Commuting in London

Driving in foreign country is difficult enough...not to mention left side traffic and car having all the controls on the wrong side :) Here's my view how the commuting is every day when I leave from home towards the tube station.

Nice morning and the sun is shining...today nothing can't go wrong. The car needs to be pulled out from curbside and it takes a few forward-reverse trips to turn the car around in the narrow turn-around of the street. When pulling to next street, there are cars parked on both sides of the street. Each car seems to be pointing in all sorts of directions...it freaks me out because cars are easiest way for me to remember which side of street I should drive. Judging these cars I would be driving wrong way of one-way street...bad parking. (voice in my head says:" in Finland these cars would get a ticket immediately)

Next 30 minutes I spend in the line of cars that drive forward on average of 1 mph. I wouldn't mind about that fact except the passing Ant shows me a middle finger. (Voice in my head says in Finland I would be already in office...) Good thing with slow speed is that I can play pinball. There is a weird custom of people parking their car on the sideway, then open the car doors randomly without looking the traffic. You just see these doors opening and closing and you hope the speed would increase just a bit so you can smack that idiot's door to outer space...bonus and free play...thank you.

I arrive to tube station, just to learn that only one spot is free. Of course the cars on each side have placed themselves closest to "my spot". I turn the side mirrors in, drive the car to the spot...and leave the car using the hatch

Tube arrives on time (Voice in my head says:" in Finland trains are always late). My happiness is short lived as people are packed in the tube where you see some people's faces squeezed against window...I decide to wait for another tube...

I finally get to tube, arrive in Piccadilly Circus and take a brisk 5 minute walk to the office. It's been 110 minutes since I left home. I have traveled 15 miles from home, seen thousands of people and had my face photographed at least 20 times by CCTV.

This is commuting in London