> And still I love it. I still enjoy the Summer Olympics (although negotiating the London Underground in 2012 is going to be interesting)

Hey, don't let that worry you. We had a World's Fair in nearby Knoxville in '83 and everybody stayed away from down town to avoid the traffic. Therefore, there was no traffic. People drove into the fair site and parked until late at night. Then they drove home, or back to their hotel. You could go anywhere you wanted in downtown Knoxville and it was a lot less trouble than usual. City buses were running around empty.

My California relatives notice the same thing when the Olympics were in Los Angles. They said the freeway traffic was considerably lighter, than normal, and surface streets near the games were almost empty. I wouldn't have believed it, but they all told the same story.

I think you can expect people to stay away from London in droves.
Howard