we had a great time in london. it was a trip of a lifetime and one of the big reasons why is… we met triathlete. he hooked us up with oyster cards, maps and valued, sagely advice. our trip went so well because of his assistance. we didn’t gossip about any of you here in blogland really, as we were busy talking about “life in the big city”, both his city and ours. we also couldn’t get time to get a run in together so we’ll have to go back when it’s warmer.
i should mention oyster cards here. they’re like debit cards linked to an account that allows a person to use the public transport system and they have great ticket offers shows and concerts linked to them too. when getting on a bus or passing through the turnstile in the subway, you scan your card and the fare is debited from your account. one tops up the account as needed. none of the citys we’ve ever lived in had this but, i know it’s pretty common.
here are some things i liked/noticed about london:
every crosswalk on every street in central london has which way to look for traffic, which is to the right, painted on the street so one doesn’t get run over. this was the first thing the cabbie told us on the way from the train to our hotel on the first day. not how to get to the royal albert hall(practice), or what tube station goes to the tate modern but, “when crossin’ the street, look right”. good advice. it didn’t seem like pedestrians have the right of way there either.
public transportation. the tube is 2-3 blocks from everything and trains usually run every 1-2 minutes 24/7. i wish dallas had a tube. you don’t need a car and our triathlete doesn’t own one. it’s actually more trouble to have one unless one lives way out in the ‘burbs and commutes. there is a $16-20 a day fine for driving one into central london. how do they know? it’s called cctv. the state has camera’s everywhere; intersections, shops, sidewalks, etc., and they know when you’ve been bad or good.the sense of history. there’s been a cathedral on the site where st paul’s is since 604. the current cathedralhas been there since 1660something. the fire of london burned the previous one, which was the third one on the site which was built in 1048. there are some indigenous mounds here in texas that are that old, but no cathedaral’s.
there were runners everywhere. there is a running club called the serpentine that has group runs in the park(hyde and kensington) and track workouts on tuesdays and thursdays. we didn’t make it to any of these but, there are people running in the park everyday, at every time of day, regardless of the weather. there are also runners everywhere else all the time. we got runs in on sunday (3mi) and on tuesday(5mi) and both days were windy with the temp in the low 30’s. i did see something about a running tour of london and there is an 8 mi route on the serpentine website that takes you through hyde park, greene park and st james’ park. the last two parks are where buckingham palace, the houses of parliament and big ben are. factoid: big ben is named that for the 13 ton bell in the clock tower that chimes the hour. westminster abbey is also there.
there are things there that feel very much the same as they do here. what i mean is the health care system limps along and people complain about it just like they do here; people complain about the taxes just like here; people wonder what there elected officials are really doing and who they are really serving; there was a headline in friday’s paper about how uninsured motorists are increasing in number because they’ve raised the tax on registering cars and on insurance rates. And just like here, daily life goes on. the tube is packed like a sardine can every monday through friday with people on the way to work, all reading their paper and waiting to hurry off the train to their daily responsibilities.
we saw blue man group at the new london theater. the place was small, we sat sixth row stage left, which was really close, but not so close that we got a blue plastic poncho to wear during the show. the audience was very diverse; some folks looked very buttoned down, some very much not. to summarize blue man group; it is an interactive (they spend lots of time in the audience and use people from the crowd on stage) comedy theater group that explores what it is to be the outsider or alien. they don’t speak, have many inventive props, have created and play instuments using pcv tubing and have a great band that plays mostly, but not entirely, straight ahead hard rock. it’s very creative.
more people smoke there than here.
london is very culturally diverse. what a fabulous mix of people. it’s a good people watching city and i thought los angles was good…
tiny cars. i don’t know what company makes this tiny car. aygo is another made by toyota and mercedes makes a tiny car too.
the crypts at st paul’s and st martin in the fields have good restaurants in them.
we signed up for a one day thai massage class thinking we could make part of the trip a tax deduction and meet some of the local massage therapists and do some networking. our accountant said we could only deduct the cost of the class itself and we wanted to see and do other stuff so we didn’t go. i was looking forward to talking with local massage people so here we have another reason to back.
here’s an outline of things we saw. the links are to the pics. enjoy. i’m so done for now, but i’ll be posting a video of the interactive exhibit at the victoria and albert in the next day or so.
we arrived saturday morning and took the train from gatwick airport to london, checked in, meet tri. sunday: run in the park, take a guided bus tour and thames rivertour. monday: buckingham palace for changing of the gaurd (rained), national gallery (which faces trafalgar square) to see top 20 paintings ( van gough sunflowers, etc.). tuesday: run the park, then walk to the victoria and albert musuem. the v&a had the best stuff and the coolest interactive exhibit i’ve seen in a long time. eat at the v&a, walk to harrods, blue man group. wednesday: dianne unwell morning off, meet tri for lunch, tube to covent garden market. thursday: st paul’s (good view from the dome), walk over millenium foot bridge to tate modern museum, tube to charring cross road to walk down to st martin in the field’s (it’s the church thats being restored), back to hotel after dinner at french cafe’. friday was a travel day home. ate breakfast, train to the airport, home.
