Bad bankers create bad buildings

Why stroll around the dreadful buildings of today? London is being wrecked by the misuse of money.
We are told that we must be grateful to the City of London for earning us so much money. In fact the City should be grateful to London for being such a lovely place to live. Why does it not put more of its riches back into London?

The City skyline

The City of London was built on the talents of merchants. Trading, lending, investing and insuring needed careful balancing of the risks and rewards but the profits purchased respectability and a sense of responsibility. If you take the Strollon walk you visit the churches these men built and the places where they met to discuss their business. You hear the stories of how they patronised the arts, the architects and the actor- dramatists.
As you walk through the City of London there are no new beautiful buildings – only towering infernos of office blocks. The museums are closing as their grants and sponsors are cut off by the City wise-men who talk about the need for economies and controls. The theatres and the operas have to charge outrageous prices that only bankers can afford and exclude the general public.
We are now in a sad situation of mutual distrust and misunderstanding by the outsiders and insiders of the City machine. They must understand exactly what benefits they get from London and give something back in return.
Unless there is more action by these City Titans, it will be even more difficult to enjoy a stroll through London without feeling it is just a museum surrounded by building sites.
Now is the time for them to listen and for us to speak.

The Natural History Museum

Located close to South Kensington Tube, the Natural History Museum is one of London's most interactive destinations. If you've ever wondered about insects, bears, dinosaurs or butterflies, you will want to visit this magnificent museum. It's free to visitors and there are lots of must sees including skeletons of a T-rex, Brontosaurus and Triceratops and, in the mammals section, you can see a huge blue whale. If you want to know more about the museums highlights please click here. 

There are also several temporary exhibitions available to visitors and though there is sometimes an entrance fee these often offer you a rare chance to glimpse some of the more esoteric parts of the museum's collection. You can find out more about what's on here.

If you're inspired by the museum to take a walk around London please check out our site www.strollon.com where you can get your hands on the best audio tours of London.

10 Cases

If we were in Paris, we'd be spoilt for choice for simple wine bistros. In London it's a bit harder to find a spot to settle down in to enjoy a good glass of vino though and this is where 10 Cases have stepped in. Situated on Endel Street, near Covent Garden, 10 Cases has a very simple premise: they serve only 10 bottles of red wine and 10 bottles of white wine (there is a glass of rose and a glass of champagne available too) and they only ever buy ten cases of each bottle so when the cases run out they introduce a new wine to the menu. It's genius really because you get a great selection that doesn't swamp you. And, because you can buy by the carafe, you can try something quite different without getting stuck with a huge bill.

Though wine is the main focus here, there is also a small but very good selection of food available. There are three starters, three mains and three deserts so the choice is limited but that doesn't matter when the food is so good and, at around £15 for a main course, it's excellent value too. 

If you're on our StrollOn walk around Covent Garden, pop in for a glass of wine or a bite to eat. It'll sate your appetite and get you going again. Enjoy their wonderful selection of wine and grub and let us know what you thought below.

www.the10cases.com

Carnaby Street - Soho

If you're enjoying our StrollOn guide to Soho, towards the end you'll pass through Carnaby Street. This little road in London became famous in the 60s and was very much at the centre of the changes in youth, music and fashion that shook the period. It gained prominence when designers started to open small independent boutiques along the road. Mary Quant, Marion Foale and Sally Tuffin had shops here. Around the corner, on Wardour Street, a club called the Marquee Club opened and a series of underground music venues like the Roaring Twenties appeared on the street. The bands who played at these venues were soon to be legendary: The Who, The Rolling Stones, Small Faces and more. It meant that you could wander down Carnaby Street and never know how many stars you might run into.

Today the street is no less interesting, though you might not run into a musical legend quite so easily. It's home to some excellent fashion stores like Diesel and American Apparel as well as being home to some great restaurants liks Cha Cha Moon. If you're on our Soho walk make sure you take some time to have a look around some of the shops. They're great fun and you can pick up some wonderful souvenirs in some of the smaller, independent stores.

If you want to know a bit more about Soho, check out our walking tour of the area. It's an amazing part of London full of secrets and history and we explore it all in the guide.

Coffee, Cocktails and Books - A Round Up!

Over the last couple of weeks we've been blogging about some of our favourite places in London to drink a cocktail, meet for a coffee or find a good book. Here's a quick round up of some of the fantastic places that will supplement your Strollon Walk.

Books Stores

Whether your in Westminster, Covent Garden or West London we've got a bookshop near you.

Coffee

Love coffee? Read about our favourite coffee shops in London

Cocktails

It's the end of the week. Why not celebrate with a cocktail in the sunshine?

Cocktails in London

Who doesn't like a good cocktail? After a wonderful day walking around London there is nothing better than sitting down to a very cold, very dry martini or a clean, crisp daiquiri. So, here is a quick guide to some of our favourite cocktail bars on our StrollOn walks.

Soho

Our walk through Soho takes you past some fascinating sites but one addition is the wonderful bar at Bob Bob Ricard with it's deep plush seats, mirrored ceiling and top notch cocktails. Located on St James Street, just around the corner from Polpo, it serves delicious British and Russian food. It's owners, Bob and Richard are Russian and English respectively (Bob owns two thirds hence his name comes twice in case you were wondering). You sometimes have to book tables in advance but often you can walk in off the street. Try their excellent house champagne and some of their special nibbles.

Covent Garden

If you're close to The Royal Opera House (Chapter 18 on our Covent Garden Walk) then you're very close to the excellent Covent Garden Hotel. This is often where stars visiting London choose to stay when they are trying to be discrete and it has an excellent bar, The Brasserie Max. They do some delicious signature cocktails - try their Seven Dials martini, named after the area of Covent Garden the hotel is in: it is a delicious mix of passion fruit and elderflower with gin and orange flavoured martini. Just what the doctor ordered!

Westminster

You'll find The Cinnamon Club just behind the Houses of Parliament (chapters 1 - 8 on our walk). It's a wonderful restaurant that serves high end Indian food and is well worth visiting if you can. But there's also a wonderful bar in the basement. Unsurprisingly they try and bring an Indian twist to their drinks so check out some of their house specials like Curry Up! Curry Up! which mixes curry nectar with gin and lemon juice. It sounds weird but trust us, it's delicious.

Hopefully you've enjoyed our short guide to some of our favourite bars in London. If you're looking for more audio guides to London visit our website www.strollon.co.uk and if you've got any tips, please leave them in the comments below.

London's Bookshops

We're so lucky in London to have such a wealth of bookstores. The scene above c0mes from the movie Notting Hill which is set, very briefly, in a bookstore in West London. The Travel Bookshop, which writer Richard Curtis based the bookstore in his film on, can be found on Blenheim Crescent and though it is currently under the threat of closure, it is well worth the visit. There is a move by writers and friends of the store to keep it open so, fingers crossed, you will be able to keep visiting it. Here are a couple more stops that should be essential for booklovers.

Cecil Court

There are several bookstores that you should try and visit. If you're on the Strollon walk around Covent Garden you come very close to Cecil Court, a wonderful old street full of bookshops and print shops. It also features on our 60 Minute Stroll too. Cecil Court is home to some beautiful bookshops, such as Nigel Williams' Rare Books which, like The Travel Bookshop, appears occasionally in movies such as Miss Potter. Mozart, who lived on the street briefly in1764, and Johan Christian Bach used to meet here and discuss music. It is a wonderful place to spend some time browsing so make sure that you leave some time if you're walking around London: it is worth it.

Waterstones Piccadilly

The most famous chain of bookstores in the UK is Waterstones and their flagship store can be found at 203 - 206 Piccadilly. It is about ten minutes walk from Trafalgar Square so, if you're on either our Westminster or Covent Garden walks, you can pop right it. The magnificent building used to be a department store called Simpsons but was turned into a temple to books a few years ago. Spread over six floors, there is a wonderful selection of books to read and take home with you. A good tip is the cafe on the top floor which does excellent cocktails and has panoramic views over the city.

Do you have any other bookshops you'd like to suggest? Please do so in the comments below.

Open House London: 17th & 18th September 2011

Ok - this has to be one of my favourite thing to do in London. Every September, Open House London gives you the chance to get inside some of the capital's most iconic buildings and explore. Now most of us don't often get to see inside Kensington Palace or Lloyds of London but, thanks to Open House, we get the opportunity. This year you can even visit the BT Tower if you're lucky because. There will be a ballot which opens between the 15th August and 5th of September - we'll post a link once it's open.

You can find out which buildings you can visit by ordering the guide here and some of the venues need to be booked in advance - there's a list here and booking opens today so you may need to get cracking. All in all it looks like it will be a great weekend. Plus, if you want to add to you experience you can check out our London walks and audio tours. Enjoy

The Museum Of 1951

Yesterday I posted about The British Museum but I wanted to draw your attention to The Museum of 1951 because, well, it looks like a lot of fun and, if you've just finished a StrollOn walk along the Southbank, its a great opportunity to find out a bit more about the Festival Of Britain. In 1951 Britain was a bit of a sorry place. The war had ended in 1945 but parts of London were still in ruin (because of bombing raids) and Britain was still paying back its debts from the war. Rationing was still in place for some essentials and there was a general sense of financial unease. Herbert Morrison MP (grandfather of Peter Madelson) and Gerald Barry had an idea for a festival the covered the entire country, that celebrated Britain and it's achievements and that would prove to be a 'tonic' for the country to help give it back its confidence.

There were sites and events the length and breadth of the country, but the Festival's lasting legacy was the Southbank Centre and Royal Festival Hall. Before these were built the Southbank was either derelict or slum housing but the Festival changed all that, turning the area into a centre of culture and a wonderful public space.

The Museum of 1951 is about more than the Southbank though, encompassing all of the elements of the Festival of Britain. If you want to see what London and Britain used to be like, then check this out before it closes on the 4th of September. There are also events tied to the Museum that you can take part in, like Memories and Memorabilia on the 28th August. The museum is free and is sure to make you think.

Top 20 Things to do in London Under £20, Part 2 From A Girl, A Style

Yesterday I pointed out this great post by A Girl, A Style. She's just posted part 2 of Things To Do In London Under £20 and it's definitely worth checking out.

The British Museum

The British Museum is a pretty impressive place. For one thing, it is free. For another, it is one of the deepest, richest collections of antiquity and ethnography you are going to find anywhere in the world. That, in my book at least, makes it an essential stop off point in London.

Admission to the main exhibits has been free for nearly a decade. This means you can move from Ancient Greece and Rome (make sure you check out the controversial Elgin marbles which are magnificent) to Asia and the Middle East in a few steps. In each of these sections there are some real treasures. If you're in the Asian section, please have a look at the Green Huqqa base which is made of such brilliant colour that you will find it hard to believe it is over 400 years old. The trick is to allow some time to explore the British Museum slowly. Serendipity counts in a museum like this.

There are also a series of special exhibitions at the museum. These are not free unfortunately but they are a l0t of fun. At the time of writing, you can visit the Treasures of Heaven exhibit of saints, relics and other elements of medieval European worship (open till October 2011, tickets £12, book here). But keep an eye out here for other exhibits on your trip to London.

Afterwards, if you want some more culture, why not take one of our audio tours of Covent Garden? It's one of London's hottest spots and you can learn about everything from its history as a market to it being a centre of 18th century prostitution.

What To Do In London For Under £20

I stumbled across this lovely blog called A Girl, A Style and her post about things to do in London for less than £20.00 It's pretty comprehensive and in the comments section there are plenty of other ideas too. Enjoy!

Visiting Parliament

If you haven't ever visited The Houses of Parliament you have missed out on a wonderful experience. The Palace of Westminster, as it is properly known, is home to the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative chambers in the British Parliament. There has been a Palace on this site since the 11th century and, until 1512 it was the official residence of the English monarch. A fire destroyed much of the building that year but it was still home to Parliament. In 1834 a much larger fire destroyed the building almost entirely. The only structures that survived the fire were St Stephen's Cloister, Westminster Hall, the Jewel Tower and the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft.

The present building was designed by architect Charles Barry. Construction started in 1840 and took it took more than thirty years to complete the neo-gothic masterpiece. During recess, when MPs and Lords return to their constituencies, the palace is open for tours. The summer recess has just begun and so the you can take a guided tour of the Palace during the week and on Saturdays. There is more information here.

As the seat of Parliament it sits at the very heart of government and a trip to the Palace give you a wonderful chance to explore the surrounding area. If, after your tour of Parliament, you take the StrollOn Westminster walk you will get to see Downing Street, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace as well. We hope you enjoy it!

The Pub

The Pub is one of the glories of England. According to Samuel Pepys they form the country's heart and London is well supplied with these essential arteries. On a warm summer's afternoon, there is nothing better than sitting in a sunny pub garden, with a pint of cool beer; and in winter you can always find somewhere snug, far away from the biting cold, to enjoy a drink and to warm yourself up again.

Pubs in London have some astonishing names: have you ever wanted to drink at Finnegans Wake? There are five according to Peter Ackroyd. Or how about the George Orwell? You can find that in Islington. There are still plenty of traditionally named pubs too: take any walk around London and the chances are you'll be taken past a Three Lions, Queen's Head or Green Man. Some are better than others though so here is a short list that you should try and visit when you're in London.

The Engineer

This pub is currently under threat of closure but a local campaign is trying to keep it open. It's small and intimate, with light, bright spaces to relax in. It serves good food, including that pub classic steak and chips, and some delicious beers. Our favourite is Meantime Pale Ale which is very light and crisp with a slightly floral nose. It's a perfect summer drink.

The Lamb and Flag

Reputedly, this is London's oldest pub. It can trace it's roots back to 1623 when a pub on this site received its first licence. It's served some very famous people, including Charles Dickens, and John Dryden was attacked by thugs hired by the Earl of Rochester outside. These days it's much safer and you can enjoy a pint of IPA or Young's Bitter in peace. It's worth visiting upstairs where there is a bit more space though.

The Eagle

Foodies outside of London may have heard of this pub in Farringdon because it's famous for being the first Gastro Pub. These maybe ten and penny now but when The Eagle opened in the early 90s it was revolutionary. The food, which is cooked in an open kitchen next to the bar, is still delicious and is inspired by European cuisine: it changes regularly. Look out for plump, herbed sausages served with puy lentils, roasted hake and tender grilled lamb. It's a perfect place to meet friends in and enjoy a leisurely lunch or dinner.

The Ten Bells

This famous pub, situated in a grade II listed building, used to be where the prostitutes Annie Chapman and Mary Kelly would drink until they were murdered by Jack the Ripper. It has appeared in several movies and tv shows but is still worth a visit. It's tiled walls and dark wooden bar hark back to a different age. Today it is full of young trendy Shoreditch locals who visit to enjoy it's atmosphere and decent selection of beers.

This is just a small selection of London's pubs. If you have any to recommend let us know below. If you want to enjoy a walking tour of London, you can find out more here.

Hemingway in Paris

One of the oddities of Paris to my mind is that it was the centre for American Modernism as much as European Modernism in the early twentieth century. In late 1921 Earnest Hemingway arrived in Paris with his new wife to be the foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star.

Paris was a shock: it was cheap, it was full of beautiful women and you could drink legally there to boot. Earnest met his fellow American writer Gertrude Stein who introduced him at her salon where he met Pablo Picaso, Joan Miro and other modernist artists. He also ran into another American writer, Ezra Pound, who was just finishing his edit of The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot. It hard to imagine the artistic electricity fizzing through the city, but in places like Saint Germain Du Pres you can still feel an echo of it on the air.

The Paris Hemingway new is not that different to the one we visit today - he spent so much time living in the Latin Quarter, which is still full on winding side roads and cafe's that spill onto the pavement. Some of his haunts included Les Deux Margots (we mentioned it in this blog post) and The Brasserie Lipp. This is a wonderful Alsatian restaurant, serving simple ham and onion tarts and great piles of Choucroute Garni - sauerkraut, served with smoked sausage, ham and pork. Sitting here with a crisp glass of Riesling you could be almost imagine Hemingway walking in.

Do check out Hemingway's Paris if you can. It is beautiful. And if you need anything else, why not try out Sixty Minute Stroll? You can find out more about the Left Bank, seeing Notre Damn and learning about the Revolution.

London's Parks

The parks of London are one of the city’s glories. Like lungs, they let us breath by pumping oxygen into the air and no trip to London would be complete without a ramble through some of the Royal Parks like Hyde Park or Regent’s Park. Here then are some interesting facts that you might not know about the parks of London.

• At 253 hectares, Hyde Park (when combined with Kensington Gardens) is bigger than Monaco.
• Hyde Park, Green Park, Buckingham Palace and St James’ Park form a chain that take you from Kensington Palace to Horse Guard’s Parade in Whitehall.
• Hyde Park was once a hunting ground for Henry VIII and wasn’t open to everyone until 1637 when Charles II turned it into a public park.
• Green Park was once a notorious duelling venue.
• St James’ Park is the oldest of the Royal Parks in London and used to belong to Eton College.
• Regent’s Park’s real names should be The Regent’s Park but this is rarely used.
• The Official Residence of the American Ambassador is in private land in Regent’s Park
• Regent’s Park was originally supposed to be where a palace and series of villas would be built for the Prince Regent (later George IV) and his friends but this plan was only partly completed.
• Regent’s Park became a Public Park in 1835, initially for only two days a week.

You can find out more about the parks mentioned above on Wikipedia:

• Hyde Park
• Regent’s Park
• St James’ Park
• Green Park

If you want to find out more about walking in London please click here and if you have any tips please do leave them below.

Renting bicycles in London

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It starts on 30^th July

The hire-bike has at last come to London. So late after the pioneers of Paris.

It is not hard to bike in London because it is built on a river plain and all the interesting bits are on the flat. It should be a brilliant experience. You can follow in fascination a StrollOn tour, coast quietly along the river, pedal coolly under the trees, park thirstily outside the pubs and finish refreshed at a docking station.

Are they going to be any good? Jon Snow in the FT was very doubtful. They are slow and expensive. They are so heavy that however hard you pedal you can be overtaken by a burger in trainers doing a power-walk. But so what? Are you trying to be Lance Armstrong? No, you have come to see as much of London as you can.

They do sound expensive: you sign up for a day for £1 and then pay £1 for an hour (OK) but £6 for 2 hours! You get more from StrollOn but you go further with a bike. Therefore I suggest you take it for an hour in the middle of London and then go back with us to see the best bits.

A warning: avoid roundabouts and cyclists.

Cyclists are killed on roundabouts. White van drivers are like fighter pilots – the roundabout is the perfect battleground. They surround, squeeze and then dump the cyclist. Each scratch on the van represents a smashed cyclist. Don’t stop to count the scratches otherwise you will be one of them.

Messenger cyclists are just as dangerous but they aim to maim – they do not kill. Traffic lights are challenges – how many red ones can they jump on a road. If you go at a proper speed then you get in their way and nothing will stop them. They cut in front and leave you floundering. Just watch out and keep to the lane. You might survive to be a miracle.

I promise to keep you up to date on this story. I will battle to find a bike and report back.

StrollOn to Paris

Why am I so upset? No, it's not because I am about to head off to the Capital of Romance armed with a beret and baguette, but it is because I am about to spend a weekend in Paris without being able to trial our new Sixty Minute City.

Whilst we have now finished producing this new audio guide for London, Prague and Amsterdam, at StrollOn we have had a few issues with the timing of Paris. So I will have to satisfy myself with our free Hotpots and Sixty Minute Stroll.

Being the only one of the team to have only ever tried our products in London this represents a big moment for me. Not only am I going to use an audio guide abroad, but it will be a StrollOn one and it will, perhaps most importantly, be the first time in my life that I will have been able to mix business with pleasure.

So the pressure is on, my expectations are high and I do not expect to be left disappointed. We have not heard from any disenchanted customers to date, but I have nonetheless formulated a back up plan, which includes a bicycle helmet, a tour guide and great balance: it's time to meet monsieur et madame segway...

Until I return, StrollOn...

Big News

And finally we StrollOn is approaching where we feel you, the user, want us to be. After a few months in production we are about to release our free city overviews. We have produced ones for London, Paris, Prague and Amsterdam and we are about to have all of them downloadable from our website.

These audio guides are about 20 minutes in length and divided into bitesize chapters, covering the History and culture of the city, where to eat, nightlife, pleasure and pastimes, what to do in an emergency, how to get around, money and shopping as well as detailed what you have to do before you leave. A lot of this information will be used in the introductory section of our next product, the "Sixty Minute City" which is still in production. As a result we would love you to download the free city overview and give us some feedback. Or another way of helping would be to fill in our questionnaire:

Click Here to take survey

It only takes about 5 minutes and it will help us in fine tuning both this product as well as the Sixty Minute City. So keep your wallet in your pocket and give it a go - something that you can do when sitting vacantly at your computer - and talk to us. It is ,after all, what we are all about.

until then, StrollOn...

StrollOn in London

This page is for feedback and discussion on London, the city, and StrollOn's coverage of it