- London is obviously the greatest city in the world for some timeframe that ended in the 20th century.
- Someone thought about everything a little bit more, it seems. The streetlights turn orange before green. Signage is clear (if wordy). Tap to pay is ubiquitous. As they say, the world is a museum of passion projects!
- The wordiness: “Road liable to flood” puts the cart before the horse as does “danger of death, don’t climb”. “Washing up liquid” and “See it, say it. Sorted” have extra syllables. Except — and I admire this — the financial disclosures: “Your capital is at risk.”
- They’ve convinced me of tea and espresso over coffee. Also tea, cigarettes, light beer, and walking seem a better package than coffee, vapes, wine, and driving.
- The Google reviews are generous on food and brutal on hotels.
- WWI looms larger than WWII, as in the bookstores, memorials, and museums. What does a war like that do to a national psyche over a century?
- Can you imagine a Waymo driving over the Thames? I couldn’t. The black cabs and red phone booths are iconic and part of the scene. But overindexing on history seems a particular way to fall behind in the intelligence age.
- The countryside is beautiful and worth conserving. Yet the NIMBYism is next level. I witnessed a neighbor walk up and ask — of gardening on one’s private property, bordering public land — “did you talk to the town council about that?” They also prefaced, “I’m 74 so I won’t be around when these are grow, but…” Oh, and this was after the public works department had ripped out the old hedge without warning.
- You can feel the nanny state daily: the water bottle caps, the tide pod boxes, the dryers. (The US has its own such nits).
- I find the American dominance in pop culture curious. Country stars sell out Hyde Park. My Uber driver cheers for the Eagles. Half the headlines are US politics.
- And on the Europe vs US GDP debate — at Heathrow you declare goods over £390. What does that say about the taxes?
- London is especially a good place to be rich. Can the same be said of San Francisco? That may well pull London permanently to the front of a post-AGI economy. You can’t vibe code a vibe.