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Breadcrumbs

When trains go bad; OR Lost in London

21 December 2009

By Sarah Davies

Just a few weeks after blogging about the joys of train travel, I find myself caught up in the disaster zone that is Eurostar at the moment. (I’m in London. I should be in Paris. Short of swimming, I’m not going to get there.)

Another post about trains, though, could come across as a little geeky. So this is in part a call out for help, and in part a reflection on where we like to work. I’m now stuck in London for two days, with a laptop and a mountain of work. Where should I go?

I could try the local pub, but this has a terrible wifi connection and staff who look at you blankly when you ask about it. Or the library – quiet and warm, and you don’t have to buy endless coffees, but no wireless. You seem to have to pay for your internet at lots of cafes, and university libraries are also a bit chary about giving visitors access to online resources.

I really like working in public places – cafes are often at an optimum noise level for me when I'm writing (not too quiet that it sends you crazy, and not so loud that you can’t concentrate). But my requirements are, I think, pretty modest: wireless, warm, I can stay there all day. Does anyone have any good suggestions or favourite places in or around central London? Or am I alone in quite enjoying enforced exile from the office?

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  1. Hannah Dee21 December 2009 at 01:16 PM

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    I think the British Library had free wifi last time I was in there. It was very slow, but it's a nice place to work and there is a cafe. You don't need a card or anything to go in and sit in the cafe/foyer area.

  2. Mike Chopra-Gant22 December 2009 at 02:13 PM

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    Sarah, I'd endorse Hannah's recommendation. The British Library is hard to beat. Last time I was there the wifi wasn't obviously slower than I find it elsewhere and, while you can use the public areas of the building without a reader pass, it has become a lot easier to get one of these in the last couple of years than it always used to be, so you might be able to get into the reading rooms and access the collections too. Mike

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" Sarah, I'd endorse Hannah's recommendation. The British Library is hard to beat. Last time I was there the wifi wasn't obviously slower th..."

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