1936 On the Continent

walls which is also why London, unlike other big cities, has no
corso
or promenade. The Londoner uses the street to go somewhere, not to take a walk.
    Naturally all this only applies to town life, or rather to life in the town, but otherwise open-air exercise is, perhaps, nowhere quite so popular as in England, the home of all sport. Millions of people who, in the town, make haste to reach their destination while away hours in the open, watching games of cricket, tennis, football, golf, etc. All this is too well known to require reiterating, but our picture of London would be incomplete without mention of this other side of the life of Londoners.
    Indeed, those who wish to
experience
London must get to know as many aspects of it as possible. In this connection a conducted tour around London has its uses. There are many travel agencies in Trafalgar Square who run such tours day and night. It is advisable to join in such a tour before the visitor sets out on his independent exploration of the city, because even the superficial impression gained in the course of the tour gives a certain sense of familiarity, so that the visitor ceases to be oppressed by the vastness of London or confused by its variety.
Traffic
    However, the visitor may also make an independent tour by utilising the bus services. Nowhere in the world does the bus play such a colossal rôle as in London. The big red buses of the London Passenger Transport Board, which administers the whole of London’s means of public transport, are a characteristic feature of the street scene, particularly in such main thoroughfares as Oxford Street, Regent Street, the Strand, Piccadilly, etc.
    During the rush hours one must possess the phlegmatic temperament of the English in order to rely on the buses for, despite all the traffic reforms that have been introduced, London’s traffic problem is still unsolved, and will probably always remain so.
    Even a hundred years ago contemporary writers complained of unavoidable traffic hold-ups at a time when themotor-car had not even been dreamt of. The position is naturally far worse to-day when the traffic is a thousand times heavier than a century ago, whereas many of the most important London thoroughfares have not been widened at all. However, the slowness of the traffic, which is usually a source of justifiable annoyance to a professional person who is in a hurry, may be an advantage to the visitor whose sole object is to see the city.
Tour Through London
    At Piccadilly Circus—after having duly inspected the underground shop-windows—you may take an underground or tube train (which runs in a tunnel) to Paddington station, and thereby learn that London’s complete network of underground railways presents a fairly rapid means of communication. Then you may take a No. 15 bus for the return journey, booking right through to the City, with the pleasant feeling that you will see a good slice of London for the small sum of 5d.
Oxford Street
    At Marble Arch you will catch a glimpse of Hyde Park, and particularly of the open-air speakers’ corner, to which we will refer in greater detail later; and you will also see the magnificent big buildings which have arisen at this point during the past few years, as well as the Marble Arch itself, which really belongs elsewhere, but continues its spoilt career with charming illogicality here.
    Oxford Street, which starts at Marble Arch, is one of London’s most important shopping centres, with magnificent but comparatively inexpensive stores, where even the “small man” can afford to make his purchases. Not far from Marble Arch, in Oxford Street, is the vast and palatial department store of Selfridge’s, whose lavish decorations on the outside of the building on national occasions, such as a Royal Jubilee or a Coronation, attracts millions of spectators. The founder and chief shareholder, Mr. Gordon Selfridge, is an American who has made his store an important and famous landmark without which London could no longer be imagined. If you have no shopping to do you may be satisfied with this fleeting impression of Oxford Street. The most striking features ofthis street—its long lines of shop-fronts and its apparently almost chaotic traffic—can be sufficiently enjoyed from a bus, though you are bound to pass through Oxford Street again and again, whether you want to or not.
    However, you must pay a longer visit to Bond Street, the most famous side street of Oxford Street. Even if