Up The Artxanda Funicular
The Zubizuri bridge leads to the Artxanda Funicular, which takes you up for views of the city.
There wasn’t much to do at the top, except admire the view, but I suspect in summer, the cafe and a lot more besides is open.
But I did feel very much better at the toip and I was breathing well.
A Bathroom For Flirts?
I took these two pictures in the Silken Gran Dominie hotel.
C would have loved this, it gives endless opportunities for discrete displays of flesh to your partner.
She could be an exuberant flirt at times.
I remember one incident, where in a hotel in Berlin with a two-star Michelin restaurant, she’d secretly put the full set of underwear with stockings on for our mutual enjoyment. She was demure to everyone in a silk suit and I knew nothing of any surprise, until she returned from the loo, felt for my hand under the table and put a small scrap of fabric into my grasp.
The small scrap of fabric was her knickers.
She was then unduly slow with the rest of the meal!
Termibus
What better name is there for a bus terminus, than Termibus.
Termibus
Surprisingly, Termibus in Bilbao, would appear to be the only place the name is used.
The Bilbao Tram
The Bilbao Tram runs from the older part of the town, along the River Nervión, past the Guggenheim Museum and then on to the bus terminal and the northern parts of the city.
It uses the same Barik card as the Metro, but be warned you can only add money to the card using a credit card at Metro stations. They are also the only place you can buy a card.
I would also stay in a hotel close to the tram, as it is such a convenient way to get around the major sights in the centre of the city.
Although the tram stop is at the Guggenheim, you need to climb up and down a lot of steps to get to the main entrance. Or you can do what I did and go in the disabled entrance by the river!
The Bilbao Metro
The Bilboa Metro is only about twenty years old, so it still has a new feel about it.
Note the name of fosterito in tribute to Norman Foster, who designed a lot of the architecture. Read more about the design of the Metro here.
I can’t understand why I’ve never seen fosteritos on other Metro systems, as they work superbly, as covers for the up and down escalators. They also stand out from a distance and act as locators for the stations.
I liked it except for a couple of small points.
I like to surf down handrails with one hand for safety and this was difficult, as the hand rail supports tended to catch my hand. The DLR is the same in places.
I also had some trouble with buying the Barik card, which is their version of London’s Oyster. I needed cash, as the system didn’t seem to work with any of my cards.
All Metro, tram and bus systems, should be like London’s buses and accept any bank card with a touch ability.
This is one thing that will happen worldwide.
The biggest advantage is that to top up my Barik card, I was constantly using up small change and notes, as I explored the city. With a bank card as a ticket, all you need to do is make sure you’ve credit available.
One piece of trivia for a pub quiz, is that the Bilbao metro map, must be the only non-UK map, with an English town shown as a destination. Look at the map in the pictures and you’ll see a ship labelled Portsmouth.
Stansted Airport Isn’t What It Used To Be!
When I flew out of Stansted Airport on Sunday to Bilbao on easyJet, the place was full. And so were the bins!
Stansted Airport Isn’t What It Used To Be!
It’s not to the same standard it was a few years ago!
Where Now For The New Bus for London?
This post was prompted, when I found this post on Leon Daniel’s blog. It was this paragraph that caught my eye.
The buses have also been busy promoting British technology at home and abroad. After leaving the USA, LT1 journeyed to Bogota after which it will head to the Far East. Another vehicle is already doing similar duties in Europe and a third vehicle is likely to be added to the tour. Wherever they go they attract huge attention and continue to promote Britain and British industry.
It’s an interesting itinerary!
Couple this sort of story with the news last week about LT100 appearing in Ipswich and it does appear there is a strong move to sell the buses more widely.
Remember though that WrightBus have sold a lot of buses to the Far East in places like Hong Kong and Singapore.
The New Bus for London is also not built like most other buses and coaches, which makes it easy to assemble from a kit of parts with most of the body made locally. Hong Kong and Singapore have got their previous Wright buses this way. I speculated on a New Bus for Hong Kong in May 2012.
These buses are almost like a kit of parts, that can be assembled in many ways.
But surely, one of the biggest selling points of the bus, is that each operator can rebrand them as they want. Will we see a New Bus for Ipswich?
And don’t forget that London’s red buses have always been fashionable and extremely cool. Were bendy buses ever that?
I do think we’ll see one big change on New Buses for London in a few years. Hybrid buses, like the New Bus for London, use a lot of batteries, that need to be changed every few years. I suspect these will be replaced by some form of mechanical energy storage device like a flywheel. There’s something about the testing of this type of technology here.
To my untrained brain, I think that the distributed nature of the power train on the New Bus for London, where the various parts are positioned around the bus, lends itself to the replacement of the batteries by a flywheel. The batteries are under the front stairs and the engine is under the back stairs, with the electric motors in the rear wheel hubs.
Did Nelson Mandela Cause Underground Problems?
This notice was displayed in Bond Street station today.
Did Nelson Mandela Cause Underground Problems?
In its own way this humble notice is a tribute to the former South African President and his popularity and legacy.
Proceeding Along Oxford Street
I took the 390 to the vicinity of Bond Street station, so I could get a Central line train to Liverpool Street station for my train to Ipswich for the football.
It was rather a round about route from my home, but the pictures show what a good camera platform a New Bus for London is.
Note the crowds at the X-shaped crossing at Oxford Circus, which is a very busy area.
I prefer my idea for an elevated walkway, as I proposed here.
I think that in a few years time, we’ll think that running through shopping streets like Oxford Street, will be one of the best places for New Buses for London.
They will make a good window shopping vehicle for the lazy or a simple way to check out which shops you are going to visit. So you can do that on all double-deck buses, but New Buses for London are a much better viewing platform.
Loading buses with passengers on Oxford Street and similar shopping streets, is often a frustrating and slow process, but the three doors and two staircases should speed it up and hasten those wanting to get out of the area on their way.
But the biggest advantage of the New Buses for London, is that you can enter with a baby in a buggy or heavy parcels, though the middle door, swiping your card as you go. This will be a lot easier, than fighting in at the front.
The Anonymous Widower 