- Jay Ashworth Emirates has a *380* box? How many times did you crash it? :-)
- Barbara Trumpinski-Roberts Yeah....DLR your bitch! you spent time with us and that was great....you took it easy and enjoyed yourself and that was the important thing.
- Alan Petrillo Oh, and the next phone I get is going to have 2 SIM slots in it.
- Jay Ashworth Does the S5 have two? [ looks ] There is apparently a version of the S5 with dual SIMs. I don't know yet if it has any compensating limitations, but I will by the end of the day. :-)
- Liz Zitzow I love the fact that you made DLR your bitch. Awesome. Glad you enjoyed visiting my neck of the woods! See you at Sasquan!
So, what did I do in London? At once a lot, and not much.
I
tried to make it to “the sights”. I found two things: First, that I
wasn’t as interested in seeing them as I thought I would be, and,
second, that it didn’t matter.
Going strictly by my seeing of
“the sights” I didn’t do much. I didn’t get to the Tower of London. I
didn’t watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. I didn’t
tour Westminster Abbey. I simply found that the historic area of London
was so packed with people, and all of the attractions had such lines
that, for me, the experience simply wasn’t worth the effort.
Oh,
I did make it to a few. I went to the Cutty Sark. I bought a ticket
that would get me into all of the historic attractions of Greenwich. I
had every intention of going and spending a day wandering around
Greenwich. But after my morning visiting the Cutty Sark I never did get
back there.
On a less historical note, I did make the effort,
and the expense, of touring The Shard, and going up to its viewing
gallery. The crowd, on the day I went, was thinner than I’d seen it
otherwise. It was actually possible to get into the door. I don’t know
how much money the management of The Shard makes on their viewing
gallery, but at 30 quid a pop and lines out the door it must be a lot.
Is it worth it? I don’t know, really. The views of London are
certainly spectacular. And, I suppose, it is worth doing at least
once. There are other buildings in London with architecture I like
better, but the only one of the modern buildings I found that makes any
accommodation to tourists is The Shard.
I was told that I
absolutely had to hit The Eye. I found a daunting scene when I got
there. The area was packed. Disney World on a good day would be proud
of how packed The Eye was. The line was 45 minutes long to get onto the
Eye. And that was after waiting 15 minutes just to buy tickets. But
for an extra bit of money one can buy a “Fast Track” ticket. This is
why I have credit cards. I plunked it down, got my fast track ticket,
and went directly to the head of the line.
I wanted to do the
Emirates Air Line and the river bus. Fortunately, Transport for London
offers a pass that lets one do the Air Line, and use the river busses
all day, so I took advantage of that. Even better, the river bus took
me directly to the Eye, so I could knock out all three of these desires
all at once.
Even better, Emirates offers time in their A-380
and B-777 simulators, for a little extra money. So I took them up on
the offer. It was a humbling experience. I was an embarrassment to
Fred Wright, and any of my instructors would have been cursing the whole
time. But I enjoyed it anyway.
I spent large chunks of two
days wandering around the British Museum. I found I was more interested
in the architecture than in most of the exhibits. It was, however,
somewhat humbling to touch artifacts which were made the best part of
4000 years ago. (Even though I really wasn’t supposed to.)
I
attempted to see the remains of the Crystal Palace, but the weather was
too bad. I attempted to see Kew Gardens, but the weather was too bad.
Getting
back from Kew Gardens to central London, however, I had a very nice
experience on South West Trains. It was the best experience I had on
any of London’s train lines. They’re the only rail line that offers
electrical outlets to the seats, and the seats were the most comfortable
on any of the rail lines I rode. As an interesting anecdote, when
people asked me who I worked for, and I told them “Southwest Airlines”,
apparently they either heard “South West Trains” or assumed I was
talking about an airline associated with them.
So, by the typical tourist experience in London I didn’t do much.
My experience was atypical.
During
my first week here I had a mission: To locate stuff needed to hold
Keith Kato’s 40th Annual Chili Party. The problem item: Large pots. We
needed 4 8l stainless steel pots and at least a 4l rice cooker. My
original intent was to do what I would do in the States: Get the pots
from thrift shops, use them for the party, and then donate them back
when we were done with them. Alas, cooking vessels of this size are
scarce in London. Apparently about the largest pot found in most London
households is only 2l. We would have had to buy them new, and even the
cheap ones were a little too dear to just use once and then get rid
of. This quest, however, took me to places in London that most tourists
never see.
I spent a couple of days just wandering around
Barking Road. I could write a book just about the shops on Barking
Road. On that one stretch of asphalt exist all the necessities of
life. At least one of each, bridal shops, maternity shops, toy shops,
groceries, butcher shops, bakeries, supermarkets, pubs, churches, barber
shops, beauty shops, car parts, mechanics, post offices, fast food of
kaleidoscopic variety, gourmet restaurants, pharmacists, health
services. There is even a mortician. All the necessities of life,
literally from cradle to grave, exist on that one 3 mile stretch of
road. On some future trip to London I would like to do a photo-essay on
the shops of Barking Road.
Barking Road is not exceptional.
London is full of roads like this, with an endless string of one or 2
stall shops on the ground floor of just about every major street.
London is, as my friend Edina Balczo put it, “really a collection of
villages.” She is right. London is very local. It’s a place where you
will know your grocer, your butcher, your baker personally, and
probably on a first name basis. Same for almost anyone you’re likely to
do business with in any of those local shops.
I hunted down
some of the landmarks mentioned in Cats. The Russell Hotel. The Rising
Sun. The Friend At Hand. Tottenham Court Road. I hit a gaming
landmark, Mornington Crescent.
There are places that I intended
to get to, but never did. Abbey Road. 221B Baker Street. The Old
Bailey. Pomeroy’s Wine Bar, or the place it was based on. There are
many more such places which will have to wait for more trips.
I
spent a very enjoyable couple of hours in the company of my internet
friend, Edina Balczo. She is a brilliant person, a very talented
musician, and very pleasant company.
Much of what I did was
simply to wander around. I not only explored London’s transportation
system, I played with London’s transportation system. I paid £39/week
for a zone 1-3 transport pass, and I used it. I practically danced with
the New Barn Street buses. I made the DLR my bitch. I used the
Underground. I toyed with the Overground. I tried to figure out
national rail. I rode the river buses not so much to get anywhere, but
just because I enjoyed riding on the river. For the most part they were
rock-solid reliable, but I ran into just enough delays, and took
advantage of TFL’s refund policy well enough, that my Pay As You Go
balance kept going up. TFL wasn’t exactly paying me to ride their
rails, but it was close. I’m sure a lot of real Londoners have a fair
chunk of this network imprinted on their brains, and now, having spent 3
weeks there, I have a bit of it imprinted on my brain.
The
DLR, particularly, was research for me, because if Greenlight Pinellas
actually happens, and we do actually get a regional light rail system
developed in Tampa Bay then the DLR is most likely what it will look
like, with the Overground a close second option.
I kept my
Oyster card, as well as the Oyster cards given to me by Thom Trumpinski
and family. I will be returning to London, and I expect I’ll need
them. I don’t know when I’ll be able to return, or how much overtime
I’ll have to work in order to make it happen, but I will return.
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