Up Top, In Front!

One of my favorite things in the world to do is ride on the upper level of a double-decker bus - right up in the front!

Perhaps it's the kid in me that still gets excited being so high up over the roadway, careening around corners, ducking under traffic lights, watching the roofs of the other miniature vehicles fleeing in our wake. If you lean forward in your seat and get very close to the glass, you could almost be flying!

And all the while your fate is in the hands of a driver way down below, who may or may not see that low-hanging tree branch or notice the clearance on that highway overpass - how can he possibly see what you see? Clearly, when you ride on the top level of a double-decker, it's all a big gamble!

We don't have double-decker busses in NYC, except for the big red tourist busses (and I've only ridden on one of them during a friend's wedding when she had the entire wedding party transported to the reception on the upper level of the bus - it was a very trendy NYC thing to do at the time, and the wedding photos were spectacular!) New York has double-long busses, but nothing with two-floors, and so, thankfully, the novelty of a double-decker bus has never worn off for me.

Of course, while visiting London I always made a point of riding the two-story busses - always on the top, always in the front. Nothing was more fun than climbing up that little circular metal staircase to the top level and finding there was still an empty seat available in the front window. I haven't been to London in years, but when I saw these mighty cruisers careening down the narrow streets in Hong Kong, it all came right back! Once again, I was in a city where the double-decker bus was king of the road!

Since Hong Kong was for so long under British rule (in fact, Hong Kong was a British territory well before the advent of automobiles or busses of any kind), it's no surprise that the double-deckers are a standard part of Hong Kong culture. But, as I recall, even those wonderful London busses pale in comparison to these modern Hong Kong transports with their huge windows, cushy seats and brightly colored advertising. Add to that the narrow, winding roads they're forced to navigate every day and that truly makes them super-busses, seemingly faster than a speeding bullet, possibly more powerful than a locomotive, almost able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!

Perhaps to those living in cities where the double-decker bus is a standard mode of transportation, the magic of this two-story wonder has long ago worn off. But to a transplanted New Yorker now living in Hong Kong, the double-decker bus remains somewhat awe-inspiring, certainly worthy of my greatest respect, and always a tireless source of joy for commuters riding through the busy city streets - for me, it's always up top, in front!