Lessons from London

So, as was eluded to a while ago by PetDoc, I may from time to time add a bit of my own thoughts to this wonderful blog. This being my first time, please be patient with me as I figure out exactly how to use this (although, I suspect if you are reading this then you won't actually experience any of my troubles posting it - it will just be there. If you are not reading this, well then nevermind).

If you were to go back and read the latest blog by PetDoc entitled "Another busy weekend!" (and I encourage you to do so) you will note that a lot of this weekend was spent going places or doing things that weren't necessarily on our agenda in the first place. While this is one of the best parts of London - that you can find something to do around every corner and down every tiny lane - it also is not very good for one's blood pressure. I'll admit it right from the start that many mistakes were made and that I am responsible for some (perhaps most, depending on who you ask). So, through this little addition to PetDoc's blog, I would like to tell you some of the lessons we learned this weekend.

First and foremost, you can never, ever, not for one second think that you have conquered this great city. As soon as you think you know where you are going and how to get there, then *BAM* the gods of London throw the proverbial curveball at you and all of sudden you are late, lost and looking for help. So the first lesson is - we've only been here for a few weeks and we are not experts. That's right, not very long at all. We may know the names of the tube lines, and with the aid of the maps when you enter the station, the maps on each train and the map in our pocket, we know the general direction the trains are heading (in theory). But you better have detailed directions of where it is you want to go and never assume "yay I know where that is." After some time of travelling the same route to and from work, day in and day out, you start to get this complacent feeling that you know this place. Like I said above, this is when you get hit the worst. Watch out!

This lesson was very quickly learned en route to the theatre on Saturday night. As PetDoc correctly described, we did have a mad dash around London looking for the damn Apollo Victoria theatre. It was an easy mistake - the A to Z listed only an Apollo Theatre and that seemed right, I had thought I saw it some where around the Leicester Square/Picadilly Circus area (see, I admit my mistake) and it just made general sense. But no. There is in fact another theatre called the Apollo Victoria. And it's no where near the Apollo. But if we had taken the 10 seconds to read the ticket and the address of the theatre before getting on the tube, we would have found the right theatre online and the correct directions. We didn't know where we were going, we were guessing. BAM!

The next lesson we learned this weekend resulted from our trip to Greenwich (or as you read from PetDoc, our trip NOT to Greenwich). The Transport for London (TfL), who is the body responsible for the tubes, trains and buses around London (similar to the TTC if you are from/know the Toronto area) does a great job to communicate the status of the tube and any delays as well as any station closures on their website and at each station. It's actually an industry leading service because if you think about it, what they really are doing is telling the public about their faults. So that being said, there is no shortage of information. So clearly the lession here is - check the status of the tube.

You probably already guessed how we learned this lesson - our trip not to Greenwich. It's not that I am terribly disappointed about not getting to Greenwich. I can go next weekend if I want (don't read: "ha ha, I live in London and you don't"; read: "I can go next weekend if I want"). But it's kind of frustrating when you think you are going someplace and then you are not. We probably could have gone to Greenwich afterall, because when there are delays/closures the TfL is really good at setting up alternative bus routes. But it was just too confusing and there wasn't that much time before we had to be home for Buggy. So we improvised and ended up seeing something else. However, again, if we had of taken the 10 seconds to look up the route to Greenwich on the TfL website, we would have quickly realized about the closures.

The last lesson I have for now (emphasis on "for now") is based on a few experiences I have had to date including this weekend. As you go about your daily life where ever you live you come across things and places that you put in your memory bank filed under "good to know for the future" - for example within the first few days here I knew there was a gas station near the Fulham Broadway. Or you purposely look places up and go there, like the grocery store or the Starbucks down the street. All of these form the knowledge of your surroundings. However, for some perverse reason I like to defy what I know and search out the new. While this sometimes works out for me, it often bites me in the...well...ass.

For the most part, variety is the spice of life. But whenever you are dealing with a complete new surrounding and faced with a particular challenge, it is often the best approach to go with what you know. Therefore this lesson is - go with what you know*. (* - that's not to say never look for something new. Life would be too boring if you didn't. But if you have to return a rented car in 20 minutes and you still have to get gas, go to the gas station near Fulham Broadway. Don't hope that there will be something closer to the rental office and head off in the opposite direction of the gas station you know about. And then when you can't find a gas station and you stop and ask someone, you will invariably be sent to the one you should have gone to in the first place!). This lesson actually goes back to something my father taught me a long time ago - KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid.

A more recent example from this weekend of "going with what you know" definately has to be about getting off the slow moving tube to run around Oxford Street looking for a cab. We now knew exactly where we were going and how to get there - by tube - and there probably was enough time to weather the delays on the tube and get there on time. But it seemed like a good idea to me (again, I admit my mistake) to jump off the tube and try to catch a cab. Well that's it, isn't it - try. Instead of going with the route we knew about, we were now running (literally, I ran a few times) around the streets like idiots chasing after the elusive cab for hire. And no matter how long I live in London, when I come up from the tube and emerge into the daylight again, I will have to look around and get my bearings (this is the subject of another blog entry some day I am sure). So I had no idea where I was, where I was going or where to find a cab. I was defying what I knew and assuming that my expertise would figure it out (please go back and read lesson one).

So there you have it, three lessons: don't think you are an expert, look up where you have to go and go with what you know. Without any further pontification, these are really simple rules to live by, at least for the first little while until things are a bit more comfortable and there's a bit more experience to draw upon. It's not like these are life saving tips. Just lessons we have learned.

(As a footnote, aside from the trip not to Greenwich, I will point out that despite all my mistakes thus far, nothing *bad* has happened...knock on wood. Just for the record, the car was returned on time with a full tank of gas and as reported by PetDoc we did make the show with lots of time to spare. So perhaps I am doing the right things...).

....let me see if I can post this now...