Hay Fever in Switzerland
You’d expect the Swiss to be fairly professional about this and this web site is very much so. The trouble is finding it was difficult as typing something like “pollen forecast switzerland” into Google, gets all sorts of crap paid for sites mainly from the United States.
The interesting fact, is the Swiss thinks a lot of their hay fever comes from an imported plant called ambrosia. They are now attempting to eradicate it.
Originally from North America, ambrosia (ragweed) is a weed with two specific properties: an extremely high spread potential and highly allergenic pollen. Pollination begins in mid July and continues until the first autumn frosts.
In the last twenty years ambrosia has spread on a massive scale in Europe. In Switzerland it has now spread over vast swathes of land in the Geneva and Ticino regions. North of the Alps its presence is limited to specific areas, but without appropriate countermeasures there is an imminent risk of it invading the whole country.
To avoid this scenario, from July 2006 ambrosia has been declared by law a plant that must be disinfested / eradicated.
I wish them luck.
The Royal Victoria Dock Bridge
The Royal Victoria Dock Bridge is a footbridge that links the ExCel Exhibition Centre to the south side of the dock.
As it has lifts at each end, it is not difficult to get across the dock. Some of the pictures of the SS Robin were taken from the bridge.
Th SS Robin Opposite the ExCel
The SS Robin is the last steam coaster left and now after a certain amount of rebuilding it is sitting on a barge in the Royal Victoria Dock behind the ExCel Exhibition Centre.
If you want to go and see it take the DLR to Custom House and walk down to the dock.
The Female Customer Service Agent With the Headscarf on the DLR
I took the DLR to Docklands tonight to see the SS Robin. I’ll post some pictures later in the week about that ship.
The DLR is driverless, but trains carry a Customer Service Agent who checks tickets, answers questions and drives the train if something goes wrong.
The Agent tonight was a young Muslim woman with a headscarf and a DLR jacket doing a more than competent job. And all the customers were handing over their tickets without any fuss, as they should do.
Isn’t this how it all should be?
Is It Legal To Take Inflated Balloons On A London Bus?
I took this picture today by London Bridge.
Balloons On a London Bus
It clearly shows that some of the passengers have inflated balloons.
Is this legal?
I ask the question, as when C and I were students at Liverpool University in the 1960s, the buses there displayed a notice that clearly stated that the carrying of inflated balloons was not allowed.
London Bridge Is Nearly There!
A few months ago I showed a picture of the new railway bridge at London Bridge over Borough Market.
Here are some new pictures, that I took today.
It looks like Thameslink will be on time.
Do We Mislead Tourists?
I travelled to London Bridge today and on the train I met a couple of ladies from New Zealand, who were trying to get to the Churchill War Rooms in Whitehall. But their hotel had told them to go to London Bridge to see something similar by the London Dungeon. I put them on a Jubilee Line train to Westminster.
I also met an Australian tourist and her family going to the London Dungeon. I suppose they had kids, but at least I was able to point out Borough Market and Sothwark Cathedral. Let’s hope that when London Bridge Quarter gets finished, they put up some decent information.
At least though I saw this outside the Globe Theatre a few street’s away.
I have a simple tourism rule. I don’t pay to go into anything, unless it’s National or special interest museum. I’ve never been to Madam Tussauds, the London Dungeon or any of the other places in London setup to relieve tourists of their money. These places are not an asset to London, just as others of a similar ilk aren’t in Paris, Amsterdam and New York.
Many of the best tourist sites in London are free and all some require are a London Travelcard or Oystercard. Here’s my favourite top ten.
- The front at the top of any London double deck bus. Favourites include a 24 from Victoria to Hampstead and the two heritage routes (9 and 15). I like to play bus roulette and get on the first that turns up.
- The British Museum. It’s worth going in, just to see the roof and have a nice coffee. Special exhibitions are extra, but the main museum is free, althougth they do like the occassional donation. When it’s not too busy, you can handle some of the exhibits. I’ve seen little girls, and big ones for that matter, in Roman necklaces.
- The Olympic Park. But go before June 2012, as I suspect you’ll find views will be shut off for security before the Olympics.
- The Imperal War Museum.
- The Kensington Museums; Science, Natural History and V & A. There’s even a good Carluccio’s nearby.
- The Victoria and Albert Embankments. At low tide, look for the beach at Tower Bridge.
- The North and East London Lines on the London Overground. They connect lots of small, good museums, Hampstead Heath, Kew Gardens and Crystal Palace. There is also a superb panorama of London in several places.
- The Docklands Light Railway. Take it from Bank to Canary Wharf and on to the Thames Barrier.
- St. Pancras Station. Even the French think it’s the best railway station in the world. It may not be by next year, as King’s Cross may outshine its neighbour.
- Green, Victoria and St. James’s Parks.
- The Regent’s and all the other canals that take you from Islington to Stratford and Docklands.
I suspect this list will grow.
I did like this bike though.
Mobile Low Carbon Tourist Office
Is this the first mobile low carbon tourist office?
Lopsided Timetables To Orpington
I went to Orpington this afternoon, by the easy route of an East London Line train from Dalston Junction to New Cross and then a stopping train to my destination.
Coming back at seven this evening, there were no trains from Orpington to New Cross, so I had to go via the chaos at London Bridge and get a bus.
I did notice several tents in the station car park at Orpington station. Were these people waiting ovenight and then getting the train back to New Cross in the morning?
It’s a whole new world south of the Thames. As an example at New Cross, the platforms are numbered A to D, rather than the more normal 1-4. According to Wikipedia, this is to differentiate the station from New Cross Gate. I would have thought that putting the station names up correctly, as they do, would have been enough, unless the purpose was to fool visitors from north of the Thames.
Another London Bus Route Goes Non-Bendy
This picture shows one of the new buses on route 25 at Stratford.
A Proper Bus on Route 25
It replaced one of the dreaded Spanish-built bendies.
Note that the bus is a Wright Eclipse Gemini 2, built in Northern Ireland. Wrightbus is incidentally a family owned company. So hopefully not for them the problems of external shareholders, who want to paddle someone else’s canoe. The company is very much involved in developing the New Bus for London. We may worry about the demise of trainmaking, but do we have in Wrightbus a company that is going places in that much neglected and very unsexy part of transport; buses?
The Anonymous Widower 