Had a bit of an adventure today for research purposes.
Started off as an extended trip on an oval Gemini 3 on the 96, transferring from a B5LH MMC on the 177.
Bexleyheath, got on an MMC on the B13, and good lord, what an awful driver. Braking at the last minute, taking turns at excessive speed, going WAY too fast, and really making it an awful journey. The thing vibrating like mad making an unholy racket didn't help. And that bus really can bounce, I'd like to see what ADL did to the suspension.
Anyway, rid my self of the donut driving that thing like a madman, and got a 321 2 minutes later. My favourite double deck body, a gemini 2, turns up with a slightly more sane driver at the wheel. Go-Ahead's squished lazzerinis really made up for the 'experience' on the B13.
To Lewisham! Where chaos was in about every corner you looked. Turns out Clock Tower stop is closed, so I walked from the station. A bus screaming "This coach is under attack, please dial 999". Pretty small coach, only a single door E200. With no idea what was going on, I took a lengthy stroll down the road to catch a 108 to Royal Standard. An old MEC turns up, 12m long, and ready to wait. Ready to wait in the horrendous traffic before me. 10 minutes it took for the bus to get through that, lucky I weren't on some dilapidated dart that I later saw on the same crowded route. How odd. Not a great situation for the passengers trapped inside I imagine.
The citaro really reaffirms my belief that 10-8 metres variants should've been produced instead of the cheap rubbish that is the E200 (at least the MMC version will replace them). A clean design, comfortable (though a minor vibration, nothing like an Omnicity!), it's nippy, and could probably fit more peeps onboard if it weren't for some design failures. But on the 108 they have a rather odd interior layout, with all the hand grabs, especially towards the rear where the seating gets a mix of longitudinal, and transversal. But a side effect of working the red arrows for all these years eh.
The journey finishes, as a Gemini 2 turns up as the service to Bexleyheath, and I head home on more lovely squished lazzerinis.