Jimmy and I were due to go to the Barbican last night - and we did, a review will come later.
I find certain aspects of my other half to be exasperating. He knows every backstreet short cut and turning in Central and South London for driving, and he recognises the advantage of using public transport, especially into the Central area, and especially where alcohol is concerned (and you know us, it ususally is...), but he is convinced he lacks the confidence to self-navigate around Transport for London.
If he were normal, I would have said 'meet me at the Barbican at 7pm'. If he had been vaguely normal, could have said - get the 133 to the Barbican, you'll have to guess what bus stop to get off at but it's not that far to walk. If he was approaching normal, I would definitely have said "Do come to my new office, the directions are blah-de-blah." I thought of Victoria, but how do you get to the Barbican from Victoria. Actually, I have had a helpful exchange of emails with TfL about this:
Me: I have just asked the Journey Planner to take me from Victoria to Barbican on Friday, arriving at 7pm. The answer is to travel via Kings Cross, which would be nice to avoid, if possible, because there are many announcements saying "Avoid Kings Cross". It struck me that there is no 'search option' to avoid somewhere, such as Kings Cross in the rush hour.TfL: Thank you for your email.
You raise a valid point. At present, there is no 'avoiding...' function within Journey Planner, but I will be happy to pass your feedback on to the relevant staff for their consideration for the future.
Thank you for your suggestion.
Regards,Transport for London
I scrunched my forehead and stuck a pen in mouth and came up with a genius solution. He gets the 159:
"You go over Westminster Bridge, past St Thomas's - you know St Thomas's - then the bus goes past the Houses of Parliament - you know the Houses of Parliament? - then it goes round Parliament Square and you get off at the first bus stop after Parliament Square and you cross over Whitehall. The Red Lion is more or less opposite the Treasury, indeed it is a Treasury local."
"I'm confused about Parliament Square..."
"Basically, it's a big roundabout, so the bus has to go round it to do a right into Whitehall."
"I get it."
So I had to find my way to Whitehall. Not difficult but I wasn't sure of the quickest route. I ended up discovering a part of hidden London that I had no idea existed. How many years have I worked in Westminster Village? Of course I've heard of Dean's Yard. But I have never previously walked through it. It's a beautiful little oasis within the precincts of Westminster Abbey. I shall return.
I got to the Red Lion and himself was moaning that it was crowded. I did point out it's Friday, it's six o'clock. Then, when he went to Gents, he discovered a cellar bar that was half empty, so we whiled away the time there. Actually, too much time, so we had to get a taxi (for my piece of mind).
Whlst we were in there Ben Bradshaw popped his head round the door looking for someone. He's currently a minister at DEFRA, but you'll have to take my word for it because their website is currently down, it seems.
In those few brief moments he struck me as being exceptionally good looking - which is not exactly news to me, by the way. I reflected on the fact that the two most handsome Government Ministers, probably the two best looking ever, are both gay, and, as it happens the first two MPs to be first-time elected as out gay. Not that looks or sexual orientation matter, the only thing that matters is "Blairite or Brownite?" and I think Ben is ultra-Blairite.
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