You can't beat London.

[Pitch3110]

Here in North Norfolk property prices have gone bananas of late, lots of previously closed pubs are now opening having had their historic guts ripped out and replaced with trendy interiors totally out of keeping with the building. £5.50 pints and car parks full of huge 4x4’s with Roger and Jasper discussing their annual bonus over the bar. Reminds me why I left London in the first place! - All the locals think there will be red faces all round come winter time, nobody local spends that sort of money on food and drink, half the year they’ll be stood empty alongside all the holiday homes. I feel sort for the local youngsters, no way they’ll afford a property now - I really hope a lot of the new arrivals realise their mistake once it’s dark by 3.30pm, their shiny car is coated in sugar beet residue and all the pubs and shops are closed by 4pm! - and the nearest Mongolian Barbecue is the one they used to visit in London :)


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Same down here buddy. Southwold is absolutely rammed as is the coastal area in general, even Lowestoft is grinding to a halt and that’s saying something

Pitch

[Andyg]

I’m the other side of that coin. If I was told I could never visit London again, it wouldn’t bother me in the slightest.

As someone who was born and lived there for 26 years, before moving away I totally agree with you.

Been there done that.

[Captain Morgan]

Well after my last post (the very first reply in this thread) I find myself booked on a train to London tomorrow with the wife and our 13 year old daughter
Any recommendations for reasonably priced (figuratively speaking) hotels near Paddington?
We will be arriving tomorrow afternoon and leaving Monday afternoon so we will have all of Sunday for sightseeing.
Also some suggestions for nice places to eat and visit would be very much appreciated.

I’d start here for recommendations

[jaytip]

I’d start here for recommendations

I thought I was?

[Captain Morgan]

I’d start here for recommendations

I thought I was?

It appears the link I thought I posted I didn’t, oops.

https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...ghlight=London

[The Doc]

I wouldn't live in London now.
Now that I have 2 kids.
-crime-grime-overtime-

I don't want to have to work 90hrs a week, so that my kids can have tiny bedrooms with no green outside the window, asthma as a holiday hobby, and I worry about crime.

Living in London in my twenties, when I had cash in my pocket, enjoyed renting and lived for myself only, that's another matter.

My house in Cumbria cost less than £500k, I have a 50% mortgage, about 3 acres, sheep for neighbours and we rarely lock our doors.

But but but but, I have a non geographic job, I can do it anywhere. My brother's company has 1 UK office, and it's in the smoke. He commutes in from Harpenden.

[jaytip]

It appears the link I thought I posted I didn’t, oops.

https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...ghlight=London

Ahh, gotcha. Thanks for that.

[Michael 38]

I went to Brighton last week to visit my stepson sounds like London but by the sea, no parking very busy can’t get in anywhere decent for a midweek meal without booking 2 days in the advance and £300k for a 2 bed ex council flat I don’t think I will be joining him any time soon

[learningtofly]

I went to Brighton last week to visit my stepson sounds like London but by the sea, no parking very busy can’t get in anywhere decent for a midweek meal without booking 2 days in the advance and £300k for a 2 bed ex council flat I don’t think I will be joining him any time soon

That’s so weird. I was literally just thinking that I feel about Brighton the way people have been talking about London, then lo and behold... your post!

[Itsguy]

But what Mick is talking about isn't really London, it's the West End - a microcosm of affluence and pretentiousness.

Real London is a city enjoyed by real Londoners, but we're not going to tell you where it is

London is not one city, there are layers upon layers, endless fairground rides and adventures to be had on all levels. So I wouldn’t agree that there’s a ‘real London’ and that the West End isn’t it. I used to live in the West End long ago, sitting on rooftops in Soho was as real as anything else. Occasionally you’d meet people from South London who’d say everyone from north of the river was a pretentious git and south London was more ‘real’. A bit too real in places I thought!

A friend told me London was a good place to be young or rich, there’s some truth in that. Lucky for old timers who managed to get on the property ladder back when you could plausibly afford it, I can’t think how it would work now. I’ve loved the cosmopolitan culture drawing in interesting people from all over the world (though now they have to be high earners and less bohemian which is a pity). I’ve also loved the nightlife over the years. Now I generally restrict myself to a few ‘nice bits’ as I’ve served my time in the rest. The worst thing is that friends who start families often get ejected to somewhere more affordable, sometimes in other countries. Once they’ve left, there’s usually no way back.

A motorbike in London is a wonder to behold. Any bike, doesn’t even need to be fast, you just need your filtering head and hazard awareness head on at all times:)

Agreed - it's a game changer. I love filtering round the city, for some reason... it takes a different set of skills, but they are skills nonetheless.

As for the comments about the West End, nothing better than brunch in Marylebone Village on a (normal) Sunday morning. By bike, of course.

Agreed, I might have got bored of London I’d had to use the tube at rush hour one too many times. Getting a bike put everything worth visiting an entertaining short hop away, allowing you to do ten different things fun things in a day. Also agreed on Marylebone, and it’s magical to walk through on a quiet evening. Fischer’s do a bloody good schnitzel!

Frustrating on the daily commute with 20mph zones everywhere though. you're either ragging it in 1st or it feels like you're about to stall it in second.

Also agreed, they’ve pretty much ruined it lately :-( Maybe it’s time to give in and get an electric bicycle, there’s almost no other way to get around now. Pity, as I absolutely loved biking round London over the years.

[learningtofly]

London is not one city, there are layers upon layers, endless fairground rides and adventures to be had on all levels. So I wouldn’t agree that there’s a ‘real London’ and that the West End isn’t it. I used to live in the West End long ago, sitting on rooftops in Soho was as real as anything else. Occasionally you’d meet people from South London who’d say everyone from north of the river was a pretentious git and south London was more ‘real’. A bit too real in places I thought!

A friend told me London was a good place to be young or rich, there’s some truth in that. Lucky for old timers who managed to get on the property ladder back when you could plausibly afford it, I can’t think how it would work now. I’ve loved the cosmopolitan culture drawing in interesting people from all over the world (though now they have to be high earners and less bohemian which is a pity). I’ve also loved the nightlife over the years. Now I generally restrict myself to a few ‘nice bits’ as I’ve served my time in the rest. The worst thing is that friends who start families often get ejected to somewhere more affordable, sometimes in other countries. Once they’ve left, there’s usually no way back.

Agreed, I might have got bored of London I’d had to use the tube at rush hour one too many times. Getting a bike put everything worth visiting an entertaining short hop away, allowing you to do ten different things fun things in a day. Also agreed on Marylebone, and it’s magical to walk through on a quiet evening. Fischer’s do a bloody good schnitzel!

Also agreed, they’ve pretty much ruined it lately :-( Maybe it’s time to give in and get an electric bicycle, there’s almost no other way to get around now. Pity, as I absolutely loved biking round London over the years.

Another bizarre coincidence, because I was just going to mention Soho village, which most people don’t even know exists. I went out for quite w while with a girl that lived there - her kids went to school in Gt Windmill Street. We’d sit on the window sills of her flat looking down at the hustle and bustle, and I could never get used to the way it went from heaving to completely empty in the space of half an hour.

[Itsguy]

Another bizarre coincidence, because I was just going to mention Soho village, which most people don’t even know exists. I went out for quite w while with a girl that lived there - her kids went to school in Gt Windmill Street. We’d sit on the window sills of her flat looking down at the hustle and bustle, and I could never get used to the way it went from heaving to completely empty in the space of half an hour.

Some friends had kids at that school, and I used to live round there too, so I know what you mean. We used to find our way up to the roof of the Windmill theatre at night, drinking cocktails and looking down at the crowds near Piccadilly Circus from the fantasy turrets at the top. On full moons it would be particularly crazy! But on Sunday mornings you’d have it to yourself. Good times, if a bit chaotic. Soho was very special place back in the day, with its own very bohemian community. Maybe it still is, though it’s probably more sanitised now.

People who say they hate London, they’re just bouncing of the surface or haven’t found the good bits. Or maybe they’re just used to the calm of the countryside, which is fine, that’s lovely too, personally I’ll take both.

[prexelor]

I visit London with my young children and have found people to be really friendly. For example people getting up to allow us to sit down on the tube or voluntarily helping with directions when we are looking a bit lost.

However, in contrast to when I have been without my children and it is every man/woman for him/herself when getting on the tube. I did not grasp the concept that I may be the first at the doors opening but not necessarily the first to get on. I quickly learnt.

I also discovered that sometimes you just have to pull out of a junction rather than wait and wait. If there is a gap, you take it.

I remember a previous visit and on my way to a hotel in rush hour and two lanes merging into one, a driver could have easily let me through. He didn't. Yes you have the bigger and posher car but how far ahead are you going get in a huge traffic jam.

I do like London for weekend visits but living here would be too stressful and expensive.