I have not been to London since 1992

Not strictly true, as I passed through Heathrow Airport in 2000 on my way back from India.

Ever since my student days there, one of the things I appreciated most about London was the red double decker bus.



This little replica probably sits in many many millions of homes around the world, probably more than any other model of any other vehicle! The one that Annikki got many many years ago was given to our grandson, Samuel, and he enjoyed playing with it just as much as both our sons, Jaakko and Mika, when they were little boys.

Originally, when I lived as a student in London, I travelled from my residences - Finchley Road, Swiss Cottage and West Hampstead - to Holloway Road, where my college, the National College of Rubber Technology was situated in the Northern Polytechnic, using the tube. It was crowded and by the time I got to the college, with two changes, one at Baker Street and another at Kings Cross Stations, hurtling up or down the escalators, it had been an excruciating experience.

When I got the minivan, it was a trip across the top of North London cutting across the traffic streaming into or out of London. We used several back streets and the journey by car was really a time saver. (Meant a few extra minutes in bed in the morning.) It was great step up from traveling on the tube.

I rarely used the van to travel across London, as it was rather a nerve-racking job getting through the maze of one ways that formed the road pattern through London.

I appreciated the London Double Decker Bus. Annikki used to travel all the way from Streatham to our flat in West Hampstead for our regular Saturday evening date, and then I would drop her off late evening. As the tube and bus service was usually shut down when I dropped her off, usually way past midnight, I used to walk back the 10 to 15 km back to my house - student with no money days! :-)

After we left London and stayed in Shrewsbury and then Shawbury, I certainly appreciated the London Bus Service as I had to use the very infrequent bus service which travelled between the village of Shawbury, where the Research Association that I worked in was situated and Shrewsbury, whenever our car was out of order.

When I visited London after our return to India, I much preferred using the bus service in London, as it was such a battle trying to get onto the tube in the underground, and then stand like fish in a sardine tin.

What I enjoyed most was to sit on the upper deck of the London bus and watch the life under me as I passed through the streets that I had tread on during my student days. It was refreshing. I got to my destination relaxed and having appreciated the city I had loved so much during those heady days of the sixties.

It was very rare that I used a London cab, as almost every nook and cranny of London was served by the efficient double decker bus.

Today, I read that the double decker Routemaster Bus in London has been retired for good.

A sad day for that great city.

LONDON - It was the end of the line Thursday for London's red Routemaster buses, trundling into retirement after half a century of rickety but reliable service.

Fans of the old style double-deckers traveled from across Britain to take a last ride on the hop-on, hop-off buses, whose curved lines and cheery scarlet color have inspired affection among drivers and passengers alike.

If you want to have a nostalgic view about London Buses visit the Routemasters web site. I enjoyed my visit!

The last Routemaster Bus rolled into the Streatham Garage, the one garage that I am so familiar with, late yesterday.