London, England

Commentary

London was one of the coolest surprises I’ve had in a while. I expected a huge city with crowds of tourists and businesspeople scurrying around like ants at a picnic, while I stand around looking lost-touristy. Well, I was right on most accounts, but the big, welcome surprise was the efficiency of the public transport. The “Tube” was simply amazing. It is the nickname for their subway system, which according to my research is supposed to be the second longest in the world, only 1 mile shorter than NYC at 238 miles in length.

My stay was for a whole week, in order to get a Work Authorisation for employment within Ireland. Half of the time was spent arguing with the Irish Embassy, and the other half was spent exploring the city and visiting the museums. Once you learn the Tube map and figure out the color coding, then it is simple and easy to find multiple routes to within a block or so. Though they were often crowded and difficult to get on and off, the Brits have an unbelievably organized system of “queuing”, where most everyone stands patiently in line to the right and allow movement to the left.

Overview

My stay was for a whole week, in order to get a Work Authorisation for employment within Ireland. Half of the time was spent arguing with the Irish Embassy, and the other half was spent exploring the city and visiting the museums. Once you learn the Tube map and figure out the color-coding, then it is simple and easy to find multiple routes to within a block or so of your intended destination. Although there were often crowds, the Brits have an unbelievably organized system of “queuing”, where most everyone stands patiently in line to the right and allow movement to the left. Anyone disobeying the rules is scorned and “tisked” by the surrounding people. By the end of the trip, I was receiving tisks on an hourly basis, and had started tisking other ignorant tourists.

My biggest problem with London was the prices. Cigarettes were over £7, which equated to around $12 per pack, and most other prices were in-line with the U.S., except in £ instead of $, which meant it cost almost twice as much. I sure hope the average British salary is high, because living expenses definitely are.

A quick clarification for people that don’t know the differences: The British Isles are the group of islands northwest of Mainland Europe, composed of Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain is composed of the countries of Wales, Scotland, and England. Ireland is composed of the countries of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy set-up to govern the countries within Great Britain and the country of Northern Ireland.

History

Early beginnings

Little is known about the area in and around London prior to Roman rule. The island of Great Britain was under continual invasions, and was inhabited by a mix of different peoples, primarily the Picts and Celts. In 55 BC, Julius Caesar began his campaign to capture the island of Britain, and returned the following year to complete it with success. Then, established as Londinium by the Romans as a communications center in A.D. 43 on the Rivers Thames, London grew to a population of approximately 30,000 under Roman rule until their withdrawal in the 5^th Century.

In the absence of Roman rule, different Christian warlords competed for power and continued the Roman traditions of governance. Unstable due to the lack of the Roman military backing, these warlords were forced to enlist help from Germanic mercenaries in order to defend the area from the warlike tribes of the north consisting of the Picts and Scots. The strategy backfired when the Germans revolted against the Britons, and began the Saxon rule in the 9^th Century.

Under Saxon rule, London became a large commercial city, acting as the intermediary between the wool producing industries in Great Britain and the manufacturing center in the Netherlands.

The Modern Age

London was the largest city in the world at the turn of the 20^th century, only to be passed by New York in the 1920s. The city was devastated by bombings during WWII German campaign known as the Blitz, lasting from September of 1940 and May 1941.

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