Spiral staircases and what they tell you about depth
A few treks in and out of the London Underground system and man I was a pro once again. Like riding a bike - it just takes one or two trips and you have it all back, executing decisions, swapping lines, and make the most efficient journey as if you were a regular Londoner yourself.
Once you've mastered it, you got it. Or at least for me. God made me quite London Underground schematic savvy. I can read that ever-growing map like no one's business and hop from the Circe to the Northern to the Jubilee if needed.
So here we were taking the tube from Euston station to Russell Park to head over the massive and massively hot and stuffy British Museum mainly to see the Rosetta Stone per Alyssa's request. We arrive at the Russell Square tube stop ready to re-surface to the ever threatening for rain London skies only to come across the unique choice when following the "Way Out" signs in tube stations indicating the way to the surface. The choice..a lift or the spiral stairs. A lift? One hardly sees a lift as the obvious choice - they are usually tucked down some side hallway while throngs of people hike up the stairs instead.
This time the small queue had formed at the lift and just to the side...a curious spiral staircase. Most of the small crowd lined up at the lift... a few hipsters sprinted up the spiral staircase.
"A lift?" I thought? Pshaw...only for those rookies.
So off I hopped up the first few stairs...spiraling my way to the surface... and up....and up....Alyssa passed me....and up.... and up....there goes Simone....and up and up and up....at some point I heard Alyssa now several flights above me say "It keeps going!!!"... I took a break. And up and up and up....
Holy Jesus. I spiraled enough times that if I had a screw on me we'd have opened a full case of wine. And up and up and up...
Finally I heard a break through up above me... Alyssa saying with glee "FINALLY...AIR!!"
Moral of the story:
1) One forgets how far DOWN one goes to ride the tube.
2) Spiral staircases means you are pretty far down.
My knee hurts.
-dr
Once you've mastered it, you got it. Or at least for me. God made me quite London Underground schematic savvy. I can read that ever-growing map like no one's business and hop from the Circe to the Northern to the Jubilee if needed.
So here we were taking the tube from Euston station to Russell Park to head over the massive and massively hot and stuffy British Museum mainly to see the Rosetta Stone per Alyssa's request. We arrive at the Russell Square tube stop ready to re-surface to the ever threatening for rain London skies only to come across the unique choice when following the "Way Out" signs in tube stations indicating the way to the surface. The choice..a lift or the spiral stairs. A lift? One hardly sees a lift as the obvious choice - they are usually tucked down some side hallway while throngs of people hike up the stairs instead.
This time the small queue had formed at the lift and just to the side...a curious spiral staircase. Most of the small crowd lined up at the lift... a few hipsters sprinted up the spiral staircase.
"A lift?" I thought? Pshaw...only for those rookies.
So off I hopped up the first few stairs...spiraling my way to the surface... and up....and up....Alyssa passed me....and up.... and up....there goes Simone....and up and up and up....at some point I heard Alyssa now several flights above me say "It keeps going!!!"... I took a break. And up and up and up....
Holy Jesus. I spiraled enough times that if I had a screw on me we'd have opened a full case of wine. And up and up and up...
Finally I heard a break through up above me... Alyssa saying with glee "FINALLY...AIR!!"
Moral of the story:
1) One forgets how far DOWN one goes to ride the tube.
2) Spiral staircases means you are pretty far down.
My knee hurts.
-dr
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