flygirl

Hi all

I thought this would be a neat wrinkle on the "what did you do in London" threads.

What have you NOT done (touristy, non-touristy) which you always meant to do, but never got around to it (even if doing so now would be pointless and anti-climactic)

despite repeated trips to London (not even sure of the number - has to be close to a dozen, and totting up to several MONTHS total time spent on the ground) I have never:

Listened to the various speakers at Hyde Park Corner on Sunday mornings...

There is a little Tea Museum I've always meant to visit - Bramah Museum of Tea and Coffee.

Never had lunch at Harvey Nick's (not sure I'm missing out)

Never had fish and chips... (I am sure I am not missing out)

surely there are others...

sheila

The Tate

The Tate Modern

The Tower

Portobello Market

Camden Market

And I'd like to do either.

tod

Hi FLYGIRL,
You have replied to one of my queries about June this year and it's nice to chat again.
What an interesting topic you have raised! No matter how many times one gets to London there is never enough time to do it all. Over the years and about 10 trips later I still have not visited the :
1. National Gallery
2. Tate Modern
3. Natural History Museum
4. Albert Memorial
5. Royal Albert Hall
6. Science Museum
7. Shakespears Globe
8. Walked across the New Millenium Bridge
9. Kensington Roof Gardens(best kept secret)
10. Sherlock Holmes Museum

As you can see mostly Museums and indoor stuff. Perhaps it's because we always go between May and September!

I have done a lot of London that first or second time visitors never do:
Go and see "Ye olde Curiosity Shoppe",
Walk the length of the Regents Canal on a Sunday Morning, See The Wallace Collection, Visit Queen Mary's Rose Garden when it's at it's best (about 2nd/3rd week June), Sat in a pew and wondered back to the morning of Robert & Elizabeth Brownings simple wedding ceremony at St. Marylebone Church, walked up Primrose Hill to get a view of London, had a roast beef dinner at Londons oldest restaurant - Rules, Fish 'n chips out of newspaper in Leicester Square(many years ago), and so many more things one wants do again.

hansikday

tod, please keep going, you were on a super roll!

janis

Two things I always intend to squeeze in but have been able to, are the Dulwich Art Gallery and the Thames Barrier.

Tallulah

Ha ha! I LIVE in London and I have never been to the Tower of London or into Westminster Abbey. And those really quite major things are just the tip of the iceberg!! I could include going into St Pauls, or the British Museum. The list goes on and on!

Unfortunately you tend not to be a tourist in your hometown...

hansikday

You don't have to be a tourist to admire Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's, or the British Museum.

hobbes

I have never bought anything at Harrods...something I am told ALL tourists do on some trip or the other...

hansikday

Take a closer look at the Albert Bridge in Chelsea - often said to be London's prettiest bridge and built in a grand Victorian manner

Take a closer look at the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gore - often said to be one of the great sculptural achievements of the Victorian era

flygirl

how neat, all of you! tod, this is great! what makes this interesting, is it becomes a list of things TO do, for others - I have to say tod you have not done things I have not done either! haha

hope we have a lot of things "not done" on the list to come!

tudorprincess

Great thread flygirl!
St.Paul's
V&A
Museum of London
Tea
Speaker's Corner
Vinopolis
Various well known pubs
Tallulah- shame on you! My mother is from Philadelphia and had never been to see the Liberty Bell,Independence Hall or up William Penn until my brother and I were kids and wanted to see them on a visit to see my grandmother.

tod

Tallulah! My dream is to live in London for an entire year and experience all kinds of weather including icy wind wipping at the coat as I peruse the shopp windows in Regent street on Xmas eve! You are so near and yet so far from some wonderful wonderful sights.
You can even go to The Tower when the likes of us are long gone and its more peaceful. The British Museum(only done once but "I'll be Back!&quotis divine because its so near to my very first meal as I hit London - the one and only Wagammama's! I love that noodle place.
HANSIKDAY - I have never seen the Albert Bridge at night all lit up with thousands of lightglobes. I believe it's really beautiful.

hansikday

Here's a few more;

Albert Pub, St. James Park, with nice views of Westminister Abbey

Apsley House, Hyde Park, contains the Wellington Museum

Bank of England Museum

Blackfriars Pub - Arts and Crafts design

flygirl

ohh ohh! another one I have not done, but will do this trip:

ICE SKATING at Somerset House. it will just open by the time we get there... yay!!

tod

Flygirl - That's where the Gilbert Collection is housed not so? I have only been once and was knowcked out by the silverware dating 16th century onwards, and the most AWESOME Faberge eggs on display! Is the icerink going to be the inner courtyard where little kids run amongst the water jets squirting in the air? Must be.
I wish you a lovely time gliding around the ice. I used to skate in my yopunger days but was never very good.
A few more tips for visiting London:
Princess Diana's dress collection at Kensington Palace, looking at the art on Bayswater Road on a Sunday, catch the Docklands Light Railway to Canary Wharf getting off at Island Gardens and walking through the underground tunnel which goes under the River Thames to Greenwich, a narrowboat ride from Little Venice to Camden Marketany day but Sundays are busy) the back for lunch at the Cafe' on the bridge looking down on the canal at Little Venice. On days when flying out of London and the bags are packe, you've checked out the hotel and there's nowhere to go until check-in at Heathrow, try catching a tube to "knowhere"! We caught the central line from Holborn to Epping and found ourselves in the country with cows and horses within a very short time. Also have taken a bus to "knowhere" but be careful, leave loads of time for the return trip!

Fairhope

Tod : I got a water bottle from Wagammamas when we ate there (twice) in our one visit to London. Had a good argument with a Brit while waiting in line! I recommend it highly for cheap fare

Judyrem

The Tate and Tate Modern(don't really care for modern, so maybe I won't go). Speakers corner.... Hampstead Heath,,,high tea at a posh hotel...a London movie theater. Tod, me too! I would just love that!

Dreamer2

I've never gone into Harrods!
And I've always wanted to...
Maybe on my fourth visit.

But I also see from some of these lists, that there are quite a few other things I've missed, as well. I guess that's what happens when your visits are restricted to either business or travel with kids!

m_kingdom2

Tate Modern is fabulous, and has lots of iconic pieces from the 20th century, to say you don't want to see anything modern is just a ridiculous statement to make, it's evolved from work of the previous centuries. You might not care for it, but you should be able to appreciate it. I wouldn't pay money for lots of modernist artworks, but I can still appreciate their meaning and concept.

It's called afternoon, not "high tea". "high tea" is a working class meal eaten in lieu of dinner.

vcl

Either of the Tates.
The Wellington Museum.
Last Night of the Proms in Hyde Park.
Apsley House.
Camden Market.
Kensington Roof Gardens. (Didn't know about them; that's going high on my list for this autumn.)
The problem with London is that there are so many things on our "have to go back to..." list that we'd have to relocate for a year and we still wouldn't fit everything in.