re: #454 oaktree

Rotaries (round-abouts) are pretty easy to deal with as long as everyone knows what to do. (Which is true about most traffic regulations.) I deal with them in New Jersey all the time, but there always seems to be someone who panics when one appears.

Last time I was in England it was a non-issue. Was basically touristing and used a railpass and took trains everywhere. Within a city it was taxi, bus, or the Tube (when in London) if we didn’t just walk.

My US bank card worked in ATMs there, but it sounds like that might no longer be the case.

The ATMs will still work, but the fees might be shit, and the exchange rate they’ll give you, plus your debit card and credit cards might have problems in some shops now.

Well— they WILL have problems, because they changed the technology and the US hasn’t, but they’ll be accepted eventually even if you have to get them to call the manager and produce other ID, and explain to them that US cards don’t have the chip that UK cards do now. I haven’t ever had mine rejected, but it’s pretty damn common now to go through that rigamarole. Not in a hotel or restaurant or pub, but elsewhere.
UK has excellent public transport; I highly recommend using it whenever possible.