Trip is not going as planned....
 

Ok, so here it is. Disregard the Enfield posting. I am staying in Enfield when I go to London since that is where my little sister lives and its free. So come to find out from a knowledgeable poster on the forum, this place is in BFE(no offence meant). So now it looks like instead of the glorious trip of sight seeing and what not, its going to be very uneventful, tried looking up taking the tube and other transportation. Seems maybe by bus I might get into London at least once. Does any know if the busses are horribly dirty? Where I live they are down right nasty! I also figured out that Southgate is near by. Can any recommend things to do there?

I don't understand your question.

London suburbs sprawl a lot, and "Enfield" covers a lot of ground. I've no idea - but your sister certainly does - which of Enfield's three railway stations are nearest your sister's house. But trains from all of them run into town every fifteen minutes or so, all taking more or less half an hour to somewhere in The City

Which is rather less than the tube would take to get to, say, the Tower from a Bayswater hotel. And no inhabitant of Greater London would waste a nanosecond whining on a Web chatroom about a daily 30 minute commute.

So why can't you just get one of those trains?

Wow, how mean. I was asking a question because I am unfamiliar with the process out there. I commute for over an hour a day. SO I was not whining as you so rudely put it. I though the purpose of this site was to get helpful information. So I guess I was wrong and need not ask any more questions if these are the type answers and attitudes I will be encountering.

Smell a rat, Flanneruk? I think this is a post that deserves no response. It has troll fingerprints all over it.

Actually, he (or she) gave you some sound advice: You may in fact be closer to some parts of the city than you think even if it seems by looking at the map you're in the middle of nowhere. And, your sister is just as much an expert as anyone you'll find on this forum. She gets into the city somehow.

A couple suggestions I'll add: You're saving major money by not paying for lodging. Consider renting a car or calling a taxi if other transportation avenues aren't to your liking. And don't tell your sister she lives in BFE, even if she does. That'll likely lead to this being your only trip to see her.

I don't understand this at all panda. I tried to explain on your other thread that you could take the train -- What's the deal with this new thread?

For some reason you needed to post again about horrible dirty buses (where did THAT come from?)

Frankly, when someone disagrees with someone else...and in this case I wouldn't even call it a "disagreement" since Flanner used the terms "don't understand"...some people immediately label is as rudeness which is total BS IMO.

You asked a question and got an answer you didn't like. Then we find out you've already posted the same question, or a similar one before.

You decided to stay cheap in BFE. Well, live with the decision and stop transferring your anger to others.

To go back to the substance of the question, troll or no: something many visitors aren't always aware of is that the tube is not the only railway system in London. For all sorts of tedious historical reasons, there is a large network of suburban railways that are run by the mainline rail companies, particularly in south London and the outer suburbs, like Enfield. They are covered by London Transport Travelcards for the relevant zones. Services may not be as frequent as the tube, but they can be quicker, mile for mile. Trains from Enfield take about 30-35 minutes to get to Liverpool St, as the OP's host could/should have made clear.

The map of these services is at
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/info/maps/connections.pdf

would it be out of turn to ask what BFE stands for...?

Hi Kate,

I believe it is a slang term for "far away". See http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wrader/slang/b.html

Thanks Ira that was funny I thought I knew most slang on both sides of the ocean but that is a new one on me!

Kate, the B stands for either bum or butt. The E stands for Egypt. I cannot tell you what the F stands for, but I'm sure you will figure it out. The translation is that if you are in BFE, that means you are far away from everything.

Thanks ira, for a great newly bookmarked site for me. You wouldn't believe what I had guessed BFE meant! Only the F was correct.

Perhaps if the OP had posted something that a reasonable person could understand.... I have NO idea what the poster means by BFE?

The title says "Trip is not going as planned..." but from reading the post I would say the trip is going as planned. It doesn't appear to be planned at all and it is going about that well.

My DH and I once thought seriously of buying a house that would have meant and hour and 45 minute commute to work for both of us. (It was a gorgeous farm with its own trout stream at a great price.)

It was, truly, in a town called Egypt.

the way I've heard it is "Bum F*ck Egypt"

which means so far away it's not convenient to anywhere

CarolA has hit it on the nose with her second sentence. :)

Panda, I suggest you get a guidebook on London and do some reading. I get the impression from your various posts that you do not really understand the whole "big city" nature of London.
You can get great info from the internet, and on this forum, but a guidebook will give you a starting point, which you seem to be lacking.

You also need to TALK to your sister and email her some of your questions. Why is it that you just discovered that she lives in Enfield?

Surely, Patrick, you knew in advance what BFE stands for.

I've been to BFE several times and its not a pretty location.

Why don't you make arrangements for a B&B or modest hotel and spend a few nights in London? The price of a plane ticket is the biggest expense. It seems ashame to take a trip you've decided will be less than <glorious> and <very uneventful>. Didn't you realize where your sister lived in relation to London when you decided to stay with her?

I always heard the expression said E.B.F. with E standing for East!

It never ceases to amaze me what I can learn on this site. Thanks Ira for both that website (which I also bookmarked :) as well as the I guess thanks to you Panda for using the term.

You should get yourself an A to Z panda. I'm sure if you chose you could get into London every day. The trains are just fine. Make sure to go after the rush hour when prices drop.

McLaurie wrote, "It never ceases to amaze me what I can learn on this site."

That is so true, but what also amazes me is the turns a thread can take. This one took a very strange turn, all based on one figure of speech. But that's what makes this forum so much fun.

If budget is a concern, which it seems to be, I'd consider staying in a hostel for at least some of the nights. If you want to be out late, you could do that without worrying about transport and waking up your sister in the wee hours. A hostel dorm bed can be obtained for as cheap as 10 pounds per night.

Located near BFE is East Bongwater, Wisconsin. (sorry WI residents - that's how I was told) and Cuzzinluven, Arkansas. Once met a backpacker from Stikit, India. His name was Dick Gozinya. That's what he told me. I know, I know. You all started it.
Sorry to hear of your troubles in the UK.

I am sorry about the trip plans changing, I agree with mclaurie, get an A to Z and research.
Don't feel bad, buses are not usually horrible. Trains maybe ( in the US) but I haven't been on a bad one in the UK.

Thanks for adding to my vocabulary also, " BFE " never been there and sounds like I don't want to go either! ~