Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Russell Square Area



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Mom: We stayed in the Russell Square Area. We didn't choose to stay here, we got free rooms with our plane tickets. However, it turned out to be a very nice area. The rooms were ok, about Motel 6 level, the free breakfast was basic, but servicable, as were the rooms. However, the neighborhood turned out to be very safe & walkable, and just a couple of blocks from the British Museum, one block from the Tube station, and lots of nice corner parks all around. We took a short morning walk to Kings Cross Station so the kids could see where the Hogwarts students caught the express every year.

There was a nice local neighborhood down the street, with a natural food store, bike shop, charity shop, pharmacy, pubs, bookstores. It was a wonderful way to see how real Londoners live.

We waited until early evening to hit the tourist district and the London Eye, which turned out to be brilliant. There was no line, and the tourist predators had mostly packed up for the day. It was low tide, so we walked along the shoreline for a bit, and found some interesting artifacts, such as small china shards and even a piece of an old clay pipe stem.

Overwhelmingly, London smells a lot like diesel fumes, but we found some nice, calm pockets, and I think the boy was right when he predicted it would be a lot like San Franciso, but flatter.

The photo above is of the Russell Hotel, not the Royal National (which is where we stayed). The Russell was on the next block and we could see it from the window.

Dad: London is full of bicycles. There are bikes of all stripes including lots of modern commuters and folding bikes, but not many old three-speeds. All the current trends in the US are here, especially the single speed conversion. Some cyclists here wear masks, presumably to ward off the diesel particulates. They zip along dodging the hordes of busses on incredibly skinny roads seemingly built with whatever was on hand or in fashion at the time. People have often told me that the roads in back home aren't safe for bikes. Yow!

The most common bikes in London are the same American manufacturers from the US Market: Trek, Specialized, Marin, Santa Cruz... I wonder what a Londoner thinks the name of their Marin San Anselmo means. Do they have them shipped from China to the US to build them and then ship them here, or do they build them in Europe? The best is that there are ocassionally fine old UK steel frames with fancy lugwork and such.

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