Spot on. The surveillance cameras and all the sEcUriTeE paraphernalia are just oppressive now - it's properly dystopic and it feels more like a prison than a city. The girlf has a place in SE London and I stay a weekend there every couple of months so we can have a wander round the markets, get an ice cream down by the river etc, which I enjoy, but I couldn't bear living there full time again.
I understand that there are complex logistics involved but it was notable that "driver unavailable" always seemed to happen more often when it was a bank holiday Monday or a sunny day or there was an important football match showing or there had been one televised the night before. It was particularly bad during the World Cup and the European Championships. I think this applies across most jobs though obviously inconvenient if you’re trying to get from AtoB on such days. And I hear you that it may be a back office issue rather than a driver's fault but tbh that's not much of a comfort when it leaves you and hundreds of others stranded in the 'burbs because the trains were at capacity during peak times so any cancellations meant that by the time they reached my station there was no space on the next two or three trains. I also hear you, but you appeared to be laying the blame squarely at drivers which isn’t always the case. You appeared to have gone all Sun readership which isn’t at all your style. I also hear you about the anti-social hours and having to deal with suicides etc, but that applies even more so to Police officers and they don't get paid £50k PA for sitting on their a*ses all day. I also hear you on that, I’m not at all certain that Police officers aren’t sitting on their arses all day. As an example. I happened to be working on a very quiet industrial estate near the M42 a Police car roles up and parks in the cul de sac for 2 hours occupants didn’t leave the vehicle just sat inside in plain sight. Reference a Police officers pay thats either on them or successive governments and the people that elect such governments that seem to want to race to the lowest that public sector workers will turn out for whilst applauding/congratulating them on occasion
Bristol... Houses very expensive , I’d worry about bike security, traffic congestion, Son loves living there, no motorcycle and walks to work. We moved from Dudley to Shropshire 2 years ago... best decision. Why? Tranquil, very little traffic compared to most places, bikers heaven, lots of open countryside, plenty of tourist attractions, walks For me Italy would be the place to live abroad, always found the Italians ( and French) warm and friendly, I love to try and speak the language when abroad. For me Italy has it all, weather, culture, food, art, beautiful language..... beautiful bikes and cars...♥️ would love to live in the North in the Dolomites summer and Emilia Romagna in the winter ... Bologna ( have friends there) housing is cheaper than UK in a lot of parts
Edinburgh and Glasgow are both great places to live. I've lived in both. Weather is dubious but the people are lovely.
Edinbro rocks. it's my favorite city, you just cant get bored of it with some smaller scenic areas just outside that's worth a look for property. the weathers not bad, on the east coast so usually drier, it's just that the better stuff comes earlier in the year. the roads? superb. as for the people, the most pro europien in the UK, just avoide arseholes wearing a blue top with RFC on it waving a union jack during a pandemic. if yer ever going to get any greif it will be from them. oh, and if you have picked up an accent in france, avoide england, they hate everybody.
I haven't bothered to check and now, with all the pandemic crap, it would not be representative, nut pretty sure that you could fly to New York for that! And that is commercial, with no government subsidy! The stated intent for the government fools is to get people out of their cars and stop climate change. Charging that keeps people in their cars and says "feck!" to climate change! But destroying Bolivia for Lithium, is all very green though!
If we had the money to do it, we'd split our time between SW London and Barcelona. There's a lot to be said for living close to the Surrey hills and I would probably never want to completely move away from here. But I'd like to have the option spending time somewhere where it's not always cold and wet and quite fancy exploring/riding (bike and motorbike) inland of Barcelona. We've spend a fair amount of time there over the years and never got bord or wanted for things to do. I always notice a lot of Monster riders around too. My Spanish, Spanish tutor thinks I'm mad wanting to live there as she thinks it's probably the least friendly part of Spain.
The Catalans have a serious problem with the rest of Spain. Great city to visit but let down by the People there.
I wouldn't disagree, but my experience of the people there has nearly always been very positive. I do however try to speak as much Spanish as I can, which may help.
I’ve found it to be the opposite... a foreigner talking Spanish in Cataluña is just asking for it. I’ve only been there twice for pleasure but spent lots of days working there. They hate anything Spanish with a passion. It’s bad. Shame as it is a fantastic city.
Plus 1 for Emilia Romagna. The climate, scenery and people are all lovely. It’s also Ducati, Ferrari and Lamborghini country, not to mention that the region seems to breed MotoGP legends by the dozen, including Rossi and Dovi.
Not as bad a Gibraltar though... seriously, you can walk into a shop there and if you speak Spanish, it’s a given they’ll answer you back in their Mickey Mouse English. also the opposite if you start off in English.
