Around the turn of the century, I had two business trips to London where I had some free time to myself. So, I was able to take a walking tour of the city each time.
Back in 1996, I had a free day between the business and the flight. So, I must have walked twenty kilometers stopping into places that caught my fancy. Churchill's underground bunker, three major parks, a pub, a huge children's museum, Harrod's, and a few other landmarks. I remembering being so tired, I had to take a taxi back to the hotel. I also remembering buying these series of books from Harrod's for my kids. The Churchill bunker was a surprising treat. Note London has road signs to help Americans saying to "look this way" due to left side road driving.
The next time I was there was about six years later. On that trip, several associates and I went to the Abbey Road studio and did the famous Beatle walk from the album cover of the same name. Note to tourists - this is an active road, so tread carefully. We also went to Soho and shopped and walked around seeing the very interesting sights and people. Finally, we went to the theater and I saw maybe the worst play I have ever seen, based on the Jerry Springer show. Why people wanted to see this was beyond me and a couple of us left at intermission.
These were fun excursions. When we went to Montreal for business, my wife went with me, but left before the meetings started as my company frowned on spouses being in attendance. On my last day, I returned to places we visited to get some form of memento from each place on our tour. We went twice to San Francisco and the surrounding area which is quite the destination, with wine country, Monterrey and the city itself. And, when we took our whole family to Ireland, the side excursions were the best part of our tour.
So, when you go on business or family trips, take the time to do walkabouts. What you experience may exceed your expectations or what was planned. You may have to tolerate the occasional disappointment like the Springer play, but it will likely be overshadowed by nice events.
Note: San Francisco is my favorite American city to visit. Montreal is my favorite city in Canada. Ireland is a great trip with its hospitable people. Of the huge cities I have been to, Chicago, London, New York, and Toronto, they each have something to offer as well as their challenges.
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