What's you favorite city? The DFW Metrosprawl, New York, Chicago, DC, Paris, Rome, Venice, Detroit? They're all great in their way, though some more so than others, but for me it's London, perhaps because I lived there for years and see it as something of a home town.
These days I like central London, which, for me, means that area going West from St. Paul's to St. James, encompassing Clerkenwell, Holborn, Bloomsbury, Covent Garden and the Strand, the Embankment, Soho, Piccadilly, and the Mall. Knightsbridge and South Ken seem a bit far West and perhaps always has done. Still, Solemn High Mass at the Oratory is a must, followed by Sunday lunch at the East India Club. Delicious.
After that, you can stroll down Shaftsbury Avenue to Bar Italia in Soho and enjoy a coffee or two, followed by an RV with old pals at a welcoming pub, maybe the Coach and Horses or French House in Soho, maybe somewhere else, like the Lamb in Lamb's Conduit Street, or wherever. Big fun, then stroll back through the genuinely Olde Streets of old London Town to your setup.
Perhaps that's the top floor of the Farmers Club on Whitehall, most congenial and affordable to boot. Here, have a look from it's rooms today, from Whitehall Place looking East:
There it is, London. The center of town's changed, for sure, since the far-off, halcyon days of the '90s, when I last lived there, but still, it doesn't seem so very off, and the grandeur and history of the place are very much alive, albeit swarmed by tourists. You can avoid those, though, if you nav away from their game trails. As in Leicester Square, etc.
When you get tired of the hurly burley, and there's plenty of that, fall back to the NatLib on the Embankment and setup in serenity on the Terrace cupola. Right congenial. When you get tired of that, retreat to the Farmers Club for a delicious sandwich at the bar and stroll over to Soho, which may or may not involve rickshaws and associated hi-spirits.
Your Old Pal,
LSP
23 comments:
Will becoming the 53 US State after Canada and Greenland change Old Blighty?
That would be an interesting idea. I think they may still be too woke?
Uhm... I choose.. no city. I barely tolerate existing on the outside edge of the large town/small city I currently live in. Can't stand people, can't stand crowds, can't stand the noise or smell or lack of space or, well...
It's just too much. Like when you are listening to a radio and there are multiple channels and interference coming through. Like having ADHD with Asbergers or worse autism, just too much input, way too much input.
When I come home from being outside with The World, I just want to sit in a quiet room with the lights turned down or off and just stop hearing and feeling everything.
Bah. Cities. A necessary evil but one I try not to partake in.
Hi. My name is Beans and I am a misanthrope.
No European traveler me. During my Army tour in Germany I was able to travel to London. In fact, was there on my 21st birthday. I enjoyed my time but my favorite city was Amsterdam. Big surprise for a footloose soldier with money in his pocket. Least favorite? Stockholm.
My favorite city is the one I see in my rearview mirror
I'll spare y'all my usual Jefferson quotation/prophesy about what would (and did) happen to the United States when we became cooped up in cities as in Europe, and only say that my favorite cities, Austin, San Antonio, San Francisco and the Northwest Arkansas mini-metroplex of Bentonville/Rogers/Springdale/Fayetteville (FATE-ville to the locals) have so radically changed they may as well have been nuked.
No city, now. In my younger days I lived in Boston and really liked it. Lots of old places, history, the Boston Common and few other parks were really nice.
Southern NH
+1
You named all my favorites. Except Bentonville, never made it there. It's too bad they gone so woke that they are now unrecognizable. They are certainly not the cities I fell in love with.
I agree with everyone on the "open spaces". The more people, the fewer of those.
Sadly London is no longer the city it was. It is a mishmash of all that is wrong in the Caribbean, the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent. Each time I visit it, I expect to come across a goat being slaughtered in the street.
I think, LL, for the better.
They seem to be waking up, Linda, I hope.
Beans, you'll note I live in the country!
Fun to visit tho, Glasslass, imo.
A'dam's a lot of fun, WSF, or at least in was when I was there years ago. Better than its Belgian neighbors, I think.
Well yes, Anon, there is that.
Wild, I can't say I like Austin or San Antonio very much, not that that I know them hugely. San Fran? Never been, though friends love it. I understand the latter is absurdly expensive to live in.
All in favor of Jefferson quotes, keep 'em coming.
Anon, I understand Boston used to be great. I've never been.
Kinda, I agree, it'd be stifling. Still love London though, if only for a visit.
Well yes, BF, and that's just the NatLib Club.
I've never been to London. I have however been to New London, Connecticut. It's like London, but NEW!
I have been to Dublin a few times. Somehow the Mrs. and I avoided the cultural enrichment of being stabbed by an Algerian.
Infidel, I've never been to Connecticut but have friends who live there, in an 18thC house, no less, with beautiful floorboards.
They can't take it there anymore and are moving to TEXAS. Smart.
I gave a presentation in Dublin once, back before it was enriched by diversity. Liked it.
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