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Places - the second in a series of essays.

London - published 23 October 2010

I should love London - but I dont.

And I have never quite understood why.

The city was my work place for nine years until I went to Canada in 1988. And for work or for family I have returned every year since. Trouble is that it was not the city that was home; it was St Albans and then Acton and Ealing; commuting is for the young and the strong. It is endured not enjoyed.

And to be really enjoyed a city has to be lived in. A city where you can walk home from work and yest still escape work is a city that I enjoy. London is an endurance test.

But it is nice to return to. Hotel life can be grim; but it does make the city a temporary home.

In twenty-two years London has changed. For good and bad.

But it is the things that have changed for the worse that disappoint.

Security. Police was machine guns on the street. Endless security warnings. Heathrow is terrible for that. There is no welcome to London. Simply do not leave you bags unattended or we will blow them up. The Heathrow Express happily annouces that staff have the right to search you and also your bags. Its just a train folks.

It is paranoia. CCTV follows your every move.

A walk around Mayfair calms me down. Narrow streets full of money - most of it middle eastern of course. The British no longer won their country - much like the Americans no long own the USA. But it is pretty; little squares and old churches; and surprising coffee shops. And then you have to look down and navigate around the pile of left over puke that some kid has left from the night before. Thank goodness for rain.

The subway is barely working by the way. Overloaded, overcrowded and suffering from years of neglect. What might be quaint is simply hopeless. Try the stations with elevators to street level in the rush hour - Covent Garden is the worst - if you want to see just how bad it is.

Hotels - gbp95 for a room near Paddington that is so small that I could stand in the middle and touch all four walls. A bathroom that flet like I was back on an Emirates 777 - yet they had somehow found room for a shower. London is expensive.