What's the political climate like in the UK right now?

Post Reply New Topic

I'll be in London the 3rd week of October. Should be a very interesting vibe.

Make sure you get that Oyster Card! Otherwise, it's about 4-5 bucks for one ride on the Tube.

And avoid cabs altogether. It's about $150 for a cab from Heathrow.

Last edited by kraftiekortie on 28 Aug 2019, 8:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

I know. At least this trip I'm getting more Brit pound for the dollar/bang for the buck. Too bad housing is still so expensive though.

southern tip of Rhodes

Yep. Hotels are very expensive. And they usually suck at the "low end."

Would you consider an AirBnb, or a hostel?

I've stayed in some nice hostels.

Taxi's are terrible in London. Expensive and you just sit in traffic watching the meter go up and up. The tube is pretty simple to navigate here tbf

I was meant to be in a meeting in Monument yesterday but bailed at the last minute. That would have been my first trip to London this month.

I was on the south coast of Rhodes about 5-6 years ago. I stayed in one of those "most inclusive" sorts of places. The weather will still be fairly hot.

I went in late October-early November. You could still go in the water then.

depending on how confident someone was getting around (I wouldn't be if the roles were reversed tbh) and obviously depending on someone's possible london centric schedule, I would suggest staying outside of London to get a cheaper stay, see somewhere different and travel into London when they want to see things. Public transport here is expensive though so you would have to weigh that up

I'm usually a Bayswater or Highgate (I love the Heath) person but this time round I will be plainly if comfortably ensconced in St. John's Wood.

You can get some cheap fares on British Rail sometimes if you reserve at least two weeks in advance.

I lived in a section of Far Rockaway called Bayswater when I was 15 to 17 years old.

I'm glad you found nice accommodations.

This time it's just London but at other times I cast a wider net; I like that even the smallest villages can be reached by train, or a combo train/bus and at the very least bus. Even if it's only 2x/day!

My wife would never let me drive in the UK. I do want to drive there, though. So I can reach places like the Salisbury Plain (Stonehenge) on my own.

Rumours that Ruth Davidson is going to quit this evening off the back of Johnson's proroguing action

Open air bus tours are common in all U.K top hot spots. Look at the Big Red Bus of blackmail funds set up to sponsor a ''No Deal Brexit.'' At least that's what everyone has said, and fair dues the party had to pay back their overspending, but that doesn't mean the whole thing they're doing is a lie, and lies create a bigger tax burden on the lot of us.
There's a programme with Paxman about why politicians are so bloody useless, its all very well saying speed it up Johnson! but for other so called politicians, they haven't been getting their act together, its all so long winded, though it's good to see Raab step up on matters of consistency where the mother ship sails, the radar on Johnson has been getting the wind up at just about everyone and yet no new corners are being left uncut, not when the older ones are being left marginalised and unspoken of, yet again. New written proposals on backstop or bring back Theresa May to organise a new Tory-E.U appeal? Whichever way the wind blows, it can be sure as true to say, The E.U won't follow suit.

Feels like this upcoming week could be spectacular for political onlookers!

Just a point of info, there's no longer any reason to get an Oyster Card if you have a contactless payment card, as the fares are the same right down to daily and weekly capping. I don't know how common contactless is in the US, or whether bank fees would be prohibitive. The exception is if you use public transport enough for monthly and yearly discounts to be worthwhile - I found that they were for me when I was going to the office five days a week, but once I started working from home once a week they weren't.

If you book in advance then you can get a taxi from Heathrow to Bayswater for £40, which is about $48 these days. You may consider that good value for the convenience, not having to take bags on the Underground, etc., although of course the tube is much cheaper. Flagging down a black cab for that journey will cost a lot more, as you suggest, although not sure it would quite be $150.