Things to do in London

Sometimes I hate London. And this allows me to smugly agree with myself, that would be a terrible place to live and it's better to put two fingers up to the capital and say, 'I'm happy with my countryside, thank you very much'. But at the moment I love London and all it has to offer, as is apparent from my recent splurge of London loving posts.

I don't know a whole lot about the place, but I do know there is SO much to see and do. I'm more of a mooch about and soak up the spirit of the place kinda' gal. So I really enjoy to just sit and have a coffee and generally watch the world go by. Unrelenting trudging makes my feet hurt and soul drop into my shoes.

Some places I like, 

Flat White is a coffee shop in Soho. It sounds a bit pretentious and blah, in a way it is, it takes forever to get a coffee in this place. It took me a special diversion to get there with my family in tow too. But the coffee is yummy. I think the people who started it are australian, I didnt know the australians were any good at hot coffee, but it turns out they are. Strong, smooth and damned good.

I love bookshops almost as much as I love coffee. In fact in Bath, Topping and co have it so right. They bring you over a free cafetiere of lovely good quality coffee whilst you browse the books in their oak-lined shop. Heaven.

In London though, I really like Daunt Books in Marylebone. Books are categorised into country. That's basically enough said to tell you how amazing it is. You come out feeling like you've been around the world in 80 minutes.

Also in Marylebone go to divertimenti which is a super nice all-things-cookery shop.
In Covent Garden there's another two-birds-with-one-stone vibe going on. Maggie Hambling’s sculpture of Oscar Wilde. I saw an exhibition of Maggie Hambling's work called No Stright Lines at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge a few years ago and it was spectacular. You can sit on the sculpture like a seat, and read his lines, ‘We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.’  Sure to put a smile on your face and take the weight off your feet.

In one of my last posts I mentioned Spitalfield's market, great for new deisgners, clothes, food and niccynaccky things. I love markets, they really expose the spirit of a place and the general hubbub is often quite stirring. Other nice markets are the obvious Potobello Market for antiques. Nearby the Lazy Daisy cafe is a good good good for a coffee. Brick Lane market is good. Its quite a random selection of stuff, lots of old and kitsch things, household and clothes. I recommend Camden for palm readings and mystical experiences. Camden also has a good coffee bar called the Bean 'n' Cup.

My art gallery pick is the Whitechapel Gallery. I don't know much about art or good galleries but I liked this one for a change.

If its summer, and right now, Im lusting after summer, I think Greenwich is jsut a beautiful place to hang out and laze on the grass at the Greenwich Park. It's the oldest royal park, and has a good dollop of quintiscential english loveliness.