cjh wrote:Itchy Mcgoo!

lots... -which is by far the best advice here

Challenge to Champion Rabbit! Here’s a thought (bear in mind I’m hungover and feeling expansive and much fondness for mankind at the moment. It will pass) before you leave the smoke to rusticate yourself how about inviting London EA types to meet up for a farewell drink? (I’ll travel). I dare you!

That's a big step... in person, fuck, what if we like each other even less in person than we do in the virtual world!

cjh wrote:
Challenge to Champion Rabbit! Here’s a thought (bear in mind I’m hungover and feeling expansive and much fondness for mankind at the moment. It will pass) before you leave the smoke to rusticate yourself how about inviting London EA types to meet up for a farewell drink? (I’ll travel). I dare you!

Remember Mr Cjh, you're the one with the dry-brain and stuffed olives for eyes, not me!!

Having said that, perhaps it's not such a crazy idea...we could take turns in feeding Gramsci F&Cs, and Rysie could use his cockney pick-pocketing skills to fund the evening...

Cranius wrote:Wow CJH! I don't think that this can be improved on. So I won't try.

Thats what I was going to say.

I must re confirm the borough market thing. Fantastic.

I know it might sound corny but I love the boat rides along the length of the thames.

Brilliant.

Champion Rabbit wrote:Gramsci is talking nonsense about Fish and Chips. If you can find a good fish and chip shop, it's fantastic stuff. The best one in London is in Finchley though which you're otherwise unlikely to visit since it's rubbish.

If you are talking about the 2 brothers, do not on any account visit this chippy, you have to wait a life time for your food to be fried and when you get it it's not a mark on the fish and chips that can be purchased from the far superior chip shop on Finchley High Road in East Finchley opposite the supermarket.

In fact if you do anything at all visit this chippy for the best chips in London.

cutshaw wrote:
If you are talking about the 2 brothers, do not on any account visit this chippy,

Yeah, I am talking about 2 brothers. The queues depend on when you go, but they certainly can be daunting!

I wasn't recommending that he visited 2 bothers; as much a F&Cs is good food, it's not good enough to be worth a visit to Finchely!!

cjh wrote:Itchy Mcgoo!

Rasa, Stoke Newington[/url]. Although a little further out you can catch the number 73 bus from many accessible points (Euston Station or across the road from Angel tube might be good) which will drop you more or less outside on Church Street. It’s busy and generally worth booking but the food is top notch Southern Indian/Keralan cuisine. One restaurant is purely vegetarian and the one across the road serves fish dishes. Utterly fantastic. If you fancy eating Indian food and are a bit daunted by the trek then try Brick Lane.

Stoke Newington is a must see because of its cemetery. This place is just amazing......I'm not a goth, I promise.
It's just 100 years old and the vegetation climbed all over the tombs, most of them are hidden because of that, it's just a really creepy place.

Otherwise, I completely agree about most of the museums everybody mentionned previously but if you go to Brick Lane, don't forget to check The Whitechapel Galery.

Thirded on Borough Market. I used to work around there, and have to say it's one of the finest places to go for good fresh produce. If you can face the queues, try and buy some cooked food while you're there. Much better than anything you'll get in a lot of the adjacent eateries.

For historical sightseeing, I would suggest cross referencing Peter Ackroyd's London with a decent street map. This might take a while though, so I'd further cross-reference it with a Time Out/Rough Guide...

Get a copy of Time Out (weekly) when you're here and trust it's art/film/music sections. I think it's an indispensable guide to what's on.

All the recommendations here are pretty good, but I thought I'd add my personal (touristy) favourites:

The ICA (on The Mall just down the street from Buck palace) - the programme here is always varied and rewarding. It's an arts centre that's become a bit commercial of late, but it still manages to impress me with its roster of films, talks and exhibitions.

The National Film Theatre (in Waterloo) - Go for a (GOOD) film, but stay for a drink by the river and a casual perusal of the second-hand books being sold directly outside.

Edgware Road (at the northern end of Oxford St) for some nice Arab cuisine and a toke on a shisha. Maroush is great for food (but it's always packed to the hilt, so go in the afternoon)

I should offer thanks to you all for rekindling a desire in my lazy bones for keeping my eyes open walking around our city. I really cannot add to these excellent suggestions, though I second RIII's Edgeware Rd food suggestions - those places are terrific.

Champion Rabbit wrote:

Barry Shostakovitch wrote:Don't, whatever you do, go to Madame Tussaud's. Quite why tourists queue along the Marylebone Road to look at a bunch of waxwork dummies has always flummoxed me.

So true!

I today discovered that admission for adults to Madame Tussaud's is £24, and for children, £20. TWENTY FOUR FUCKING POUNDS ($43!!) to look at some waxwork dummies. Staggering. And the admission charge has gone up 175% since 1996. What a city.

Bumping this because I'm thinking of coming over there in October, and doing it as cheaply as possible.

Every other time I have flown to London, it's always been to Heathrow.

However, ZoomAir has cheap-o flights that land at Gatwick.

Two questions:

Anyone ever fly Zoom?
Does Gatwick suck to fly into? I remember there's a tube stop at one of the airports, but I cannot remember which.