First Impressions

The following is an assignment from a recent trip to Europe for a war correspondents class. We were to write with a style and tone similar to Ernie Pyle.

As our weary, sleep deprived bodies walked off the seven-hour, overnight flight, our minds began to run on adrenaline. We had little idea of what to expect and what we’re be experience on our trip to Europe especially on our first stop, London. Yet once we boarded the tour bus that would take us from the Gatwick airport to the heart of the city, our worries subsided to our journalistic curiosity. We began to form our first impressions of London. For me this impressions was a combination, much like the city itself.

The bus drove through the suburban outskirts of England’s largest city and the mixture of London began to emerge. The white wash stone houses and small fenced-in gardens lay just beyond the litter heaps on the roadside. The lush green farmland separated by age old hedgerows suddenly gave way to multiplexes and apartments buildings.

London’s a city that slowly creeps up and then surrounds an entity, consuming every inch. And that’s how the city came upon us. Slowly building from anticipation on the plane ride from the states to the UK, to excitement on the bus ride from the suburbs of Crydon and Norbury to suddenly hitting us with the sights of Big Ben and Parliament along the River Thames.

The London contradictions continued as we walked along the blossoming garden paths towards Kensington Palace and soccer teams played under a sky of clouds and peaks of sunshine.

The tour of the palace led us through the intense, long history of the city from the royalty of the 18th century to the rock-n-roll debutants of the 1950’s.

The history of stone palaces lay a stones throw away from modern, glass investment firms. English pubs neighbor Pizza Hut, and the abundant parks disappear amidst the construction cranes atop every other building.

London most definitely is a city of mixture. But not just in history and sights. The diversity in the city is amazing. A quick walk across the London Bridge you can hear Russian, German, Spanish and other European languages spoken amidst the tourists, and some residents of the city.

The feeling London invokes in you, continues to evoke the combination of the city. As you notice that people here hold themselves with a little bit of a higher regard and an air of politeness and properness, you begin to quiet your boisterous American laughs, either consciously or not. The reserved attitude that at first seems about everyone in London, however gives way to an laid-back European style.

There’s little doubt that after the palace visits, food endeavors, pub intakes and shopping vices that even only after less that 24 hours, London’s unique mixture has enveloped us all. Causing us to love the city currently, but hating having to leave so soon in the future.