Eindhoven which seems as silly place to begin the story but you should remember we are in the era of the low cost airline so we travel an two hours out of our way to get a cheap flight that takes an hour. It's the journey of course. UK readers should note there is a good direct train service to Amsterdam and Maastricht as well as connections to Cologne (Köln, Keulen)
Time to take in the local flower arrangements,
An environmental message for this one. Bike racks and solar panels next to the main railway.
The bus station at the other side of the railway station - the one to the airport goes from the far left every half aan hour but there is no Sunday service so you have to catch the special bus.
A turbo prop operated by KLM.
More free publicity for Shell.
One of the famous beer shots - just to calm the nerves I should add.
After successfully clearing customs we get a chance to take a shot of London most modern airport and part of the Sir Norman Foster designed main terminal. Luton is smaller and you can park right next to the terminal but Stanstead has a direct train whereas travelling from Luton involves a short bus trip. If you are travelling via Heathrow or Gatwick maybe Jeeves should check the onward travel arrrangements.
An attempt at some post-modern art included only for home-sick ex-Pats.
Here we see a juxtaposition of two of the ideas that Britain has given the World.
The underground station at Stanstead - most trains go directly to London Liverpool Street but there is a stopping service and one per hour which goes rather confusingly to Liverpool Lime Street that is woth taking if you are a tourist if only to see the changing English lanndscape..
We stayed on a campsite in Roydon, Essex half way between Stanstead and London five minutes from the station that has a half horly service in both directions. There is a bar that does good cheap food making this the cheapest way to visit London and indeed Cambridge.
The River Lea which has it source just North of Luton and flows into the Thames just East of the main central area. The campsite is in the field on the left.
An English village green and a slightly satirical sign. Correct me if I wrong. Although the village green looks pieceful enough they were incorporated into villages so the local population could practice their archery however when the game of football was invented someone formed a Sunday League of pub teams much to the anoyance of the crown who tried to ban it. No records exist on the early matches with the Germans though the county name Essex is derived from Saxony being shortened from East Saxonny. Be very careful if this comes up in conversation and try to avoid commiting yourself. There are also counties of Sussex and Middlesex and a region called Wessex which still apears on regional companies such as Wessex Water.
After a good night's sleep and some aclimatisation and a quick practice of our English we take the first off-peak train into Liverpool Street usually just before 9:30 when the price of a Travelcard is around 40% lower. Liverpool Street is split into roughly two halves with the low platform numbers heading roughly North towards Cambridge and Stanstead as Well as White Hart Lane where there is a famous football shirt marketting company. There are a couple of platforms for Inter City services to Harwich Ipswich and Norwich then the high numbered platoforms serve stations to Colchester and Southend (Victoria).
Platform four and once again for the benefit of ex-Pats the trains are in purple suggesting subliminally that the church still has influence in English society or maybe it becaus they own all the land that the railways over. The other campany that operates from the other side of the station has trains in green and blue suggesting the benefits of suburban living.
An old style phone box for the tourists unusualy in black as all the comuters seem to have mobile phones so they can tell the other passengers what they are having for dinner. Perhaps it is awaiting shipment to Holland via Harwich.
An old fashioned post box - they had to remove these as Londoners mistakenly posted second class letters to Hemel Hempstead and Luton in the wrong slot.
We noticed some new building in The City which surprised us given the sate of the Stock Market. The Sir Christopher Wren designed chapel gives it some scale.
Three shots of the Lloyds building - controversial at the time but now part of the landscape. Looks great at night from The River look for the purpule and blue neon.
I guess the archetcts wanted to make a point about the nature of power and money. There nothing new about this Shakespere wrote about it. I think it should be called Big Ben and the famous clock renamed Old Ben but the area is renowned for creativity of one sort or another so I sure a name will emerge.
The much improved Fenchurch Street station - only four platforms for commuter services to Tilbury and Southend Central. Closed at around 8 p.m. with services being diverted into nearby Liverpool Street.
The Tower of London
Included for homesick ex-Pats. It a relief to see the cabs are still black and the busses are still red.
Tower Bridge - looking good after sprucing up before the filming of Bridget Jones Diary.
After twenty years hard campagining the riverside walk is almost complete and this has encouraged new building in areas that were traditionally less fashionable. This one looks as if it was designed to give evryone a view of The River but eneded up looking like a beehive - well I guess Londoners have been stinging tourists for years.
A coal barge showing that people still do real work on The River. Note the converted warehouses on the other bank.
Here we see a shot of Tower Bridge priced around an aveage wide midfield player i.e around $30 million.
