Random Observations (no date)

 I’ve now past the halfway mark in my trip to the UK. I’ve been here for 3.5 weeks, and have only 2.5 left to go.  Just as a break from the normal, touristy stuff, I want to put in an entry here about random things I’ve noticed about London.

Traffic

• Traffic moves on the left. We all know that. But the interesting thing is that there doesn’t seem to be a convention about walking. In the US, we walk on the right. If people are coming at you on a sidewalk, you move toward the right. So I thought people here would walk on the left. But there’s no convention whatsoever. People walk all over the sidewalk, even large groups of people rushing off to a train or to cross a large street at an intersection. It’s actually a bit tiring to walk around here, because one has to focus one’s attention on the people. At first I was all about trying to remember to move toward the left, but that seemed just as confusing to others as it was to me, so I gave it up. It’s more about noticing the ki (energy) of each person on the street and flowing in and around them.  Which would be fun if it wasn’t entirely necessary, and if there weren’t a whole bunch of other things one might want to pay attention to, such as the lovely architecture, or the name on the front of the bus one might want to try to get on, etc.

• There are painted signs on the sidewalks (called footpaths) directing one as to which way to look for oncoming traffic.  This is extremely helpful, although on my first day I forgot to read them and stepped out in front of an oncoming bus. Luckily, the bus driver was used to tourists in that neighborhood, and had seen me looking the wrong way, so he was kind enough not to run me over.

Bathrooms

• Electricity is used more than paper. Nearly every public bathroom has an electric hand dryer instead of paper towels. Some places provide paper towels, but then have signs that say “Polite Notice: please help save our natural resources by using the dryers instead of the paper.” Most of Britain’s electricity comes from nuclear power (I even passed a nuclear power plant on my way to Manchester), and they feel they have far more electricity than forests.

• Toilet rooms are narrow. In most buildings, especially in public places, the toilets are separate from the sinks. Toilets are usually in narrow cubicles. These small rooms almost always have a tall trashcan next to the toilet. No problem if you weigh under 120 lbs and don’t have large bone structure. But if you happen to be even slightly larger than that, your bare hips hit the trashcan as you’re sitting. Not too pleasant.  More motivation to lose weight, though.

Public Trash Cans

• All the neighborhoods I’ve seen in London are very clean. But to my surprise, there are no public trash cans anywhere. Not in parks, or in the Tube stations, or in museums or train stations (except at restaurants). I asked someone about this and was told that a while back the IRA was placing bombs in public trashcans, so they (the trashcans) have all been removed.  The City of London must hire people to clean up 24/7, because as I say, where I’ve been has been very clean.

Chatting With People/Eye Contact

• While people are extremely helpful if one needs directions or aid in some way (helping with strollers on the stairways, etc), they are very insular otherwise. One is not supposed to turn to the person sitting in the next seat on the Tube and start a conversation. One is not supposed to chat about the length of the queue for the tickets/bathroom/train, etc.  This is probably also true in NYC and other USA cities, but I’m happy to report that in the SF Bay Area, people are not averse to talking with strangers for the most part.

• This extends to eye contact. One is meant to avert one’s eyes when on the Tube, or walking, or anywhere, really. This is also somewhat tiring to me, as I find I can’t fall into my usual response to accidental eye contact, or to having sat down directly across from someone. My usual reaction is to smile, and possibly begin a conversation. But one averts one’s eyes here and makes careful sure not to speak to anyone.

Pubs vs. Restaurants

• Most public houses (pubs) adhere to the convention of having customers order at the bar, and then the server brings the food when it’s ready. Most restaurants have a server that takes your order to the kitchen.  How to tell the difference between the two? No way, as far as I can see, other than to ask the hostess/barman what the convention is.

Money

• Obviously, the money here is different. Each bill denomination is a different size and a different color. This makes it fairly easy to tell at a glance what bill one has. There are also 1 and 2-pound coins, so one often ends up with heavy pockets.  It took me a while to realize that the change I was putting on the dresser each night was not just pennies and nickels.

• It’s an expensive city, especially when it comes to dining out. Today I had a salad with goat cheese and roasted peppers and pinenuts. It was quite good, and a decent size. That, plus a bottle of sparkling water, came to 10.40GBP, or around $15.50. That’s with no tip.

•   Tipping: sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t. Many places add 12% gratuity onto your bill automatically. Upscale pubs and most restaurants seem to do this. Other places don’t. From what I understand, most people make a decent wage in the food service industry, so tipping isn’t the norm here. But all servers appreciate it, so it depends on how generous one feels and how good the service was.  It’s nowhere near the 20% I leave people at home, knowing how the food industry in the US is one of the least valued of all. People at home depend on tips just to make a living wage, but here nobody expects a tip.

Transportation 

•  The Tube: the subway here is fabulous. You can get nearly anywhere in the greater London area by Tube. Like Paris, it’s divided into zones, and one buys a card for the zones in which one normally travels, then pays extra if one goes further than that.  There are 12 lines, I think, and they’re color coded on the maps. The only problem being that the map I have and the map at the station have different colors, so I have to remember to use the line name (such as the Bakerloo or Jubilee line). It’s a bit expensive: around $3 for each trip, but I’ve bought a card that equates to $38 for the week, so if I ride it even twice a day (out and back), I’m saving money.  So far the trains and stops have been clean, graffiti–free, and they run every few minutes. So it’s really easy.

•   Tube Stations: So far, most of them have been nice, clean, and even fairly interesting. Tottenham Court Road being the exception, as I wrote about earlier. Each station has a specific design, with a color scheme and a way of placing adverts and some even have art on the walls.

Design of Queen Victoria at Victoria Station

Long Tunnel to the Victoria and Albert Museum From the South Kensington Station

Sherlock Holmes Motif at Baker Street Station

Old Building at Bayswater Station

Many of the upscale stations have small screens of video adverts along the walls of the incredibly long escalator rides up and down, which is a bit obnoxious.

Video Adverts Along the Escalators at Some Tube Stations

Others, like mine at Pimlico, have only  poster ads in the same format.

Poster Adverts Along the Escalators at Some Tube Stations

At rush hour, the crowds are really intense, but quite orderly. I’ve yet to see anyone pushing or shoving or being rude. But one does have to keep up with the pace as best as one can.

 Rush Hour at the Tube Station

Some Underground stations are also Rail stations. Victoria, Euston, Paddington, and Marylebone stations all have National Rail lines, too.

Marylebone Station Has Underground and National Rail Trains 

•  Buses: There are many, many buses and I admit to not having the motivation or energy to figure it all out. Before I came I printed out bus maps and schedules, and Barbara even helped me laminate them so I could carry them with me, but they’re too hard to read. I’ve only taken the bus here in London once, and it was surprisingly slow. When I look at the online journey planner website, it often shows that walking would be faster than the bus. I think that’s because of the traffic. I might get brave and take the #24 up to Hampstead Heath, a large, regional park akin to Tilden Park in Berkeley. It’s a ways away, so I’ll get to see some of the city that way.

•       Cabs: I only took the one cab, from the airport to the flat, so this is not a statistical universe. The driver was just as friendly and helpful as the guide books all say the cabbies are, and we chatted about what it takes to be a cab driver in London. One has to train for 3 years, and pass a very exhaustive test. And the fees have gone up threefold in the last couple of years, so all the cabbies, here and in Manchester, are struggling. If you come to London and can take a black cab, do so, because the experience is worth it.

Tourists

There are people from all over the world here.  I see many, many Italians and Spaniards, Polish, Lithuanian, Russian, Indian, Pakistani, West African and Caribbean folks. It’s hard to tell who’s a tourist and who isn’t sometimes. But in the past few days, since the beginning of June, the streets have suddenly doubled the amount of people on them. The locals seem to be rushing off to work or back from it, hurrying to a Tube station or bus stop. Tourists often stop in the middle of the rapid flow, causing all kinds of eddies and people needing to drop off the curb into the street, or sudden swerves in the Tube station to avoid knocking the poor lost people off their feet. I’ve probably been the cause of a number of similar disruptions, so I have compassion for the tourists, but I’m starting to feel that annoyance one gets when one knows where one is going and is suddenly interrupted by someone who doesn’t.

Lately there have been more Americans around, too. I hear Midwest accents and see people with American football team T-shirts, etc. I have an interesting reaction to them. If they’re lost or having problems, I’ll speak up or ask if I can help. If they’re being obnoxious and leaving food wrappers on the trains or acting drunk, then I concentrate on the British genes in my blood and hope that nobody knows I’m from the States.

 Museums 
Most museums are free. People drop in on their lunch hour, or on the way home from work, to check out a new exhibition or a room they haven't gotten a chance to see yet. Children are brought in to learn art history and be exposed to beauty. Older folks get together and discuss art over lunch at the cafe. Every day. It's wonderful.

I love London. It's vibrant, interesting, mellow, tolerant, diverse, fun, and full of wonders. I can't believe I only have a couple of weeks left!