城市和生命---伦敦岁月（1）Tottenham Court Road

我说：“日子怎么过都是过。”。

沈睿说：“我们要走出来。”。

父亲的病逝突如其来，我心里的哀伤和内疚也如伦敦的冬天，黯淡寒冷，绵绵不绝。这半年，我在芝加哥，伦敦，新英格兰之间奔走流浪，一半是逃避，一半是疗伤。

我在伦敦是个夜行者。下了班，天也黑了。从东区的办公室出来，在livepool车站坐地铁回西区的旅馆。livepool车站是个大站，车站大厅高大华美明亮，人流汹涌，里面有很多小咖啡店，面包店，糖果礼品店。伦敦不大，从东到西也就不足4英里。伦敦和我儿时的北京很像，人多，建筑密集，颜色陈旧灰暗，店铺鳞栉。伦敦是个不夜城，街上永远人来人往。酒吧里挤满了人，咖啡店里灯火温暖，餐馆里烛光盈盈。

我住的Tottenham Court Road是西区的几个著名小区的汇集处。

Tottenham Court Road is a major road in Central London, United Kingdom, running from St Giles Circus (the junction of Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road) north to Euston Road, near the border of the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, a distance of about three-quarters of a mile. It has for many years been a one-way street: all three lanes are northbound only, the equivalent southbound traffic using the parallel Gower Street. It is generally regarded as marking the western boundary of Bloomsbury.

The south end of the road is close to the British Museum and to Centre Point, the West End's tallest building. There are a number of buildings belonging to University College London along the road, and University College Hospital is at the north end of the road at the intersection with Euston Road.

我的伦敦岁月就是从这条路开始。