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My London Trip



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 23rd, 2004, 10:23 PM
Matt Beckwith
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default My London Trip

This is my second trip to London, but the first was 30 years ago. And
I was barely conscious at the age of 20, so essentially this is my
first.

I've learned a couple of things, which I thought I'd share with others
who might be contemplating a London trip. At the end I'll give my
general impressions of the city.

The public transportation system is fabulous. All you have to do is
get a bus and tube schedule, and you'll be able to go everywhere. And
everybody I've asked for help was quite willing to give it. It's as
though every citizen of this city were a travel guide.

I've been buying one-day travel passes for zones 1 and 2 (the center
of the city). For 4.30 pounds it's quite reasonable. You save money
if you use the public transportation more than twice in the 24-hour
period, or that's what they told me anyway.

The exchange rate is approximately $1.70 per pound. But what you can
buy with a pound isn't much more than you can buy with a dollar in the
U.S. My wife (the financial whiz of the family) tells me that's what
they mean when they say that the dollar is weak. Well, it certainly
is!

The best way to spend money here, though, is to use your credit card.
The exchange rate with your credit card is better than if you convert
cash. If you need cash, use your credit card at an ATM.

I had some confusion at first about electrical adapters and my
appliances. First of all, there's an adapter (an instrument into
which you can plug an American plug, which then plugs into an English
outlet) and there's a converter (a device which converts 110-volt
current into 220-volt current). A converter costs about 30 pounds
($50). At first, I didn't use the adapters supplied gratis by my
hotel because I thought I would need a converter. In fact, the two
main appliances I wanted to use (my laptop and my electric shaver)
both are capable of both 110 and 220 voltage! It's written on the
device what voltages it will accept. Apparently, all laptop computers
nowadays can take both 110 and 220 volts. For anything that takes
both voltages, all you need is the adapter.

Not all the Starbucks in London are hot spots, and the ones that are
are not free (as they are in some U.S. cities). My hotel advertised
Internet access, but the broadband is only in particular wings of the
hotel. So it's necessary (at least at this hotel) to specify Internet
access when you make the reservation. I'm relegated to using the WiFi
in the lobby, at an extra fee (15 pounds per 24 hours).

Now for my impressions of London:

This is quite possibly the best city in the world.

It's clean.

The people are incredibly nice.

The people are quite intelligent, on average.

The city is full of fun things to do.

This is truly a cosmopolitan city. In the space of 10 minutes I heard
French, German, Russian, English, Slovenian and Spanish spoken. In
fact, in this city, foreign languages are so common that nobody
speaking a foreign language feels out of place.

The subways (underground, tube) are clean and well run.

The people who ride the public transportation are all except the most
wealthy. This is in contrast to some cities in the U.S., where the
only people who ride the bus are the ones you wouldn't want to meet.

The standard of living here is a bit less than in the U.S., I suspect.
I base this observation on the clothing people wear. However, one
thing I've learned on this trip (and you'll think I was foolish not to
have learned it before this) is that, whereas the U.S. might be the
best country in the world in which to live, it's mainly from an
economic standpoint, not a cultural one. You can have a bigger house,
wear nicer clothes, and drive a nicer car in the U.S., but the
trade-off is that the people are less civil and shallower than some
other places (such as most European countries, I suspect). I know I'm
generalizing, and of course I love my American friends, but I'm just
observing a general trend.

The U.S. city most similar to London, in my experience, is Boston.
But London has so much more to offer.

Matt
  #2  
Old February 23rd, 2004, 10:47 PM
Tim Kroesen
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default My London Trip

So what did you do? What was the most impressive thing you saw?? What
did you dislike???

Tim K

"Matt Beckwith" wrote in message
om...
This is my second trip to London, but the first was 30 years ago. And
I was barely conscious at the age of 20, so essentially this is my
first.

I've learned a couple of things, which I thought I'd share with others
who might be contemplating a London trip. At the end I'll give my
general impressions of the city.

The public transportation system is fabulous. All you have to do is
get a bus and tube schedule, and you'll be able to go everywhere. And
everybody I've asked for help was quite willing to give it. It's as
though every citizen of this city were a travel guide.

I've been buying one-day travel passes for zones 1 and 2 (the center
of the city). For 4.30 pounds it's quite reasonable. You save money
if you use the public transportation more than twice in the 24-hour
period, or that's what they told me anyway.

The exchange rate is approximately $1.70 per pound. But what you can
buy with a pound isn't much more than you can buy with a dollar in the
U.S. My wife (the financial whiz of the family) tells me that's what
they mean when they say that the dollar is weak. Well, it certainly
is!

The best way to spend money here, though, is to use your credit card.
The exchange rate with your credit card is better than if you convert
cash. If you need cash, use your credit card at an ATM.

I had some confusion at first about electrical adapters and my
appliances. First of all, there's an adapter (an instrument into
which you can plug an American plug, which then plugs into an English
outlet) and there's a converter (a device which converts 110-volt
current into 220-volt current). A converter costs about 30 pounds
($50). At first, I didn't use the adapters supplied gratis by my
hotel because I thought I would need a converter. In fact, the two
main appliances I wanted to use (my laptop and my electric shaver)
both are capable of both 110 and 220 voltage! It's written on the
device what voltages it will accept. Apparently, all laptop computers
nowadays can take both 110 and 220 volts. For anything that takes
both voltages, all you need is the adapter.

Not all the Starbucks in London are hot spots, and the ones that are
are not free (as they are in some U.S. cities). My hotel advertised
Internet access, but the broadband is only in particular wings of the
hotel. So it's necessary (at least at this hotel) to specify Internet
access when you make the reservation. I'm relegated to using the WiFi
in the lobby, at an extra fee (15 pounds per 24 hours).

Now for my impressions of London:

This is quite possibly the best city in the world.

It's clean.

The people are incredibly nice.

The people are quite intelligent, on average.

The city is full of fun things to do.

This is truly a cosmopolitan city. In the space of 10 minutes I heard
French, German, Russian, English, Slovenian and Spanish spoken. In
fact, in this city, foreign languages are so common that nobody
speaking a foreign language feels out of place.

The subways (underground, tube) are clean and well run.

The people who ride the public transportation are all except the most
wealthy. This is in contrast to some cities in the U.S., where the
only people who ride the bus are the ones you wouldn't want to meet.

The standard of living here is a bit less than in the U.S., I suspect.
I base this observation on the clothing people wear. However, one
thing I've learned on this trip (and you'll think I was foolish not to
have learned it before this) is that, whereas the U.S. might be the
best country in the world in which to live, it's mainly from an
economic standpoint, not a cultural one. You can have a bigger house,
wear nicer clothes, and drive a nicer car in the U.S., but the
trade-off is that the people are less civil and shallower than some
other places (such as most European countries, I suspect). I know I'm
generalizing, and of course I love my American friends, but I'm just
observing a general trend.

The U.S. city most similar to London, in my experience, is Boston.
But London has so much more to offer.

Matt


  #3  
Old February 23rd, 2004, 11:22 PM
raf
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default My London Trip

It's great that you had a good time. Myself I grew up in Germany,
educated by the US Dept of Defence in Germany and rasied by a Polish
family, Lived in the US and now am thinking about going to school in Poland.

It realy suprises my that most Americans have such a limited view of the
world. I think that it has to do with US and the rest of the world
being so far apart. I had people ask me, "Germany, you guys drive on
the wrong side right?" or "Mt. Everest is in Canada"

I would recomend going to Rome or Paris and checking out how it is being
somewhere where everything you learned about life (language, food,
customs, etc) is diffrent. Try to stay at a smaller hotel "Bed and
Breakfast" than a Hilton or Holyday Inn. That is a diffrent feeling.
If you want a more crazy adventure goto the Eastern European countires
where capalism is just caching on - try to figure out how to get a taxi
from the airport to your hotel.

I have not been the the other parts of the world - hope that soon I'll
get the chance. But I could imagin that it's even crazier in the
Mid-East or Asia.

Matt Beckwith wrote:

This is my second trip to London, but the first was 30 years ago. And
I was barely conscious at the age of 20, so essentially this is my
first.

I've learned a couple of things, which I thought I'd share with others
who might be contemplating a London trip. At the end I'll give my
general impressions of the city.

The public transportation system is fabulous. All you have to do is
get a bus and tube schedule, and you'll be able to go everywhere. And
everybody I've asked for help was quite willing to give it. It's as
though every citizen of this city were a travel guide.

I've been buying one-day travel passes for zones 1 and 2 (the center
of the city). For 4.30 pounds it's quite reasonable. You save money
if you use the public transportation more than twice in the 24-hour
period, or that's what they told me anyway.

The exchange rate is approximately $1.70 per pound. But what you can
buy with a pound isn't much more than you can buy with a dollar in the
U.S. My wife (the financial whiz of the family) tells me that's what
they mean when they say that the dollar is weak. Well, it certainly
is!

The best way to spend money here, though, is to use your credit card.
The exchange rate with your credit card is better than if you convert
cash. If you need cash, use your credit card at an ATM.

I had some confusion at first about electrical adapters and my
appliances. First of all, there's an adapter (an instrument into
which you can plug an American plug, which then plugs into an English
outlet) and there's a converter (a device which converts 110-volt
current into 220-volt current). A converter costs about 30 pounds
($50). At first, I didn't use the adapters supplied gratis by my
hotel because I thought I would need a converter. In fact, the two
main appliances I wanted to use (my laptop and my electric shaver)
both are capable of both 110 and 220 voltage! It's written on the
device what voltages it will accept. Apparently, all laptop computers
nowadays can take both 110 and 220 volts. For anything that takes
both voltages, all you need is the adapter.

Not all the Starbucks in London are hot spots, and the ones that are
are not free (as they are in some U.S. cities). My hotel advertised
Internet access, but the broadband is only in particular wings of the
hotel. So it's necessary (at least at this hotel) to specify Internet
access when you make the reservation. I'm relegated to using the WiFi
in the lobby, at an extra fee (15 pounds per 24 hours).

Now for my impressions of London:

This is quite possibly the best city in the world.

It's clean.

The people are incredibly nice.

The people are quite intelligent, on average.

The city is full of fun things to do.

This is truly a cosmopolitan city. In the space of 10 minutes I heard
French, German, Russian, English, Slovenian and Spanish spoken. In
fact, in this city, foreign languages are so common that nobody
speaking a foreign language feels out of place.

The subways (underground, tube) are clean and well run.

The people who ride the public transportation are all except the most
wealthy. This is in contrast to some cities in the U.S., where the
only people who ride the bus are the ones you wouldn't want to meet.

The standard of living here is a bit less than in the U.S., I suspect.
I base this observation on the clothing people wear. However, one
thing I've learned on this trip (and you'll think I was foolish not to
have learned it before this) is that, whereas the U.S. might be the
best country in the world in which to live, it's mainly from an
economic standpoint, not a cultural one. You can have a bigger house,
wear nicer clothes, and drive a nicer car in the U.S., but the
trade-off is that the people are less civil and shallower than some
other places (such as most European countries, I suspect). I know I'm
generalizing, and of course I love my American friends, but I'm just
observing a general trend.

The U.S. city most similar to London, in my experience, is Boston.
But London has so much more to offer.

Matt

  #4  
Old February 24th, 2004, 12:13 AM
Doug Burke
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default My London Trip

Nice little synopsis Matt. I know what you mean about the public
transportation, much better than in the US. We were there for the first
time a few years ago and on the day we arrived we were supposed to meet
someone in the Kings Cross area. A local suggested taking the bus and I
(being American) thought to myself "ARE YOU CRAZY!! We want to get there
TODAY!!". For our stay we ended up buying the daily pass you suggested
and it worked great. Agree totally with your assessment that "every
citizen of this city where (is) a travel guide".

Great city. Debatable as to best in the world but the week we were there
it was certainly the best if you get my drift. Very enjoyable experience.
Doug

Matt Beckwith wrote:
This is my second trip to London, but the first was 30 years ago. And
I was barely conscious at the age of 20, so essentially this is my
first.

I've learned a couple of things, which I thought I'd share with others
who might be contemplating a London trip. At the end I'll give my
general impressions of the city.

The public transportation system is fabulous. All you have to do is
get a bus and tube schedule, and you'll be able to go everywhere. And
everybody I've asked for help was quite willing to give it. It's as
though every citizen of this city were a travel guide.

I've been buying one-day travel passes for zones 1 and 2 (the center
of the city). For 4.30 pounds it's quite reasonable. You save money
if you use the public transportation more than twice in the 24-hour
period, or that's what they told me anyway.

The exchange rate is approximately $1.70 per pound. But what you can
buy with a pound isn't much more than you can buy with a dollar in the
U.S. My wife (the financial whiz of the family) tells me that's what
they mean when they say that the dollar is weak. Well, it certainly
is!

The best way to spend money here, though, is to use your credit card.
The exchange rate with your credit card is better than if you convert
cash. If you need cash, use your credit card at an ATM.

I had some confusion at first about electrical adapters and my
appliances. First of all, there's an adapter (an instrument into
which you can plug an American plug, which then plugs into an English
outlet) and there's a converter (a device which converts 110-volt
current into 220-volt current). A converter costs about 30 pounds
($50). At first, I didn't use the adapters supplied gratis by my
hotel because I thought I would need a converter. In fact, the two
main appliances I wanted to use (my laptop and my electric shaver)
both are capable of both 110 and 220 voltage! It's written on the
device what voltages it will accept. Apparently, all laptop computers
nowadays can take both 110 and 220 volts. For anything that takes
both voltages, all you need is the adapter.

Not all the Starbucks in London are hot spots, and the ones that are
are not free (as they are in some U.S. cities). My hotel advertised
Internet access, but the broadband is only in particular wings of the
hotel. So it's necessary (at least at this hotel) to specify Internet
access when you make the reservation. I'm relegated to using the WiFi
in the lobby, at an extra fee (15 pounds per 24 hours).

Now for my impressions of London:

This is quite possibly the best city in the world.

It's clean.

The people are incredibly nice.

The people are quite intelligent, on average.

The city is full of fun things to do.

This is truly a cosmopolitan city. In the space of 10 minutes I heard
French, German, Russian, English, Slovenian and Spanish spoken. In
fact, in this city, foreign languages are so common that nobody
speaking a foreign language feels out of place.

The subways (underground, tube) are clean and well run.

The people who ride the public transportation are all except the most
wealthy. This is in contrast to some cities in the U.S., where the
only people who ride the bus are the ones you wouldn't want to meet.

The standard of living here is a bit less than in the U.S., I suspect.
I base this observation on the clothing people wear. However, one
thing I've learned on this trip (and you'll think I was foolish not to
have learned it before this) is that, whereas the U.S. might be the
best country in the world in which to live, it's mainly from an
economic standpoint, not a cultural one. You can have a bigger house,
wear nicer clothes, and drive a nicer car in the U.S., but the
trade-off is that the people are less civil and shallower than some
other places (such as most European countries, I suspect). I know I'm
generalizing, and of course I love my American friends, but I'm just
observing a general trend.

The U.S. city most similar to London, in my experience, is Boston.
But London has so much more to offer.

Matt


  #5  
Old February 24th, 2004, 01:14 AM
Vicky
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default My London Trip

In article , Matt
Beckwith wrote:

Now for my impressions of London:

This is quite possibly the best city in the world.


[snip]

The U.S. city most similar to London, in my experience, is Boston.
But London has so much more to offer.


Must agree with everything you wrote, except this last statement. I
find New York City a much better comparision to London than Boston. In
fact, when people in London asked me what NYC is like, I usually just
say, it's very much like London, except a lot more chaotic, little
dirtier and also probably more ethnically diversed. Other than that, I
find the excitement and the cultural richness of both cities very
similar. Love them both, but must love London more because London,
unlike NYC, actually has downtime. Oh and of course not to mention you
get to see more of the sky in London than Manhattan.

-Vicky
  #6  
Old February 24th, 2004, 01:15 AM
The Grammer Genious
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default My London Trip

raf wrote:

It realy suprises my that most Americans have such a limited view of the
world. I think that it has to do with US and the rest of the world
being so far apart. I had people ask me, "Germany, you guys drive on
the wrong side right?" or "Mt. Everest is in Canada" ...


Europeans are worse. When a French acquaintance heard I was going back to
Orlando, he asked if I would take along a letter to give to his brother in
Albuquerque. And the English mother-in-law of a friend of mine landed in New
York with a small sack lunch that she was planning to eat to keep from getting
hungry on the bus ride to Kansas City.

  #7  
Old February 24th, 2004, 01:36 AM
BB
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default My London Trip

On 23 Feb 2004 13:23:18 -0800, Matt Beckwith wrote:
This is my second trip to London, but the first was 30 years ago. And
I was barely conscious at the age of 20, so essentially this is my
first.


Very nice synopsis, though I think the "greatest city" comment would be
debatable - not that London isn't a great city, but there are so many
great cities and they all have their own qualities. London will lack what
others have, and vice versa.

That's pretty much the way it is with the world.

--
-BB-
To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least)
  #9  
Old February 24th, 2004, 04:11 AM
nick
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default My London Trip

"The Grammer Genious" wrote in message ...
raf wrote:

It realy suprises my that most Americans have such a limited view of the
world. I think that it has to do with US and the rest of the world
being so far apart. I had people ask me, "Germany, you guys drive on
the wrong side right?" or "Mt. Everest is in Canada" ...


Europeans are worse. When a French acquaintance heard I was going back to
Orlando, he asked if I would take along a letter to give to his brother in
Albuquerque. And the English mother-in-law of a friend of mine landed in New
York with a small sack lunch that she was planning to eat to keep from getting
hungry on the bus ride to Kansas City.


oh yea? http://www.stud.ntnu.no/~shane/stasj...r/div/131.html


  #10  
Old February 24th, 2004, 04:35 AM
BB
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default My London Trip

On Mon, 23 Feb 2004 19:15:03 -0500, The Grammer Genious wrote:
raf wrote:

It realy suprises my that most Americans have such a limited view of the
world. I think that it has to do with US and the rest of the world
being so far apart. I had people ask me, "Germany, you guys drive on
the wrong side right?" or "Mt. Everest is in Canada" ...


Europeans are worse. When a French acquaintance heard I was going back to
Orlando, he asked if I would take along a letter to give to his brother in
Albuquerque. And the English mother-in-law of a friend of mine landed in New
York with a small sack lunch that she was planning to eat to keep from getting
hungry on the bus ride to Kansas City.


That only means they misjudged distances. Americans in Europe not only
misjudge distances, but expect everyone else to accept their social
standards & dress standards, and speak their language. It seems terribly
arrogant and a bit ignorant, and sometimes quite disrespectful.

I disagree with Raf that this has to do with us being any distance from
the rest of the world. This is historically very common behavior - its the
arrogance of a society with military and economic supremacy, mistaking
that supremacy for cultural surpremacy. In historical perspective, the
LACK of such arrogance would be far more surprising.

Truely immersive travel is the way we begin to understand, and put culture
in perspective. People in this century have far more opportunities to
read about other cultures and to see them on television or movies, but
there is no experience like being there. Seeing it on TV is nothing like
being immersed in a strange land, somewhat dependent on people of a kind
which we don't fully know or understand. We will be surprised,
enlightened, and occasionally disappointed, but more humble and worldly
for the experience.

--
-BB-
To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least)
 




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