With the steering wheel on the wrong side, things really got going as soon as I landed at the airport. What doesn’t kill you will get you further or not. Shifting gears, so to speak, in the passenger seat caused few problems, but entering and exiting this huge city of London did. As a result, the arrival time at my accommodation predicted by the navigation system turned out to be nothing at all. Many detours also lead through London – I was in no hurry. The really serious challenge only became apparent in the densely populated residential areas: The lack of one-way streets and vehicles parked on both sides made it tight for oncoming vehicles – very tight – and since, as a newbie “in the passenger seat”, I lacked my usual sense of vehicle dimensions to the left and right, sometimes the only thing that helped was (it felt like) closing my eyes and driving through.
I finally reached my destination late, but well. The next day, I just wanted to drive around and get used to the traffic. I followed my nose out of the city, heading northwest to get a taste of the country air. In the end, I ended up in Maldon on the River Blackriver for fish and chips.
The first concert was scheduled for the evening: Michael Kiwanuka at Alexandra Palace, an unexpectedly large, time-honored venue that was more than impressive from an architectural point of view. Situated on a hill, the magnificent view over the whole of London was also inspiring, which is why I went there again the next morning for photos before continuing my journey. A very worthwhile decision.