Raining Again

Most people have the impression that London is gloomy, very very gloomy. And if the past month is anything to go by, you could be forgiven for believing them. But one of the aims (or rather instructions from my dear blogging partner) of this blog is to give an insight into what it's like living in London, so I’ll let you into a secret. It actually doesn’t rain that much here. In fact, with its average rainfall of 29 inches a year, London has less rain than New York (47”), Chicago (34”), South Hadley (42”), and even Dallas (37”). Sofia has it beat, with 22 inches, but what’s 7 inches between friends :) ?

Another well perpetuated myth is that London and the UK in general are densely populated, over-developed, and covered in tarmac. One reason for this misunderstanding is people’s reticence to venture further than the M25, or if you are a student from LBS, further than Baker Street tube station. In fact only 10% of the UK is urbanized. Yes, 90% of the UK is countryside. In many areas this countryside, starts well before the M25. This isn’t even taking into account the 1700 parks and open spaces in London itself. Indeed. London was recently voted one of the greenest cities in the world, beating San Francisco, New York, and amazingly Barcelona.

In case I still haven’t convinced you, here is a picture of a forest where I like to go mountain biking. It's less than an hour's cycle from central London, and well within the M25…


Post title; Raining Again by Moby (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=b1CDCOPD7uQ)