Scotland2005: Back in London

Well, we are back in London. The trip is winding down, and although we miss home and the dogs and our friends, I for one am sad to leave Scotland. It's such a beautiful country, and the people are all very friendly, and I feel quite at home there. We grew familiar with Glasgow (although Tony's sense of direction there never clicked in), and our hotel staff there was the best of the trip. We'll definitely stay there again. London is a huge cosmopolitan city with its own fun and charms, but I'd return to Scotland yearly if I could and if Tony would let me.

We are back at the Internet Cafe across the street from Victoria Station in central London -- where we started the trip. All around Victoria -- indeed in every big city in the UK, we are surrounded by US Brands -- Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks, Burger King, McDonalds, and the Internet Cafe is attached to a Subway sandwich shop. It is clear that the US economy dominates the world (but for how long?) I noticed the same thing in Hong Kong and other cities. It makes me wonder how come we don't see a British equivalent outside of the UK -- why we don't see Brit fast-food joints over in the states -- I don't think I can name a single UK consumer brand that has any real market presence in the US like KFC, Starbucks and McD's have here.

That is not to say that there aren't UK industries over in the states -- Scottish Power owns PacificCorp, the big electric utility in OR, WA and UT for one. Another giant that we saw a lot of here was First -- not one that is terribly familiar or that you'll recognize I suspect, but they own everything related to transportation over here. In the UK First runs the bus system in Edinburgh and Glasgow, they also have several of the national rail franchises here including all the trains in Scotland on ScotRail. In the US, First runs the School Buses in Washington, along with the Community Transit system in Seattle and a number of other cities. It's a HUGE company. But what we don't see are the UK consumer brands over in the US like we see US brands over here. Just an observation.

Along that line, we took a different rail route back to London than we have in the past. Last trip, as well as the north bound trip this time, we took the Great North East Railway -- GNER. It runs up the UK East Coast Mainline between London and Scotland. It's the quickest way to get up to Scotland from London, and they have wonderful trains. They've decorated their trains in a very tasteful, very traditional scheme, with dark colors, dark paneling and wide first class seats. It takes about 4 hours to go between London and Edinburgh.

We decided to take the West Coast Mainline back this time -- and the franchise is operated by Virgin Rail. In the UK they privatised the railways back in the Thatcher years (she turned 80 yesterday and there was a birthday party hosted by the Queen BTW). The actual tracks are owned by a company called NetworkRail, and they handle also all the dispatching of passenger and freight. Both passenger and freight are run by various train franchises. Companies bid on the franchise for 10 years and have operating rights on certain city pairings or routings. They set fares and pay NetworkRail for the track time. NetworkRail is independent and treats each company equally.

Virgin Rail is the same Virgin that is the large record company, cell phone provider and airline company. They have Virgin Trains over here on the west side of the UK. Richard Branson, the chairman, is sort of like a very eccentric Bill Gates -- one of the richest people in the UK, and has his fingers in a lot of things. They even serve Virgin Cola on his trains. He also has tons of bucks. He invested in brand new eqiupment in the last year -- very sleek, very modern trains that are more like airlines than trains (however with much greater room). They all have very modern decor, lighting, and gee-gaws like in-seat music (just like on the airline). The trains are made in Spain, and they have high-speed tilting mechanisms that force the train to lean into curves so it can go faster without all the jarring and swaying. It's really amazing and fast, and much like riding on an airline as it is about to take off and become airborne.

The West Coast line takes a lot longer -- almost 5 1/2 hours compared to the East Coast line. It runs through the very heart of industrial England, through their "rust belt" if you will. Cities like Birmingham, and Sheffield (where the movie Full Monty was set), and Manchester. One sees lots of abandoned factories along this route, and it's quite similar to going between Ohio and New York via train in the US.

We had first class tickets (naturally), and boy are we glad we did. This train filled up and in coach they were standing in the isles and vestibules. A lot of folks going to London for the weekend. Meanwhile we sat in a half-empty first class car and lorded it over them, although they kept sneaking down to use our loo. We (that is the "royal" we -- those of us in 1st class) were all rather put off by the riff-raff invading, very Charles Dickenish don't you think?

Although it was a long trip, I quite enjoyed it. I'm very content to sit and watch the world go by from a train seat. I find it hard to read or do anything else, especially when I'm in a place I've never been. I don't want to miss anything. While Tony read and finished his second book of the trip, and the tabloids, and had a nap, I was content with my map and timetable and an open window. I know it sounds boring -- but it's what I love. I need to SEE things -- to look at the landscape, to wonder what is in the factory, to plot my course. It's why I love driving and riding my motorcycle too, and why I HATE flying with a passion. I can't see anything and it bores me to tears.

We got to London in the height of rush hour, so the tube trip over to Victoria was rather pleasant to say the least. But we are settled in our hotel and figuring out what we'll do for the next few days. The weather is lovely -- and much warmer than Scotland, and it's supposed to be sunny all weekend. Our railpasses are good through Sunday, so we can get out of London for a bit -- maybe head out to Stonehenge, or down to the beach town of Brighton. We don't know yet.

Tony is looking for theatre tickets as I write this -- we tried to get some on-line ones for Billy Elliot, but so far haven't been able to. Tony also wants to do some shopping, and maybe go to a museum, and even thought about calling Delta to see if we could bump our flights back to Sunday from Monday, though I'd rather not.

Tonite we'll find a nice place for dinner, and maybe hit one of the gay clubs and enjoy London's nightlife.

Winding down the adventure from the Internet Cafe near Victoria Station, London..

Gary and Tony