What to do in London (England) on a weekend?

[sysyphus]

If "life" means finding dog mess smeared all over the path in front of your front door on a daily basis, living in a world of grim, grey, squat, stained buildings, being held up at knifepoint, watching people hurl litter everywhere as if the world is their personal litter bin, being subjected to tinny R&B by teenagers on buses, having every cinema experience ruined by chavs laughing through the whole thing, and generally enduring unparallelled ugliness, filth, social irresponsibility and selfishness, then yes, that might be true.

Sounds an awful lot like every big city.

 

[BCLG100]

If "life" means finding dog mess smeared all over the path in front of your front door on a daily basis, living in a world of grim, grey, squat, stained buildings, being held up at knifepoint, watching people hurl litter everywhere as if the world is their personal litter bin, being subjected to tinny R&B by teenagers on buses, having every cinema experience ruined by chavs laughing through the whole thing, and generally enduring unparallelled ugliness, filth, social irresponsibility and selfishness, then yes, that might be true.

Also, Johnson was an opinionated lardbucket. But that's by the by.

Is this before or after the 'chiminey sweeps' are dancing on the rooftops? I'd say that view ignores a lot of the good things about London and doesn't take into account other modern day cities but each to their own

 

[Bast]

If "life" means finding dog mess smeared all over the path in front of your front door on a daily basis, living in a world of grim, grey, squat, stained buildings, being held up at knifepoint, watching people hurl litter everywhere as if the world is their personal litter bin, being subjected to tinny R&B by teenagers on buses, having every cinema experience ruined by chavs laughing through the whole thing, and generally enduring unparallelled ugliness, filth, social irresponsibility and selfishness, then yes, that might be true.

Also, Johnson was an opinionated lardbucket. But that's by the by.

That's why you watch films that chavs don't watch like The Young Victoria and The Duchess.

 

[classical_hero]

You could always go to a Rugby match, since that might be ore suitable for an American.

 

[Plotinus]

I'm guessing that's not exactly what he was referring to. He was probably more meaning that the amount there is to do in London means that you can never get bored of it.

True; however, to really get the most out of London you have to have a lot of money. For example, I would love to go to plays at the Old Vic on a regular basis, but I could never afford to do that. Even getting around London is absurdly expensive.

Sounds an awful lot like every big city.

No, I think London is a lot worse. I have visited and lived in other big cities. I love big cities. But there is an ugliness, in every possible way, to London that I have not found in most others.

That's why you watch films that chavs don't watch like The Young Victoria and The Duchess.

Alas, I don't want to watch those either!

 

[BCLG100]

You might be hear for St Paddy's day which for some reason is always a large celebration where everyone digs up their third cousin twice removed to justify how irish they are.

The rugby isn't a bad call but the 6 nations is on right now so unless you can get tickets for that, the premiership wont have the normal quality players in.

 

[Shekwan]

If "life" means finding dog mess smeared all over the path in front of your front door on a daily basis, living in a world of grim, grey, squat, stained buildings, being held up at knifepoint, watching people hurl litter everywhere as if the world is their personal litter bin, being subjected to tinny R&B by teenagers on buses, having every cinema experience ruined by chavs laughing through the whole thing, and generally enduring unparallelled ugliness, filth, social irresponsibility and selfishness, then yes, that might be true.

Reminds me of Dublin. Especially the ''tinny R&B on the bus'' bit. But hey at least you have a decent transport system to be passively harrassed on, ours is a joke. Plus Dublin has a smaller city centre and an urban sprawl the size of Berlin. So its greater parts depressing residential sprawl to nice city centre.

Some people just don't know how good they have it...

 

[Plotinus]

Dublin has a nice city centre? Then it's preferable to London...

Anyway, I don't wish to derail the thread from its actual topic, which is supposed to be things you would want to do when in London.

 

[Shekwan]

Well if I was an American travelling to London, I would be at least semi-interested in the whole chav thing. Like when I saw real rednecks for the first time in the US, I only observed them from afar but it was fascinating. Now the person who wants to see chavs knows where to find them.

 

[GinandTonic]

As I may have mentioned elsewhere, I loathe London with every fibre of my being, to the extent that being there for extended periods now makes me ill. If you want to see why, I recommend you visit areas such as Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, or Walthamstow. Make sure you watch where you step very carefully. It should certainly show you a different side of the place compared to the touristy bits in the middle.

The same goes for stockwell, most of stretham, purley etc etc, but the question is why on earth you would go to such places? Almost all cities have some god-awful neighbourhoods, rough estates and dreary suburbs which are best avoided.

 

[Harvin87]

just .. DON'T EAT ANYTHING!

 

[sysyphus]

No, I think London is a lot worse. I have visited and lived in other big cities. I love big cities. But there is an ugliness, in every possible way, to London that I have not found in most others.

Just as most visitors to London can't find it there, it's probably the same context that keeps you from finding it in other places.

Seriously, your every complaint about London describes my complaints about Toronto exactly.

 

[BCLG100]

just .. DON'T EAT ANYTHING!

Well that's just ********, if you're talking about both quality and price there ore obviously good and bad places but the trick is finding the good places. I'd say pick up the evening standard (free) a couple of nights in a row and you'll get ideas on where to go from there.

 

[really]

The same goes for stockwell, most of stretham, purley etc etc, but the question is why on earth you would go to such places? Almost all cities have some god-awful neighbourhoods, rough estates and dreary suburbs which are best avoided.

I might be in Stockwell this Friday.
I'll take some pictures.

 

[GinandTonic]

I might be in Stockwell this Friday.
I'll take some pictures.

Cash card in your sock and all that mate.

 

[really]

Cash card in your sock and all that mate.

I've been there before - my cash card will be back in the hotel.

 

[BCLG100]

Cash card in your sock and all that mate.

You've got to mind your socks though is the only problem.

 

[IglooDame]

Thanks for all the responses, folks, I really appreciate it. I do generally avoid big cities (Boston and NYC, for two examples) as I don't much like the crowds or the noise, but hey, it's only a weekend. I'll be over there from the 17th to the 25th of this month.

Couple more questions:
- Jeans, a polo shirt, and possibly a ballcap and/or leather jacket for walking around London: is that an "OMG it's an American tourist!!!" outfit or will I blend in a little?

- Aside from minding the damned gap, any particular hints for traveling via tube? Given my staying out of cities, I'm pretty unfamiliar with public transportation in general and subways in particular.

 

[holy king]

i think you could blend in in london wearing a chicken suit.

 

[Silurian]

Get an oyster prepaid card for tube (and buses) very easy to use - place card on reader do not have to put tiket through machine to get through gate

Some undergrounds lines are closed at the weekends check out TFL - Transport for london