Tube musings

I've found most mass transit systems easy to navigate (no matter what this song or this song might have to say about it) and the Tube is no exception so far--at least when it comes to moving from station to station. Moving around inside the stations themselves, however, has been more than a little disorienting. I find myself trudging in a line of people following the "way out" signs (perhaps time for another vocabulary lesson from Mrs. Werbenmanjensen) without really questioning where I'm going. I think being disoriented underground is partly out of unfamiliarity, but also because I come from Washington, with its famously open subway floor plans. Compare that photo with this ....





... which captures most of my Tube station experiences.

This disorientation, of course, led to my own personal Mines of Moria moments a few days ago, when I thought I'd get fancy and get off a train that stopped at the Bank station but exit at the connected Monument station, closer to our apartment. Like the Fellowship of the Ring, I wandered about, harried by goblins and trolls, and of course walked twice as far underground than I would have aboveground, before exiting at Bank and walking the pavement home.

(Note: Because of Mrs. Werbenmajensen's powers of observation, we managed to make it from the Bank station to the Monument exit last night. Score!)