June challenge I. (c) Buses: Starting at Victoria

[squirmelia]

Saturday evening, I attempted June Challenge I.(c), with n as 9. I got on the first bus that came along, and then get off at the 9th stop, and then got on the next bus that came along, and so on.

My starting point was opposite Westminster Cathedral, on Victoria Street, in London. I was quite excited about doing this challenge from Victoria, as I had the feeling that I could end up anywhere.


Here's a photo of a building I could see from that bus-stop:



The first bus that came along was the 11 to Liverpool Street.

Past Westminster City Hall, New Scotland Yard, Westminster Abbey, Parliament Square, and then we're at Horse Guards Parade.

From the bus, I could see people protesting, carrying Turkish flags. "Stand up Turkey, London is with you," one banner said. "Turkey unite against fascism," said another.

The bus travels onwards, and I see from the window, a man wearing a t-shirt that says "Hawaii, ride the tide".

"I can't get off there, it's too dangerous," a woman tells the bus driver.

Past Trafalgar Square/Charing Cross Station, and Southampton Street/Covent Garden, and Aldwych, and then I'm at the 9th stop: The Royal Courts of Justice.

Bus-stop:


Royal Courts of Justice:


The air was full of pollen and the streets were full of traffic jams.

The next bus that came along was the 4 to Archway.

I see St Paul's and the Gherkin in the distance.

A passenger on the bus comments about the policeman outside with the large hat, and I watch the policeman and policewoman talking to a few men. The policeman takes off his hat and places it on the ground.

I notice underneath the sign for "Fleet Street", there's also a sign that says:
"Poetic
The Pure Wrist
PW3"



Here's a few more photos from the bus:





Past Fetter Lane and Ludgate Circus, Ludgate Hill/Old Bailey, St Paul's Cathedral for Millennium Bridge, New Change/Cannon St, St Paul's Station, Little Britain, and the Museum of London.

Then I am at the 9th stop, and it is: Barbican Station.



The 153 to Finsbury Park Station arrives, and I jump aboard.

The bus goes past Clerkenwell Road/Old Street, Clerkenwell Road/St John Street, Aylesbury Street, Percival Street, Spencer Street/City University, Roseberry Avenue/Sadler's Wells Theatre, St John Street/Goswell Road, and Chapel Market.

The two little girls sitting opposite me on the bus are eating tubs of pink candyfloss. They start playing a game of I-Spy.

"I spy with my little eye something beginning with.. C"
"Tummy?"
"That doesn't begin with a C."
"Cuckoo?"
"No! Candyfloss!"

I get off the bus at Penton Street/Islington Police Station.

Just as I am about to dismiss this stop as being quite boring, I notice some art:









The next bus was the 274 to Lancaster Gate.

Past Copenhagen Street, Hemingford Road, Caledonian Road/Copenhagen Street. Story Street, Caledonian Road & Barnsbury Station, HM Prison Pentonville, Market Road Gardens, York Way Estate, and then off the bus at Brewery Road.

The bus stop I waited at:


The bus stop opposite:


I then got on the 390 to Oxford Circus, and sat at the front at the top on this double decker.

The bus passed Vale Royal/Maiden Lane, York Way Railway Bridge, Randell's Road (closed), York Way/Kings Place, Wharfdale Road/London Canal Museum, Kings Cross Station/Pentonville Road, Kings Cross Station, St Pancras International.

"Don't you people ever listen?" said the bus driver, when people tried to get off the bus at Randell's Road.

"Please limit use of horns in residential area," a sign said.

The bus went past York Road Station, which was a tube station that closed in 1932:


Also, this building:


I got off the bus at the British Library.



The next bus was the 30 to Marble Arch.

Past Euston Station, Euston Square Station, University College Hospital, Warren Street Station, Great Portland Street Station, Regents Park Station, Harley Street, Baker Street Station, and then York Street.

Here's the BT Tower:



The 82 to Victoria was the seventh bus I took. I went past some of the places I had been to on the Beer Glass Walk, including the place with the windows I photographed.

The bus went past Blandford Street. A man asked me where Selfridges was.

I saw Selfridges from the window and a sign in the window said, "In 2012, only 7 people were killed by sharks. That makes them less deadly than coconuts."

The bus went past Orchard Street/Selfridges, Marble Arch Station, Dorchester Hotel, London Hilton Hotel, Hyde Park Circus, Wilton Street, Bressenden Place, and the 9th stop was Victoria Bus Station. I had walked past this bus station just before I had started this challenge, so decided to finish the challenge there.

I took a photo of the mermaid that spiralsheep mentioned, at Victoria Station:



In total, I went on 7 buses and travelled for 14 miles, and it took about 2.5 hours.

Here's the map:
Flâneurs June challenge 2013 - I. (c).