Following my last list of reasons why I love London. I thought it was only fair to make another of reasons why I don't like London. These are all really pernickety things, and 99% of the time I love London and everything about it. But as with everything there are things you love about it, but there are also things you don't like.
1. the fact that the underground is boiling hot all year round - even when it is snowing outside the tube will be a hundred degrees. This is annoying because in winter I wear a big (faux) fur coat, and so end up sweating my bits off on the train to work/going out.
2. the number of slow walking people around - seriously, why do some people walk at literally a snail's pace? And then, to make matters worse, they will stop suddenly in the middle of the street, for no discernible reason, causing you to nearly walk into them.
3. tourists. Oh god, I cannot even explain how much I hate tourists.
4. those people who try to get you to give a monthly donation to charity - I'm sure lots of places have them, but in London they are like vermin. My avoidance tactic is to pretend to be on the phone when I spot them, as they are instructed not to approach people on mobile phones. Ha, I'm so sneaky.
5. the way certain areas smell after it rains - like a mix of wet dog and rotting garbage. A lot of Soho suffers from this problem. Bleurgh.
6. those loose paving slabs that, after it has rained, conceal what seems to be an ocean of water. And when an unsuspecting pedestrian (which always seems to be me) steps on it the mass of water underneath is displaced and rushes over the edges of the paving slab in a tsunami-like wave, soaking their foot and flooding their shoe.
Does anyone else have pet peeves about where they live?
Haha, number 1 is my top hate of London too, especially when I was working there and there is no time/space to take your coat on or off when leaving Farringdon station - you just walked, fast... which led to number 2 in your list lol. When we went back to Norfolk for the weekend we couldn't believe how slow people walked there, the pace is definitely different in London lol.
ReplyDeleteI actually hated the evening free papers in London too - I never got them so I was constantly saying no thank you to everyone and they made such a mess, they were everywhere! I'm not sure if its the same now though...
My Leeds pet peeve would be the buses - they drive me mad with how inconsistant they are and I also hate the paving up here too, its like an ice rink when its wet, I normally walk on the road if I can.
Hahaha that is an excellent tip (number 4), will be sure to utilise that SUPERB information
ReplyDeleteFor some mysterious reason, all undergrounds I've been apart from Copenhagen's, were extremely warm. It should be because of the ventilation or something. Once I was in Athens, and it was summer, so the weather was übersummerish and hot, maybe 36°C outside. I took the stairs down to the underground and guess what! Pretty much no difference between above and below the ground. It's awful, especially if the wagon is packed or you have to get off or wait on a very busy station.
ReplyDeleteP.S.: I don't know why you hate mushrooms! They are sort of cute. :D Maybe it's because of their weird consistency/texture?
They're a good substitute for other disgusting things. For example, there's a traditional Passover greek soup that has sheep viscera in it. So instead, I use mushrooms and make mushroom soup. Half the disgustingness!
Damn those loose paving slabs!! x
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