Tube strike wreaks havoc on my life (and London, in general): Today's tube strike brought gridlock to London, and a virtual standstill to Underground operations. Limited services meant some lines were completely suspended; some stations were completely closed, and where trains were running they were infrequent and overcrowded. I used a combination of taxi, private hire car service, tube, and walking.
London map starts to stick in my head by way of my feet: I covered a good part of London on foot today from Oxford Circus to Soho to Leicester Square to Trafalger Square to Westminster to Waterloo. I lost my bearings a few times, and started off in the wrong direction, but quickly reoriented and got on my way. I think I'm finally beginning to connect London. I've got the Southwark down from Waterloo to the Tate Modern to The Cut, onward east to London Bridge and Canary Wharf. I also think I get Vauxhall and Battersea Power Plant in the other direction on the south side of the Thames. Today I connected some of the northern side, but without a sense of the river nearby, I get completely dizzy disoriented. Still, I think I now have a sense of Westminster to Hyde Park, Marble Arch and Edgware Road. As well as how Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Street, Regent Street, Soho, Chinatown, and Leicester Square connect - though I have to say, I am not so interested here. Tomorrow, I may actually get to Brick Lane. It's amazing how walking will get you through and around a city - it's finally clicking.
New jet lag remedy discovered: Travel the first week of November, the week between the time changes in Europe and the US. For one week only, when London has already changed back to standard time and before the US changes to standard time a week later, the time difference is just 4 hours. Jet lag is 20% easier to overcome than the rest of the year!
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