Pugsworth in London
Hi again
Yes I'm still alive, I've just been having a great time because the whether here has been so nice! the first couple of days were what I expected London weather to be grey and showery but since then it has hardly rained and most days have been between 20 + 25 - perfect for cycling and beautiful warm evenings. We even had a 30 degree day last week which I spent on a ferry on the Thames. Today is the first real rainy day we've had - I've haven't had to put my long pants on yet!
For the record let's go back to the start though. The flight to London was okay 13hrs (from KL) is a long time on a plane though, something you can't appreciate until you've done it. Yes I know there are longer flights, I'm just glad I'd got into KL to stretch my legs. I watched Oceans 12 and slept quite a bit. I also really enjoyed looking out my window seat at India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, some of the old soviet states and the Caspian Sea. I didn't find Osama but the lanscape was fascinating, some huge rivers, roads and villages visible and then mountain ranges - pretty much all brown and dusty though until the framland of Poland and Germany and then mostly cloud.
Once I arrived I didn't really have trouble getting through passport control at Heathrow, just a few questions about why I was saying so long - and I only told them 30th of August as that's when I have my train to Paris booked for though I plan to change this to about October.
I found my bike okay, nothing broken, box still intact etc and re-assembled it in a corner underneath a stairwell without any trouble. After a bit of a hiccup where I found myself on a motorway (freeway) on the way into London and then a little trouble working out London's streets and squares and their numbering systems I finally made it to the accomodation I'd booked at Victoria Hostel. It was a great feeling, I'd found my way here and made it. The adventures have begun!
So London is I guess as you'd expect, a busy place, lots of local centres. Lots of historic spots both in the city centre and around the place, lots of Museums and Galleries - i think I'll stick to the several free ones. One thing I hadn't expected is the large and numerous public parks. So far I've explored Hyde Park, Kensington Garden's, Buckingham Palace Gardens, Green Park, St James Park (the most beautiful so far Greenwich Park, Valentines Park (alas no Valentine), Battersby Park, Clapham Common, Gunnersbury Park, Richmond Park, Hampton Court (only the public garens so far) and the north-west corner of Hamstead Heath. You might think this gets boring after a while but's it's all dispersed with other things and each park has it's own unique character. Some are simply open lawns for people to enjoy the sun or play football (eg. Hyde Park + Clapham Common), others have lots of trees and ponds or lakes with ducks etc (eg St James), some have formal gardens and other facilites (eg Battersby), some are old hunting grounds with small forests and open but overgrown grasslands with more a wild feel (eg Richmond) and others are full of local history like Gunnersbury where I was surprised to find part of the Rothschild legacy. The parks also vary in how welcoming they are of bicycles. I've been quite annoyed to find that some (eg Buckingham and parts of Hyde Park) don't allow cycling at all - not that I (or others) paid much attention to that, but it didn't make me feel a welcome visitor.
In fact I've found London to be not very cycle friendly at all. Cycling lanes are not as common as Melbourne and often end in the middle of nowhere leaving cyclists lacking in legal options. I was pulled over by a gaurd in my first couple of days and told I could be fined for riding on the pavement (footpath), something I was not pleased to hear as the pavements come in very handy for getting around London's many one-way streets. Some of the cycling tracks that do exist are very poor in quailty, I had one that was like gibber! At least the drivers are okay. I've only been hooted once and that was when I found myself on the motorway and was more for information than abuse and they generally give you heaps of room on the road which is good. The pedestrians have got no idea how to deal with you though. One of my best rides was through Epping forest in the south of Essex, more of a mountain bike ride along it's many horse tracks jumping fallen logs and dodging piles of mud - great fun!
For accomodation I had three nights at the hostel to start with, then i stayed with a couple of Servas hosts both middle aged women living alone. Jean in Chingford (who also had three boarders and then Valerie (and her dog Benjo who I had a great time with) who invited me to stay a total of four nights. I was able to help both with things around the house as a thank you, cutting back ivy and mowing the lawns. Valerie also introduced me to a great local peace group called Conflict and Change check out www.conflictandchange.co.uk who hosted a great exhibition called 'The F Word - Stories of Forgiveness' - I even bought the £5 booklet version. Then I've had the last three nights with family friends the Krolls, great to have some young company again. Tonight I'm staying with Taryn an old work colleague, I must go as I supposed to be meeting her now.
I've been seeing lots of sights and a few other bits of London too!
Counties visited so far Middlesex (London), Essex, Surrey.
more soon
James
Yes I'm still alive, I've just been having a great time because the whether here has been so nice! the first couple of days were what I expected London weather to be grey and showery but since then it has hardly rained and most days have been between 20 + 25 - perfect for cycling and beautiful warm evenings. We even had a 30 degree day last week which I spent on a ferry on the Thames. Today is the first real rainy day we've had - I've haven't had to put my long pants on yet!
For the record let's go back to the start though. The flight to London was okay 13hrs (from KL) is a long time on a plane though, something you can't appreciate until you've done it. Yes I know there are longer flights, I'm just glad I'd got into KL to stretch my legs. I watched Oceans 12 and slept quite a bit. I also really enjoyed looking out my window seat at India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, some of the old soviet states and the Caspian Sea. I didn't find Osama but the lanscape was fascinating, some huge rivers, roads and villages visible and then mountain ranges - pretty much all brown and dusty though until the framland of Poland and Germany and then mostly cloud.
Once I arrived I didn't really have trouble getting through passport control at Heathrow, just a few questions about why I was saying so long - and I only told them 30th of August as that's when I have my train to Paris booked for though I plan to change this to about October.
I found my bike okay, nothing broken, box still intact etc and re-assembled it in a corner underneath a stairwell without any trouble. After a bit of a hiccup where I found myself on a motorway (freeway) on the way into London and then a little trouble working out London's streets and squares and their numbering systems I finally made it to the accomodation I'd booked at Victoria Hostel. It was a great feeling, I'd found my way here and made it. The adventures have begun!
So London is I guess as you'd expect, a busy place, lots of local centres. Lots of historic spots both in the city centre and around the place, lots of Museums and Galleries - i think I'll stick to the several free ones. One thing I hadn't expected is the large and numerous public parks. So far I've explored Hyde Park, Kensington Garden's, Buckingham Palace Gardens, Green Park, St James Park (the most beautiful so far Greenwich Park, Valentines Park (alas no Valentine), Battersby Park, Clapham Common, Gunnersbury Park, Richmond Park, Hampton Court (only the public garens so far) and the north-west corner of Hamstead Heath. You might think this gets boring after a while but's it's all dispersed with other things and each park has it's own unique character. Some are simply open lawns for people to enjoy the sun or play football (eg. Hyde Park + Clapham Common), others have lots of trees and ponds or lakes with ducks etc (eg St James), some have formal gardens and other facilites (eg Battersby), some are old hunting grounds with small forests and open but overgrown grasslands with more a wild feel (eg Richmond) and others are full of local history like Gunnersbury where I was surprised to find part of the Rothschild legacy. The parks also vary in how welcoming they are of bicycles. I've been quite annoyed to find that some (eg Buckingham and parts of Hyde Park) don't allow cycling at all - not that I (or others) paid much attention to that, but it didn't make me feel a welcome visitor.
In fact I've found London to be not very cycle friendly at all. Cycling lanes are not as common as Melbourne and often end in the middle of nowhere leaving cyclists lacking in legal options. I was pulled over by a gaurd in my first couple of days and told I could be fined for riding on the pavement (footpath), something I was not pleased to hear as the pavements come in very handy for getting around London's many one-way streets. Some of the cycling tracks that do exist are very poor in quailty, I had one that was like gibber! At least the drivers are okay. I've only been hooted once and that was when I found myself on the motorway and was more for information than abuse and they generally give you heaps of room on the road which is good. The pedestrians have got no idea how to deal with you though. One of my best rides was through Epping forest in the south of Essex, more of a mountain bike ride along it's many horse tracks jumping fallen logs and dodging piles of mud - great fun!
For accomodation I had three nights at the hostel to start with, then i stayed with a couple of Servas hosts both middle aged women living alone. Jean in Chingford (who also had three boarders and then Valerie (and her dog Benjo who I had a great time with) who invited me to stay a total of four nights. I was able to help both with things around the house as a thank you, cutting back ivy and mowing the lawns. Valerie also introduced me to a great local peace group called Conflict and Change check out www.conflictandchange.co.uk who hosted a great exhibition called 'The F Word - Stories of Forgiveness' - I even bought the £5 booklet version. Then I've had the last three nights with family friends the Krolls, great to have some young company again. Tonight I'm staying with Taryn an old work colleague, I must go as I supposed to be meeting her now.
I've been seeing lots of sights and a few other bits of London too!
Counties visited so far Middlesex (London), Essex, Surrey.
more soon
James
posted by James Tonson | 5:11 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home