Transport in London

During my last three months in the USA, I got spoiled by just hopping in a car to get to my destination.  These first weeks back in London have had numerous moments to acclimate myself.  Last Sunday, I was going to visit a Zimbabwean church here in London.  I live in Northwest London, and the church meets in East London.  As is often the case, my line on the tube wasn't running because of construction, so I planned accordingly.  I emailed my friends who were going with me and told them, "I'll take the bus from my house to Wembley, catch the Bakerloo line, meet you at your station, then we'll switch to the overground, take the overground to Stratford, and walk from the station to the church."  All well and good, except when I checked TFL, the overground was also going to be having work done!  Replacement buses are a nightmare in my opinion, so we again revamped our plans.  In the end, it took me roughly two hours to get from my house to church.  Thank goodness for Starbucks to help me along the way!

  My second story with the joys of London travel happened yesterday.  I was walking to the tube station with my friend Sara.  The rain had been fairly constant all day and the wind was blowing.  However, a car drove by, perfectly hitting a deep puddle, sending a sheet of icy rainwater straight over both Sara and I.  We were drenched.  Absolutely drenched.  Literally from head to toe.  By the time I reached the station, I was shivering from the drops dribbling down my neck from my wet hair, down the collar of my wet wool coat, as I trudged along in my now wet boots.

I was not a happy camper.

Then I got to the station and hopped on the train where the heat was cranked!  I'm not sure that's healthy, but it was a welcome change.

And such is the day to day joy of public transportation in London.  But just for the record, I would never want to drive here!  I'll take the hassle of buses and tubes any day!