What makes London special to me!
1. The only city that has so many lovely parks in prime acerage : Regents Park, Green park, St.James Park, Hampstead Heath
2. The lovely museums - National Gallery, British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum(V&A), Natural History Museum.. all free to boot
3. Thames and the Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament - what a view
4. Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty: the National Trust, a charity has identified and preserved many areas of outstanding beauty
5. The local libraries especially in London, brimming with books of all genres and the reference sections filled with so many newspapers.
6. The newspapers: Guardian, Observer and The Independent - the best journalism and reporting in the world - Fleet Street at its best sans personal judgement and prejudice!
7. The city that is a pedestrian delight - lovely areas to walk by!
8. The small circular tablets on buildings - indicating their hsitorical signifance eg. The one on the wall of St.Mary's Hospiatl, Paddington where penicillin was dicovered by Alexander Fleming, the place on the corner of Baker Street near the Screen on Baker Street where Lennon lived for a while, the wall near the Marylebone Church where Dickens wrote the Great Expactations etc. Lovely to discover these!
9. The country of volunteers - from Oxfam to National Trust, so many wonderful people volunteering their time and skills for various charitable causes.
10. One of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world - I have worked and met people from so many counties, all living and working together in harmony.
11. The city of lovely double-decker buses
12. The city of football and tennis - Wembley, Chelsea Stadiums and Wimbeldon!
13. The city where all cultures find a space - from Indian classicalists to Spanish Flamencos, probably the only place where so many cultures vie for attention and you are so hard-pressed for the sheer variety of cultural choices. Not to mention the yearly BBC proms and the lovely carols during Christmas at the Royal Albert Hall.
14. The city of gyms, marathons and triathlons and probably one of the few places where you are inspired to exercise!
15. NHS - the free medical service and one of the best in the world.
16. The wonderful bookstores - Daunt Books, Foyles, Waterstones, Books etc, Oxfam bookstores in Marylebone High Street
17. The best food in the world from all parts of the world - missing Feruz in Marylebone who serve excellent Lebanese, Bombay Palace and Masala Zone for Indian, 777 for Pizzas. I love M&S Food - misisng the homous, falafel, samosas, vegeterian jelly and pudding and cakes!
18. Walking through Oxford Street on weekdays when it is not very crowded -window shopping by M&S, Selfridges, Clarks hoes, Barrats shoes, Debenhams, Zara, Monsoon, Accessorize, Wallis, John Lewis and Boots.
19. Window decorations in Selfridges during Christmas
20. Walking from National Gallery in Traflagar Square by Downing Street to the Houses of Parliament and by Thames
21. A walk on Kensington High Street - culminating at Whole Foods
22. The collection of DVDs at my local library
23. The Murugan temple and the Mahalakshmi temple in East Ham- the visit always culminated at Saravan Bhavan and buying DVDs for a pound each. It was always thrilling to go to East Ham- Narayan and I had a great time as the streets are named after famous English peots - Shakespeare, Shelly, Colerdige, Wordsworth etc
24. The philosophy class at Mandeville Place
25. Coffee and muffins at Pret
26. The lovely shows on BBC, ITV, UKTV Documentary, Comedy Central - with David Attenborough, Micheal Wood,Micheal Palin, Have I Got News For You, Simpsons, Hercule Poirot etc
27. Visits to Tottenham Road - browsing through Heals, Habitat, Pier, Home Cargo and the electronic stores and Planet Organic for their Chai Latte!
28. Visits to the Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden and to Saaya's sweet and savouries from there! Can't really forget the dokla, shrikand and jamuns.
29. Buffet lunch at Deewana @Drummond Street, Euston and Chutneys.
2. The lovely museums - National Gallery, British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum(V&A), Natural History Museum.. all free to boot
3. Thames and the Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament - what a view
4. Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty: the National Trust, a charity has identified and preserved many areas of outstanding beauty
5. The local libraries especially in London, brimming with books of all genres and the reference sections filled with so many newspapers.
6. The newspapers: Guardian, Observer and The Independent - the best journalism and reporting in the world - Fleet Street at its best sans personal judgement and prejudice!
7. The city that is a pedestrian delight - lovely areas to walk by!
8. The small circular tablets on buildings - indicating their hsitorical signifance eg. The one on the wall of St.Mary's Hospiatl, Paddington where penicillin was dicovered by Alexander Fleming, the place on the corner of Baker Street near the Screen on Baker Street where Lennon lived for a while, the wall near the Marylebone Church where Dickens wrote the Great Expactations etc. Lovely to discover these!
9. The country of volunteers - from Oxfam to National Trust, so many wonderful people volunteering their time and skills for various charitable causes.
10. One of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world - I have worked and met people from so many counties, all living and working together in harmony.
11. The city of lovely double-decker buses
12. The city of football and tennis - Wembley, Chelsea Stadiums and Wimbeldon!
13. The city where all cultures find a space - from Indian classicalists to Spanish Flamencos, probably the only place where so many cultures vie for attention and you are so hard-pressed for the sheer variety of cultural choices. Not to mention the yearly BBC proms and the lovely carols during Christmas at the Royal Albert Hall.
14. The city of gyms, marathons and triathlons and probably one of the few places where you are inspired to exercise!
15. NHS - the free medical service and one of the best in the world.
16. The wonderful bookstores - Daunt Books, Foyles, Waterstones, Books etc, Oxfam bookstores in Marylebone High Street
17. The best food in the world from all parts of the world - missing Feruz in Marylebone who serve excellent Lebanese, Bombay Palace and Masala Zone for Indian, 777 for Pizzas. I love M&S Food - misisng the homous, falafel, samosas, vegeterian jelly and pudding and cakes!
18. Walking through Oxford Street on weekdays when it is not very crowded -window shopping by M&S, Selfridges, Clarks hoes, Barrats shoes, Debenhams, Zara, Monsoon, Accessorize, Wallis, John Lewis and Boots.
19. Window decorations in Selfridges during Christmas
20. Walking from National Gallery in Traflagar Square by Downing Street to the Houses of Parliament and by Thames
21. A walk on Kensington High Street - culminating at Whole Foods
22. The collection of DVDs at my local library
23. The Murugan temple and the Mahalakshmi temple in East Ham- the visit always culminated at Saravan Bhavan and buying DVDs for a pound each. It was always thrilling to go to East Ham- Narayan and I had a great time as the streets are named after famous English peots - Shakespeare, Shelly, Colerdige, Wordsworth etc
24. The philosophy class at Mandeville Place
25. Coffee and muffins at Pret
26. The lovely shows on BBC, ITV, UKTV Documentary, Comedy Central - with David Attenborough, Micheal Wood,Micheal Palin, Have I Got News For You, Simpsons, Hercule Poirot etc
27. Visits to Tottenham Road - browsing through Heals, Habitat, Pier, Home Cargo and the electronic stores and Planet Organic for their Chai Latte!
28. Visits to the Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden and to Saaya's sweet and savouries from there! Can't really forget the dokla, shrikand and jamuns.
29. Buffet lunch at Deewana @Drummond Street, Euston and Chutneys.