Tag: London

Environment, Travel

Didcot to Paddington plus ULEZ

Posted on by insightndes
Didcot Parkway
Crossing the Thames

Caught a long delayed train instead of the one that I was meant to catch so I thought I’d get to London early. But further delays due to signal issues resulted in long delays on the way into London. But got there in the end. The train was 47 mins late according to the announcements. I was only 20 mins late.

Anecdotally the ULEZ is a success. London smells better. The traffic moves more freely. Pollution has reduced in London and I wonder if the pollution outside London has reduced. Pollution rises into the atmosphere in London and then comes down in Oxfordshire. Has anyone measured this?

In last weeks election the Conservative Party made much of the ULEZ. Unfortunately the primacy of the car still exists for a lot of people and is considered a vote winner. To me health and the environment trumps-why do we still think that poisoning people is acceptable?

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Travel

The far north to London in July

Posted on by insightndes
Setting off

A sunny but cool day for the trip on the far north line.

https://videopress.com/v/mwsNr2e0?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true
Train arriving

And then on to the Caledonian Sleeper at Inverness.

Dinner

All very civilised, dinner (overpriced) and breakfast in the buffet car.

Breakfast cuppa

This is a very effective way to get to London, set off at 1632 from Thurso, arrive in 0800, 30 minutes earlier than expected. There were meant to be delays due to engineering works.

Arrival at Euston

After leaving Euston station I encountered action by people dressed in orange tabards, who I believe were Just Stop Oil protestors. This did not affect me for two reasons. I was cycling and I was heading in the opposite direction to the blocked carriage way. Traffic stationary on the other side of the road. A minute later I spotted a single police car trying to make its way through the traffic. Then another few minutes on half a dozen police vans with sirens blaring. The vans were struggling to get through the stationary traffic so they crossed over to my side of the carriage way. All very exciting. Why did they not travel from the opposite direction in the first place ?

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Travel

Paris-London-Edinburgh

Posted on by insightndes
Hotel des Pyrenees, great location, crazy room shapes.
Street art in a tunnel next to the Seine- converted to pedestrian and cycle use.

Cycled to the Tour d’Eiffel. Paris is really cycle friendly and it turns out that this is a really good way to see Paris. I was surprised by the tunnel with the street art.

La Tour d’Eiffel
Armed military patrols around La Tour d’Eiffel
Time to kill before getting on the Eurostar at Gare Du Nord.
Église Saint-Vincent-de-Paul
View from Église Saint-Vincent-de-Paul
Sightseeing route
Catching the Eurostar at Gare Du Nord.

No Window seat on the Eurostar means it’s not easy to get pictures from the train.

Back at St Pancras
Next train is from Kings Cross

No seat booking but I am booked on the train. Stood up until we reached York.

North Sea
Berwick on Tweed

Edinburgh Waverley

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Travel

Oxfordshire to Barcelona

Posted on by insightndes

A long way to go in one day!
Early start with the moon in the sky.

A revisit to Reading on the way to London.

Paddington nice and early.

Followed by an almost pleasant bike ride to St Pancras.

Stress at St Pancras as the gate for the 0701 Eurostar was closing. Still had a long wait on the train. Pleasant ride on the Eurostar but the electrical sockets don’t work. No matter, sure there will be opportunities later.


train

Arrived at Gare Du Nord

Ride across Paris from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon, followed by lunch, sightseeing, and a return to Gare de Lyon.

The ride from Paris to Barcelona was epic, long, fast and a good selection of French landscapes. Brits, Americans, Australians, Germans, French, Spaniards. A fun mix, and by the end of the journey we felt like we had experienced something together. Six hours travel time on the final leg of today.

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