After a rummage I found the list I referred to in the robot bar post. It was (of course) in a shoe box under the bed. I've put an asterisk next to the ones I've actually visited.Karl Marx's Tomb
Top of the list and still not been. One for autumn.
Thames Flood Barrier
Probably made a big impression on me in the days when I used to watch Blue Peter. A bit awkward to get to I think.The Blind Beggar*Rubbish, just a really boring pub.
The Prospect of Whitby
Because my parents had their engagement bash here. And it's got a funny name.
Boat from Westminster to Richmond
On a hot sunny day. I like falling asleep on boats on hot sunny days.
Greenwich Market
Other than I love markets not sure why this was so important.Savoy GrillVery intimidated by big fancy restaurants so haven't been here yet.
Regents Park Zoo
Walked past it a few times, not really bothered about this one now.
Row on the Serpentine
I like rowing. A friend of a friend fell in here once. Couldn't have happened to a nicer person.
Hampstead Heath*
Nice, but to misquote Scoobius Pip, just a park.
Somerset House*
Been a few times but not for ages now, can't really get there in a lunch break anymore.
Shri Swaminarayan Mandir*
Absolutely mindblowing. Everybody was very friendly but I felt like an interloper. I'd be peering at a statue and someone would come along and start praying to it. Weird.
Brick Lane Market*
Went a few years ago - had a fantastic day.Sherlock Holmes statue*Walked up and down Baker Street looking for this and somehow managed to miss it. Maybe he was being polished that day.
Peter Pan statue
No longer care about this, I'm less whimsical these days.Old Bailey murder trialI worked just round the corner for years and never popped in.
Globe Theatre
Still really want to do this one. Quick check of the website...Henry IV, pt 1, that's a possibility.
And two that weren't on the list but which I'll add now:Big BenLike in the Thirty Nine Steps. My fear of heights and of oversized Victorian machinery probably adds up to this being a fairly nightmarish experience, but I can't help myself.
Battersea Power stationI’ve always wanted to get close up to this. I read a great article (in the Independent I think) proposing that instead of developing the station it should be allowed to stand as a picturesque ruin and the area around it should be a park. I think that’s one of the best ideas I’ve ever heard. Instead we will of course get a boring bloody hotel/luxury apartments/shopping mall monstrosity. That’s if they don’t just knock the thing down outright.
And finally, one that was on a proto-list but which had fallen off the list I found.
Wormwood ScrubsJust to walk up to the gates - are you allowed to do that?
Wormwood ScrubsJust to walk up to the gates - are you allowed to do that?
as a lifelong Shakespeare hater, I managed to cheat with the Globe. I went to see the Comedy Store players do an improv bash there one lovely hot summer evening!
ReplyDeleteI still go to meetings in Somerset House on a regularish basis, and have seen almost all of that one from the inside. Fabulous building, full of character, but getting very tatty round the edges.
P
Meetings? That's intriguing.
ReplyDeleteI really miss that part of London - going round that corner onto Waterloo Bridge, especially on a bus in winter. I'm determined to have a go on the ice rink they have there. Or the one at the Natural History Museum.
See, this is my problem with London, lots of places I would like to visit or re visit but the whole prospect of the tube, the biz and the rude people just puts me off coming down other thaan when it is decreed by work.
ReplyDeleteI would love to go to Highgate Cemetery again and I know that I would probably bankrupt myself in Rough Trade and Sister Ray.
The tube's only bad during rush hour but I tend to walk anyway if the weather's nice. It wasn't on the list but there's even a tube platform I want to visit - I forget which one it is now, it's got a a river boxed in across the ceiling.
ReplyDeleteI haven't noticed a disproportionate number of rude people, in fact when the sun's out I get a buzz off all the people (swarming like flies, etc.).
On your last point though, yes. It takes a stronger man than I to resist the temptations of Berwick Street.