
Field notes: London, England (2018) - Thevet
https://devonzuegel.com/post/field-notes-london-england
======
dtf
_" The one dark spot on my stay in that neighborhood was one night I walked to
a pharmacy a few blocks away from the hotel, and two men on a motorcycle drove
up on the sidewalk and tried to snatch my phone out of my hand."_

Lovely to read this travelogue, but my heart sank when I read this, as it's an
unfortunate reality of living in London at the moment. Thankfully the author
was quick enough to evade them.

Be careful about using your phone on the street, day or dark, as it's
extremely obvious from far away (eg for somebody sat on a moped pillion) when
a potential victim is engrossed in their phone-work and not 100% attending to
their surroundings.

Many friends and colleagues have suffered from this scurge, and the moped oiks
really have no scruples (one friend was heavily pregnant when she was mugged).

Take care, but don't let that put you off enjoying a great city.

~~~
hmexx
She got a bit unlucky tho I must say. I've lived there for 10 years, and have
never seen it happen. I can only think of two friends who've been mugged
during that time as well. Assuming 30 friends that's 150 man years per mugging
:)

EDIT: she

~~~
angusb
Yep, 10 years here and never seen it either. Maybe these people target more
touristy areas. Author is a she btw :)

~~~
notahacker
The touristy areas thing is probably a big deal. I've also spent ~10 years in
London, some of it in Zone 1 without witnessing any attempted street thefts or
knowing of any friends being mugged. Approx 1 week in Athens: two, one
targeting me (neither successful)

There might be a difference in street crime between London and Athens but it's
not _that_ big.

~~~
te_chris
It definitely happens. I live in N5 and my old flatmate had has phone taken
from him right outside Arsenal tube station!

I've also been walking on the footpath on New North Road when two guys on
scooter have sped past.

~~~
agent008t
Also in N5 and know a few people that have had their phones stolen this way.

------
flurdy
_" The one exception was a brief stint walking around the South Bank, which
was full of bland office spaces with little ground-floor retail or
neighborhoods"_

As indicated in her update elsewhere in her notes, the best waterfront bank in
London is the South Bank, and the best way to see the South Bank is to walk
along the actual waterfront bank, i.e. along the river.

The northern side of the river is a mess of blocked off stretches and vehicle
roads. Whilst the South Bank is a lovely continuous pedestrian stretch with
plenty of food places and small parks along it.

I frequently walk from Waterloo station along the bank to either Millennium
Bridge, or onwards all the way to the Borough Market by London Bridge. Lovely
stretch of the river.

There are some other nice parts of the South Bank, and I can see on her map
she walked through the Cut, but I agree apart from the actual waterfront bank
the rest is mostly dire.

~~~
flr03
Hammersmith has a lovely path along the Thames, with pubs and restaurants. It
is truly great, especially in summer. Definitely not the most touristy area
but it's a gem for locals like me.

~~~
phillc73
From Putney all the way to Richmond is my favourite part of the Thames Path,
within London.[1][2] Try to avoid a Spring tide!

[1] [https://www.thames-
path.org.uk/thames_putney_richmond.html](https://www.thames-
path.org.uk/thames_putney_richmond.html)

[2] [http://www.gps-
routes.co.uk/routes/home.nsf/RoutesLinksWalks...](http://www.gps-
routes.co.uk/routes/home.nsf/RoutesLinksWalks/putney-to-richmond-river-walk-
walking-route)

~~~
darrenf
Surbiton to Richmond gets my vote. It's peaceful and beautiful and one time I
did it Gloriana just happened to be going past.
[https://spark.adobe.com/page/LYVR3/](https://spark.adobe.com/page/LYVR3/)

Edit: actually, Hampton Court to Richmond would get my vote. I have walked or
run the path between Kingston and Hampton Court bridges more times than I care
to count, and feel very lucky to live around there.

~~~
phillc73
I lived in Twickenham for many years. Eel Pie Island to Richmond Bridge is
also one I've done more times than I can remember, usually involving stops at
multiple pubs along the way.

~~~
shrikant
I'd run between Putney and Twickenham for my marathon training solely because
the incredible beauty would make the pain and loneliness so much more
bearable.

Also great as a cycling path - Putney to Hampton Court Palace and back!

------
shocks
Those “curb cut grips” are not for increased friction, rather to inform the
visually impaired of a crossing.

Similarly there are other paving slabs with ridges, and the direction on the
ridge relative to the path tells you if it’s for cyclists or pedestrians.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactile_paving](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactile_paving)

~~~
C1sc0cat
They are also slippery as F%$k when wet - so a bit of an own goal

~~~
nailer
They tend to trip people up fairly often too - also the blind can't rely on
them being there as they're not consistently installed.

~~~
sbuk
They’ve been a statutory requirement in new developments for at least 20
years.

~~~
nailer
This doesn't relate to the comment you're replying to.

~~~
sbuk
You’re quite right! Sorry.

------
jon-wood
> One-trip tickets on the Tube were surprisingly expensive, £4.90. This is
> likely a form of price discrimination for tourists, as the cost for the
> Oyster and Contactless payment cards is much lower.

My understanding of this is that its actually price discrimination against
people buying paper tickets, as they're more likely to have problems at the
gates and result in a queue backing up.

~~~
alias_neo
That seems a bit steep, a day ticket is only a few pounds more.

As for recommendations for tourists, Oyster is great, but, there's really no
need, a contactless bank card is capped at the same day and week rate as
Oyster.

I've been commuting for the last year on my bank card, it's not the most
financially efficient way, but it's not a lot more expensive (than a pre-paid
pass).

Also bear in mind that a bank card will take ~2 seconds to scan at most
stations' gates, versus milliseconds for an Oyster. It might seem trivial but
at London rush hour it's an annoyance for you and everyone else.

One thing people also don't know is that at most stations, your card won't
scan if you're standing between the gates, step back and scan or you'll just
hold everyone up until you give up and walk away.

It's designed this way, I imagine, so that you don't scan while someone is
still paying through the gate and have it close on you before you pass
through.

~~~
ido
I got an Oyster when visiting London a few years ago and taking public transit
was still by a large margin more expensive than any other European city I've
been to (and IIRC when available transit in the US is generally cheaper than
in Europe).

I was really surprised at how expensive it was! Especially as the pound's
value at the time was quite a bit higher than today.

~~~
Brakenshire
Transport for London at the moment is fully self-funding from ticket prices,
which I think is unusual elsewhere in Europe.

~~~
urschrei
TfL is not fully self-funded, or even close to it. It derived 47% of its
funding from fares in 2017/2018\. [https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/how-
we-work/how-we-ar...](https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/how-we-work/how-
we-are-funded). In fact, it's facing a large (close to £1 bn) deficit this
year due to falling passenger numbers.

~~~
Brakenshire
Thanks for the correction. I think the 47% figure is misleading in this sense
though, I mean to refer to the running and maintenance costs of the public
transport service, but in fact of course TfL does various other things,
including maintenance of the roads and contributions to large capital
investments like Crossrail which will always mean public grants.

------
mhandley
I love the comment on sun-bleached black paint on the upper floors, but it's
completely wrong. These black bricks are not black because they've been
painted - they're black with coal soot from before burning coal was banned in
the 1950s. If they're less black on the upper floors, I guess it's because 60
years of rain eventually has some effect.

~~~
mprev
To be fair, some of these places have since been painted black just because
that’s what people came to expect.

10 Downing Street is an example and there’s something about it in this piece
on its reconstruction: [https://history.blog.gov.uk/2017/07/19/rebuilding-
no-10-down...](https://history.blog.gov.uk/2017/07/19/rebuilding-
no-10-downing-street/)

------
Accacin
A little off-topic, but it's nice to read some positive news about the UK (and
England in particular). I feel that we get a lot of bad press, which is a
shame as really the UK isn't such a bad place overall.

~~~
te_chris
I keep thinking about leaving - I'm a NZer in London, but I fucking love
living here.

There is a serious problem with the way the elite treat this country though.
It becomes more apparent the longer you live here, with the way David Cameron
handled the EU ref being the perfect example. They're so sure of themselves,
they've never really experienced a situation where they haven't been in the
advantage, and they have 0 empathy. Then they fuck things up royally.

~~~
pjc50
This is the absolute #1 downside of this country, and I say that as someone
who would probably be counted as one of the elite for having gone to
Cambridge. I did not however go to Oxford and do PPE, which is the
prerequisite course for running the country.

The narrowness of the elite and their supporting media organisations
(including the ones run by overseas tax exiles) causes a terrible inward
focus. Entire regions of the country end up feeling forgotten, with good
reason.

------
siquick
> I enjoyed nearly all of the neighborhoods that I explored. Bloomsbury, Hyde
> Park, Soho, Notting Hill, and Mayfair were especially pleasant.

i.e. the 5 richest areas of the city. Definitely not representative of the
real London. Head to Camberwell, Manor House, Ealing and Walthamstow next time
to see where "regular" people are living.

~~~
yholio
London is one of the most unequal cities on the planet. You get this surreal
mix of wealthy billionaires and poor migrants living hand to mouth. The upper
classes protect and segregate themselves from the riff-raff through pricing.
My experience was that London is not actually a community, the cultural and
socioeconomic rifts are so profound that random people seldom interact, there
is little small talk to be had with strangers.

Tourists thoroughly enjoy the central areas but seldom realize they could
never afford a home there of any decent size.

~~~
loblollyboy
I'm pretty sure that title would go to the capital of some banana republic
whose elites are probably living in London the half the time anyway.

~~~
ido
yes, having spent a couple of months in India I doubt London has worse
inequality than tier-1 Indian cities.

------
KaiserPro
> Brick Size Forensics

There is a far easier way to _roughly_ date buildings.

o English bond: pre georgian to early victorian (1650-1840)

o Flemish bond: victorian to ~1930s

o Stretcher bond: anything with a cavity wall, so 1950>

If the brick is glazed its ~1870-1930

see
[https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Types_of_brick_bon...](https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Types_of_brick_bonding)
for what the bonds look like

~~~
angusb
thanks for the link edit!

------
cannam
What a lovely article.

About the market off Edgware Road ("Most merchants had already left, though a
handful were finishing packing up. Many had just thrown their cardboard boxes,
packaging, and other trash on the ground for someone else to clean up") - this
is Church Street, which is a pretty good local market for everyday food and
supplies. It's a daily market and I think the same merchants occupy the same
spaces every day, which may be why they're a bit relaxed about clearing up.
It's a slightly grubby area but I like it.

At the end of Church Street is Rossmore Road:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7helGibteIM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7helGibteIM)

~~~
willyt
They are licensed market pitches, the fee includes cleanup and the local
council will come in the night and clear away all the debris and hose it down.
There are many markets like this in London, Ridley road market in Hackney is
infamous for having a meat stall that was caught selling bush meat from
endangered species[0] and there was supposedly a case where human meat was
found in the 1990s although I cant find an reference. Apparently the bin men
get paid danger money for cleaning this market!

[0]
[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/may/26/jeevanvasagar](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/may/26/jeevanvasagar)

------
pavlov
The note about the Brunswick Centre is interesting. This odd space-age utopian
building was in much worse shape until a £20M renovation in 2006, with The
Guardian characterizing it as one of the “most miserable places in London”:
[https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/artanddes...](https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2006/oct/23/architecture.communities)

In that article, the architect mentions he originally wanted it built out of
brick in the style of Alvar Aalto, but they had to settle for painted
concrete. In 1970 even the paint job was cut from the budget and wasn’t done
until the renovation, so for 36 years the Brunswick was a brutalist bunker.

Im glad they fixed it. It’s an interesting landmark of British modernism’s
fling with low-key sci-fi architecture — and the grocery store is good, I go
there all the time.

~~~
setquk
I occasionally have to take my daughter to Great Ormond Street hospital. We
park in the car park underneath the Brunswick Centre. It's nice to sit out on
the shopping area and get something to eat afterwards these days. There's also
Skoob books on the end which is a wonderful place to have a browse.

Compared to how it was (I have been there) it's a really nice place now. I
wouldn't be averse to living in it if it wasn't so expensive.

At the same time I like brutalist architecture. I used to hang out in the
Barbican when I worked at that end of the city years ago.

------
zelos
> Curb cut grips: I can imagine that these grips are important when the ground
> is wet and slippery. Would not be fun to find yourself tripping into
> oncoming traffic...

I thought those studs were to make it clearer for blind and partially sighted
people where the crossing is?

~~~
sefrost
That's right, and the different shapes mean different things.

There's a Tom Scott video about them:
[https://www.rnib.org.uk/rnibconnect/welfare-and-money/tom-
sc...](https://www.rnib.org.uk/rnibconnect/welfare-and-money/tom-scott-
tactile-paving)

------
StrangeOrange
It's interesting to see an outside perspective on a place you're so familiar
with. One point that was pretty funny was the idea that London is pedestrian
friendly with all those little streets to walk along. I think it's more down
to London being haphazardly constructed over the last ~2000 years, and even
when it all burned down they refused to change the layout. Which does make it
fun. You don't get the line of sight you find in other European cities, and
you can twist and turn around the place to your heart's delight.

~~~
slavoingilizov
I have lived in London for the last 5 years, and although it's much more
pedestrian friendly than any city in the US, I find it less accomodating than
other (admittedly smaller) cities in Europe. European cities embrace plazas
and squares and usually have long, wide and straight boulevards leading to
them as the main features. London doesn't have a straight road longer than a
few hundred meters. The biggest pedestrian-only space is probably Trafalgar
square, and it's so packed with tourists that you lose the benefit.

When I moved to London I was shocked how hostile to pedestrians it was. Oxford
street should not have cars on it (there's an ongoing project but it's taking
forever). Same for other neighbourhood thoroughfares, like Regent St,
Piccadilly, Bishopsgate, Fleet St, etc. It would be a much better city if that
was the case.

------
rwmj
About chimneys: Up til the 1950s, coal was used in fireplaces and there was
one chimney per room, plus maybe an extra chimney for a kitchen range[1]. This
abruptly changed in the 1960s with central heating, so houses would be built
without a central chimney stack at all and with just a single boiler flue
often through a side wall or at the side of the roof. So you can fairly
reliably date houses to "before 1960s" or "after 1960s" by looking for a
chimney stack, and if there is a chimney stack you can count the number of
original rooms by counting the chimneys.

[1] Our house has 4 rooms and 5 chimneys and that's the best explanation I
have. Our house also has a boiler flue fitted much later - made from asbestos!

------
twic
Those "Curb cut grips" are tactile paving:

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactile_paving](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactile_paving)

Does San Francisco not have that?

------
lordnacho
Tube stations: St John's Wood, Cockfosters

Another story: foreign friend of a friend came to work for an estate agent.
She wondered why having a toilet was something to put on the sign. Surely
every place has a toilet? And why were all the signs misspelled?

~~~
siquick
Probably means an indoor toilet.

Edit: that went way over my head... _sigh_

~~~
TickleSteve
"to let" != "toilet"

~~~
willyt
It's an amazing opportunity for guerrilla typographers though.

------
oh_sigh
> Crutches and leg braces: I saw many more people with crutches and leg braces
> walking around than I typically see in San Francisco. It was a striking
> difference, so I don't think it was just a fluke. A few hypotheses:

I too have noticed this. Does anyone have any explanation? Due to better
health care? Worse health care? More of a walking culture? more interest in
soccer which causes these types of injuries? Something else entirely?

~~~
mrozel
After having lived in London for a few years, I noticed this everywhere too. I
am no expert but I have a theory that it's a combination of: Genetics - you'll
notice this when you watch people walk and have odd knee/ankle flex.
Discipline - not learning how to walk properly. This sounds silly, but when
you drag your feet and wear improper shoes injury is more likely. Healthcare -
I have noticed that people are more likely to go to the doctor compared to the
States

~~~
tragomaskhalos
Among older folks it is perhaps also related to nutrition - unlike the US, we
had rationing through the war and well into the 50s so many people will have
grown up with a barely adequate diet.

------
twic
> Seems like they are in some sort of transition for the address system.
> Google maps has letters and numbers, but when you get to the street there is
> a typical name.

What?

~~~
Smaug123
The author has misunderstood the fact that e.g. the A3 is Kennington Park
Road. It's not a transition at all: they're systems that coexist.

~~~
samatman
To be fair, it’s an oddity from an American perspective. Our highways are
numbered, some streets are numbered but most are named, and it’s vanishingly
rare that a street will have both a number and a name.

~~~
tialaramex
So, let's take Route 66. Are you telling me that none of that route had a
name? Or did they go along while adding Route 66 signs and take _out_ existing
names for the roads used?

Did people wake up one day and find that their "Main Street" was now just
"part of Route 66, it doesn't have a name" ?

The letter-number designations like "A33" in the UK are like your route
numbers. Some were purpose built and nobody cares what the underlying road is
"named" (all the major Motorways are like this, there is no "name" for the
M25, it's just the M25) but most are pre-existing roads, designated as part of
some route and to locals the original name is what they'd call their bit.

e.g. Nobody where I live would say "the A335" they'd say "Thomas Lewis Way"
because that's what this part of the A335 is named even though it was
constructed specifically in order to bypass local streets for the A335 route.
A person from out of town might say they used the A335 but probably people
would look puzzled, then go "Oh, Thomas Lewis Way, yeah".

~~~
jefftk
_> all the major Motorways are like this, there is no "name" for the M25, it's
just the M25_

You're right for practical purposes, but they do often technically have names.
The M25 is the "London Orbital Motorway":
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M25_motorway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M25_motorway)

~~~
twic
If you're going to link to technical motorway facts, roads.org.uk is the place
to link to!

[http://www.roads.org.uk/motorway](http://www.roads.org.uk/motorway)

------
stephenbennyhat
'The people I hung out with while there were bitter towards the required TV
licenses and "religion" for NHS in public discourse. Curious how widespread
this attitude is.'

Not very widespread at all in my experience.

~~~
nailer
I live here and don't pay the TV license. I don't consume BBC content, and
dislike how they try and send angry letters for not paying for something I
don't use (the BBC FireTV app runs at about 6 frames a second and is
frustrating to use). Imagine if Netflix was claimed to be 'mandatory' and they
could enter your home to check you're 'really' not using Netflix.

The NHS is popular, and people like it, but it's also very inefficient and it
can become a political nightmare for anyone who tries to address that.

~~~
albertgoeswoof
Can you elaborate on how the NHS is inefficient? I.e. what metrics measure
this? What in comparison to?

Ideally with data and not anecdotes

~~~
agent008t
From my experience:

1\. Hardly any way to see a GP outside work hours, so you have to take time
off.

2\. Cannot see a GP near to where you work, it has to be near to where you
live. Which, combined with point 1, is a pain.

3\. If you don't use the NHS and go see a private GP instead (which makes
economic sense given how much your time off costs vs a private GP costs), you
still have to pay for it.

4\. Hard to get an appointment at short notice; registration is a pain and
very inconvenient.

5\. Unless you are dying, they are unlikely to offer any real help/proper
tests, but then again that depends on individual GP and is probably not that
different between NHS/private.

6\. No personal accountability for your health. You end up paying for all the
clowns that drink too much on a Friday night and end up in an ambulance and
other people that do not take care of their health. Old people seem to go to a
GP just because they are lonely.

I have not had to use NHS hospitals luckily, but I am guessing if you are not
dying the wait times could be bad.

~~~
albertgoeswoof
But these are all great efficiencies. It’s a total waste of money to optimise
gp locations for people that are well enough to go to work and can afford a
private gp if they want it.

If you’re really sick you’ll be seen very quickly, and you’ll be extremely
glad the doctors aren’t busy pandering to people with minor conditions.

~~~
C1sc0cat
That's what some one pointed out its the receptionists job to filter the
worried well and prioritise those that need it more.

------
sampo
> One-trip tickets on the Tube were surprisingly expensive, £4.90. This is
> likely a form of price discrimination for tourists, as the cost for the
> Oyster and Contactless payment cards is much lower.

He should have just bought an Oyster card. Anyone can buy them, and you can
buy them from the ticket machines on almost all tube stations.

There is absolutely no discrimination against tourists.

~~~
B1FF_PSUVM
To avoid flattened visitors, there's even the consideration of "Look Left"
crosswalk warnings: [http://4everstatic.com/pictures/850xX/other/-look-
left,-zebr...](http://4everstatic.com/pictures/850xX/other/-look-left,-zebra-
crossing-134637.jpg)

~~~
Khol
I'm guessing this is on a one way road? With traffic driving on the left you'd
normally want to look right to check you're not stepping into oncoming traffic
(although you should probably check both ways on a normal zebra crossing as
you'll be crossing traffic in both directions).

~~~
gpderetta
No, the warning can be seen on plenty of two way roads.

~~~
Khol
Huh, today I learnt.

I was curious so I looked at the identifiable image[1] in the article in
google maps[2] and it seems that only some of the crossings have these notes -
notably the one way street crossing has look left/right on the respective
sides of the road and the crossing with the island has them on both lanes, but
the crossing over the two way street has nothing. I can't say I've ever
actually noticed these (which may be because they're less common outside
London or because I just don't pay close enough attention to the floor at my
feet when walking).

[1] [https://cdn-images.postach.io/0bd25fcc-8ab1-40fe-8eef-
bcafaa...](https://cdn-images.postach.io/0bd25fcc-8ab1-40fe-8eef-
bcafaae885c1/27c1bd55-b351-413f-bd2a-c9c076adbf32/90ce4fcf-c46a-4a22-baa1-81f23358f1fa.jpg)
[2] [https://goo.gl/maps/LB8rj7FJNLw](https://goo.gl/maps/LB8rj7FJNLw)

------
richjdsmith
It's nice to see such a positive outlook on the city and a reminder to myself
that there is a reason there are so many people in the world who would love to
live there.

I moved to the UK from Canada last fall with my wife and we've both been
really struggling to find positives about it, so to see such a positive
outlook was warming.

~~~
agent008t
I too am surprised at all the positive comments about London.

Perhaps it is a nicer city than many American cities, but it is not really
that pleasant a city to live in. Most people are only here because of work,
not because it is a great place to live in.

~~~
arethuza
Look on the bright side, if you live in London then you're not that far from
somewhere that truly is a great place to live ;-)

[https://www.buzzfeed.com/hilarywardle/edinburgh-is-the-
best](https://www.buzzfeed.com/hilarywardle/edinburgh-is-the-best)

------
CannisterFlux
This was a wholesome post. Overall positive with lots of pretty photos. Made
me want to go out walk around the city I live in.

------
novocaine
London is an endlessly fascinating place to live and explore and has a vibrant
tech scene that seems to be quite unaffected (so far) from the cold winds of
brexit. Extremely diverse and welcoming of newcomers. Highly recommended.

Maybe we could have a list of some London startups?

* memrise, busuu (language learning)

* deliveroo (food delivery)

* revolut, monzo (banking)

* transferwise, gocardless (payments)

* improbable ('cloud gaming platform')

* roli (music tech)

* lyst (fashion aggregator)

* citymapper, trainline (maps and transport)

~~~
Chirono
Just a small correction: Improbable are making a cloud gaming platform, not a
game engine. [https://improbable.io/games/blog/how-spatialos-works-with-
ga...](https://improbable.io/games/blog/how-spatialos-works-with-game-engines)

~~~
novocaine
fixed, thankyou

------
YeGoblynQueenne
>> Crutches and leg braces: I saw many more people with crutches and leg
braces walking around than I typically see in San Francisco. It was a striking
difference, so I don't think it was just a fluke

Yeah, I was struck by this too, and I live in a small ish town down the East
coast. There are so many more people with mild to significant disabilities,
that are out and about than back Home (Greece, for me). Once I made the
acquaintance of a remarkable lady of 92 years, who had just come back from
meeting her school friends in London by train. On her own. She advised, me, if
I plan to get to 90, to take care of my knees :)

Also, there's an astonishing number of fathers pushing prams and carrying
their babies in slings, alone.

These are the good bits. Then again, there's the nasty surprises, like the
homeless people sleeping it rough everywhere, as people go by, desensitised to
the sight. Land of contradictions.

------
welcomebrand
The author was lucky to have a half decent experience on the train given the
appalling state and cost of our rail network.

~~~
novocaine
Central London transport is world class, and she was in Central London, so it
was not luck

~~~
leonk
She got a train from Manchester to London. I'm surprised that the price of
this ticket wasn't mentioned (when the £4.90 one in London was). Manchester to
London can typically cost anywhere between £40 to £90.

~~~
pjc50
Yes, I was slightly surprised at the whole "flying into manchester then taking
a train was cheaper", given how many times I've chosen air over train because
of the prices.

When it works and it's reasonably priced and you get a seat in a good
environment it's the best form of travel. It's a shame those conditions so
rarely all hold at the same time.

------
sudovancity
"Lots of WiFi names begin with underscore to be first on list. "

I am absolutely doing this in my apartment building now.

~~~
dazc
Go double underscore then?

------
PaulRobinson
Fascinating to see my home through the eyes of a visitor.

I moved here in 2012 and was nervous, coming from a more relaxed UK city
(Manchester).

I found London more welcoming, greener, safer and quieter than I had expected.
Most people's first experiences are Euston or Kings X followed quickly by the
Northern or Piccadilly lines, and that can taint you: most of London is
nothing like any of that.

------
raverbashing
"Staying in the North side" I guess most of the city is on the North, there
isn't much to see in the south

But yes, it is a lovely city (though because of its size it's hard to "go
around" if you don't know what you're looking for exactly)

~~~
lordnacho
The South Bank is pretty walkable, from the Eye to Tower Bridge. Also there's
the Imperial War Museum and Clapham Common.

~~~
lozenge
Also Greenwich Park, Greenwich generally, Brixton and Kew Gardens. Still, none
of these extends much past the river.

~~~
dkdbejwi383
And the IWM, the Old Vic and the Young Vic, and Elephant and Castle, and
Lambeth Palace and Clapham Common, and Blackheath and the Peckhamplex. There's
loads going on in South London.

------
btkramer9
> Crutches and leg braces: I saw many more people with crutches and leg braces
> walking around than I typically see in San Francisco.

I lived in London for 6 months and I continually had the same thought. It's
hard to quantify but it was noticeable.

------
dbdjfjrjvebd
Those 'kerb grips' aren't for traction. They are to help blind people.

------
dkdbejwi383
Shame you didn't make it any further east than the City, or any further south!

------
skilled
Where's Dirty Dicks?

~~~
pauljburke
[http://www.dirtydicks.co.uk/](http://www.dirtydicks.co.uk/)

Bishopsgate, nearest tube is Liverpool Street. Mind your head there are some
low beams in there.

~~~
skilled
I think you misunderstood what I meant, I couldn't find Dirty Dicks in the
article... :)

~~~
chrisseaton
Did you expect her to visit absolutely everything in London in a couple of
days of visit? That's not going to be possible, is it?

~~~
skilled
Liverpool Station is really not that offbeat.

~~~
chrisseaton
There are hundreds and hundreds of 'not offbeat' places to visit in London.
You're not going to include them all in a travelog of a few days are you? It's
not realistic to demand to know why someone hasn't included whatever your
favourite place is.

~~~
skilled
Okay, dad.

------
rcarmo
I quite like London, and am sad that Brexit will likely mean I won't be going
there on business anytime soon.

Like the article points out, I'm especially fond of the tree-lined streets and
tue overall quiet in the mornings.

~~~
tim333
Brexit seems to be falling apart a bit just now. We'll see.

