Question of the week: Are there any upcoming free events you would like to recommend?
"The Big Egg Hunt-
In the run up to Easter, London has become the site for a gigantic egg hunt! Artists have been commissioned to each decorate an egg, which is then 'hidden' somewhere in London. Try to find them all, and get to places in London that you might not have explored otherwise!
http://www.thebigegghunt.co.uk/"- Kris
* Photo by DancesWithLight, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: Are there any upcoming free events you would like to recommend? "Over the next couple of weeks?
LSE Space for Thought Literary Festival 2012 : "Relating Cultures"
Wednesday 29 February - Saturday 3 March 2012
The world class string quartet Endymion performing at the Bishopsgate Institute, 1pm on March 6th (go, if you’re free – I wish I was!)
Zarina Bhimji’s exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery
and
Dale Chihuly’s at the Halycon Gallery
Further ahead, I’m looking forward to Greenwich Dance’s Low-Tech Saturday in April
and thinking about going along to the Canalway Cavalcade in Little Venice in early May, because that’s not a part of London I’m super-familiar with."- Miss Alice
* Photo by TGIGreeny, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: Are there any upcoming free events you would like to recommend?”"Instead of recommending a specific event, I'ld recommend that everyone bookmark this link in your browser:
http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/free
Currently there are 97 free events listed at the Southbank. Why give a fish when you can give a fishing rod?"- Jamie
* Photo by markhillary, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: Can you recommend an affordable weekend getaway? "A great way to travel somewhere new and save some money on the journey is by visiting Great Britain’s south coast, particularly, Brighton. Brighton is a colourful, funky town full of shops, cafes, and a fun promenade, and the coastline, well, helps. For me, anything surrounded or accompanied by a body of water is more beautiful, so a cheap train fare to Brighton on a Friday and a return on a Saturday night is well worth the time and (not so much) money. Check National Rail and see that you can get a return journey for under £40. Once there, I’d recommend indulging a bit (since you’ve already saved so much on the travel!) and stay at a B&B rather than an impersonal hotel or crammed hostel. The prices are not too high, and the experience is well worth it!"- Christina
* Photo by Mr_Benn, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: Can you recommend an affordable weekend getaway "Paris -
If done correctly and in advance, Paris can be surprisingly inexpensive. Look for cheap Eurostar tickets - you can go round-trip for under £120 if you plan in advance, and it takes you from the centre of London to the centre of Paris - no need to budget time or money for airport transfers. There are no checks on what you can bring, or how much, so no paying for checking bags if you want to bring liquids...
Look for a cheap bed, but in the centre of town - hostels are a good bet, but try to book somewhere in the area you want to *end up* in the evening - no travel cost (or worry) at the end of a night out. Just roll into bed!
Eat like a student - and there are plenty in Paris. The Rue St. Severin has a lot of restaurants that serve three-course set menus for 10 Euros, and lots of cafes have sandwiches for not a lot of money. As the weather warms up, picnic in the parks!
Look for free things to do! Notre Dame, and many other churches, are free to visit. The parks are beautiful (and also free!) and people-watching is always a cheap thrill! If you must visit a certain attraction, check online to see if it has a free opening day - lots of places do!
Hope this inspires you to head to the City of Lights!"- Kris
* Photo by Jay364, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: Can you recommend an affordable weekend getaway? "Arundel has all the right ingredients for a great and affordable getaway. Fairytale town with a castle and abbey raised high on a hill over looking the green river valley below. Great things to see, great walks to be had, and a pretty decent youth hostel that's very reasonably priced indeed. All within an hour's journey by train."- Jamie
* Photo by -RobW-, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: Can you recommend an affordable weekend getaway? "The cheapest and best weekend are often where you know someone to go stay with, even if the area they live doesn’t make the top ten tourist lists. Accommodation the price of dinner for your host, and means you’ll be spending time with someone who knows you, and how to get the best out of the area.
If that’s not an option, then think first about where you want to go and why, and then about the money – a cheap trip somewhere that you don’t enjoy is pretty poor value for money!
Cheap rail tickets, (generally booked far in advance, but sometimes a couple of days ahead is enough) and a good hostel or self-catered accommodation is my preferred recipe for a budget weekend away, both in the UK, and in the parts of Europe served by Eurostar services. OK, so staying in Paris is unlikely to be *really* cheap, but the less obvious destinations can be a real bargain, and as you’re under 26 you get special prices on Paris and Brussels by Eurostar! National Rail is the best place to start experimenting with dates, times and destinations to get rail prices in the UK, and if you’re planning several UK rail trips, consider investing in a Young Persons Rail Card."- Miss Alice
* Photo by Jsome1, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: In light of this week’s mood, what is your favourite London poem? "The lyrics of 'London Pride' by Noel Coward"- Prof Kucich
London Pride has been handed down to us.
London Pride is a flower that's free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride it for ever will be.
Woa, Liza,
See the coster barrows,
Vegetable marrows
And the fruit piled high.
Woa, Liza,
Little London sparrows,
Covent Garden Market where the costers cry.
Cockney feet
Mark the beat of history.
Every street
Pins a memory down.
Nothing ever can quite replace
The grace of London Town.
INTERLUDE
There's a little city flower every spring unfailing
Growing in the crevices by some London railing,
Though it has a Latin name, in town and country-side
We in England call it London Pride.
London Pride has been handed down to us.
London Pride is a flower that's free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride it for ever will be.
Hey, lady,
When the day is dawning
See the policeman yawning
On his lonely beat.
Gay lady,
Mayfair in the morning,
Hear your footsteps echo in the empty street.
Early rain
And the pavement's glistening.
All Park Lane
In a shimmering gown.
Nothing ever could break or harm
The charm of London Town.
INTERLUDE
In our city darkened now, street and square and crescent,
We can feel our living past in our shadowed present,
Ghosts beside our starlit Thames
Who lived and loved and died
Keep throughout the ages London Pride.
London Pride has been handed down to us.
London Pride is a flower that's free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride it for ever will be.
Grey city
Stubbornly implanted,
Taken so for granted
For a thousand years.
Stay, city,
Smokily enchanted,
Cradle of our memories and hopes and fears.
Every Blitz
Your resistance
Toughening,
From the Ritz
To the Anchor and Crown,
Nothing ever could override
The pride of London Town.
* Photo by Emanuele Rosso, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
The other poem recommended by Miss Alice, which was not linked to the full poem, is now shown here.
The London Breed
by Benjamin Zephaniah
I love dis great polluted place
Where pop stars come to live their dreams
Here ravers come for drum and bass
And politicians plan their schemes,
The music of the world is here
Dis city can play any song
They came to here from everywhere
Tis they that made dis city strong.
A world of food displayed on streets
Where all the world can come and dine
On meals that end with bitter sweets
And cultures melt and intertwine,
Two hundred languages give voice
To fifteen thousand changing years
And all religions can rejoice
With exiled souls and pioneers.
I love dis overcrowded place
Where old buildings mark men and time
And new buildings all seem to race
Up to a cloudy dank skyline,
Too many cars mean dire air
Too many guns mean danger
Too many drugs means be aware
Of strange gifts from a stranger.
It's so cool when the heat is on
And when it's cool it's so wicked
We just keep melting into one
Just like the tribes before us did,
I love dis concrete jungle still
With all its sirens and its speed
The people here united will
Create a kind of London breed.
* Photo by Phil Romans, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: In light of this week’s mood, what is your favourite London poem?
"Oscar Wilde's 'Symphony in Yellow' is one of my favourites. It is a decadent picture of London, in one of the most picturesque times of the year; autumn. Though autumn has now gone, spring can be equally delightful, especially the first few weeks of warmer weather when the traces of winter slowly disappear and the colours of nature emerge gracefully. And there, in different spots of a blooming garden, the leaves of a revived tree, or the sparkling sunrise splashed across the Thames, you are sure to see yellow."- Christina
An omnibus across the bridge
Crawls like a yellow butterfly,
And, here and there, a passer-by
Shows like a little restless midge.
Big barges full of yellow hay
Are moored against the shadowy wharf,
And, like a yellow silken scarf,
The thick fog hangs along the quay.
The yellow leaves begin to fade
And flutter from the Temple elms,
And at my feet the pale green Thames
Lies like a rod of rippled jade.
* Photo by Ade46, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
"It’s my favourite love poem to London, but it’s not really seasonal – it always makes me think of London in the heat of summer – so I probably can’t say ‘London Breed’ by Benjamin Zephaniah, so – maybe Wordsworth’s Composed upon Westminster Bridge, from almost 200 years prior, which I know was written in autumn, but equally applies to the cold, clear beauty of a February morning- maybe even with a dusting of snow!"- Miss Alice
Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth like a garment wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour valley, rock, or hill;
Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep:
And all that mighty heart is lying still!
* Photo by PHOTOGRAPHER, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: “In light of this week’s mood, what is your favourite London poem?” "In the light of this week's weather, I'll choose The Lake Isle of Innisfree by W.B. Yeats. The inspiration for the poem came to Yeats while he was walking down the "pavements grey" of Fleet Street and was suddenly struck with intense longing for an escape to a remote island getaway. Yeats' island has crickets chirping and bees making honey, so I like to think it must be somewhere warmer too!"- Jamie
* Photo by mrrobertwade (wadey), used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: “In your opinion, where can you find the best view of London?” "Whitestone Pond in Hampstead is technically London’s highest point and affords a truly spectacular view from the peak of the Northwest, across the centre of the capital. Originally something of a beacon for horse-drawn journeys to reach before the slow decent either side (journeys to and from London were nowhere near as easy as they are now), it currently still serves as a ‘horse bath’ point for the Armed Service’s cavalry. It’s easily found via a short walk from Hampstead tube station and is surrounded by some wonderful attractions such as the Spaniards Inn and Kenwood House."- Hal
* Photo by bortescristian, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: “In your opinion, where can you find the best view of London?”"One of my favourite views is on top of One New Change. Yes, I know it's a mall. Yes, I know that sounds really weird. But the view of St. Paul's is amazing - to be so high up and so close is such a great way to see the cathedral! And, unlike some vantage points, it's free to enjoy. So, head over to One New Change, get in the elevator and hit the highest button. If you go soon, take a coat - it can be chilly up there!"- Kris
* Photo by Peter Alfred Hess, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: “In your opinion, where can you find the best view of London?”
"Two great options:
1) The lounge of the Oxo Tower Restaurant, tres chic, but affordable if you just buy a sparkling water. Drop dead views from the glass enclosed tower looking out on the riverscape. A 10 minute walk from Conway Hall.
2) From the road in front of the Holly Bush pub in Hampstead, on Holly Bush Hill. One of the most beautiful and little known spots in London. Night views are best."- Prof Kucich
* Photo by James UK, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: “In your opinion, where can you find the best view of London?” "There’s a point in Nunhead Cemetery, where you reach the top of the hill, and there’s a space cut into the trees and hedges which frames a beautiful view of the city, looking North towards St Pauls and the distinctive tower blocks of the City. It’s that, or the view of Docklands from Greenwich Park, or just the view up or down river any time you cross a bridge in central London – so hard to choose!"- Miss Alice
* Photo by Matthew Black, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: “In your opinion, where can you find the best view of London?” "I'm not sure whether it's categorically the best, but my favourite view of London is the one you get from the top of Primrose Hill. The closest tube station is Chalk Farm, but you can also head to Regent's Park station, and walk all the way up through the park, which is a great thing to do on a sunny day. I hear rumours that they're going to install a mini version of Rio's famous "Christ the Redeemer" in as part of the handover for the 2016 Olympics. Best to get there before that goes up and it becomes a tourist trap!"- Jamie
* Photo by djsosumi, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: “What London event are you most looking forward to in the next four months?” "There’s always so much to look forward to in London and, sometimes, the hardest task is picking where to go!
The Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton: A Diamond Jubilee Celebration at the V&A starts 8 February and will show the Queen in portraits from her youth up until recent years that reflect her evolving role as Queen and mother. It will be interesting to see less publicised photos of the Queen, and as many of us know, photographs, although voyeuristic, give us a firmer grasp of a person, even if it is the Queen!
I am also very much looking forward to Sadler ‘s Wells Flamenco Festival. Being an admirer of the particular dance genre, I am not sure what to pick out of the range of performances spanning from flamenco adaptations of poems or seeing Vicente Amigo, a Grammy award winning guitarist! Tickets may be expensive, but a night at Sadler’s Wells is well worth the price."- Christina
* Photo by Richard Pluck, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
Question of the week: “What London event are you most looking forward to in the next four months?” "The flotilla on the Thames in celebration of the Queen’s 60th anniversary, for which the spirit of Handel may be summoned up to produce some new Water Music."- Prof Kucich
* Photo by c@rljones, used under Creative Commons, with thanks.
