Movious: a word discovered in Zambia to describe something (or someone) that moves around a lot. I'm a movious Ruth. In the last 3 weeks I've been away 12 nights in all sorts of places. My most interesting journey was yesterday when I drove to London to drop my daughter's stuff off at her new pad in Bethnal Green. Being a Sunday I had a bit of freedom for my route as I knew traffic wouldn't be too heavy, however I wasn't keen to drive straight through the middle of London.
So I drove up the M5 and M4 then took the Western Way across the top of central London. I've never driven in London (well, only to Ealing) so this was a lot of fun seeing all the places I've explored by tube, taxi and, mainly, on foot. I drove past Edgware Road, Baker Street, Regents Park, Kings Cross and then down near Shoreditch into Bethnal Green.
After unloading the bike and contents of the car safely (one daughter collects a lot of stuff!), quaffing tea and starting the unpacking adventure, I left at 1700 to amble down to Basingstoke. This time I let the sat nav take me on the most direct route. Wow - what fun! I drove down through the City of London, past the Bank of England and Mansion House. My sat nav isn't terribly new and not linked into traffic reports so every so often it would try and send me somewhere I couldn't drive. So my first happy detour was across Blackfriars Bridge. I've never driven over the Thames in London - I was grinning like a kid. I then drove along the South Bank and back across Waterloo Bridge onto the Strand. And then, lo and behold, I'm driving around Trafalgar Square. It was chocka so, thankfully, I only attempted this madness on a Sunday at 1730 rather than a more popular time of the day. I then ended up in Piccadilly and got lost a few times as my sat nav takes a long time to recalculate when I detour off its prescribed route. My route is certainly not optimal!
I drove past Wellington Arch, waved at Buck Palace, then headed north up the east and north sides of Hyde Park. My sat nav was determined to send me through it but I ignored it (sending it into a spin of "recalculating.... 1%..... 5%....8%..."). The fun of getting lost in central London was starting to wear thin but fortunately I bumped into the A4 pretty soon then headed down to the M3 and down to Basingstoke.
I won't make a habit of driving in London but for a one-off laugh - do it!
So I drove up the M5 and M4 then took the Western Way across the top of central London. I've never driven in London (well, only to Ealing) so this was a lot of fun seeing all the places I've explored by tube, taxi and, mainly, on foot. I drove past Edgware Road, Baker Street, Regents Park, Kings Cross and then down near Shoreditch into Bethnal Green.
After unloading the bike and contents of the car safely (one daughter collects a lot of stuff!), quaffing tea and starting the unpacking adventure, I left at 1700 to amble down to Basingstoke. This time I let the sat nav take me on the most direct route. Wow - what fun! I drove down through the City of London, past the Bank of England and Mansion House. My sat nav isn't terribly new and not linked into traffic reports so every so often it would try and send me somewhere I couldn't drive. So my first happy detour was across Blackfriars Bridge. I've never driven over the Thames in London - I was grinning like a kid. I then drove along the South Bank and back across Waterloo Bridge onto the Strand. And then, lo and behold, I'm driving around Trafalgar Square. It was chocka so, thankfully, I only attempted this madness on a Sunday at 1730 rather than a more popular time of the day. I then ended up in Piccadilly and got lost a few times as my sat nav takes a long time to recalculate when I detour off its prescribed route. My route is certainly not optimal!
I drove past Wellington Arch, waved at Buck Palace, then headed north up the east and north sides of Hyde Park. My sat nav was determined to send me through it but I ignored it (sending it into a spin of "recalculating.... 1%..... 5%....8%..."). The fun of getting lost in central London was starting to wear thin but fortunately I bumped into the A4 pretty soon then headed down to the M3 and down to Basingstoke.
I won't make a habit of driving in London but for a one-off laugh - do it!
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