Getting to work in London is so different to Canberra. In Canberra I had a 10 minute drive to work happily listening to the radio and it cost me maybe $20-40 a week including petrol and registration. And I like having a car and driving so it's not like I was never going to have a car. I could listen to my favourite radio station out loud and sing along if I felt so inclined. It was a pain sometimes getting a parking spot at Uni. Sometimes I had to walk about 4 minutes from my park to my office. We used to complain about that.30 - 50 minutes depending...
In London I have a commute that takes me between 30 minutes and 50 minutes depending on the vague inclinations of the tube. I'm squashed in on some days and less squashed on other days. It costs me £24 per week (don't do the conversion to AUD it's just crazy).
I was going to describe the route I take but then I realised I could get Google Maps show you my commute.
I can get a seat on the tube sometimes but other times I just have to stand up. I'm getting quite good at reading the free daily newspaper standing up one-handed holding onto something to stop from falling onto somebody else. I'll probably write more about the different daily newspapers soon.
Polite?
People are polite on the tube. I think that's how they cope with being squashed against other people for 30-60 minutes on their way to or from work. But the politeness in London involves never saying anything to anybody you don't already know or making eye-contact with strangers. I think it's the reason that people think Londoners are unfriendly. Anybody who thinks that should just hang around in pubs more. People are a lot more relaxed talking in pubs. I'll probably start a google map showing all the pubs we've visited so far. Stay tuned.
All the images in the post are licensed under the Creative Commons License which hopefully I'm allowed to use on blogspot.com
2 comments:
maybe you can pickup a little Vespa?
Amanda can help you find a good one..
but yes from what little time I've spent in London tubevise and based on similar experiences in Helsinki and Stockholm I reckon you can almost get away with anything on the tube and people wont bat an eyelid as long as you dont carry a bag with detonator lead going from it to your hands...
Just think of how much carbon you are saving! Much better than driving your car everyday.
PS We are in the house! Solar hot water is working well - haven't had to boost it at all so expecting big change in the next electricity bill. Just need Duncan to finish the tiling so the walls don't disintegrate.
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