Money Saving Tip #1 - London Busses for Beginners

A normal bus journey in London is 1,50 £. If you pay with your Oyster Card it's 1 £, and if you use the bus off-peak which means after 9.30am, you pay 80p.
Since there are two World Cup matches today and it's Friday, I decided to take the bus today and have some pints tonite. So why not going after 9.30 am and save another 20p?
You can take the 134 bus from Muswell Hill directly to Central London (for 80p). So far, so good.
When you get into the bus, make sure that the display says: "134 Tottenham Court Road" and not "134 Muswell Hill Broadway". Otherwise the bus driver will ask you to leave at the next stop and you pay 80p for 200m and another 80p for the remaining journey. Grrrrrr.

The Missing Screw

Couple of weeks ago I started skating with LondonSkate. Every Wednesday skating two hours through London. Last time I lost the screw that is fixing my brake. As I wanted to skate today, I tried to fix the brake before. So I tried to find a skate shop. There is one next to Marble Arch tube station called the Club Blueroom.

For the first attempt I took the scooter and tried to get to Marble Arch. The thing in London is, you are never allowed to turn in the direction you need. If you need to turn left, you are only allowed to go right and so on. Really annoying. After 20 minutes I got lost and decided to go back which took me another 20 minutes,

So I decided to walk to Tottenham Court Road station and take the Central Line to Marble Arch. After 5 minutes I found the skate shop, but they couldn't help me. The suggested a hardware store around the corner, but it was already closed. I didn't want to spend more money on the tube and decided to walk back and looked for a shop in Oxford Street that sells screws. Nothing. No screws at all. Carrying my rollerblades around, no screws and all the people in Oxford Street... You probably know the feeling when you are already really annoyed and people in front of you change the direction three times in two seconds or just stop moving, I really hate that.
After all, I spent more than two hours for a bloody screw with no results. Eventually I just removed the whole brake and practiced to skate without brake.

Thunderbolts and Planes

On my flight back, the plane was struck by a thunderbolt. There was a big bang and I could clearly see the thunderbolt. It was a bit scary but I was relieved when the crew didn't panicked. A few minutes later the captain made an announcement that the instruments were still working and that planes are designed to cope with thunderbolts. Even a Ryan Air plane ;-)

World Cup Atmosphere in Germany

The atmosphere in Germany is just fantastic. So many people watching and celebrating football together. Everything and everybody is decorated with colours and flags. It's too bad that I am not in Germany for the World Cup, but at least I could watch the Ecuador and the Sweden game at home. I am really optimistic after these games :-)

The first thing I saw back in my city yesterday was an Italian car parade. Lucky Italians. I am pretty sure they are practising diving. Probably you know this video ;-)
You don't miss a goal when you are using the train during a World Cup match. A staff member will announce half time and final results of every game. Great service.

One Night at Stansted

I went back to Germany last week. My flight departed at 6am and so
I spent the whole night at Stansted Airport. There were a lot of people there, most of them sleeping next to their luggage. I could never sleep calmly at the airport. Must be a paradise for pickpockets.

I killed the time with drinking coffee, reading, wondering
around and watching football. People were playing 5-aside outside
at the parking area using two big columns each side as
goals. 2am in the morning - football everywhere these days!

The pressure in the cabin is changing during a flight. I realised
it, when I opened my bottle later again and spilled water over
me and my neighbour. Sorry about that.

See the red light... or the open window.

You might think going by scooter is quite risky in London. So much traffic, so many busses, cabs and other crazy scooters. Well, of course but I like it. Overtaking all the cars at the right light, great. Sure, sometimes it's quite close and a bit risky but it's fun. However, on Sunday, I experienced a new origin of danger for scooters: children puking out of a car window. Honestly, I am not quite sure if it was real puke that nearly hit me while overtaking a long queue, but at least it was a lot of fluid. Since then, I always have this picture in my mind when I overtaking car queues. So guys, watch out for open windows. Puke can hit you everytime and everywhere and then you'll have to explain that smell...

Next Round (against England?)

After a thrilling match (for me), Germany reached the round of the last 16. So many chances and a last minute goal. Fantastic. "The celebrations were as unbridled as they would be if Germany actually go on to win this World Cup. Maybe they will." (The Independent) The atmosphere in Germany must be great these day, I am really sorry, I am not there.

I was watching the England game today. The atmosphere in the pub was much better than last time. England scored in the last minutes as well and nearly everybody in the pub was relieved. Ok, everybody but Sylvia who got Trinidad & Tobago in our Sweepstake. She was teasing Andy the whole match for every missed shot.

Earlier this day, I had a chat with Elisa about supporting the national teams. She said that she'd always support the teams of her friends as long as they don't play Italy. She couldn't understand that some of us supported Ghana during the last match against Italy. I tried to explain to her that I wouldn't support Holland even if I had a Dutch girlfriend and Andy agreed and said he always wants Germany to loose. These are the rules, we didn't make them...

World Cup Impressions

Yeah, finally, the World Cup started. The opening game was quite fun, many goals and Germany beat Costa Rica 4:2.

Saturday we went to see the first England match in the ULU pub. I was a bit disappointed about the missing atmosphere, but maybe the game was just too boring. I am sure they can do much better than that.

The best atmosphere so far was Italy vs Ghana. Probably more Italians around than English people during the England match.
I don't like it when Italy scores first since they are the masters of Catenaccio. Usually, the game becomes quite boring then and ends 1:0 ;-)
However, it wasn't that bad this time. They scored twice and eventually deserved to win the game, although Ghana did quite well.

What I really like about watching the World Cup in London is that no matter what team is playing, you always find people from this country supporting their team.

The World Cup Sweepstake

Andy had the idea to do a World Cup sweepstake. All 32 teams are put into a hat and then everybody participating in the game picks one team randomly. The person with the team that wins the World Cup wins the game.
People can be quite disappointed from a piece of paper with "Trinidad Tobago" on it.
Or as James put it:
"I am not very comfortable, handing over 3£ to Chris and getting a little piece of paper with the word 'Togo' on it in return."
Anyway, it's World Cup time and I am really looking forward to watch the matches with people from so many different countries.

Sylvia: "You're so lucky, you got your country."
Andy: "You're lucky, you didn't."

London Zig-Zag or 'Scootering' to Work

I picked up my scooter yesterday. Hooray, no more traveling in a smelly, packed tube or bus. Driving on the left side is easier than I expected it. Just follow the guy in front.
I managed to go home in under 20 minutes yesterday. Tube and bus is usually is about 40 minutes. And it was very convenient. I just followed this Italian scooter. Very easy.
This morning I left my place at 7.35 am and arrived at UCL at 8.22 am.
My route this morning probably looked like the way home from pub after 11 pints. Instead of going through Camden I took Holloway Road, passed Angel and got lost near King's Cross. 20 Minutes later I was in Mornington Crescent, but honestly, I can't figure out how I did that. Eventually I arrived at UCL. Anyway, it was fun and I won't make the same mistake tomorrow (hopefully).
Things I learned this morning,

• I hate one ways


• Green traffic light and me the only one driving, not good


• UCL is NOT Central London


• Angel is nice for going out but terrible for driving in the morning


• King's Cross building isn't that beautiful anymore after the third round


• I have to drive more like the Italian way ;-)

Guns N Roses in London

I read in the Metro this morning that Guns N Roses will perform a gig this Wednesday in London. Great, my very first favourite rock band is coming to London. Ok, Axl Rose is the only original band member left and I am waiting for more than 10 years for the new album called "Chinese Democracy", but I really consider going. Who wouldn't like to see a live performance of songs like "Paradise City", "Sweet Child O Mine" or "Welcome to the Jungle"?
Check here for details

Thames at Night

If you find the time, talk a walk along the Thames at night. It's really impressive. Take the Tube to Embankment and then cross the Golden Jubilee Bridge. Pass the London Eye and walk until you reach Westminster Bridge. Thanks to Ettore for the pictures.

Speaker's Corner and Hyde Park

Since the weather still was very good today, I decided to go to Hyde Park. I haven't been to Speaker's Corner for a while. It's great to see so many people discussing and having arguments. Of course you see a lot of weird people there. It's every Sunday afternoon, just take the Central Line to Marble Arch. Take a ladder or a box, a fancy dress and have your speech.


"Shut up. You will address me as master!"

What a difference the sun makes

Wow, what a beautiful day today. You realise how much you missed the sun on these days. Hopefully, this weather will last for some time. I was walking around Muswell Hill. With all these shops and pubs, it's like small town. And you can get a great view over London...



I strongly recommend to visit the church in Muswell Hill Broadway. They both look nice, but only the first one has a pub inside. It's a impressive location for a pint...

Yet another blog...

Finally I decided to create my own blog wether the world needs it or not...