Down the Rabbit Hole

   Do you ever find yourself wishing that you could escape down the rabbit hole to discover your own little wonderland? Or that while playing a game of hide and seek you will suddenly find yourself stumbling out the other side of a wardrobe into a place where time magically stops? Here in London I get easily overwhelmed by the vast amounts of people. They rush by in blurs racing as fast as they can to get to wherever it is they are going. It is as if they are all competing in a secret race that we tourists don't know about. The goal is to get there before everyone else (extra points rewarded for every tourist you knock down along the way) and their grand prize is that they arrived at the tube station only to find that there has been a five minute delay. Congratulations...

   I do like being here in London. This city is beautiful and rich with history, but I am starting to question whether the people here are all mad. They never slow down, and as a tourist I want to take my time walking up and down the streets snapping pictures of Big Ben and Tower Bridge. But if I slow down any less than 100mph I risk getting trampled over. Yet somehow in the midst of this madness I have managed to find a little piece of sanctuary. A place where I am free to dilly-dally to my heart’s content.

   Kensington gardens is the former home of Princess Diana and the soon to be living quarters for Prince William, Princess Kate, and their new baby. It is in this place where you will find Peter Pan still whisking away adults and children alike off to Never Land. It is where you will see the very same people who were buzzing by you just this morning finally take the rest they deserve. There are bouncing toddlers splashing around the Diana Memorial, little puppies chasing ducks into the pond, friends gossiping, and hopeful actors memorizing lines. 

   Outside of the park these people are just another lost face in the hustling blur, but here in Kensington they are individuals who have managed to find refuge from city life. Time in the park stops even for just a moment allowing people the chance to take a breath of fresh air free from the worry that waits outside the garden gates. It a place for tourists like me who are so exhausted by the crowds but still desire to soak up the magic of London. But most of all it is the little rabbit hole we've all been searching for. A place to think and dream. A place to contemplate how exactly "a raven is like a writing desk."

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.

"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, or you wouldn’t have come here.” 
-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

“Why is a raven like a writing desk?”  
-Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland

Kensington Gardens:

Peter Pan