Why you will Love London:
- There are separate paths for pedestrians to walk: This is unique. In most of the places, pedestrian walkways are as broad as the roads. Certain things that I found really amazing:
- You can stop the traffic if you want to cross the road by just pushing a button and the traffic actually stops :)
- The pedestrian walkways are wheelchair friendly as well. In fact a large part of London is wheelchair friendly. They can move in their wheelchairs in most parts of the London. Most of the new Tube stations are wheelchair friendly. Even all the buses are low lying and they gets even lower when they stop. Technology should aim to make life easier for everyone and you will experience that here.
- There are dedicated lanes for cyclists: This is something that will really surprise if you are coming from cities like Mumbai. The roads here are not as broad as Mumbai yet, there is a separate lane for the cyclists. I have seen so many people preferring to cycle to work rather than using the public transport or car. Something that every city in this world should aim for!
- You can drive really fast here: Irrespective of what some of my local friends in London say, you can touch speed of up to 100kmph within the city roads. People from London say that they drive much faster on the country side roads. No wonder the fastest driver of F1 is a Briton!
- No matter what you want to eat, it is available: No matter from which part of the world you are from there are good chances that you will find a restaurant serving food for your taste. If you are a food lover and like to try out food from different geographies, London is a one place where you can daily try food of a new taste.
- You can put on all the woolen clothes and look smart without worrying about your bulging waist line ;)
Tarun Chandel
London from the perspective of an outsider
You can find pictures of London on my Photoblog.
6 comments:
Nice post. Very interesting to see how others perceive London.
--> Rich: London is an interesting place. More like a city of migrants with a culture of no culture.
I was in Hong Kong some years ago and realize how unfriendly Mumbai is to people who are handicapped.
I love the whole separate cycle lane bit but in weather like ours, very few will cycle to work here. Or anywhere for that matter. I remember when I was much younger I was mentioning to someone that we should have cycle lanes in Mumbai and the person was said 'look at the distances in Mumbai. And look at the weather'. Never ever though felt bad for not having lanes for cyclists after that.
Enjoyed reading your take on London..
Isnt it amazing how different people would notice & focus on different things in the same picture :)
I am a non resident indian too and when i first arrived in the country i am in, i happened to notice some peculiar things , which indians in my company had failed to mention (in their mails about the country , before i came here)
-->Deepali: I agree Mumbai is not at all wheelchair friendly. I remember seeing Delhi trying it in some areas and they have ordered new buses as well. Hopefully things will be picked up by other cities as well. I am not sure about Cycling lane missing just because of the weather. There are still more cyclist in Mumbai than most of the cities in world. Moreover it's not just about a lane but a change in the mindset of the authorities to have focus on creating a healthy living city.
-->Paradox: Thanks! It is interesting to notice the differences in the way cities are designed. Somethings that are so obvious in India are not common here and some of the things that are part of life and culture here are not even seen in India. I guess you always learn from visiting new places and interacting with people of different culture.
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