London

Posted on 2003/12/01 14:24:34 (December 2003) by john.

...why I love it so much.

This was prompted by a question from Travis about where is good to visit in London, and I thought the response would probably be too big for the message board, so I've turned it into an article and posted it here instead.

In fact, this is a conversation I've had several times before in different guises. It is surprising, to me at least, how many English people don't in fact like their capital. So on a number of occasions I have found myself trying to defend London by listing it's merits, and particularly what I like about the place. It's often hard to think of all the good things on the spot, so writing here will hopefully give me a chance to construct a comprehensive argument.

I feel like I have some authority to talk about London, although I wasn't born and bred there, I have both lived and worked in London for a reasonable period of time, besides having been there many times as a visitor.

I guess one of the great things about London, much like any city of it's size, is that it is in fact many places all joined together. When I lived in London, I was in the North, in Hampstead, but regularly made the commute to the South (well, just South of the river) to Elephant and Castle. These two parts of London are very different in character, to the extent that they might just as well be in two different cities. I spent a lot of time exploring while I was there (and continue to do so since), but still have only really scratched the surface of all the different areas, with the different atmospheres.

When people think of London, one of the first things they think of is usually one of the big monuments - the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London and so on. The cliche would be to say steer well clear of these sorts of places, but I wouldn't go that far. I think many of them make a worthwhile part of an overall London experience. To ignore these landmarks altogether would, in my opinion, be a bit arrogant. Personally, I just like the look of these places from the outside, and don't feel any great compulsion to go on the guided tours of the interiors. I get this warm glowing feeling inside, which I can't quite explain, when I walk past the Houses of Parliament, or Westminister Abbey. Walking is, in my opinion, one of the nicest ways to see these places as well. Ok, a bit time consuming, but nevertheless really nice. One of my favourite walks is from Elephant and Castle to Paddington - I used to do this often if the tube was snarled up, or I just wanted some fresh air. It's really great - over Westminister Bridge and past the Houses of Parliament, through St. James's Park, past Buckingham Palace, then Clarence House and Hyde Park, before finally emmerging the other side in the fascinating streets and alleys that surround Paddington station. I struggle to think of many other places where a walk right through the city centre, from one corner to another, can be just so pleasant.

London's greenery is one of the main things I love about the place. When I lived in Hampstead I had Hampstead Heath on my doorstep, with Parliament Hill giving great views over the city. Just a few minutes walk away was Primrose Hill, again with great views, and a wonderful place to sit on a summer evening with a bottle of wine. Further on from there is Regent's Park, with London Zoo, plus all the gardens, rockeries and everything, and from there you're not too far from Hyde Park. That's just some of the big ones! Tucked in gaps between buildings all over London are parks that feel more like secret gardens. Every one has it's own character, and all of them make a great place to sit and while away the hours, watching the world go by.

I'm a very foody sort of person, and as you might expect London serves these tendencies extremely well. In fact, I've travelled a fair amount, and despite all the prejudices about the English and their cooking, I would still rank London as the best city for eating out in the world. OK, it's not so common to find anything that is distinctly English, but the variety and quality of foreign foods is, in my opinion, better than any other city I've ever been to. Of course, there's all the usual countries you'd expect to find represented in any major city. Italian restaurants are everywhere - one of my personal favourites being Ascanio in Hampstead (my "local"), but I've rarely been to a bad one. China is also very well represented - Chinatown boasts some really excellent Chinese restaurants, although choosing can sometimes be a diffcult task. Two I particularly like are New World and Royal Dragon. I've not eaten a great deal of Indian food in London, but I'm told in Southall you can "dine like kings" for under a tenner a head. Mexican restaurants are of course getting more popular in England, and London delivers particularly well from the big chainy types (Chiquito's) to the smaller more personal affairs (Cafe Pacifico in Covent Garden - my favourite). Let's not forget Spanish - the best Tapas bar I've ever been to is just off Goodge Street, a place called Navarro's. I'm a huge fan of Japanese food at the moment, and London puts the rest of the country to shame in it's provision of Japanese eateries. Probably my favourite is Yoisho on Goodge Street, but I've also really enjoyed Abeno near the British Museum and Sakura, near Picadilly Circus. For Greek there's the really excellent Daphne's (might have spelt that wrong!) in Camden, and for Turkish I always really enjoyed the one opposite Hamstead Heath station, whose name I've forgotten. For Swiss food the St. Moritz in Soho is a really unusual (and tasty!) experinece. The list really could go on and on, I've had so many fantastic meals in London at so many varied and different restaurants - I've not even mentioned yet the French, Belgian, Colombian and Swedish restaurants I've been to! There certainly isn't a place like London in the rest of the UK where you can get this kind of variety and quality, and I would doubt there are that many other places in the world that can seriously rival this assortment.

Staying on the food theme, London is also a paradise for those who want to cook it, rather than just eat it. Markets seem to be a dying tradition in most of the rest of the country, but in London they are still as vibrant and varied as ever. Borough Market is probably my favourite. Markets aside, there are more delicatessens, food halls, cooking equipment shops (and even cookery book shops) than you can shake a rolling pin at.

Then of course there's drinking. As any regulars of the 'Maison will know, I've recently got into seeking out old and historic pubs, and London is a real gold mine for these. It never ceases to amaze me how, nestling inbetween high raise tower blocks housing multi-national banks and technology companies, you can still find little old pubs teeming with character, that are literally hundreds of years old. My particular favourite, which I've gone on about rather a lot, is a prime example. The Cittie of Yorke has a fascinating and beautiful interior. Not to mention the fact it also sells amazingly cheap beer for a pub right in the heart of the legal/financial district of London. A pub crawl in London is not just a mindless drinking session, it is a voyage of discovery. London doesn't just have one or two nice pubs though, there are literally hundreds of them. I've never been in a pub in London that wasn't at least worth a visit, and some of them have been truly magical.

...and then there's "culture" of course. I'm not hugely into the arts, but after spending a bit of time in London, you can't help but be absorbed into it at least a bit. Many of the major galleries and museums are free to enter as well, which is a bonus. In terms of galleries, well, I've only been to a few of them, but I have to say the Tate Modern is my firm favourite. This is partly for personal reasons - my Grandad used to work there in it's former incarnation as Bankside Power Station, so I have a real soft spot for it. Besides anything else, it's in a great position, right next to the Thames. A short walk from there over the interesting (!) Millenium footbridge and you're at St. Paul's. As for performance arts, well, again not really my bag, so I've not been to a lot of theatres and opera houses. Having said that though, I thoroughly enjoyed the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream), which was a lovely evening out, especially when coupled with a picnic in the park beforehand. I've also enjoyed going to The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, although admittedly more for the building and the atmosphere - ballet really isn't my thing. The thing is there is just so much of this sort of thing going in London, and much of it is free or at least reasonably cheap. So you really have no excuse for being bored ever!

Let's not forget shopping either - not my absolute favourite pastime, but still, if I do have any shopping to do I'd far rather be doing it in London than any other city. Besides anything else a lot of the shops just look nicer - take Liberty on Regent's Street as an example. This a genuinely lovely old building (not sure if it is genuinely old or not, but either way it looks great). In fact most of the big department stores are an experience in themselves.

After all of that I really struggle to see how anyone could dislike London. OK, so some of it is busy and noisy - but not all of it - and if you know your way around a bit there's always a little backstreet or secluded park you can duck into for a bit of peace and quiet. Some people say it's impersonal, OK, well to an extent that is true of some parts, more so in the centre. I think you're bound to get this wherever there are large numbers of people. Go away from the centre a bit though, and you get communities forming just like anywhere else. Hampstead felt more like living in a village than in part of a big city - I knew all of my neighbours well and chatted with them often, and I think we all got on really well, despite us all coming from very different walks of life.

So there you have it. Despite what anyone else says, I love the place. I enjoyed every minute I spent living there, have enjoyed every return visit I've made since, and would be more than happy to go and live there again.

Nice! I think when I return to the UK, sometime we will have to organise another food and pub tour...

Posted by Simon W at 2003/12/02 09:44:12.

With regard to shops, have you ever been in the food halls at Harrods, forget the food, the decor is superb.

Posted by Mad Mumsie at 2003/12/03 15:43:15.

Yes, I used to go there for vegetarian Haggis. But you can get that in Waitrose now.

Posted by John at 2003/12/03 16:43:36.

Vegetarian Haggis, how does that work exactly ?

Posted by Kev at 2003/12/03 22:20:27.

It uses a meat substitute... like a dildo.

Posted by Karl at 2003/12/04 01:52:42.

Fantastic, John! I wonder, are there certain areas, eateries, etc., that I should make every effort to avoid? Thanks again, a fairly thorough treatment!

Posted by Travis at 2003/12/08 13:46:28.

Erm, you forgot to mention how great it is returning home with black snot. That's one of my fondest London loves.

Posted by Rusty at 2003/12/12 18:48:38.

Elephant and castle to paddington ? fresh air ! my god you must be a city boy, lets face it > Elephant and castle is a s***hole, whoever town planned it should have been shot, because when he designed it, he must have had a bad haemaroids day, squiggled some rubbish on a bit of paper as revenge on society. Where in London though Always and definately must visit the V&A or the soane museum, definately must go to Samuel smith pubs in central London so as not to get ripped off.

Posted by D Morgan at 2004/01/20 19:34:28.

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