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Two years ago this week, I started blogging here at LiveJournal. In real people years, two years isn't much time, but in blogging years, two years might as well be an eternity. Over a million blogs are up for only one day before being abandoned and the average blog lasts only 126 days. Not only that, active blogs are updated only every 14 days on average while I update daily - an average of 7 to 10 posts a day over four blogs.
I'd like to ask you to help me celebrate my blogging anniversary. Since we're moving to London in January, I want to know more about my future home.
something you know about London.
It can be something you read, heard, or saw. It doesn't have to be a first-person account. It doesn't even have to be true.
Just tell me something about London, and I'll enter you in a lottery. One week from today, I'll randomly choose three winners from all the comments and send you a handmade souvenir from Vietnam.
Thanks for all your support and encouragement. I'll be counting on you in the years to come.
On the negative side, the transportation is a disgrace. Getting schools organized is very complicated. And the weather is depressing, particularly in the springtime.
People call it expensive (and it is) but my feeling is, you get what you pay for.
I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do!
I think this is the book that we've found so helpful:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/t
Also, have a look at http://www.familiesonline.co.uk/
You're going to love it!
I've not been to London though I've read books with London as the setting. It's definitely a place that I'd like to visit some day. This is what i've heard about London from couple of friends- that it can be a really gloomy place.
Perhaps you could tell me more when you move there whether this is true.
London observations of dubious utility.
London is my favorite place in the world for watching people-- fashion is living on the street, and not just in the shops.
London makes New York look inexpensive.
Happy anniversary. :)
Something I know about London? They seem to like techno an awful lot there. And the pigeons in the park near Buckingham Palace are a different breed than the pigeons I saw elsewhere in the city. Probably come from a much more distinguished bloodline. ;)
London, from what I've heard, has terrible weather.
But it's got The Body Shop (cheaper locally apparently) and tea. Lots and lots of glorious tea. (My unlce always brings back all sorts of teas when he goes.)
Happy blogaversary!
London is a fab place to pick up 2nd books in excellent shape. In fact anywhere in the UK is great. I picked up 15 books in about 4 days there at very little cost.
There's a great book fair under a bridge along the Thames, near the Tate on Sundays. Go check it out with Steven on a nice Spring day when you're there! (I'm not sure whether it runs in winter, probably not though)
The Thames is a great place to hang out too.
Ok I cld go on and on about London but you'll find out for yourself there. :)
Looking forward to London posts!
Something about London: For years, maybe even decades, I knew that if I was ever to go to London, I would have to visit 221B Baker Street -- where Sherlock Holmes fictionally lived, which now has a museum to all things Holmsian.
I very much enjoyed the museum, cheesy as it was. The surprise, though, came when we thought we'd take a new route to walk back to our hotel, passing by the park-like-thing we saw on the map.
The park was gorgeous. Huge. Herons and geese, and ponds and acres of rolling grass, and a little ice cream shop, and an expansive rose garden. Your sweet son would love it. I don't remember the name of it, only that I haev a dozen pictures of it, and it's just up the street from 221B Baker Street, which is on any self-respecting tourist map. Just North of it, if I recall.
Here's something else about London: the Underground goes anywhere you want to go, but I loved taking the double decker busses instead.
Good luck on the move, when you move. I'm looking forward to hearing about your new adventures.
A lot of women's clothes in London seem to be made of synthetic material. Lots of shiny, itchy polyester things, especially pants. At least, it seemed that way to me when I shopped there.
And the food hall in Mark and Spencer will be one of your favourite places. The sheer variety of lovely food, from salads to desserts, is such an adventure to browse and try.
it has a japanese signboard and karaoke in the basement. on the ground level, there is a tiny counter which can seat probably 6 - 7 people at a time.
london feels really 'old' - it's a love it or hate it city - but i'm sure you'll love it :)...
http://www.finfacts.com/costofliving.ht
I visited there as a 12-year old and the things that stand out in my mind are the theatre, the countryside, the history and the castles.
Also, they are supposed to have the best indian curries outside of india. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it.
Wow, I am quite envious, London is a place I think would be great to live. And you have a Lush in the city.
http://www.lush.co.uk/system/index.php
Fire under their feet!
I learned this tidbit in a British Literature course when we were studying William Blake's poetry1 and our professor was giving us background on the London of his day. (That was also the day I had taken my oldest son to school with me. He was either ill or didn't have class that day. He was horrified about the chimney sweep fire thing.)
1
THE CHIMNEY-SWEEPER
When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry 'Weep! weep! weep! weep!'
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.
There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved; so I said,
'Hush, Tom! never mind it, for, when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.'
And so he was quiet, and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight! -
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.
And by came an angel, who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins, and set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing, they run
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.
Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind:
And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.
And so Tom awoke, and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm:
So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.
Random London/UK bits
BBC Radio is cool - we've listened to it on the internet.
I don't know if this is still true - but they used to need tv licenses in the UK.
And they still have the millenium ferris wheel up.
Fish and chips is popular with vinegar on fries.
Traffic circles are called roundabouts
And takeout food is called takeaway
BTW I think you ar egoing to have great time exploring London!
They are purported to have fabulous Indian food in London. Some of the best outside of India...they have this thing called 'curry chips' in Dublin that is supposed to have come from England....french fries served with a side of hot curry sauce - and it is VERY very yummy . Also the BBC of course is great - our canadian radio program , the CBC, is also very good I think! I bet you can listen to the BBC on line, just like I get the CBC! I do that sometimes when I need to hear a fresh perspecive....
I have discovered that in ethnic student dorms, the canteens located in the dorms usually cook the local cuisine, and very well too! You should check them out, they are cheap and delicious. :) I had really good murtabak, rendang and curry at a few of them...
Signed,
Culture-starved in New Mexico
Having a car is prohibitively expensive, but the public transport system is also expensive, a single ticket on the underground in the central zone will cost around 3.50 USD, so arrive with passport size photos and get down to a locaL London Transport office and sort the most appropriate kind of Travelcard. Buy a spiral bound A-Z of London, the biggest that will fit into your back pack, as too small and it's difficult to read. The spiral binding slows the loss of pages! Get the classic one as all Londoners have that one and will be able to tell you the page number of where they live to save time. Make sure you arrive with waterproof and comfortable shoes, and a (showerproof) winter coat.
Make sure that you make time to take Stephen to the Natural History Museum, as to a small child the skeletons of the dinosaurs and the blue whale are truly awesome (in the english sense of the word, not as in describing a burger!) Also the British Museum, with it's pillaged spoils of the Ancient World, morally indefensible of course but you might as well take advantage while they are still there!
When the spring eventually arrives lift your spirits with a visit to Kew Gardens, even if botany isn't a passion. It has so much that you are bound to find something of interest.
I hope something I have told you may prove to be useful, above all, have fun!
London