Taxiing in the UK I know that the first thing anyone should do when you visit any city is to get out and walk the streets and avenues to feel not necessary word what the city has to offer, right? But I’m not going to say that. Instead, I say don’t Ret out, make sure you Ret in — a taxi that is. Take a load off those tired, tourist-worn feet and enjoy taxiing the way it should be done, by professionals. Though not in case you’re in the US where you’ll be absolutely ignored by the driver who is on the cell-phone to his girlfriend. What I’d like to tell you about is the experience my wife and I had this summer while travelling through the UK.
As soon as we were free of the heavy Heathrow traffic, our driver, Terry, as we soon found out, engaged us in conversation. By the time we reached our hotel, we were old friends. He told us that we must try Yorkshire Pudding but keep away from any Shepherd’s Pie that wasn’t homemade, like his wife’s. At the hotel Terry, didn’t walk, but ran our luggage up to the front door. I wouldn’t have been surprised at all if he would have checked us in and carried our bags straight up to our room.
Later one afternoon, we went on a hunt for catalogs from some local magic shops to give to my dad, whose hobby is conjuring. When I asked the driver, Wallace, to take me to a shop I had found in the phone book, he asked me if I was in the ‘Brotherhood of Magicians’. After I told him my reason, he answered, ‘Davenport’s is where you want to go. If your dad knows anything about magic, he’d have heard of Davenport’s.’ Dad was quite jealous that I had been to Davenport’s. And I was jealous of London for having Wallace.
If you travel to London, there is definitely one thing that you must do. Tour the Tower of London? Certainly. See Buckingham Palace? Of course. Let yourself be covered with pigeons in Trafalgar Square? That goes without saying. But above all, ride the taxis — this advice is rarely found in the travel brochures. |