roaming the streets of central London and begged my parents to take me on an open top double decker bus tour. I remember climbing the stairs and finding a seat all the way in the back. With wind blowing through my hair, I watched as the sites of London flew by. I think I remember more about the bus than anything else on that trip! I left London with tiny model double decker bus painted with the Union Jack to commemorate this truly incredible adventure.
18 years later, the bus still sat on my childhood bedroom shelf as I packed up and moved to the city of the iconic double decker bus. Since moving, I have found that my love for riding the double decker bus is still very much alive and thriving. Although oftentimes the bus takes over twice as long as the Tube to get to the desired destination, I still find myself tapping on and finding my beloved top floor seat. Here are a few of my favorite journeys so far:
September 19th:
After spending a rainy morning collecting my UCL ID and studying in the British Library, I checked Citymapper to see what route to take home. I could take the District Line to Jubilee and be home in 30 minutes or take the bus with one change and be home in 70 minutes. In no rush to get home and having only ever magically teleported to the city using the Tube, I decided to ride the bus and enjoy my lunch with a tour of the city.
I hopped on at Euston Bus Station and made my way up to the second floor where I found a window seat right behind the stairs. I cracked open my lunch and watched as the rainy streets of Marylebone whizzed by. Along the way, I noticed a construction sign that warned of closed roads for a event that weekend. Curious of what the event could be, I began googling. To my surprise the Sheep Festival was on Sunday, which you can read more about on one of our previous blog posts. In addition to a pleasant journey home, the bus ride came with plans for a fun weekend activity!
September 21st:
With plans to meet Catja at Fulham Palace, I checked Citymapper to determine the best route. I could take Jubilee to Victoria to District and arrive in 60 minutes or take the bus with one change and arrive in 80 minutes. Having never seen all the neighborhoods between home and Fulham, I decided to take the bus and leave a bit earlier. I hopped on and rode the first bus for 10 minutes before crossing the street and getting on the next bus for a relaxing 70 minutes.
I rode through Harlesden, White City, Shepherds Bush, Hammersmith, and finally, Fulham. I watched as I passed by office buildings, rows of gorgeous houses, and buzzing cafes. It was lunch hour, so I could see people roaming about and enjoying the sunny weather. 70 minutes flew by and next thing I knew, I was stepping off outside Fulham Palace.
October 18th:
I woke up this morning with plans to ride into central on the Tube and get a full day of studying in, but the rainy day blues hit particularly hard. With everything going on in the world right now, I was craving a slower paced day where I could just spend some time thinking and processing on my own. So instead of taking the 25 minute tube ride in at 10am like I normally do, I decided to stick around home for the morning and head in on the bus at 2pm for a peaceful 75 minute ride.
I hopped on at the nearest station and popped my headphones in with Catja and my new favorite Spotify playlist, the Daylist, which is a personally curated playlist made by Spotify. Spotify follows the type of music you listen to throughout the day to create three playlists a day (morning, afternoon, and evening), so you can listen to music with the right vibe for the time of day. This isn’t an advertisement, but you should definitely go listen to yours and tell us what your adjectives are because we find them absolutely hilarious! Mine this afternoon were “punchy, christian, country Wednesday afternoon,” which is a bit strange, but I blame the large amount of country music I have consumed since moving to London that reminds me of home.
One of my favorite things about riding the bus is that it feels like the whole world slows down. For 75 minutes you can just stare out the window and watch the world. It’s not like the Tube where everyone is in a rush, doing an activity, or just seems like they would rather be anywhere else. Everyone on the bus just sits. I also get to learn new things about London by watching out the window. Today, I learned that Co-Op the grocery store also runs a funeral home, which is simply the most bizarre thing I have ever heard.
For some reason, every time I ride into central, the bus stops at Baker Street instead of Euston Station where it says it’s going to stop. Today was the same. Instead of waiting for the next bus though, I walked the rest of the way to Bloomsbury. A lovely rainy day walk!
October 22nd:
On a sunny Sunday afternoon, Catja and I prepared to hunker down for a exciting crafternoon (crafting afternoon for those unfamiliar) to help a friend with his halloween costume. I had spent the past couple days searching for a shelf to complete our living room decor and to my surprise the perfect one became available. The Facebook Marketplace seller told us we could pick it up that day if we wanted, so rather than sticking around home, we headed off to the bus stop for a 40 minute journey to East Finchley.
Not wanting to leave our crafternoon activities behind, we decide to move our crafting to the bus. We brought along our markers, pens, and paper and began sketching away as the bus drove to our destination. Unsurprisingly crafting on the bus was not the easiest task. The bus braked quickly and leaned from side to side, making our straight lines into squiggly ones. However, the joys of riding the bus continued. We laughed, listened to music, and watched as we entered a new part of London we had never seen before, all while attempting to complete our craft at hand.
Although the way there was definitely a new bus experience, the journey back is far more a testament to why I love the bus so much. With a 6 foot tall shelf in hand, we boarded the bus with zero strange looks. After getting off at our first stop to switch buses we realized that the next bus was not due to arrive for 20 minutes. So, we sat there on the side of the road with a big shelf chatting and enjoying the beautiful London day. A delayed bus may seem like an inconvenience, but it was far from it. Catja and I got to craft, chat, and catch up on our strange week together, which I would consider time very well spent!
You guys are too adorable!