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Post by flockofleaves on May 31, 2007 17:19:47 GMT
Hey guys, it turns out that I'll be in London for a few days this summer (july 3-7), and I was wondering if any of you natives have recommendations about nifty things to do beyond the usual touristy bits...
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oneesmotryet
Apparition
it's all in the palm of your hand.
Posts: 44
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Post by oneesmotryet on May 31, 2007 17:23:40 GMT
there's a burger bar just off brick lane that sells the most delicious burgers ever. and there are usually DJs in there on a saturday. and there are big red leather sofas and cushions. and bloc party filmed their videos for 'the prayer' in there. xx
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Post by flockofleaves on May 31, 2007 17:27:16 GMT
red sofas and DJs?! count me in! i'm there like shareware.
thanks!
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Post by obeseguy on May 31, 2007 17:37:06 GMT
Brick Lane.
Ew.
I recommend getting lost in Hyde Park. Also take a trip to Camden, it's touristy but it's worth a look if you've not been before. And you can take a really nice walk down the canal path, on a good day.
Go to Greenwich market on a Sunday.
Get lost in crowds. Take pointless walks along the southbank. If the tide's out, go on the sand.
Get a copy of Time Out.
Jx
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Post by sanssouci on Jun 1, 2007 0:34:34 GMT
just don't fall prey in Camden to the tourist punks that charge £5 for a photo. that's not what punk's about is it!!!! rubbish!!! (the best bit of Camden isn't the first market you encounter walking towards Chalk Farm from Camden Town station, it's in the stables where all the second hand clothes are and you can see all the shell suits...) also if you go out in Camden at night you might run into Noel Fielding so be careful, him or drug dealers trying to sell you oregano and aspirin, so beware of them and also The Good Mixer pub which is full of scenester-types who don't like it when you get drunk and put Mika on the jukebox just to watch their heads explode. now correct me if I'm wrong but the Regents canal that goes through Camden also goes all the way through Hackney doesn't it, and there is a long story behind it how it ends up turning into the Grand Union Canal out in west London... but yes the canal is lovely you can take boat trips on it too I believe, and towards Regents Park there is a restaurant on a boat I think? there is nothing nicer than getting drunk by the canal in the sunshine. although obviously not so drunk you might fall in.
and if you are heading to Hyde Park go to Kensington Gardens too which is next door, go and see Peter Pan there and I think you can get rowboats? or is that the Serpentine? well it's all around there anyway. and take warm Pimms in a plastic bottle... actually I'm entirely descending into my own fantasy for an afternoon next week now...
oh if you are going to Greenwich (which I do agree with the suggestion, the market there is lovely) make sure you go by boat for the gorgeous views of the bridges, and also because the DLR is scary there are no drivers!!! and if you're heading down the Thames there are loads of boats on the south bank which are also pubs/bars... pub boats if you will.
and Brick Lane is not that bad... well, there is an AMAZING bagel shop there, but you will get dragged kicking and screaming into a curry restaurant... I had a lovely jaunt up Commercial Street today which runs parallel to it, where Spitalfields is and the Spitz for folky type music and expensive food, also a banjo/ukulele shop on Hanbury St if you are that way inclined (it is their first birthday party on Saturday at the Knights Templar on Chancery Lane and Bishi is playing amongst many others and the man in there is lovely so I am giving him some free PR... go go go) and it is opposite a vintage clothing shop which is how vintage clothes shops should be... not ridiculously overpriced and all arranged by colour and style and item.
I guess it all depends where you are staying though and if you have ever been before and if you are after recommendations for day time or evening activities (always end an evening in Crobar in Soho, it's a divey rock bar but in a really good way and I very rarely remember how I got there and how I got home) and which bits of London you are drawn to... I mean I have done a total stream of consciousness here (on purpose of course, it's a famed literary technique, Virginia Woolf loved it) but get your hands on an A-Z and pick some areas. follow a tube line.
don't catch cholera from the Thames.
(and don't feel that because I have re-read this and noticed that alcohol features heavily that the only way to enjoy staying in London is by being somewhat intoxicated....!)
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Post by flockofleaves on Jun 2, 2007 16:51:02 GMT
thanks, it all sounds awesome. I'm actually staying in a hostel in greenwich, so I should get a chance to explore at least some of that!
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Post by Daniellalala on Jun 2, 2007 17:37:48 GMT
Crobar, home to the skankiest toilets ever! Do love it there though. And as for camden, it is a great place but yeah at night, the drugdealers are scary! I remember having to walk back from chalk farm to mornington crescent on my own and they were all approaching me, i was quite scared.
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Post by sanssouci on Jun 3, 2007 0:57:49 GMT
I got really absolutely obnoxiously drunk on tequila in Crobar last year finishing one of my many birthday celebrations and ripped my finger to shreds on the dodgy lock in the skanky loo there. fortunately the tequila numbed the pain but I did wonder the next morning what had happened... that and how I managed to get off the night bus to get home...
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Post by feathers on Jun 4, 2007 18:30:18 GMT
Ooh, I'll be in London from around July 9th-20th (ish)!
First time American here. Been saving since last summer. :]
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Post by sanssouci on Jun 5, 2007 23:46:33 GMT
update on Kensington Gardens: don't bother going to see the Elfin Tree, I was disappointed. bah! but DEFINITELY visit Peter, there is a heron there and pussywillow all over the grass and gold glitter everywhere. and if you walk along the north walk I think it's called, the squirrels there are practically tame!! they think everything you are holding is a gift for them! but watch out for rollerbladers in Hyde Park.
also the Eve Club in Mayfair is the place for a bit of A&E nostalgia and also that other video what they filmed there and to get a bit trippy on the light up dance floor. plus the door people used to let me in underage although they didn't know it... actually I don't know what nights they do there anymore, they used to do Buttoned Down Disco there and Kashpoint but I don't know anymore. it might be no good now.
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