"I reached in and took out my iPhone from the pocket of my thick, padded winter jacket, and checked the time.
5:57pm; just as I’d expertly predicted.
I had now memorized that from this point of my walk, as I approach Marble Arch station; pass the 24 hour Sainsbury’s supermarket at the end of Oxford Street; and then turn right at the corner on to Edgeware Road, it would be another 30 to 40 minutes of walking till I reached my flat on Kilburn High Road.
Central London was generally always bustling with people, but it was particularly this point, and at Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus, that there were usually increased crowds of people.
Marble Arch station is based diagonally opposite the Oxford Street Primark store, whose inside somewhat resembles a retail apocalyptic scene. Undoubtedly, this was one of the factors behind the increased crowds in this spot.
But that was perfectly okay by me. I’d mastered the art of dodging and zipping through the crowds, whilst still being able to keep up my quick pace.
Alive. That’s how this city feels to me, and how I feel being here.
British author, Samuel Johnson once wrote “when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.”
There will naturally be many arguments against this statement, but each day these walks home from south to north London allow me to understand his words on an extended level of consciousness.
Everywhere I walk, everything I see, every sound I hear, and every scent I smell - all contribute to giving this place life.
One of the first things I noticed upon arriving in London was the constant faint sound of distant police sirens. No matter where or what time, this can always be heard.
Buses are always running, 24 hours. Cars and people are everywhere. Some places more than others.
The buildings echoing British colonialism; the quaint streets lined with flats and houses; the pavements covered in filth or black spots of all sizes, depending on the borough... All have a history. A story to tell. A character of their own to add to this city.
This is not simply London, the capital city of England and the United Kingdom.
This is my London. And this is not all of it.
These walks home from work are now my daily and economical method of keeping fit, although, they’ve formed a much deeper meaning to me than just that."©
