London
Map
July 5–7, 2010
It’s such a pleasure to watch how sidewalks are paved in London. Drainage ditches are put in, stones (and not hideous tiles) are leveled along string lines, excess grout is scraped off by hand with loving care.
It’s all for them—the people.
If a tube station is shut down, a detailed explanation is provided: there will be a new station, this is its layout and where it will be located, this is what it will look like and what its passenger capacity will be.
Or take the bus stops. Every bus stop has a post with a timetable and other information. At the top of the post is a letter code in a red circle. The codes increase in alphabetical order; if there are many bus stops in the area, they can go up to two letters. All you have to do is look at the map, find your reference point, memorize the bus stop which seems nearest, and go until you spot the correct letter.
For those who don’t want to use public transportation, there are taxis. The best taxis in the world. First of all, you can just step into a London cab, instead of having to fold yourself into a letter Z to get in. Second of all, before taking a very rigorous exam to test their knowledge of the city (all the streets, restaurants, museums, sites and so on), all cab drivers must spend three years driving around on a scooter, studying the city one grid section at a time. Three years. That’s why any London cabbie not only looks like a college professor, but is capable of carrying on a conversation about lens speed or a Francis Bacon exhibition.
And if you want to charge your electric vehicle—by all means, go ahead.
The fact that Borjomi is banned in Russia on sanitary grounds yet is freely available for purchase by Russian oligarchs-in-exile in London defies explanation.
Bags for fish and dried vobla can be obtained from the cashier. Herring is dispensed by the sales clerk.
In general, in London you begin to feel like Moscow’s attempt to catch up with the rest of the civilized world has slowed down somewhat, if not to say come to a full stop entirely.
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