London - The Big Pear!(?)

 

Start spreading the news,
I’m leaving today,
I want to be a part of it,
Lon-don, Lon-don.
Yep. It’s official. Frank Sinatra was threatened by the Mafia to sing about New York. He originally wanted to sing about London but they wouldn’t let him.

London, a place pregnant with business suits, ‘entertaining’ weather, and more languages, people and places than you can shake a stick at. A really long stick. The longest stick you’ve ever seen, actually.

Power to the People…
London, capital of the UK, is a great big melting pot stirred by over 7 million people. Yes. 7 million. And counting.

You only have to wait at the bus stop for just a few moments to hear the beautiful array of languages seeping through the air, hitting your ears better than any music ever could. Spanish, English, Yoruba, Hindu, Chinese, Welsh, Italian, you name it. Over 300 languages dancing round each other.

People are generally quite friendly, slightly reserved but mostly helpful, although this can depend on whether it’s a weekday or the weekend!

Are you Hungry?
…good because there’s a whole range of food for every minute of the day!

With diverse culture comes diverse range of yum-yums! Have some Thai cuisine for lunch and a Caribbean for dinner. Make a beeline for some English breakfast the following day and end the night in an Indian restaurant. Then, there’s Vietnamese, African, French, Chinese and so many other cuisines to try that you might need to cover it over two trips to London!

Work off your lunch…
…by passing through Trafalgar Square on your way to see the Queen’s corgis at Buckingham Palace. Make funny faces at the unsmiling guards in their bear-skinned hats and red tunics – see if they’ll crack a smile – you’ll be making history if they do!

Appreciate the insignificance of your wristwatch when you’re standing next to Big Ben, the world’s biggest chiming clock, then pass through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich to check Big Ben’s got the time absolutely right. (Greenwich is where all time zones are measured. Cool or what?!)

Then there’s the famous Oxford Street which is one of the busiest high streets in London, Canary Wharf - the tallest building in London, and St Paul’s Cathedral which was one of the locations in the bestselling book, The DaVinci Code.

Visit the endless stream of markets: the soulful Brixton market, the culinary Brick Lane market, the bohemian Portobello market, the warm Green Street market, Columbia Flower market and more, each market with their own distinct flavour.

But how do you get from A to Brixton?
London has a very robust transport network, and with the Olympics coming in 2012, it’s becoming even more so. You can use the famous double-decker buses or the relatively-new long ‘bendy’ buses. Hop in a taxi, use the underground train or the driverless Dockland Light Rail. Yes. Driverless. But don’t worry. It’s safe!

Erm, can you swim?
Now, we’ve got to talk about the weather. There’s no avoiding it.

Britain is renowned for its April showers. It’s a phenomenon in its own right. Children love it. Adults dread it. Umbrellas hate it.

Decembers are fresh and stone-cold, autumns are leafy, the spring tends to be very bright and flowery, and the summers get by.

However, global warming seems to be working its charm on this cosmopolitan city. Last December was mild, February was freezing, April showers happened in January.

And last summer was the best ever. All 7 days of it.

London, I name thee ‘The Big Pear’…
Well, if New York can get away with it….

London’s weather might be unpredictable, but that hasn’t stopped the millions of visitors who pass through her doors every year. What it lacks in terms of climate, it makes up for in character.

Visit often. But don’t forget your umbrella.