April 2008 Archives

What a great city to stroll around in. Even better if you're swathed in coat and scarf, a light drizzle creating a drippy mystique.

The London Bridge Hotel is agreeably situated in Southwark, a block from the Southwark Cathedral and the Thames. Just returned from a worshipful dinner at the temple that is Wagamamma. In a neighborhood full of pub food and snooby up-market eateries, it attracts long lines of young and old willing to wait tens of minutes to eat noodles. I'm surprised it hasn't hopped The Pond to the States.

I love the mix of old (and ancient) with contemporary trendiness that's everywhere here. For instance while viewed in isolation, the London Eye is a bit of an abomination, when you're standing in Westminster with Parliament, the Abbey and Big Ben in the foreground, the contrast it presents somehow elevates the historical grandness. The view of all that as you ascend out of the Westminster Underground is breathtaking. Yesterday I got to enjoy that view both in daylight and by night. Fantastic.