One: Transport For London's web site has a good journey planner. I mean really good. I told it "Liverpool Street to London Bridge" and it offered me two tube routes, the quickest bus route, and how long it would take to walk. Armed with the knowledge that the quickest bus is the number 47 from bus stop K, off I went to work. At the bus stop a quick look at the very clear route maps told me that most buses here took the route I wanted (which is basically "along the big road"), and more importantly, that the bus already here was one of them. On I jumped, and stood upstairs. The joy of the new buses is that upstairs you get a fantastic view of the bicycles weaving their way down the bus lanes, and the hordes of City workers marching over London Bridge. Surprise number Two was that getting the bus (even when there is a strike so it would be busier) is quicker and easier than the tube.

Screw the tube, and kudos to Ken Livingstone for pushing the role of buses in London -- they really do kick arse.