London: Is it likeable?
Heathrow just doesn’t establish that great first impression. We got in to London late, the girlfriend was stopped in immigration and given the full check-up, when we got on the train it went one stop and terminated, leaving us stranded for 30 minutes. When we finally got on the next train, we were squeezed against the wall by a transvestite until a, to me obvious terrorist suspect vomited in our carriage. This made us abruptly reject train as a proper mode of transport, and we got off at the next station - namely Acton Town. Acton Town is one of those places that makes the locals go “You went where??” when you tell them about it. And we understood this the moment we got out of the station and right into two guys threatening to kill each other. Then we got a taxi to where we were staying and literally went to sleep crying.
And then the next days were great! It all depends on where you’re coming from, of course, but having just spent 7 weeks in Oslo, where a pint can easily cost 60 NOK ($10) or more in a normal pub, supposedly high-cost London was actually quite a relief. The tube was cheap, we got into a cool gig for 5 pounds and whatever we ate never reached disencouraging price levels, even in the upmarket restaurants.
I realized I had never considered the multiculturalism of London either. Whereas breakfast always was a solid English, we also enjoyed Colombian lunch in Brixton, modern Chinese for dinner in Portobello as well as a good old Austrian chocolate fondue for dessert. Not only that, the Austrian chocolate fondue place is apparently Kate Moss’ favourite hang-out. I don’t remember the name, but the entrance to this place is just an unassuming door down to a cellar along one of the roads crossing Portobello Road. It is very well worth visiting:
When in London, do what the city does best: Enjoy it. Here are four don’t misses: Go to a pub, go to a sub-culture live act, have sunday roast and cider and find a restaurant of weird ethnic origin and try something new. Or go to Time Out’s list of things to do in London for 101 more suggestions.
