The London Traveler

There’s an interesting post on Venere suggesting a checklist of London activities that every visitor or resident ought to tick off.
What’s nice is that it’s clearly affectionate about the city – and doesn’t just suggest the tourist highlights. And I agree with most of the list, though personally, I wouldn’t bother with Harrods….

For what it’s worth, my top ten ‘Londoner’ things;

1. Go to Smithfield Market early in the morning, see the market at work, the huge articulated lorries humming gently in the streets around, and get a pint of Guinness with your breakfast in the Fox & Anchor.
2. Go to Columbia Road market on Sunday to see how East End street life meets modern style – and buy a nice bunch of flowers or a couple of plants.
3. Get a ticket in the ‘gods’ (upper and lower slips) at Covent Garden and see the opera from a tiny perch high above the expensive seats. (Unfortunately, the cheaper tickets sell out fast – you may need to buy yours as soon as the new season brochure comes out.)
4. Go out to Greenwich via the pedestrian foot tunnel under the Thames.  Get your pie and mash or fish and chips,  and then after lunch, walk uphill through the park to the Observatory for one of the best views of London.
5. Get the front seat on the bus – just about any bus will do, but I like the number 15 – and take your own sightseeing tour.
6. Watch the crowds streaming across London Bridge in the rush hour – into the City at 8-9 in the morning and away again in the evening.
7. Get a curry in Brick Lane. Or even better, ignore Brick Lane itself and go to New Tayyab’s in Spitalfields.
8. Go to a proper pub and drink a pint of beer brewed in London – that’ll probably be Fullers, but if you’re lucky you’ll find beers by Meantime brewery of Greenwich.
9. Go to the Brick Lane Bagel Bake and have a lox (smoked salmon) and cream cheese bagel – part of London’s Jewish heritage.
10. You have to go to at least one big free event in Trafalgar Square, whether it’s an anti-war rally, free festival, or New Year get-together.

Of course real Londoners never, ever go to any of the art galleries or museums. And then when they move out of London they spend all their time complaining that now they can’t go to them, they want to!
Photo credit – Pearly Kings and Queens, real Londoners all! Garry Knight on flickr

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