The Crazy Rants of Samantha BurnsA Night On The Town, Pt. 2
The area around Liverpool Street is mainly non-residential but as with any busy rail terminal (even a closed one) there are people milling around all the time, day and night. One reason for this particular area's popularity is a 24-hour cafe, and of course this was an ideal way to kill some time.
I eschewed the renowned traditional (and fat-laden) British Brekkie for.. a chicken curry! What better meal to eat at 2am, and actually traditionally British? I joined the queue into the cramped shop and ordered my curry with a large espresso - it was going to be a long night.
While I was waiting for my meal I had chance to observe my fellow diners.
A large percentage were from next door's police station, and everyone was behaving well as a consequence. Its always a good sign when the local constabulary patronises an establishment - no-one will willingly upset the stomachs of the guardians of the peace. A couple of guys opposite were discussing the merits of a wireless PDA that one of them had just bought, and I smiled to myself - us guys are all the same really.
On the next table a young man was trying oh-so-hard to keep awake for his date, and not quite succeeding.
Gotta stay awake 4 U
With breakfast over (well I made it last nearly an hour) it was time to plan the next move. Ideally this would have been a club, so I nipped into the police station next door to ask where the nearest all-nighter was. A lot of clubs only seem to stay open until 3.30am, so it was important to find the right one.
The helpful WPC and I studied a map, but worryingly she couldn't come up with anywhere, so I decided to go it alone and head towards the throbbing centre of London, Tottenham Court Road. Actually this really worried me: I was asking a young woman where the nearest den of iniquity was and she didn't know: maybe our police really are too young!
So, Tottenham Court Road is normally a mecca for gadget-freaks and window-shoppers and the area is one of the busiest parts of 24-hour London being close to Soho. Getting there involved another bus ride and I waited outside in the increasing cold of the early morning. I bought my ticket from the machine in the street and mused that the only people that were really comfortable and warm right now were the bums asleep on the streets in their rancid sleeping bags. This was in stark contrast to us affluent party people who were now shivering with the cold - not that I would have traded places.
As I waited for the bus a new mini-mart was being stocked up prior to opening and the street seemed just as busy as in the day. All around me the city towered above me, ablaze with lights.
At Liverpool Street
In the City
Stocking up the 'mart
To be continued...
