To each his / her own.
I used to drive into Central London most days for a few years in the mid-80's. Had to drive as needed the car to carry all the tools and spares as a service engineer. Used to love going in and could literally feel the adrenalin as I went in. It is a vibrant place to go & be
Also went to college there for a couple of years and lived in the City of Westminster for about 16 months. Good fun with only regret that I didn't make more of my time there
In the late nineties/noughties I used to go in, but by train (only tool required was a laptop and/or phone by then) and the experience was starting to wane.
Now I would only just about tolerate it and look forward to getting out in the same I looked forward in the 80's to going in! Too busy, too crowded.
Hard to get out of the London driving habit even after many many years away from the place. In London, you go at a junction if there is half a chance of making it. Up here, people wait until there is no one else on the road before entering a roundabout!I reckon its like serving an apprenticeship doing a few years down there when your young. When I set up my own business in 2001 ooop North it felt really laid back and backward in comparison. Which in some ways is great but it taught me to be ambitious, fast moving and to be eager. I wouldn't set foot down there now though. Im completely the opposite now. I love it living in the Dales where it still feels like the first original season of All Creatures great and small.
Actually I can you why southerners are more likely to let you go .... They assume you are also a southern driver and therefore going to get on with the task in hand! i.e. getting where you are going at a reasonable clip, as you say.LOL! Yes. I think thats true of most of the south east. Up until about 2009 most of my own clients were down that way also so I did a lot of driving in the south. Oddly I actually found the southern drivers more likely to let you out than they are up here. Barnard Castle or Richmond, no chance! Ealing or Watford not so bad as long as you dont then mince about.
Just the sheer volume of traffic down there though used to do my nut in.
Actually I can you why southerners are more likely to let you go .... They assume you are also a southern driver and therefore going to get on with the task in hand! i.e. getting where you are going at a reasonable clip, as you say.
Where I am, I drive 5 miles to the local town and usually zero traffic - but when there IS a car, they are usually going around 35-40MPH on the totally clear and straight road which has a 60MPH limit. For that reason, I tend not to let cars out and when on occasion I have, they take forever to get on with it and I end up regretting trying to be helpful.
On the road, I prefer to help the drivers who are inclined to help themselves if you know what I mean
I can't I'd get banned .....Dont sit on the fence, tell us what you really feel!
As you say each to their own, I lived in a city for 4 years, spent a bit of time in Swiss cottage when Christina lived there also worked at Herne Hill the best part was on the road out on the way home.To each his / her own.
“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life”
Dr. Johnson
London has some of the best theatre in the world. We often go down for a week and catch a few shows
Also take our Grandson, I think doing the sites is a must for young adults.
Train, rich git.It kinda bugs a little bit me when people talk about London and the South East as being the same thing. London is about as different from where I live in deepest Sussex as chalk is to cheese. Forget the North/South divide... it's more a 'City/Other' divide. If anyone's ever ventured down into pretty much anywhere except Greater London, then they'll know that it's full of small market towns, lovely country villages, farmland, countryside, lanes, normal friendly people and so on... pretty much like anywhere in Britain away from huge cities. London may as well be another planet compared to my life in the South East.
I used to work in London for a few years before I was married and loved it... but agree that's it's best done when you're young. Even back then I used to breathe a sigh of relief when the view turned greener and emptier as the train headed south. I love to visit London now and then because it's an amazing city but the train is the only way to do it... and yes, I'm glad to get back home again, even though it's only a 40 mile trip
