11 March 2026 - SE Meet-up - The Lansdowne, NW1

[G&T]

Funny, whenever I see a photo of ‘the tube’, I can smell that electric burning odour, feel the warm dry whoooshes of air and remember what it’s like to sit on the stiff brush like tube seats material.

 

[Toddmeister]

Thanks all, very enjoyable evening

Things I learned from my bikermates:

• The Italians in Switzerland speak different Italian from the Italians in Italy - who knew!
• Lamb on a pizza sounds rank, but it is actually delicious (thank Paul G for the tip)
• If you own a big house and live by the seaside, watch out for a big VW Crafter Campervan parking at the end of your drive
• You can just fit a Guzzi in a Campervan if you carefully re-arrange the furniture
• It is possible for a Campervan to completely disappear at some point during delivery (may have fallen overboard in the Channel!)
• The Italians put traffic lights on their off-road tracks

And from personal experience, the Northern line is shit, there are only 53 steps up from the Tube to ground level at Chalk Farm but most folk queue for ages for a lift , and NW1 has a very nice ambience about it, with great pubs!

Thanks for organising Emilio, and looking forward to the next one.

 

[Wapping]

Funny, whenever I see a photo of ‘the tube’, I can smell that electric burning odour, feel the warm dry whoooshes of air and remember what it’s like to sit on the stiff brush like tube seats material.

TfL make a great job of running a vast underground network, carrying millions of passengers a year safely and pretty much efficiently, over parts of the network where (the tunnels at least) date back to the early days of steam.

That is before you add in the ‘overground’ network that also falls within TfL’s orbit.

There is a huge difference between the lines, the Northern Line trains being physically much smaller than the modern trains found on, say, the Circle, District and Jubilee Lines. Likewise, the stations are different, often telling their own architectural story or mapping the growth of London outwards to the suburbs.

We (London plc) are very lucky to have such a good and pretty much well functioning public transport system. No question about it.

 

[Dave T]

• The Italians in Switzerland speak different Italian from the Italians in Italy - who knew!

Apologies for the intrusion..... AFAIK, it's not just the Italians...I believe the Germans in Switzerland also speak different German from the Germans in Germany....

As you were gentlemen

 

[Toddmeister]

Apologies for the intrusion..... AFAIK, it's not just the Italians...I believe the Germans in Switzerland also speak different German from the Germans in Germany....

As you were gentlemen

However, from personal experience (as I am married to a lady who grew up in Romandie) the French spoken in Switzerland is very similar to the French in France!

 

[Loiq]

I believe the Germans in Switzerland also speak different German from the Germans in Germany....

the only germans in switzerland are tourists

in Switzerland there's Swiss People they are NOT germans and they speak Romanche, Swiss German (which is not german) Italien and french

it gets worse There's austria.... and they speak what the claim is german but it isn't....

Germany is 16 federated states (countries) and there's 12 regional languages which are german of sorts... and well over 40 local dialects. Plus there's formal german which all germans speak (should speak, but the ignorant southern pigs don't)

then there's 2 full languages in germany which are not german either.... and these are now protected in law....

The german language is one of diversity, beauty has a richness woven into its very fibres, it's akin to morning sunshine on fresh dew filled meadows........ and to have these dirty southern germans with their guteral mumblings spit it out is an offence to my delicate ears.... !

this service announment should clear up any confusion

 

[The Other PaulG]

TfL make a great job of running a vast underground network, carrying millions of passengers a year safely and pretty much efficiently, over parts of the network where (the tunnels at least) date back to the early days of steam.

That is before you add in the ‘overground’ network that also falls within TfL’s orbit.

There is a huge difference between the lines, the Northern Line trains being physically much smaller than the modern trains found on, say, the Circle, District and Jubilee Lines. Likewise, the stations are different, often telling their own architectural story or mapping the growth of London outwards to the suburbs.

We (London plc) are very lucky to have such a good and pretty much well functioning public transport system. No question about it.

100% Even the names of the stations such as Chalk Farm give plain-sight clues as to what Old London might have been like.

 

[the woodster]

Funny, whenever I see a photo of ‘the tube’, I can smell that electric burning odour, feel the warm dry whoooshes of air and remember what it’s like to sit on the stiff brush like tube seats material.

I find it strangely melancholy but comforting.