UK & Ireland

How to Use the Tube in London (Without Pissing off the Locals)

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Lego Store London

Want to find out how to use the Tube in London (without pissing off the locals)? Read on… I’ve been using the Tube in London a lot recently and as I’m no longer living or working in the Capital, I’m starting to see the underground transport network in a whole new light. Sure, the Tube is awesome – it’s one of the best mass transit systems in the world, but it can be a beast to use. It’s over crowded, the whole thing seems to move at the speed of Hussein Bolt and there are more unwritten rules about using the Tube than … Read more

45 Reasons to Be Grateful for Great Britain

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great britain is great

I know Thanksgiving isn’t a British holiday, but given we suddenly appear to be claiming Black Friday as if it were our own, I thought I’d use this significant US holiday to think about all the great and wonderful things that make up the country that I call home. Which caused me to check out a few facts about Great Britain. I may not be in the UK as much as I’d like and there may be a significant proportion of the British society that can’t seem to say a good word about the place where they live, but the … Read more

Taking A Photography Class in London

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I kill cameras. I don’t do it intentionally, so I guess it’s more manslaughter than first degree murder, but the end result is the same. A non-functioning, non-blinking, entirely useless hunk of metal. My first murder occurred back in my lawyer days, ironically. Vegas, the Bellagio (of course – too much money, too little sense). I treated myself to an hour in the spa. Meanwhile, I treated my camera to a bath with a bottle of water that was was in my bag. The good news (kind of) was that the spa had cost more than the camera was worth … Read more

Clink78 Hostel London: A Night in A Prison Cell

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Last weekend I spent a night in a prison cell. Fortunately, I walked free the following day without any (criminal) record of my stay. How? I booked a night at Clink78 hostel in London. Clink78: History If you’re not familiar with Clink78, it is a hostel near Kings Cross train station in London that has a fascinating history dating back to 1792. Serving first as office space where Charles Dickens is reputed to have scribed Oliver Twist, the building went on to become Clerkenwell Magistrates Court. In 2008 the court closed its doors on miscreants and welcomed a different kind … Read more

Afternoon Tea at the Langham Hotel London – Review

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Afternoon Tea At The Langham Hotel London

I’m not much of a planner these days but last weekend has been marked in my diary for months – a much-needed catch up with my old college room-mate, co-conspirator and long-term friend. Of course, we see each other when we can but between her adorable children (note to the eldest: you should be a blogger, you talk more than I do!) and my flighty nature, getting a full 24-hours together free of laptops (me) and nappies (her children, not her) is near impossible. So, we did some advance planning and the date was set – Saturday just gone. Prone … Read more

The Best Gin Bars and Gin Experiences in London

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best places to drink gin in london

Want to know the best places to drink gin in London? Read on… If you’ve been paying attention to the spirit world in the past couple of years, you won’t have been able to miss the fact that gin is having a revival, and nowhere more so than in London. Sure, Grey Goose is doing a sterling job of keeping the vodka-mix crowd happy (despite the fact that the drink actually reached its peak of cool around the same time the cosmopolitan was enjoying its heyday – shortly after the last episode of Sex and City aired on HBO circa … Read more