Back from a deserved break in Prague; was starting to feel a little tetchy. And a lovely city it is too, with jarring juxtapositions of Iron Curtain housing blocks and red-roofed historical buildings, and wonderfully specific museums. And again with the impressive knowledge of English – a particularly good thing for the casual weekend traveller; Czech is frankly a pretty unusual language and not something I felt brave enough to try much of.

Lovely font used in the Metro (anyone know what it is?):

Staromestska

Just the right length of trip too. I find the first day is always spent getting the ‘feel’ of the city, and it’s only really from the second day onwards that you start to actually get past the stage of finding differences.

This phenomenon got me wondering what exactly the ‘feel’ of a city is. I think it’s ultimately about learning the unwritten rules of the city – the societal norms, if you will. Sure, you need to learn some basic geography too, but there are maps for that sort of thing. I’m talking more about learning how things are done, what local customs you’re transgressing, the space in between interaction.

It’s taken me a few months to get the hang of London’s unwritten rules. But I’m now able to exclusively reveal them to you. Stand on the right of the bloody escalator, try not to push in front of me as I wait for passengers to get off the Tube, and for goodness sake don’t stand in the middle of the pavement on Buckingham Palace Road during rush hour fiddling with a map and a 25kg backpack.

I think it’s safe to say I qualify as a Londoner now.