Bus 159

I'm introducing you to Bus 159.
I'm really trying to post pictures but I'm having trouble doing it. Later on I'll try to edit my post with images.

I've done a lot of things today, starting with my new mobile phone, the number you can find on the top of the page. I don't know if here in London you can send text messages just like in Brazil. Probably not, but I have to talk to Paula because she always knows a way to communicate for less price.

First task finished, I had to go to the Police to register myself in the country. The police station in Brixton doesn't do this type of work, so they told me where to go: Borough High St. 100 or 101, the policewoman didn't know for sure. So I took the bus 133 to go there, now that I have my bus pass for the month. I got off the bus one stop before I should have and that's when I started to get lost. The thing is, here in London the numbers of houses and buildings and stores don't follow a pattern like in Brazil (odd numbers one side, evens the other side, increasing or decreasing order). It seems that they put the numbers they wanted ("well, I have a store here and I want the number to be 34, even though it's between 24 and 27"). It's totally stupid, but that's the way it goes. So, I was in London Bridge underground station and didtn't know how to move on. I didn't want to come back home and spend the afternoon doing nothing, I wanted to go see the school I'm studying for the next six months and it was near Oxford St.
I had NO idea what bus to take so I decided to get the tube.
Man, the tube...

I paid $2 for a single ride and took Jubilee line until Bond Street station to get Central line to Oxford Circus station. It was my first time in any subway. The escalators go really down and I couldn't help feeling a little bit wierd (because of the bombings) and claustrophobic. It's really fast though. And easier than the bus.
I stopped in Oxford Circus and when I walked to the sidewalk I just saw this massive crowd walking around the place, speaking a thousand different languages, millions of stores, cafes, construction work, cars and double-deckers and bycicles... I wonder how NYC must be!!!! Man, I looked like the countryside girl discovering a whole different world. I started walking aimlessly and I didn't know where I was going. Then I found out that I was in Regent St.
I must have looked at my 'London A-Z' mini-guide two hundred times to check that I was on the right track, but you know what? I wasn't! This guide is pretty much useless because it is so mini that you can't read the name of the fucking streets!!! Starting to look desperate, I found Carnaby St. SOOOOO COOOOOLLLLL! The shops and people... I ate a burger at this cool place and studied the maps for one hour, basically for nothing. A woman on the street looked at me and said "are you ok?" and I said "no!". She showed how to get to Manchester St. (where my course is) and I finally found it. People were really friendly there, I got to know the facilities and talked about the payment (the worst part!).

It was time to go home. But how the fuck would I get home from there??? People at school went online and printed a map with the area and told me to get the bus 159 on Piccadilly Circus. It was about a 25-minute walk and that was the path:
Mancester St. and turn left on Wigmore St. Than, straight ahead until Regent St. and turn right. Walk until Oxford Circus.
I was going to continue until Piccadilly but I suddenly spotted bus 159. Hurray!!! But I had another problem: which side of the street should I get the bus????

Man, I have to tell that I've been having MAJOR problems crossing the streets. Some corners have written on the ground 'LOOK LEFT' 'LOOK RIGHT', but some don't and it's really confusing. After standing for 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get out of there, I managed to stop the bus and ask if it was heading to Brixton, the guy said it was and I climbed aboard. It wasn't a new bus, it was the old models where you get on and off while it's moving. Well, sometimes the driver stops.
The special part was yet to come.



Bus 159 might have been a tour bus: I SAW EVERYTHING!!!
The first vision was Trafalgar Square full of people sunbathing and enjoying the great day, and right after there it was: BIG BEN!!!!!



Huge, imponent, beautiful, right beside me. Everybody on the bus reading or talking to each other or doing something else and I was the typical tourist finding everything awesome. On the other side I could see the London Eye! Absolutely no words.



And in the end, already in Brixton, I managed to get off on the right stop, right on the corner of my street.
Tomorrow I'll do the same ride, but I'll continue up to Piccadilly Circus and check out my other school, at least from the outside.
I thought about Adri and Ro all the time discovering all this with me. Hurry up you guys!