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Kids ay, can't live with em, can't sellotape their pieholes with industrial strength adhesive until they're 18 years old. Blimmin human rights, liberals, leftism, blah blah blaah, hell in a handcart thingy. Maily Express says we should bring back the dungeon, public flogging and have extermination instead of on the spot fines for littering. That'd teach em. And they've never been wrong about anything. It would eradicate all evil overnight studies show yet lily livered 'freedom' softies are opposed. Grrrr.Why no-one has voted Richard Littlejohn for mayor yet is beyond me.
Hope you enjoyed the London Dungeon, and let's hope we bring it back for petty, squabbling posters as well as human rights activists and starving migrants.
Hated the London Dungeon! Different strokes, I guess.
Honestly, getting up at 6 AM and walking through an almost deserted city was amazing. The Horse Guard arena was amazing. Also just walking along the South Bank was cool.
I am also considering a short visit to London and need advice (my first time). I will probably be traveling alone so safety is a factor.
London seems like a great city for a long weekend - enough to give me a taste. I hope to visit the Northern cities, Scotland and Wales when I have more time. I am from NYC so I would feel perfectly comfortable walking around, taking the tube and bus. I want to see the REAL city -- not some bus tour version of it
I would like to visit some nice parks -- possibly rent a bicycle, go to the theatre, check out the underground music scene, and visit a museum if there's enough time (I like folk art and science). I'd also like to explore some of the communities with a Caribbean population, to shop and sightsee. A friend mentioned that Brixton is definitely the epicenter but there may be safety issues at night and I should take up lodging elsewhere. The West End was suggested. Do you agree? I can't spend a lot on a hotel. I'm just looking for something safe and clean. I can get cheap eats outside if need be.
I am also considering a short visit to London and need advice (my first time). I will probably be traveling alone so safety is a factor.
London seems like a great city for a long weekend - enough to give me a taste. I hope to visit the Northern cities, Scotland and Wales when I have more time. I am from NYC so I would feel perfectly comfortable walking around, taking the tube and bus. I want to see the REAL city -- not some bus tour version of it
I would like to visit some nice parks -- possibly rent a bicycle, go to the theatre, check out the underground music scene, and visit a museum if there's enough time (I like folk art and science). I'd also like to explore some of the communities with a Caribbean population, to shop and sightsee. A friend mentioned that Brixton is definitely the epicenter but there may be safety issues at night and I should take up lodging elsewhere. The West End was suggested. Do you agree? I can't spend a lot on a hotel. I'm just looking for something safe and clean. I can get cheap eats outside if need be.
How is the weather mid-September?
Richmond Park is the largest open space in London with beautifully picturesque scenery, 300 wild deer and it's also a wonderful place to cycle around. It is an area that has remained virtually untouched over the centuries.About Richmond Park Richmond Park
Slightly more to the North and West is Regents Park Regent's Park - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia an area of land that stretches from Regents Park Station in central London to Baker Street and all the way out to the borough of Camden and near Primrose Hill.
Once in Primrose Hill you could perhaps visit the Museum of Everything, which incorparates folk art LONDON'S NEW MUSEUM OF EVERYTHING | More Intelligent Life and other forms of outsider art. Primrose Hill is a beautiful area, reminiscent of a little village within NW London, resplendent with traditional pubs, quaint bookshops and cafes.
Camden is a short walk away too, CAMDEN MARKETS LONDON a very artistic place, known for its connections to the underground music scene, markets, vibrant pubs and clubs and canal. The stables market is the more interesting venue, featuring lot's of art, cafes along the canal and a very lively club in 'the Stables' which is always packed on week-ends, like most places in Camden.
A website with a calendar of events upcoming on London's rap, R&B, house and grime scene The Guestlist Network
Description of the grime scene when it was just beginning to get noticed in the British press, around 2004, elements of US rap very integral to the sound of London's urban rap artists. The Guestlist Network
Dubstep is another pulsating variation of the genre, one that Snoop Dogg himself has contributed to in support of up and coming UK artists. Here is a history of how the sound has developed over the last decade. The Guestlist Network
Fabric in Farringdon is something of a 'super' club, legendary on the London music scene. Trendy, perhaps, but lot's of underground sounds playing here every Saturday. ESSENTIAL SATURDAYS at FABRIC Night Club | Facebook
As for finding an affordable place to stay in West London you may want to try UK based website Gumtree. I have friends and family who've used the site to rent out rooms for short/long periods of time depending on the circumstances. You may find someone looking to rent for the period you are scheduled to visit and if you advertise your intent on visiting London hopefully someone will offer you a reasonably priced room in a central location with access to a kitchen and all the relevant facilities to keep you going. United Kingdom jobs, cars, property, free classifieds and more - Gumtree.com
Last edited by Fear&Whiskey; 08-08-2010 at 06:31 PM..
Thank you Fear&Whiskey. Regarding the club/music scene, which of these places caters to the 30+ age crowd? As for lodging, how is the area around the Lambeth North tube station?
Here's a website for the Carribean community in London London night clubs ~ nightclubs and bars in London, UK
with a whole host of possible club/restaurant destinations. I know exactly what you mean by 30+ as much as I tried to put it off for as long as possible, I have finally accepted the age group in which I now belong. Yes, some of those venues, i.e Fabric on a Saturday night, may be a tad too 18-25 though London is a strange place in that alot of over 30's attend alot of venues for the under 25 age group and vice versa. Alot of those venues would be of mixed age groups but some are fairly exclusively 18-25 on certain nights at least, depending on the music being played. Clubs like Fabirc can be so packed and frantic you can hardly move, especially on Saturdays, so I'd give it a miss unless on Saturday you want a real headthumping evening.
Lambeth North is tucked away between Elephant & Castle in South East London and Waterloo which is on the South Bank. Waterloo is a gateway to South London as well as a short walk to Waterloo Bridge and into the heart of the West End. I often walk from the West End to the South Bank and back. I often walk to Waterloo Station for convenience too as it is on the Jubilee line. You would also be near the Old Vic http://www.oldvictheatre.com/ , a much cherished venue where Kevin Spacey is artistic director. The plays there are usually brilliant and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre is nearby too. The Tate modern http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/eventseducation/musicperform/insideoutonthesouthbank5593.htm (broken link) is on the South bank too and they currently have a range of global events, presently celebrating Brazilian culture (last time I was there anyway).
The immediate vicinity is definitely an area that covers a wide range of choice and the age group catered for here is fairly mixed, possibly predominantly 30+,family friendly with a wide range of different activities and bars/restaurants/clubs for different age groups. Yes, Lambeth North would be ideal really, it isn't completely gentrified yet and it still exudes a gritty and edgy vibe in places but that's also part of London's historic character. I walked the South Bank the other day as it happens and witnessed seemingly sane wealthy people gambling away their money on a double or quits thimble under 3 cups type of game. £20 the lowest bet and the Albanian hustlers were raking it in. I found it pretty funny to watch actually. That's London.
Even the buskers will make you laugh, they're getting so eloquent, highbrow and posh now I'm not sure I can bring myself to throw my loose change into the rattling tins anymore. Cellos, violins, and virtually an orchestra busking on the millenium bridge on Sunday when I was walking through there. Kind of an improvement on the sozzled old drunk belting out "Knees up mother brown" and "My ol man's a dustman, he wears a dustman's hat" in the underpass near Waterloo Station I suppose. Or a sad indictment of gentrification perhaps, depending on which side of the "I miss my cockney London" class barrier you reside on. I like both types, they're both qunitessentially London in their diametrically opposed ways, whether it be the graceful, hallowed and civilised harmony of a cello or the rambunctious cockney with the gift of the gab.
Last edited by Fear&Whiskey; 08-09-2010 at 06:49 PM..
for artsy scenes I highly recommend Brick Lane, especially on market day (Sunday). Im not too big a fan of Camden market - it's just so full of tourists rather than locals, and its lost its 'cool' moniker for a while now:
Camden is a little touristy these days but Brick Lane market is hardly an underground phenonemon either. Brick Lane and the surrounding area has been gentrifying since the mid-90's and I actually preferred the area before it started to appear in Sunday supplements and thus solidify its 'cool' tag (which,by the way is a signal that the only way is down as far as vitality goes and up and up in terms of rip off prices) around 1999 to 2004. Brick Lane was a more vibrant area before it and Hoxton closeby became the fixation of the corporate elite. The area has just as many transplants as Camden now and if anything is more pretentious than Camden ever was.
Truth be told, alot of the supposedly 'cool' crowd interchange between Camden, Brick Lane, Old Street and Hoxton anyway. Have done for years. Same crowds in Camden on a Friday night are probably alot of the same people you'll see in Brick Lane and Hoxton the following night. Both Camden and Brick Lane are quite touristy now.Brick Lane has always been an artistic place but whereas it used be full of underground artists who were doing something they loved now it's full of sons and daughters of posh City boys and girls who've been brought a property in the area painting a pair of buttocks on a wall because they so desperately want to be perceived as 'artists' to gain more 'cool' credentials and to have an extra commodity to sell on Facebook and Twitter. If that's what the 'cool' moniker brings, you can stick it right up your .........(for precise location picture aforementioned murial on the wall).
There's some great art there still, but you have to wade through the arty for the sake of being arty types who would play the banjo falling out of a plane backwards without a parachute if they thought it would garnish their burgeoning 'hipster' reputation. You can always tell these people because they have no love for what they do whatsoever, just a craving to be 'cool'.
I'm not certain Brick Lane does still have a 'cool' moniker anymore anyway. I think it evolved into the mainstream fabric of London life around 2004. Back in 1998 it may have been considered as something fresh, invigorating and new but certainly not now. It is well established and widely acknowledged as a long established part of London's cultural landscape now.
Last edited by Fear&Whiskey; 08-12-2010 at 08:24 AM..
Well, Brick Lane does looks interesting. Thanks for sharing the photos, mikael. If you have been to Williamsburg in Brooklyn or SoHo in Manhattan, you may recognize a similar hipster feel. If I have time, I will try to check out both Camden and Brick Lane.
Last edited by queensgrl; 08-12-2010 at 08:01 AM..
What are your opinions on lodging in Croydon? It seems close enough to the city but a bit suburban, which might be more affordable. As long as there are buses and trains, I think I get get around easily.
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Blimmin human rights, liberals, leftism, blah blah blaah, hell in a handcart thingy.
Maily Express says we should bring back the dungeon, public flogging and have extermination instead of on the spot fines for littering. That'd teach em. And they've never been wrong about anything.
It would eradicate all evil overnight studies show yet lily livered 'freedom' softies are opposed. Grrrr.
