“London on your own actually seems more exotic than Egypt on a tour.”
― Laura Fraser, An Italian Affair
Sites/Topics covered in this post:
• Arrival in the UK
Go-Date: Day 154, Tuesday, June 25
Lesson Learned: If you are going to use Air BNB (or any other booking site for vacation rentals) READ THE REVIEWS and read between the lines.
Photos can be staged. Reviews can be faked. Neighborhoods can be embellished as to their charm, convenience, and character. Its up to you to make a judgement call. London is huge. It has many parts of town with sights you want to see. The different neighborhoods have vibes, very different from each other. It also has a very good public transportation system. Some are good, some not so much.
We picked a flat in the Clapham district, which is an up-and-coming residential neighborhood for millennials who can’t afford to live north of the Thames. We found it to be transitional, isolated (6 blocks from stores and cafés), and 10 blocks away from the nearest underground station. Maybe fine for your starter home, but not desirable for visiting this city.
The worst part, though, was our flat was a dump. You may find something reasonably priced in London, because the place isn’t worth anything more to lease.
Eurostar from Paris to London
Eurostar is the high-speed passenger train linking Paris with London, Lille & Brussels via the Channel Tunnel (Chunnel) at up to 300km/h or 186 mph. Eurostar is owned 55% by SNCF French Railways, 5% by SNCB Belgian Railways & 40% originally by the UK government but now sold to overseas investors. Eurostar started running in 1994.
The Chunnel tunnel is 50.45 km (over 31 miles) in length and it takes the train approximately 35 minutes to travel its full length. In total, the fastest journey time from Paris Gare du Nord Station to London St. Pancras Terminal is 2 hours and 16 minutes. Believe me, this is far better than trucking out to Charles De Galle airport from the center of Paris and making the jump to Heathrow or Gatwick airports in London.
We arrived early (2 hours) at Gare du Nord for our trip from our crummy Paris hotel and had time to get breakfast and people watch before heading up to the Eurostar platform. There was no AC in the terminal, and Europe was caught in the midst of an unexpected heat wave, so it was stifling inside, but we can suffer as well as the next traveler when subjected to this inconvenience.
The nice thing about the train is 1) lots of room for carry-on bags, 2) security is a lot lower (carry your water bottle on if you like, probably your wine or beer too, if nobody’s watching closely), 3) room…..lots of leg room, room to walk about, roomy seats, and lots of head room, 4) walk back to the club car for a drink or snack if you like, there are no seatbelt signs (or seatbelts for that matter) to tie you to your chair.
You don’t get turbulence on the train, but at 180 mph, you do get some roll and motion somewhat akin to riding on a ferry in the Mediterranean Sea. Not a big deal for most, but if you are subject to motion sickness, take the proper precautions. I highly recommend this mode of transportation. Its pretty cool that you can tell everyone you’ve done it, don’t you think?
On arrival, you can take the tube, but since we knew we were blocks away from our rental to the nearest underground station we opted for one of London’s famous black cabs (sometimes called a hackney). They really are good, and our driver was informed on all the streets, full of info about the town, and just a nice guy. The cabs are pricey though. It cost us about $40 to get to our flat.
In the UK the name hackney refers to a taxicab licensed by the Public Carriage Office. Hackney’ is derived from the village name Hackney (now part of London). Hackney supplied horses from its surrounding meadows. The word was once thought to be an anglicized derivative of French haquenée — a horse of medium size recommended for lady riders.
The first documented hackney coach—operated in London in 1621. The New York City colloquial terms “hack” (taxi or taxi-driver), probably derived from hackney carriage. Hackney cabs in London were usually painted black in the past and are known as black cabs, although they are now produced in a variety of colors. Hackney-carriage drivers have to pass a test called The Knowledge to demonstrate that they have an intimate knowledge of the geography of London streets, important buildings, etc. Learning The Knowledge allows the driver to become a member of the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers.
There are two types of badge, a yellow one for the suburban areas and a green one for all of London. The latter is considered far more difficult. Drivers who own their cabs as opposed to renting from a garage are known as “mushers” and those who have just passed the “knowledge” are known as “butter boys”. There are currently around 21,000 black cabs in London, licensed by the Public Carriage Office. Our driver told us that it took him 3 years to be able to pass the series of verbal examinations to get his license. Each exam is more difficult than the last and the driver must know, by memory, all the streets, traffic flows, how to re-route in the event of closure, and safest routes for all of London. It was pretty impressive.
We gave him an address and he zipped right to it without referring to GPS once. Once we arrived, we instantly realized we’ve fucked up on our booking for London.
This Place Looks Like a Frat House
Deep in the heart of a transitional residential neighborhood, next to the railway tracks, on the south side of the Thames, blocks away from shops or restaurants, in a row house of modest means was our rental.
The owner met us at the door and led us into a scene from Animal House. Bluto, Otter, D-Day, and Flounder weren’t there, but their furniture was. The owner, “Boon” was nice, but completely oblivious to the squalor and clutter inside the place. We should have cut and run right then, but we hadn’t realized the depth of the faults of this place at first glance. He was so kind to show us where he kept his vacuum cleaner just in case “We had an urge to Hoover a bit”. This should have been a warning.
I’m attaching pics of this dump, but I’ll swear it looked nice on AirBNB. I know these folks (AirBNB) don’t closely police the apartment owners, but there should be standards. If there are, this place violated at least half a dozen of normal criteria for a rental. This place looked like a college kid’s apartment that they’ve moved out so their parents’ could visit for the weekend. Our impression of the place is just what you thought of your kids’ college apartment (if you are our age), “I’m too old for this shit!”
So, we spent the next two days finding a new apartment, complaining to Boon, demanding a refund, and trying to fit in a little London time, in between. We did find a great place by Piccadilly Circus (for about the same price), did move, and are going to get a prorated refund, but it still cost us time and money.
We’ve had a lot of lessons learned on this trip, and we’ve learned how to avoid some pitfalls along the way, but you still get tripped up from time to time.