London Calling: How Bizarre

When living in London, one sees all sorts of crazy things. I’ve been exploring the city for almost 3 weeks now, and I keep on finding the strangest sights. So, this week I give you…

Eight Crazy Things I’ve Seen In London (and have pictures of)!

So, we begin at number 8.

8) Crazy Names: One thing I’ve found to be particularly interesting was the changing of American product names. Some are pronounced differently: Pantene is pronounced pan-ten, and they annunciate the “H” in Herbal Essences. Other names are spelled differently. TJ Maxx is TK Maxx, and Claritin is Clarityn. Why this change? No one knows…

The English equivalent of TJ Maxx

I’m Clarityn Clear!

7) Fellow Tube Riders: Underground is the main mode of transportation here in London. So, naturally, one is bound to see strange folk.

Exhibit #1

This lovely looking fellow decided that it would be a good use of his time to nap on the tube. I find the ride a little bit rough, but he seemed quite comfortable in his seat. So comfortable in fact that he started to snore. Almost exactly like a cartoon, when he exhaled, his lips would trill. This made an extremely entertaining Bbbhrbhrbrbrbhhbrbbhbb sound.

Exhibit #2

I’m not sure a caption is really needed here

6) Toy Police Cars: I think it may just be a conditioned response, but when I see an American cop car, I tense up a bit. But I think that no matter how I stayed in London, I’d never have the same response to their cop cars. When they drive down the street, they remind me of hotwheels. When they stop in front of me, I half expect 12 clowns to pop out. Maybe the cats at Scotland Yard and their auto detailers should have another chat.

Hotwheels leading the way…

Can you see any clowns?

5) Strange Signage: Due to the large population of visitors and foreigners (including myself) here in London, there signs painted on the roads to tell you which way to look. Also, their exit signs look peculiar.

Looking left could be hazardous to your health

As my friend Nathan said… It looks like ‘run into a wall’ rather than ‘exit.’

4) Peeping Wendy: The next three strange items were all found during my journey through Kensington Gardens. This one I thought was a wee bit weird. Whilst on our walk in the garden, my friends and I stumbled upon the statue of Peter Pan. Now we all know the story of the boy who never grew up. But in that story, I never heard about Wendy being a peeping tom. In this statue, Wendy is clearly looking up Pan’s smock. Maybe she’d admiring his well-fitting tights?

Lovely view, isn’t it?

3) Sweet-toothed squirrel: This lucky rodent happened upon an entire un-eaten cookie and was enjoying it in the park. Maybe this shouldn’t be number 3, but there were at least 7 people taking a picture of this furry animal.

A most fortunate squirrel

2) Bird Lady: Before happening upon the gluttonous squirrel, I witnessed a very abnormal occurrence. An older lady was throwing crumbs to the birds to make them come then shooing them off by brandishing her cane. I guess she couldn’t make up her mind.

That cane looks dangerous.

And now for the #1 strangest thing I’ve seen here…

1) Buff Bicyclists: One day while riding the bus, my friend heard this strange ringing noise. We all turned to see where it was coming from. There, across the street, was a huge group of cyclists. Upon closer inspection, we discovered that they were all completely naked. What a lovely sight for a Saturday afternoon.