The Visitor Paradox
We have pointers that show that London is not as busy as it normally is at this time of the year.
- The buses aren’t full.
- Trafalgar Square is emptier than usual.
- The Emirates Air-Line isn’t busy.
- There is moaning about empty restaurants.
- I did try a hotel site and found there are rooms available.
- I bet too, the taxi drivers aren’t happy.
- I’ve not had any difficulty getting a seat on the Underground lately.
On the other hand, the public seats at the venues are generally full and I’ve been in two 70,000 plus crowds at Wembley this week. Some tickets too are unobtainable, although others are still to be picked up in small numbers on the web site.
We won’t really know until we see the full statistics for things like transport spend and bed occupation to know what has actually happened.
But could London have created a totally different type of Olympics to what we’ve seen in the past few Games?
- London has masses of free attractions like museums, galleries and parks. So have many visitors decided that a visit to the National Gallery is better than spending money on an expensive lunch?
- London is a day trip away from a vast area of Northern Europe. So have people decided to fly in or take the train for a day or so and spent the money saved on tickets?
- London has a vast expatriate community. It is for example, the sixth largest French city. So are many of the visitors camping on the floor of their friends and relatives homes? Let’s face it, if one of my sons was living in an Olympic city, that would be the time I’d go.
- It is said that a lot of the empty seats seen are those allocated to sponsors and the Olympic family. So have corporates decided that the sponsorship has been worth it, but allowing their executives to party in these times is not on?
As I said, we won’t know until we see the statistics.
A Big Red Taxi
This 29 bus was totally empty except for a postman going off shift and myself, as I took it away from Trafalgar Square.
A Big Red Taxi
But then it was mid afternoon. Afterwards, I went to Waitrose and Starbucks at the Angel and they were quiet too!
Even Trafalgar Square Isn’t Busy
I took this picture in Trafalgar Square today.
Even Trafalgar Square Isn’t Busy
I would have thought that it would have been busier. It could just be that most of the visitors have money and hanging round Trafalgar Square isn’t part of their itinerary.
No Shortage Of Litter Bins
There doesn’t appear to be to much of a shortage of litter bins.
No Shortage Of Litter Bins
This was one of many at North Greenwich
Newham Pushes The Bike Out
Newham was welcoming visitors and handing out information from a bicycle with a large box on the front, much like those used to dispense ice cream.
Newham Pushes The Bike Out
It’s a simple eco-friendly method and should be used more often. The picture incidentally was taken by the cable-car and it was quiet.
Strange Bus Adverts In Chinese
There is series of bus adverts like these on lots of London buses. Here’s one.
Strange Bus Adverts In Chinese
It is apparently aimed at the Chinese home market.
The Palace of Industry
The building in the picture is what remains of the Palace of Industry of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition. Everybody passes it to get to and from Wembley from Wembley Park station.
The Palace of Industry
My father had a rather unusual snooker cue, that was exhibited in this exhibition. They were all in one piece in those days and the butt end was spliced with some very unusual woods. What happened to it, I do not know!
The old Wembley Stadium with its twin towers was built for the 1924 Empire Exhibition. The Wembley Arena was built a few years later.
George Dixon Lives
Television in my childhood is always remembered for the television police series; Dixon of Dock Green.
Cosy policing, like that portrayed in the series has long since gone. Or I thought it had.
However, today at one of the Olympic venues, I started talking to a Police Sergeant about the Olympics and my life since C died. He congratulated me on what I had done to raise money for cancer research and shook my hand as I left.
George Dixon would have felt that the Sergeant had done well. So did I and I hope that the best of old-fashioned methods are creeping back into modern law enforcement.
Air-Conditioning
On the way back from the women’s football on Tuesday, I got talking to an air-conditioning engineer. I said about my solar gain problems and how I’d improved the atmosphere by installing air-conditioning.
He then asked if I lived in a loft. I said no, and he said that most needed air-conditioning, but the archiotects never specified it to save money. I suppose he didn’t mind, as it was a good earner.
But after my experience here, I do think that surveyors should understand solar gain problems better. If I had installed air-conditioning earlier, I might have saved myself a lot of trouble.
At least I seem to be finally on the mend.
Free Pussy Riot
This was the slogan on a placard objecting to President Putin’s policies in London today.
I do know what Pussy Riot is, but taken in straight English, it could be read another way.
The Anonymous Widower 