Boot "season"?

[Cali]

 

14 hours ago, at9 said:

We drive on the correct left side of the road, unlike Americans and continentals :-) Also, you'll get a manual (stick shift) rental car unless you have specifically booked an automatic.

I had no problem with the stick on the wrong side and I will question at9's definition of the "correct" side of the road. Be careful if you find yourself out on a country lane where the two way traffic share the single lane with those fun shrubs on either side. And forget about straight roads, think "drunken sailor".

There are people working the tracks and they are very helpful. Try to get express trains whenever possible and (very important) trains don't always run. Sometimes they get cancelled en route. The tour buses (jump-on-jump off) are on the river side of the Waterloo station, on the other side of the street.

[Shyheels]

Here are a few tips for your day in Hastings:

Maggies fish & chips - legendarily good fish and chips, in Hastings old town, right next to where the boats unload their catch. You'll need to book a table in advance. They are very popular. Not fancy, but very, very popular and their reputation as having the best  fish and chips in the southeast is well deserved. http://www.maggiesfishandchips.co.uk

Hastings, by the way, has one of the last of the old-fashioned shore-based fishing fleets left in Britain, and the largest. The fisherman drag their boats, by tractor and winch, up onto the shingle beach to unload. The boats are small, the fishing is highly sustainable, the fish come from just offshore, no more than a few miles away.

If you want a great curry, Bay Spice. It is on the seafront, not far from the pier. http://www.bayspice.co.uk

For ice cream/gelato - DiPolas, again on the seafront 

For good coffee and cake - a tiny delicatessen called Penbuckles on High Street in the old town part of Hastings https://www.penbuckles.co.uk

 

 

 

 

[Cali]

Also remember to go to COSTA (not for the coffee - not good) but for your photo for the Costa in heels thread.

[maninboots]

41 minutes ago, Cali said:

Also remember to go to COSTA (not for the coffee - not good) but for your photo for the Costa in heels thread.

Yes definitely, no better place to sit in heels and watch the world go by 

[p1ng74]

1 hour ago, Cali said:

Also remember to go to COSTA (not for the coffee - not good) but for your photo for the Costa in heels thread.

I’ll be wearing my cowboy boots with 3” heels.  If that counts I’ll be sure to stop in!

[p1ng74]

On 9/17/2019 at 12:30 PM, at9 said:

Complete guide to Oyster Cards: https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/how-to-pay-and-where-to-buy-tickets-and-oyster/pay-as-you-go/oyster-pay-as-you-go

You could choose to get Visitor Oyster Cards but I'm not sure it's worthwhile: https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card

If I understand the system correctly, it looks like I can just load a 7-day Travelcard onto an Oyster card, which seems like the best option.  First of all, the one for my 12-year-old son would only be £32.10, and adults are £64.20, and this will cover all our transport needs from East Croydon into/out/within central London for the entire trip.  On the other hand, if I pay as I go, just a round trip from East Croydon appears to already be at least £12.60 per day, per person, and that is advanced ticket prices so I imagine it will be higher just walking up and swiping the Oyster card.  

[at9]

The Croydon stations are in Zone 5 and you're unlikely to go to any zones further out than that unless you take the tube to Heathrow which is in Zone 6. most of what you'll be seeing is in Zone 1 or posssibly Zone 2.

A 7 day travelcard will normally be cheaper than 7 days of capped travel on Oyster or contactless. Not sure what requirements there are for photo ID when loading a 7 day or longer Travelcard on to Oyster. Also not sure what requirements are for Child rate Travelcard. It should all be there on the website. AFAIK you can't put a 7 day Tavelcard on a Visitor Oyster but you can on a normal Oyster. You can get paper 7 day Travelcards: https://visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/help/ticket-comparison/

The prices you quoted are for Zones 1-6 which incldues Heathrow.

This page gives pretty good guidance. Apologies for London public transport ticketing being so complex. We've got a big and complex network that isn't all controlled by the same authority. https://www.londontoolkit.com/briefing/oystercard.htm

[p1ng74]

34 minutes ago, at9 said:

The Croydon stations are in Zone 5 and you're unlikely to go to any zones further out than that unless you take the tube to Heathrow which is in Zone 6. most of what you'll be seeing is in Zone 1 or posssibly Zone 2.

A 7 day travelcard will normally be cheaper than 7 days of capped travel on Oyster or contactless. 

Oh I see, so the cap even applies on the Southern Railway as long as I am just going from Zone 5 into Zone 1.  Just looking at it, the big, complex network actually seems kind of fun, with all the options, and the Oyster card seems to cover anything I might use, except the river service, which we might just hop on one day for fun.  If it works the way I understand it, I think they've done a good job of making a big, complex network pretty easy to use.  

Can't say the same about Texas toll roads.  Just driving 160 miles between Houston and Austin will send you through 3 different toll authorities, and 3 different bills in the mail weeks later.  And if you don't plan ahead in Harris County, one of those bills is likely to include violations.  What a way to make something potentially simple really frustrating for visitors.  

[Shyheels]

The ferry down the river from Embankment to Greenwich is a fun way to see a slice of London and the National Maritime Museum and Greenwich Observatory are well worth a visit.

[p1ng74]

On 9/22/2019 at 4:22 PM, at9 said:

The Croydon stations are in Zone 5 and you're unlikely to go to any zones further out than that unless you take the tube to Heathrow which is in Zone 6. most of what you'll be seeing is in Zone 1 or posssibly Zone 2.

A 7 day travelcard will normally be cheaper than 7 days of capped travel on Oyster or contactless. Not sure what requirements there are for photo ID when loading a 7 day or longer Travelcard on to Oyster. Also not sure what requirements are for Child rate Travelcard. It should all be there on the website. AFAIK you can't put a 7 day Tavelcard on a Visitor Oyster but you can on a normal Oyster. You can get paper 7 day Travelcards: https://visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/help/ticket-comparison/

The prices you quoted are for Zones 1-6 which incldues Heathrow.

This page gives pretty good guidance. Apologies for London public transport ticketing being so complex. We've got a big and complex network that isn't all controlled by the same authority. https://www.londontoolkit.com/briefing/oystercard.htm

Full service ticket counter at East Croydon took care of us.  Got 7-day Travelpasses loaded onto Oyster cards, but for my son we did a paper Travelcard to get the child discount, which required submitting a photo.  

Also, had a nice trip out to Bodiam Castle and Hastings:

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by p1ng74

[Shyheels]

Have fun! Pity you missed the nice weather we’d been having up until this week!

[at9]

Looks like you got a good solution for London's public transport.

Bodiam Castle is in an area with a lot of vineyards. We make some excellent sparkling wine in England, definitely rivalling champagne.

Hope you have lots of fun in London and elsewhere.

This weekend we've got visitors from the Midlands. We're taking them to Borough Market, the Sam Wanamaker Theatre and Mail Rail. https://www.postalmuseum.org/discover/attractions/mail-rail-ride/

[Shyheels]

Glad to hear you had a nice trip to Hastings - apologies for the weather. And good old Bodiam Castle too. Nice pic.

[p1ng74]

The weather isn’t an issue actually.  So far it rains a little in the morning and then clears up beautifully around noon.  You can even see the contrast within just the hour between the two photos from Bodiam Castle.  

I’m walking around in my knee high cowboy boots with 3” heels, but I have not seen any other men in heels yet.  Felt at home at Tate, where I had multiple sightings:

 

Speaking of historical fashion, does anyone know if this was actually fashionable in the 17th century?  Today the association with Witchery is pretty strong...

 

[Shyheels]

Heels were very fashionable in the 17th century. There’s quite an interesting story there as to how they came into fashion, and how they fellow out of it - at least for men. But heels were seen as fine manly fashion

[at9]

They were also an indication of social standing. Only wealthy and powerful men wore heels. Hence the expression "well heeled".

[p1ng74]

I picked a good day to book seats at Shakespeare’s Globe because it rained off and on through A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Incidentally, I liked the choice of footwear used in the costuming for this play.  There are plenty of high heels, and even the guy playing Demetrius wore a pair of pointy white boots with over 2” heels.  

[Shyheels]

They do some pretty interesting interpretations of Shakespeare’s plays at The Globe

[p1ng74]

Taking a trip today... chilly enough for suede up here:

 

[Shyheels]

How do you deal with suede boots if the weather turns wet?

[p1ng74]

1 minute ago, Shyheels said:

How do you deal with suede boots if the weather turns wet?

Combination of pre-treating the boots and planning ahead... I will wear a different pair if it is going to rain a lot.  

[Shyheels]

29 minutes ago, p1ng74 said:

Combination of pre-treating the boots and planning ahead... I will wear a different pair if it is going to rain a lot.  

I have some lovely suede boots but I'm always scared to wear them out in case of rain. Do you use Scotchguard? Does it work well - assuming no torrential downpours...

[p1ng74]

5 minutes ago, Shyheels said:

I have some lovely suede boots but I'm always scared to wear them out in case of rain. Do you use Scotchguard? Does it work well - assuming no torrential downpours...

I admit I don’t know the details of the protectant used - I had the retail store do it for me...

[Shyheels]

5 minutes ago, p1ng74 said:

I admit I don’t know the details of the protectant used - I had the retail store do it for me...

But it works all right? 

[p1ng74]

25 minutes ago, Shyheels said:

But it works all right? 

Right now they still look the way they did the first day, but so far I have been able to avoid wearing them in the rain as I don’t really want to test the limits of their effectiveness.

Edited October 17, 2019 by p1ng74

[Shyheels]

9 minutes ago, p1ng74 said:

Right now they still look the way they did the first day, but so far I have been able to avoid wearing them in the rain as I don’t really want to test the limits of their effectiveness.

I don't blame you!

[p1ng74]

Meanwhile, it is really dry at home.  Bought a new raincoat hoping that we will get some rain soon:

 

[Shyheels]

Plenty of use for rain parkas here in Sussex - but not even a glimmer of a hope of wearing suede boots!

[Cali]

It's knee high boots and shorts here on the Pacific edge. It's also firestorm season...we could use some rain.

[p1ng74]

It didn't work.  Still waiting for rain.  But the sun casts fun shadows on the heels!