London May 19

Arrived in London in the late afternoon after 20 hours of travel, 11 hour time difference. Went for a long walk, down, across and up the Thames. Southhampton Row to the Kingsway Aldwych to the Strand to Arundel Street to the Embankment, then across the Millenium Bridge to the South Bank.

Down the river and across again on Southwark Bridge.

Past the Tower with its ancient food trucks.

Across Tower Bridge.

Then back up the river to and across London Bridge (surprisingly the least distinctive in appearance).

Although it was a gorgeous sunny day, it sounds like a more romantic or Dickensian then it felt. I thought a lot about the differences between now and my semester here in 1979. Gone are most visible class markers — no older businessmen in bowler hats, no younger ones in sharp suits; very few attempts by either gender to be stylish or distinctive; no obvious working class dress. Almost everyone in t-shirt, athletic shoes, jeans and hoodies. I was slightly above average in appearance because I wore a collared shirt and dress slacks.

Also gone are the very distinct youth tribes of 1979, each with itscown style of dress, music, drug of choice and degree of menace: punks, skinheads, mods, teddy boys (sharp dressers into 50s Amerian music), glam rockers, metalheads, even a few leftover hippies.

The streets also seemed less distinctive, more Americanized: Starbucks (which didn’t exist in 1979), McDonalds, KFC. No fish and chip shops, only a few pubs. I’m in the heart of tourist London; maybe other parts have retained their character better.

One great improvement: the street crossings now have markings telling you which way to look before you cross.