Thoughts on Leaving London

We left London this morning but before getting into the usual "blogging," I thought a few observations on London might not be inappropriate. While these could be read as critical, they are in no way meant to suggest we didn't have a wonderful time during our week there.

Hotel rooms, unless you are prepared to pay enormous sums, are small; very small. There just isn't room to swing the proverbial cat; even a very small cat. Increasingly, we have a sense that even the middle range hotels are now being run by migrants, largely from the sub-continent with large components of the staff from Eastern Europe and frankly, if our hotel was an example, it is an improvement. Gone are the days when there was no service and every request was greeted with a sullen unwillingness to do anything. At our hotel the service was great, the breakfasts were good (albeit expensive) and the staff couldn't have been friendlier or nicer.

Costs seemed lower than in the past. Partly as a result of the excellent exchange rate for Australian tourists, and partly because of the effects of the recession (which is still biting hard in the UK) most things seemed very reasonably priced. As a yardstick, Virginia informs me that "Australia's Top Drop," Jacob's Creek was readily available at three pounds fifty a bottle which is less than seven dollars at the current exchange rate; cheaper than in Hobart. Some things remain expensive, of course, like accommodation, but using "Whatif" can usually get you a reasonable (or what passes in London as reasonable) price for your stay. Restaurant meals work out to little more than you would pay in Hobart for the same standard although, of course, there are still the very posh restaurants which continue to charge very posh prices.

Transport costs are high. Using the tube, a one way trip costs around four pounds or just under eight dollars. However, there are lots of ways this can be minimized. Since we were there for a week, we bought the Oyster Card which cost twenty six pounds for unlimited travel on buses, tubes and the light rail within the two zones which make up the greater part of London that one is likely to travel in.

Smoking remains very common but it is forbidden on public transport, in stations, in restaurants and even in that mainstay of British life, the Pub. Our hotel was totally non-smoking including (according to their information book) the bathrooms.

I was fascinated to see the amount of work being done of the old water mains. Finally, after more than 150 years, the old Victorian system which has served London well, is breaking down. All over the city, streets are blocked off while old mains are dug up and replaced. From the quality of workmanship around the world these days and the "disposable" economy I wonder if these new mains will give anything like the length of service afforded by their predecessors.

Every time we return to London we sense that it is a degree or two shabbier. The demands of the city are clearly outrunning the ability to maintain the infrastructure and if money is spent on one thing, there always seem to be two or three others that have to be put off. Recession doesn't help when you have a government that doesn't seem to believe that it is a good time for extensive infrastructure spending, but would rather spend money on the Olympic Program. You have to wonder how they are going to manage that when you consider the massive demands it will place on London.

Virginia pointed out to me an interesting usage; asking me if I was familiar with the phrase "Half Term." Certainly it is not a usage I knew from the United States and neither of us could recall it being common in Australia. The reason is probably because there is a "universal" school calendar in Great Britain so holidays are all taken on the same dates. About the only case of this in Australia would be Easter since terms and breaks are dictated by the individual states and even the individual non-government schools.

When you get to Paris there is no doubt it is a "French" city. On the streets, in the restaurants and shops, in the cafes, the language which surrounds one is French. London, however, is different. Walking around our area in Paddington, it is unusual to hear English spoken. One is enveloped in the languages of Eastern Europe and the Sub-Continent with a sprinkling of Asian tongues mixed in. We are told that this is true in the industrial areas of Great Britain as well although our two brief sojourns into the countryside found them to be quintessentially English.