London
Why go?
From the Tower to the Tate, from Big Ben at Westminster to the Big
Crash in The City, London is one of the most historic, hectic and
culture-packed capitals in the world. Everyone knows its red
double-decker buses, its iconic bridges over the muddy Thames, the
soaring domes of Wren's St Paul's Cathedral, the packed theatres of
the West End, the changing of the Queen's horse-mounted guards
outside Buckingham Palace. And newer attractions, such as the
London Eye ferris wheel and the giant O2 exhibition tent, keep
visitors coming back.
But however well you know the city - and most of us at i-escape
have lived and worked there at some point in our lives - there are
always some jewels to unearth. You can catch a free
lunchtime concert at St.Martin in the Fields off Trafalgar Square
(a sound to rival most national choirs), poke around the art-filled
nooks and crannies of Sir John Soane’s Museum, rub shoulders
with Jamie Oliver at the fruit stalls of Borough Market, stretch
out on the shady lawns of Chelsea's Physic Garden, get wet watching
Shakespeare at the faithfully reconstructed Globe, or stumble into
a steamy riverside pub for fish and chips and a pint.
It's the close-packed variety that we love so much. If you
don't fancy fish and chips, chances are you'll find curry, dim sum,
pizzas or haute cuisine within a few blocks. In Covent
Garden you can move from scruffy street artists to world-class
opera in a matter of minutes. From Chelsea's millionaire haunts to
Brixton's multi-ethnic slums is just a short hop on the Tube. Catch
a boat downriver and you'll see the half-derelict docks of Millwall
opposite the vast and stately Maritime Museum of Greenwich - whose
Observatory, of course, is the epicentre of world time zones
(0° Longitude). So if Londoners act as if it's the centre of
the world, there's some justification. And with the Olympic Games
on the horizon in 2012 (the city's third), not to mention the newly
opened St Pancras International linking them reluctantly to the
rest of Europe within hours, and a glut of gigs in the year ahead,
there's a real buzz about the place.
Three words of warning: London is expensive (except the
galleries and museums, many of which are free or donation-based);
London is big (it's nearly 200km around the famously
traffic-snarled M25 ring road); and London is crowded (hit the Tube
at rush hour and you'll have to wedge yourself in - literally). So
pace yourself on all counts.