Huh, my ISP is Init7 and as I said, takes 25 steps to get there, though steps 18-24 inclusive show as "waiting for reply" in MTR.
Init7's traceroute [0] shows 5 fewer steps to r1lon2.core.init7.net than my traceroute though and appears to route through r1bsl1 (assuming Basel) instead of Frankfurt.
Perhaps you're in/near Basel and so skip straight to London, circumventing my 8 hops around Zurich?
