(What? Driving to London? Am I crazy? Why would I do this to myself? Why would I waste my time trying to locate a parking place? Why would I risk hitting a pedestrian who may be crossing without looking?)

Driving to London for me was a very unfortunate decision. In London everything is too much and too many, too many cars, too many residences, too many tourists, too many buses and above all, too much charm and culture.

Trains from nearly all cities in the UK are very fast and frequent, which made trains the favorite means of transportation to London.

Knowing all of this, it was decided as usual that we would go to London by train. After I checked the prices and was about to purchase the tickets, something crossed my mind. I called the hotel and asked them if they have parking facilities, I was told that the hotel itself, like most hotels in central London, has no such facilities and that I can use the nearby parking which the hotel can give me at 25 percent discount on the original 45 pounds they charge per day. I was also told that parking is free during the weekends. I started reassessing the whole situation, the train tickets are costly and no matter how frequent trains are, still you are tied to specific time unlike when you are driving your own vehicle, and on top of all that, I love road trips between UK’s cities. Roads are beautiful and peaceful and very well serviced. For me stopping for refreshments at services is an inseparable part of any road trip. It’s amazing that you find excellent food at services — a gourmet meal like sushi. I just remembered road trips back home when needing to go to the toilet was something that could jeopardize your health and safety and fill your eyes with tears. Sushi on the motorways and clean toilets, amazing, I thought. Moreover, this road trip could be the last one for me before I head to Saudi Arabia, so I consulted my mom and it was decided that we would hit the road and go to London.

The trip from Sheffield to London was very nice and smooth. We stopped at the services and we had coffee and sushi and I was feeling superior — yes I made the right decision, poor people who are taking the trains, they are missing all the fun. And as usual, I was proven naive, yes the sophisticated Ph. D naive student is back.

As we were approaching London, cars started queuing up, but that’s fine, cars are allowed to queue in London, for God's sake, this is one of the most visited capitals in the world and of course it is busy, just be patient. On my satellite navigator, it was estimated that the we have 20 minutes left until we reach our hotel, and this 20 minutes became 1 hour, but that’s fine, we had a nice coffee and sushi-filled road trip, it is lovely no matter what.

As I reached the hotel, it was already 6:00 p.m., which mean I can park the car outside the hotel as I was told. I checked in and I Just thought about consulting the concierge before I go and start my London experience, and now the ugly truth was revealed.

First of all, parking is free only on Sundays (we arrived Friday) and that I needed to move the car by maximum 7:00 am in the morning. Moreover, the hotel only offers 17 percent discount in the nearby parking unlike the 25 percent I was promised, which I thought is not necessary as they mistakenly told me that parking is free from Friday to Sunday.

Final verdict, trains are lovely, and sushi is sold in nearly all supermarkets and mini markets in the UK, driving is not worth it.