London

pros
natural epicentre of cultures
tons of great venues, galleries, museums, bars, clubs, shops, restaurants, landmarks and naturally beautiful areas
exciting place to be because of the variety of people and things happening
easy to meet people

cons
expensive living, with many things over-priced
pollution
temperamental and knackered public transport (the DLR is a modern marvel tho)
traffic
density of population can be so annoying at times
easy to feel alienated and detached from people

I heart London - actually on my first visit a few years ago I think I seen pelicans in a public park. I may be tripping, I could have dreamt it, but I'm so sure...

And it wasn't the zoo. Can anyone put me right?

Except the one time when I bought people there to see the pelicans and suddenly, there were no pelicans.

It doesn't rain every day, and there are at least 40 of us posting here if meeting up and sitting in pubs is your kind of thing. Steve generally OTM.

Anyway, you should move to London. It's nice.

I'm most likely moving to London. I'm currently looking at universities.

Wondering whether living around King's Cross is a good idea (I've lived in Koreatown and Echo Park in LA before it became completely safe and family-ish so I'm notnecessarily panicky about relatively dodgy neighborhoods). I think I like east...I stayed in a flat in Columbia Road before but might need something more central.

I don't know East London very well. If you're willing to go South, the Brixton/Stockwell/Herne Hill area's lots of fun, and seems to be where loads of first-time Londoners move to.

My friend sold her 2 bed flat in Stockbridge for £260,000

How long ago? I'd think something like that could well go for double that now.

(And London weighting, when it is available, is a piffling amount of money compared to housing costs; it hardly approaches the 77% gap in house prices highlighted by Madchen).

So

Average house price in London is 1.77 x that in Edinburgh
Average salary in London is 1.32 x that in Edinburgh

But I'm rubbish with statistics so somebody else can manipulate the figures to demonstrate what they think about them.

This is the thing I really love about London.

Londoners...how does one report a black cab for refusing a fare? I've been googling but can't find a way to report it. Also he was driving while eating a kebab.

http://www.london-taxi.co.uk/taxi/complaints.htm

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/contact/pco/

thanks guys...i've reported him. let the powers of official justice deal with him!

http://i.imgur.com/AkNgf.jpg

i am going to london in late april to visit some friends and 'hang'

anything i should be doin' there? fun things cool things?

day trips?

You should be planning a FAP

And possibly seeing Lauryn Hill in concert

i wonder if lauryn would 'fancy a pint'

srsly tho i have never met any london ilxors i dont think

i am going to be lookin' around for funnish stuff to do during the days while my friends are at work. should i take day trips anywhere?

definitely do a beer with some of us. what sort of day trips do you have in mind?

im not sure haha! i just thought maybe like... day trips would be cool? ihavent seen any of england outside of london.

except in movies.

Oxford and Cambridge are easy day trips on the train. Worth seeing one or the other.

Was thinking bout that ya!

Just be aware that a round trip train ticket to Brighton costs approximately 1 million pounds

oh yeah, even in the off-season? (is april the off-season?)

Lunchtime is about as off-season as it gets these days.

Coach is reasonably quick to oxford (90 mins) and about half the price of the train.

thread summary:
q) what should i do in london?
a) get the hell out!

hahah noooooo

train tickets are a lot more affordable when bought in advance, but then you're supposed to travel only on that specific train.

Parks is a good idea, for things to do in london in actual london. Through Regent's Park and up Primrose Hill is a decent stroll ending with a good view over the city.

i am very into taking 'walks' (free, fun, photos)

walking along the riverside, from e.g. battersea bridge to tower bridge, is kind of a must

i will do that!!

excited to see what's playing at BFI! seeing l'atalante the last time i was in london, some years ago, was a highlight of my cinemagoing life

tmi probably but the river walk from battersea to vauxhall is a bit of a pain in the ass imo, lots of the riverfront is inaccessible and you can wind up getting lost in a maze of old industria and new sterile housing. but, it can be an adventure.

yeah trains to brighton are not ridic expensive if booked well in advance. def worth popping down if the weather's nice. parks-wise i'd say hampstead heath is a must if you have a) good weather and b) some ppl to explore it with

the walk from finsbury park up to alexandra palace is great

without knowing what specifically is on where i'd recommend the south bank as a good place for visitors to hang. if the weather's nice it can be pretty chilled, there's usually a good exhibition or two around there as well as various interesting concerts etc in the evening.

more good walking to be had along the regents canal, pretty much any stretch between limehouse and little venice has got interesting things to look at and goes past lots of nice parks, pubs, etc.

awesome! thanks for all this guys.

yeah trains to brighton are not ridic expensive if booked well in advance. def worth popping down if the weather's nice. parks-wise i'd say hampstead heath is a must if you have a) good weather and b) some ppl to explore it with

― jabba hands, Thursday, March 22, 2012 11:27 AM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

is there a way of knowing in advance what the weather is going to be like?

http://www.positiveweathersolutions.co.uk

s1ocki that question is at this very moment producing smirks all around the britILX

(haha i know i was joking)

i may try to see some theatre while i'm there too? has anyone seen anything good lately? do people still do that?

the walk from finsbury park up to alexandra palace is great

Absolutely. Ally Pally to Hampstead Heath via Highgate Wood is excellent as well.

more good walking to be had along the regents canal, pretty much any stretch between limehouse and little venice has got interesting things to look at and goes past lots of nice parks, pubs, etc.

i always feel weird walking along this stretch cuz it used to be my run. when i walk along it i'm like, why is it taking so long to get from one place to another? why am i going so slowly?

i may try to see some theatre while i'm there too? has anyone seen anything good lately? do people still do that?

yup there's always something good on! would recommend the fringe listings as well as the main west end ones. too many good theatres to list.

gah that reminds me, i am meant to be organising a theatre trip, i said i'd email people, um, 2 weeks ago

s1ocki the current issue of Time Out is all about how great London theatre is at the moment

i'd check out what's on at the Donmar Warehouse, Young Vic, Arcola, the National Theatre, etc etc

awesome!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3Xngs4VuoU

listening to this in anticipaysh

this is gonna sound weird but do time out london actually post their articles to their site? http://www.timeout.com/london/ seems to be just listings?

ledge is wise upthread, don't bother with the battersea -> vauxhall bit

if you find yourself around buckingham palace, head over towards big ben, cross the river, then walk east along the river making your way towards tower bridge. you'll pass loads of galleries, museums and the areas around waterloo / london bridge stations are really good for finding good food, places like borough market, lower marsh.

go to richmond park, it's v posh & pretty. if you're here on the 2nd, go to 'boat-ting' and hang out with improv legends on a boat. on the 3rd it's 'first thursdays' where the galleries open late in east london. walking the canals around east london isn't particularly nice but i really enjoy it for it's griminess. we once started in old street at the 'wenlock arms' which has good ale selection then walked along the canal passing through hoxton, shoreditch, dalston, london fields and then ended up at the nice bit around victoria park. if you're feeling really brave and fancy it you can carry on to the olympic park, passing through all the hackney wick warehouse area, which is also horrible, but i like all that stuff

okay i'm going to stop now because it's just depressing that i don't have the time/money to do these things myself!!

i will be there through may 4th so looks like i could do those things on the 2nd and 3rd, though i am not QUITE sure what "hang out with improv legends on a boat" means?? comedy improv? or musical improv?

http://www.boat-ting.co.uk/

always good :)

Cor, Veryan Weston! Don't think I've ever seen him play and I shd see some improv this year. Might need to go.

Also Cafe Oto is gd for music, as w/Boat-ting depends on your taste:

http://www.cafeoto.co.uk/programme.shtm

For more evening thingies: tricycle and riverside are always good for a mix of theatre/cinema/dance. Told v nice things re: rich mix. Check their programme and there might be something you'd want to go along to.

Late Apr at the BFI looks gd: David Holzman's Diary is a pick, but there's some good things in their 'studio' room that opened about 2-3 years ago I think (L'Atalante ws screened there in a shiny new print but I missed it)

Oops you said May 4th so scrap the BFI pick. Always click on their site on the 1st day of the month to check.

i looked at some BFI offerings while i'm there (after an amazing experiencing watching l'atalante there, did i mention that in this thread?) and there's some interesting stuff incl THIEF OF BAGHDAD

Yes you did, hence why I mentioned the new print.

Thief of Baghdad = also good.

that would be a fun one to see on the big screen!

Other daytrip possibilities I would recommend: Whitstable (fishing town with lovely old buildings, pebble beach), Rye (similar but set on a hill above a salt marsh which gives it a very isolated atmosphere, with Camber Sands and Dungeness nearby- Dungeness is a weird headland with a nuclear power plant and lots of beach shacks dotted around a pebble beach which is a bit like a moonscape); Lewes (near Brighton, great big castle, a large tourable brewery, interesting shops, good pubs & restaurants); Warwick Castle (another huge castle). Oxford & Cambridge also recommended.

You could also go to another big city for a daytrip- Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Liverpool and Sheffield are all just about doable (each c. 2hrs on the train), but if you do that definitely book in advance.

all of those sound like great places to take pictures and stare into the distance and think about wg sebald and scribble stuff in my notebook i wont be able to make out later.

is there any great travel book re: london or any of these day trips any of yall know about?

Derek Jarman had a cottage in Dungeness, innit?

Kent is really good for a day trip in spring/summer (of course its utterly depressing at most other times). xp

Yeah, Dungeness was Jarman territory.

Whitstable & Rye definitely Sebald-esque, but you could go to the Suffolk coast for the real thing- Rings of Saturn is set round there IIRC, but I don't know that part of the world at all. Dunwich, the town now under the sea, was on that part of the coast.

Re. guides: Time Out London city guide is good. I have one called "London by Pub", which is basically a load of pub crawls plus some incidental stuff about architecture.

This obviously is no use for travel plans, but 20 degrees! http://static2.bigstockphoto.com/thumbs/8/9/2/large2/298016.jpg

ooh here's another daytrip suggestion: Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, nr. Oxford. Gigantic Vanbrugh country house, with Capability Brown grounds. Proper Hanoverian Ascendancy architecture-as-power stuff.

unlucky s1ocki, we're having summer in march this year

Also, you can get to the middle of Paris in like 2 hours.

i would love to visit paris again (lived there for a little bit), is the train affordable at all?

we're kind of having summer in march over here too, it's a bit weird!

again booking in advance is advisable- if you do so you could get tix for £90 return. On the day would be £200+.

cheapest return from london is £69 iirc

that's not terrible.

what are your thoughts on mega-cheap airlines?

do those still exist?

xpost and s1ocki if you make it out to whitstable you should eat something here imo. it is fucking great

ooh lala!!!

any and all food suggestions are welcome to, i am a food writer and i love to eat so 'foodie' stuff is definitely on my agenda

the cheap airlines still exist! i think the thing is just that the train is so much easier, you go from the centre of london to the centre of paris.

right, the cheap airlines don't let you bring bags and you're not allowed to pee and you have to bring food for the cabin crew right?

xp and so much nicer, you sit on a train

any and all food suggestions are welcome to, i am a food writer and i love to eat so 'foodie' stuff is definitely on my agenda

oooohh london restaurants are some of my favourite things. you want to know more about high end stuff or cheap local ethnic food (which is often just as good)?

there's a london restaurants thread which should be a good starting point if you can bear the occasional smug tone, also of late it's just devolved into burger talk because there's an inexplicable and apparently unending burger obsession going on right now. ignore all that.

lol but also otm

haha lex, i want to hear about both and i would be happy to grab a bite with you if you have free time!

i might even pitch an article about 'em in which case we may eat on whatever publication i can coerce into publishing me's dime!

burgers in london, i can probably do without.

i would be happy to eat with you too, that would be awesome! god i don't even know where to START recommending though, i have all my local and regular favourites but i still feel like i've barely scratched the surface, and my favourite thing is checking out places i haven't been.

a while ago some friends of mine were gonna do a project which involved eating out in london to represent every country in the world. it never got finished cuz the girl organising it got deported (to canada, lol) but i still kind of want to steal her idea and finish it sometime.

maybe i can show you how to cook (JOKES)

but yeah, think on it, i would love to hear any and all suggestions.

this is gonna sound weird but do time out london actually post their articles to their site? http://www.timeout.com/london/ seems to be just listings?

― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Thursday, March 22, 2012 12:02 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

does anyone know about this? would love to read that london theater scene article tracer mentioned

i don't know, their website is super confusing.

i think if you go to the 'theatre' page there's something called 'theatre features' that might contain the article Tracer mentioned but as i haven't read the article tracer mentioned i can't really confirm.

thank u good idea.

Xxpost

Let's start 202 meals again, sure M&A won't mind if it means someone else is doing the organising.

A friend and I have been doing the all-nations food thing too, though because neither of us actually live in London it's going quite slowly. Last month we ticked off "Cockney".

u bought some crisps?

Pie/mash/eel bonanza

o eely

id forgot abt eelpienmash

First off we went to Manze's which was fun (provided you like jellied eel), then later on we tried F. Cooke's in Shoreditch, which was empty, cold and a bit grim overall.

anyone been here?

http://www.west-mersea.co.uk/articles/35-featuredbusinesses/63-the-company-shed

I haven't been yet but I've heard good things..

It's a fair drive from London though.

me & my buddy were thinking of renting a car and makin' a day of it.

I went to Manze's once with an American visitor but they'd run out of eels! We had pie & mash which tbh was digusting, so I've not been tempted to go back in search of eels since.

Also, where do I find really nice eyeglass frames?

I was here on Sunday; http://www.cutlerandgross.com/ Nice selection.

I was there on Sunday too!

Seems like that's the best (only good) place I've been able to find. Since my misplaced glasses aren't turning up I will likely return soon.

There are some others, this place had a good selection last time I was there; http://www.mallonandtaub.com/

hey guys i have a question!!!

i am thinking of unlocking my iphone and getting a uk sim card while i'm there. are there any particularly decent pay-as-you-go things i could jump on for some voice/text/data so i don't get totally reamed by my canadian carrier if i use my phone? (their overseas plans are ridic.)

Xpost: Thanks, I had planned to go there today but completely forgot what it was called. Fortuitous timing!

I currently have a pay-as-you-go as you go phone, for which I pay 5 pounds a month for data (with free incoming calls); for 15 you can get voice and text and unlimited data which you're likely to not use up. Mind you I use an Android phone, so I have no idea how this applies; this is also with 3, who have irritated me enough with little things to not want to recommend them.

I'm curious about unlocking also, since my phone is made only to be used with 3, but I'd like to keep it when I move back to Canada in September.

15 pounds sounds pretty reasonable for like 2 weeks of 'full phone' use while i'm there

yo EDB i have repped for this place in camden market before, but the guy who runs this place is wonderful. all his frames are vintage, and most are cheaper than new. no proper web site at the moment but just go! you will be delighted and amazed.

http://www.arckiv.net/

slocki, I have a spare and activated giffgaff sim card I could send you. £10 gets you 250 min + unlimited texts and internet for a month.

(are all eyewear web sites so shockingly poor? those first two had flash splashscreens. the last one appears to just be an image containing nothing but text.)

freals?? that would be rad! how do i like... charge it up or whatevs?

hmm well I probably should've researched that earlier, because I had thought it might be possible to just top-up with the £10 package online before arriving so it would all be ready when you landed. Now that I'm reading about it, apparently with giffgaff you can't use non-uk credit/debit cards to top up online. So, once in London you'd have to get a credit voucher (loads of places sell them) and use the voucher to top up online. it's all still doable, just a bit less convenient.

koogs i actually offered to help that guy build a web site he could sell frames online with, and he was initially enthuasiastic but eventually just sort of dropped away

i think people who get into stuff like seeking out vintage eyeglasses in dusty italian warehouses probably don't have a lot of overlap with people who get into making nice web sites

i'm surprised that a thread just called "london" has so few posts.

my suggestions for a london day out

10:00 wake up
10:25 grab a mcD sausage and egg muffin to line stomach
11:00 get 6 cans of lagers for £5* from an offie
11:30 go to south bank and drink cans of lager
15:00 get lunch - meat liquor maybe while there's no queue.  burgers are overhyped but it's nice and get the house grog to supplement the lagers
17:00 go to a sam smiths and drink the cheap alpine lagers (you'll be pissed enough to stomach those by now)
21:30 go to rowan's in finsbury park to go bowling for a couple of hours
23:00 get a KFC on your way home
23:15 eat the KFC
23:30 order a curry
00:00 go down in the tube station at midnight

^ if i can plan my death, this will be the way it happens.

+ maybe a couple of games of DDR around 14:00 at namco station first.
+ maybe four season to eat roast duck instead of meat liquor. or dinner before rowan's but without foregoing the KFC

second all of this advices but prob would split the s bank drinking with one of london's royal parks (st james') for a bit of variation.

you also missed out boris biking which is required booze transportation.

truth bomb re: boris biking. only thing i missed about not living in central anymore.

also, obv mcD brekkie and KFC are not uniquely london experiences - however neither is waking up, but one still needs to sleep and eat KFC.

I am still upset that McDonald's in the UK got rid of the plain old 'sausage mcmuffin' (the one without the egg).

Asking for 'sausage and egg mcmuffin but without the egg' always makes me feel like a jackass.

Might seem an obvious question but I've tried hard on this. Where in London can I get decent second hand furniture, or I guess new furniture that isn't horrible. I really want a wooden fairly simple table/desk for my room, and some other stuff possibly. Have tried Gumtree and endless Googling, and Brick Lane etc.

yr local freecycle?

there used to be these ace warehouses somewhere out along the north circular where you could buy second-hand furniture and furnishings from london hotels, stuff that had been sold off whenever rooms got redesigned. dunno if they're still there, though.

My first stop for these things is the five-floor secondhand furniture place in Crystal Palace (http://crystalpalaceantiques.com/index.html - it's a good mix of cheap and cheerful and fancy vintage, according to taste) but I recognise that that's a tricky, or at least lengthy, journey for you LG.

The answer I have found is Brighton.

2nd hand furniture in London reminds me of Butler's Furniture in Shadwell. Classic place. http://spitalfieldslife.com/2009/11/06/butlers-furniture/

There's a good place underneath the railway arches next to London Fields rail station where the guy can be haggled with (a bit)

you could try some auction rooms. criterion on essex road do weekly sales on a monday afternoon, you can view all the lots from thursday the week before. lots of tat but some ridiculous bargains too - we got a very nice, huge sofa in perfect condition for £60. plus it's fun sticking your hand up and bidding for things.

sign up to islington east freecycle there's always stuff going all the time

there are probably other freecycles that are the same

camden south has nothing though, unless you like filing cabinets

get 6 cans of lagers for £5* from an offie

I've been away for a year, I get back and it seems to have gone up to £5.50. Bleak times.

I'm sure it's Cameron's fault.

It's still possible! You just have to be prepared to buy something fairly grotty from somewhere fairly grotty.

I need a driving instructor. Is anyone able to recommend me one?

17:00 go to a sam smiths and drink the cheap alpine lagers (you'll be pissed enough to stomach those by now)

warning – you'll have to drink a lot of it – abv cut to 2.8% last autumn.

WHAT? Country's gone to the bleedin dogs mate.

I had four driving lessons as a refresher last year. 10 years no driving left me rusty. I went with Mutual (E London). Didn't really get on with the first guy, he told me I was rubbish and grabbed the wheel off me at one point. For the second and subsequent lessons I had a big scottish guy, into football, who was great. Laid back and helpful. I can't remember his name now though. Finding a decent driving instructor is tough.

Sam Smiths pubs are now close to full price. Therefore, no point ever going to one again.

I still think some of them have their charms, I'm a big fan of the Cittie of York and old faithful Glasshouse Stores, even if I haven't been in the latter in ages.

There's been mad beer inflation in London of late though (blame craft beer, the_recession, whatever) - SS beer is probably as far behind the top end as its ever been.

I don't mind the cock tavern off regent street tbh but I've definitely reduced my visits. Their stout isn't a bad alternative to guinness imo - not similar, obv, just not horrible.

Otoh although I've been a student again for nearly eighteen months now it was only two weeks ago that I went to the University of London Union bar for the first time. Five pints for £7.50 is just ridiculous.

Price aside, SS pubs still tend to have a better atmosphere than the vast majority of West End boozers.

get 6 cans of lagers for £5* from an offie
I've been away for a year, I get back and it seems to have gone up to £5.50. Bleak times.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Wednesday, 28 March 2012 12:52 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I'm sure it's Cameron's fault.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Wednesday, 28 March 2012 12:58 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha! the * after £5 was actually going to be the footnote saying exactly that!! something like (* more likely to be £5.50 - bloody Tories innit)

Bring Back Brown's Broken Britain

it's true about Sam Smiths - dearer than ever before, but then so is everything else
the lager is good and distinctive
so are the specials like cherry beer
and yes, they do have a different atmosphere which I still tend to like.

is the beer really now 2.8%??

swap sam smiths with a wetherspoons, then

xp

yeah - pointed out to me just before leaving the bricklayers a few weeks ago, feeling surprisingly sober.

These people seem to be up on it all

It was about 2.20 in Sam pubs pre-Christmas, it's now at least 3 quid, at least for a lager. For me that jump means I'd rather go somewhere with decent food, better beer, and nicer atmos. They're not bad pubs but at 3 quid I reckon it's about 80p or so cheaper than a pint of something decent; in somewhere that's definitely nicer.

Mind you the one I frequented most was The Rising Sun near Barbican, plenty of nice alternatives around there.

Drinking round the Barbican and not going to the Old Red Cow is straight-up wasteful IMO.

always too busy imo. it is small.

or just bring a six pack into the barbican?

a six pack of toilet duck

when it's payday

la dee da

time was you would joke about drinking a six pack of toilet duck in the street

really cleaned up the street

Is this the London thread?

Did you see this?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/magazine/china-mieville-london.html?emc=eta1

/\/\/\

Say something about it

i read that and wasnt sure what to think

what should i think

should i cancel my trip

Definitely, you don't want to hang out with racists and alcoholics.

"eyes roll with the duh".

Say something about it

it's not interesting enough to, really. mostly it reminded me that i don't get along with miéville's prose at all.

the fluff piece that ran alongside it (what are the LDN equivs of these NYC things iirc) was actually more interesting

"The mayor is a ninja of bumptiousness"

Lex otm, esp re: the fluff. Such an effort to read and although I recall vaguely agreeing with him I can't remember a single specific thing that he says.

read the first page and had no idea what thesis he was attempting to expound, beyond a few 'pensions! strikes! olympics!' handwaving signifiers.

It's not written for Londoners really though is it? I mean most of us will be familiar with most of the arguments and issues in it.

/Say something about it/

it's not interesting enough to, really. mostly it reminded me that i don't get along with miéville's prose at all.

this x 1000. absolutely convinced he dictates his novels, and what interested me about the article most was how its prose hobbles along.

Are you all posting from the banlieues of London? Is there anything I can do to help?

suggest banlieu

Haha very good

ty

banlieuy jagger

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6058/6330354186_ec8974ff10_b.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicohogg/

that dude gets london p much

yeah thats great