london adventure day 1 (tues. 02.04.2002)



Originally written 02.04.2002. This might show up in 'zine form in the near future if I have a chance to put it together when I get back to Edinburgh.




Summary:




Today was mainly spent on transport from Edinburgh to London. I rode the Great North Eastern Railway for about five hours, stopping in Newcastle, York, and Peterborough before arriving in London. Despite the factthat flights around the UK are cheap and plentiful, I would saythat the best way to travel is by train. On the trip, I was treated to a picturesque view of the English countryside complete with rolling hills, freshly cultivated fields, sheep, and horses. The train was hectic and crowded, but it added an air of excitement and provided some good people watching, for instance the two kids who tried to launch sweets into each other's mouths while their mom slept. Despite the cramped quarters, there was enough table space in front of me to get some work done. One thing about train travel, is that the travelers seem to expect hassles and crowds, whereas with air travel, so many tourists expect to be pampered and throw hissy fits about delays or having to wait in queue or having to, gasp, travel for 3 hours.



By the time I got to London, it was too late to hit any of the museums, so I checked into my hostel and headed out to skate. When I first arrived in london, I bought a 7 day travelcard. It cost me about £20, but I'm pretty sure it will save me money overall. If anything, it's worth it for the convenience of nothaving to buy tube fare for every trip. They also sell daily (I think they're called LT cards) and weekend travelcards. For the 7 day travelcard, one will need to have a passport sized photo. Bring one along to spare some expense, though photo booths in many underground stations will take your picture for £4.



I love riding subways. I think the last time I got to do so was something like two years ago when I went to NYC with my then-girlfriend Lisa. A subway system is definitely the best way to see a city. It's fast, convenient, and easy to navigate. It makes it easy to fit more into a day's itinerary, and it also opens things way up in terms of skate spots. There always seems to be shit going down with London's underground in terms of delays and repairs, but they do a pretty good job of posting directions to circumvent the stalls.



I made my way to the classic London skate spot, the South Banks, so called because it's a set of banks on the south bank of the river Thames, nested in the area's entertainment complex. As you ride the banks, you can see the huge London Eye ferris wheel looming over you. You can get to the spot from either the Embankment or Waterloo tube stops.




From Waterloo: Turn left and walk towards the river and the Royal Festival Hall. Look for a train bridge/overpass thing and staying on the ground level, follow this bridge until you see some steps to the pedestrian walkway across the river. Just to your left, you'll see a set of broad banks and steps underneath the bridge. These are, I think, the "Mellow Banks".Turn right (east) and walk a couple hundred metres and you'll hit the South Banks. Turn left (west) and you'll be towards the also skateable Shell centre, the headquarters of the environmentally nasty Shell corporation. Grind their steps and ledges in contempt.



From Embankment: Cross the Thames on the Hungerford foot bridge. After corssing, turn left (east) and you'll be at the South Banks.


The South Banks are a pretty good spot. There are some little grindable steps and some gnarlier steps into this enclosed area surrounded on 3 sides by banks. You can almost skate it like a bowl. At the top of the bowl, there are some grindable rails, and across fromthe bowl, there are a some more banks that are fun to ollie up/down/over. When I was there, some kids had also set up some road blocks to ollie and flip over. Down by the river, there is a low, waxed ledge. Most of the spot is covered, so it should be skateable even when wet, though this fact also makes the spot pretty dark.



The London skate scene seems so much harder than the Edinburgh one. Whereas the Edinburgh scene seems like good, clean, family fun, the London locals are gnarlier and seem to genuinely frighten the numerous South Bank pedestrians. Still, there were no problems with the police while I was there, and some local kids told me that the S. Banks are a non-bust. Even the Shell center will at worst get you kicked out by security, though this isn't a problem on weekends. Back at the S. Banks, the beer flowed freely between tricks and the locals freely called each other "fat bastards" and sang the Shaggy/Ali G single. Still, unaccosted, I had a good skate.



So after a hard few hours of skating, I was starving. How does an all you can eat Thai/Chinese buffet sound? What? All the food is vegan? And it's only £5 pounds at lunch, £6 at dinner and £2.99 to take away? Awesome!!! To get there, take the tube to the Tottenham Court Road stop. Go westabout a block on Tottenham Court Rd/Oxford Rd. You'll see a Starbucks onthe corner. This will be Soho St. On the West side of the street there is another veg*n place, Govinda's, that is run by some Krishinas. Take Soho St. and go East around Soho square. On the other side of the square, you'll run into Greek Street. The buffet restaurant is a few doors down on the East side of the street. The word "Thai" prominantly marks the restaurant. Indside, I was greeted by an awesome spread - a tofu dish, seitan dish, spring rolls, eggplant fritters, rice, lo-mein, some awesome string beans, amazing fried potatos, various stir-fry dishes, and more. This place is open 12:30 - 22:00 and is well, well worth checking out.



After dinner, I headed back to my hostel, the Hyde Park Hostel at 2-6 Inverness Terrace, W2 3HY (phone (0)20 7229 5101). To get there, take the tube to either the Queensway or Bayswater stop. Follow Queensway road south to Bayswater Road. Go one block east and turn north and go a few steps up Inverness Terrace. The hostel is clearly labeled and on the east side of the street. The place is pretty well-equipped in terms of facilities. Every room has a sink, the bathrooms and showers are pretty clean, there is a luggage room, Internet access (with SSH even), and a free (albeit bare-bones) continental breakfast. Having booked only the week before, and being cheap, I opted to stay in an 8-person dorm. It isn't all that bad, but don't expect much privacy. The first thing I realized when I got settled in the hostel was that there sure were a lot of French kids there. They were everywhere! The French have a reputation for being a bit aloof, but that's fine by me because I don't really like making small talk with strangers. One doesn't really realize how odly gregarious Americans are until one travels abroad. It's strange. For instance, on the train platform in Edinburgh, this vacationing American family from California struck up a conversation with me asking for skate spots for their son. Overall, the whole hostel travel thing is pretty interesting. There are some cool kids, and it's definitely a lot more social than a hotel. Still, to me it seemed that their were a lot of Euro-trash guys trying to put the moves on girls. Crazy. This is only the second time I've stayed at a hostel, but it definitely makes traveling more interesting. It's great for people watching as you see everything from the French tourists to the kids dejected because of a failed job search to the odd older man sitting in the corner. Sitting at breakfast in the morning, it's interesting to look around and imagine how the other kids are going to spend their day.


posted by geoff on 4/04/2002 04:08:51 AM
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trains


Leaving for London tomorrow and I'm totally stoked a return (two-way) ticket to London only cost me £54. I'd kill for that kind of ease of transportation back in the states. I just love the flexibility and not having to worry about getting transport to the outskirts of town and the airport. My parents drove my brother 12 hours round trip back to college today, and that's another trip that could have been avoided if the US had a more extensive rail network. Sigh. Oh well, at least I'm feeling clever doing the whole travel thing. I think it's getting addictive. I was just talking to Yon this morning about her trip to Egypt and that sounded real interesting. I don't really have the cash to do Europe this time, but London should be cool. I somehow managed to book accomodation only a few days in advance and have pulled some lists of skate sights and vegan restaurants off the web. That, coupled with Erin's and Tim's suggestions, should provide ample activities for my 8 day stay.

posted by geoff on 4/01/2002 12:33:56 PM
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taxing



Thank goodness for e-filing ... Still, taxes are a hassle I'd rather not deal with. Just when I get excited about a big, fat return from the Federal gov't, I realize that I have to pay a big chunk of it back to PA. Bummer.

posted by geoff on 4/01/2002 12:29:47 PM
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