The London Traveler

If you fancy a bit of razzmatazz for your New Year, this will be the 23rd London Parade – and what a way to go!

Okay, maybe cheerleaders are not your thing. And they’re not mine, though faced with the enthusiasm shown by the girl in the photo, I might have to change my mind a bit!

But the great thing is that this is a very British parade. And that means it will be stuffed full of all kinds of eccentric and offbeat entries, as well as cheerleaders from the UK and US.

Each London Borough is entering, with diverse themes – one promises an undersea adventure with an ecological theme, whatever that might be. There will be the Arapahoe High School Warrior Marching Band.

But the Donkey Breed Society will also be strutting its stuff, presumably with the assistance of four legged friends.

The London Pearly Kings and Queens will be adding a traditional Cockney note to the proceedings. And if you haven’t seen Pearlies before, you’ll be amazed by their outlandish, glittering costumes.

A more rural vision of England is what you prefer? Well you’ll get the Merrydowners Morris, dancing their way from one end of the parade to the other.

Still another facet of traditional British life is shown by the Goldwing Owners Club of Great Britain, with their lovingly tended bikes.

And the parade also, apparently, features Yaksha – the King! A fearsome chappie who comes from the Karnataka tradition of Indian dance. (His web site is a bit out of date though.)

The parade will start at noon from Westminster, and the tail end of the procession will arrive in Green Park at quarter to three in the afternoon. You can watch from anywhere along the route – up Parliament Street, then up Cockspur Street and Pall Mall, turning up Regent Street to Piccadilly, and along Piccadilly to Green Park.

There will be professional commentators at a number of different spots – or you can pick up the free newspaper printed by the organisers so you know who you’re watching.

Photo credit: Damien Everett on Flickr

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Whether you’re attending a private New Year’s party or heading for the big event in Trafalgar Square, getting home from your New Year celebrations is going to be easy.
From 23.45 to 04.00 on New Year’s Day, public transport in London will be free. All tube, bus, DLR and tram services will be free together with some national rail services (ie overground), these being;

Liverpool Street to Shenfield,
Liverpool Street to Enfield
Paddington to Slough
Paddington to Hayes and Harlington
Victoria to East Croydon
Victoria to Orpington
Charing Cross to Beckenham Junction via Lewisham
Charing Cross to Dartford via Sidcup, Bexleyheath or Greenwich

There’s going to be a great fireworks …read more

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Muswell Hill is not noted as the home of metropolitan cool, but I couldn’t resist this story from Currybet.net.
I’m sure you all have friends who have done parachute jumps or abseiled down tall buildings for charity. (My mate Mark abseiled down the side of the Baltic in Gateshead once – I hope he was wearing his brown trousers.) But how many of you have a teddy bear who is brave enough to do it?
Here’s the link.

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I wonder if the London Sales have lost their cachet.
Everywhere in England, from the High Street to the great out of town hypermarkets, bright red stickers proclaim up to 90 percent off. In this recession, many retailers are slashing their stock, trying to get enough cash through the tills in the next few days to pay the rent bill.
Go down Oxford Street and you’ll see many of the same stores you can visit anywhere else. There’s nothing so special about that.
But that’s only one side of the story. In fact, London’s big department stores still provide the best shopping you …read more

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The Cafe Royal has closed – a sad end to a great London institution.
Founded in 1865, the Cafe Royal was one of Oscar Wilde’s favourite hangouts. It hosted kings and princes, novelist Graham Greene, and Elizabeth Taylor and Mick Jagger – as well as boxing matches. (That’s where the Marquis of Queensberry comes into the story – not only Oscar Wilde’s great antagonist, but the man who created the rules of modern boxing, the Queensberry Rules.)
But now this end of Regent Street is going to be redeveloped, and the Cafe Royal has got to go. It’s been sold to a …read more

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Take time to read the message on this lovely papercut. The photo comes from Cory Doctorow on flickr.
And in the spririt of Christmas, here’s a link to some reading you might find fills the space between the roast turkey and the gluhwein – the original Dickens Christmas Carol, and a rather amusing poem that tells the story of Mrs Scrooge, by Carol Ann Duffy in the Guardian.
Have a great Christmas!

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London’s neighbourhoods are not always clear cut. Clerkenwell straggles, like a rather randomly assorted charm bracelet, from Clerkenwell Green with its pristine classicism and village feel, to the decidedly urban Exmouth Market. Some of its most interesting corners are well off the main drag – streets running down towards Farringdon, for instance. Come to think of it, where Clerkenwell ends and Farringdon begins is difficult to work out…
Clerkenwell has come up in the world since I first knew it. Then, it was still the kind of place you’d find genteel businesses that made no money at all; bookbinders, art framers, …read more

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You’ll know when you’ve found New Tayyabs by the queue. Getting into this restaurant is like getting into Harrods sale – you want to be there good and early, though you don’t need to bring a sleeping bag.
This is not one of those chi-chi Indian restaurants that’s been redesigned by a minimalist architect, with bijou little dishes featuring light spicing and gold leaf. No, it’s a rough and ready curry shop, with robust dishes – seekh kebab, tandoori chicken, lamb chops, saag bhaji. Robust cooking and lots of it, too – good size portions, great for sharing.
I always like the …read more

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Every time I went to Oxford Street, somewhere along it I would see a little man, with a banner in his hand, shuffling along the pavement.
He never seemed to say anything, never seemed to be with anyone, wasn’t part of a demonstration or a cult. He didn’t grab people to tell them their sins or try to convert them. He didn’t preach. He just seemed to be an oddity – one of those oddities for which London has always been famous.
The message on his board was strange, too. It said: “Less passion from less protein”, and then under that was …read more

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Finding a purely vegetarian place in central London can be a bit tricky. Come to that, it’s also difficult to find a budget eating place of any quality. Govinda’s solves both problems.
Old Soho hounds will probably know it well. Govinda’s serves good, cheap Indian vegetarian food, with a number of vegan options. I particularly like the thali, a selection of different dal (lentil or split pea) and vegetable dishes with rice.
Devotees of the curry house may find this food a little bland, since Govinda’s doesn’t use onions or garlic, in line with the dictates of Ayurvedic medicine. It’s also generally …read more

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