London - Whats happened ?!
Discussion
Back in the UK for a week after 3 years overseas and by heck has the city changed.
Tube into town from Heathrow on a friday night and its like a ghost train. I can remember that being rammed out with people travelling out and about.
Get off at Covent Garden about 9:30pm ready to fight through the usual crowds at the entrance to the station, doors open and there is maybe 20 people milling about!
Walk to the hotel and where have all my old boozers gone, they all seem to be (empty) coffee shops and sarnie shops! Streets seem sort of busy until i realise that its just people from teh few pubs left having a smoke outside, infact the pubs have bigger crowds outside than inside!
Again last night, beers in the Roundhouse and at 10pm i am able to casually walk to the bar AND our group is able to get a table!?!?!?
My old City is a ghost town .... is this the Credit Crunch still showing ??? If so, its very scary to see coming from another city!!
Tube into town from Heathrow on a friday night and its like a ghost train. I can remember that being rammed out with people travelling out and about.
Get off at Covent Garden about 9:30pm ready to fight through the usual crowds at the entrance to the station, doors open and there is maybe 20 people milling about!
Walk to the hotel and where have all my old boozers gone, they all seem to be (empty) coffee shops and sarnie shops! Streets seem sort of busy until i realise that its just people from teh few pubs left having a smoke outside, infact the pubs have bigger crowds outside than inside!
Again last night, beers in the Roundhouse and at 10pm i am able to casually walk to the bar AND our group is able to get a table!?!?!?
My old City is a ghost town .... is this the Credit Crunch still showing ??? If so, its very scary to see coming from another city!!
sday12 said:
You go to the Roundhouse? God that shows you are a tourist.
Everyone has moved to The Hawley Arms whilst you were away.
Good grief, that place was a complete sEveryone has moved to The Hawley Arms whilst you were away.
tehole that served poison for beer in my days!!!Roundhouse was always the staging post between covent garden and the west end!!
how things change! Still everywhere around the west end including chinatown seemed very quiet, i guess the combination of Valentines Day on a Sunday and Chinese new year + cold weather may have had something to do with it. Guess i will see over the week!
But still, there realy is a very noticable change in atmosphere, everywhere, even driving around seems very quiet.
and what is it with all these CCTV Cameras? had read about it on here but to see it is incredible (and Orwellian)
Personal faves so far are the Cameras watching the Cameras (where CCTV moniters a GATSO to disuade people from putting a Sowetto knecklace on it i assume!!
)Anyway, off to Stanmore this morning!
I guess you haven't watched any TV here yet then?
Remember how it used to be with adverts for Bog Roll and Life insurance?
Well not anymore.
Most adverts are now state sponsored. We have adverts telling you that you partner should get herself temporally sterilised, that you will kill lots of children if you drive at 31mph, that you are not going to see your children’s 10th birthday if you smoke and that your children are crying themselves to sleep at night because of climate change.
Not just the BBC either. It's every advert break on every channel!
Remember how it used to be with adverts for Bog Roll and Life insurance?
Well not anymore.
Most adverts are now state sponsored. We have adverts telling you that you partner should get herself temporally sterilised, that you will kill lots of children if you drive at 31mph, that you are not going to see your children’s 10th birthday if you smoke and that your children are crying themselves to sleep at night because of climate change.
Not just the BBC either. It's every advert break on every channel!
Timmy35 said:
XJSJohn said:
Back in the UK for a week after 3 years overseas and by heck has the city changed.
hey John. Welcome back. DD still serves decent beer I believe. Are you back for long?Oh taxes, they've gone up again. So maybe no one can afford to go out drinking anymore?
Citizen friend, have you not had your reprogramming reintroduction to the UK yet? Report to the Happiness Centre immediately and we can help you see that everything is fine, everybody is happy.
We are all happy citizens now, and this country is well placed to get out of recession and defeat terrorism.
We are all happy citizens now, and this country is well placed to get out of recession and defeat terrorism.
Im totally suprised you have said that.
Ive been out in London a fair bit lately and been getting annoyed that its busier than ever.
Trying to walk up through Covent Garden from the theatre at 10pm on Saturday was a total nightmare. People everywhere. Tens of thousands of them (literally)
All the restaurants were booked solidly from 6pm onwards.
Just to find somewhere to have a decent drink at 10pm we had to get a taxi out of the centre because the bars were so annoyingly full (shoulder to shoulder standing room only)
IN other words- stop lying.
Ive been out in London a fair bit lately and been getting annoyed that its busier than ever.
Trying to walk up through Covent Garden from the theatre at 10pm on Saturday was a total nightmare. People everywhere. Tens of thousands of them (literally)
All the restaurants were booked solidly from 6pm onwards.
Just to find somewhere to have a decent drink at 10pm we had to get a taxi out of the centre because the bars were so annoyingly full (shoulder to shoulder standing room only)
IN other words- stop lying.
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