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March 8, 2023June 23, 2023

Traditional British Puddings Are the Stuff of Legends

Traditional British puddings like treacle sponge, jam roly poly, spotted dick, trifle, rice pud are the greatest dishes in the world. If you thought that English food was bland and unappetising. you haven’t properly studied the dessert section of any self respecting London restaurant menu…

The History of Traditional British Puddings

Here’s the low down on how the traditional British pudding came into existence. In days of yore, puddings were bits of bread, foraged fruits and miscellaneous odds and ends that were boiled in sheep’s intestines. Fortunately, our ancestors then discovered that a pudding cloth worked just as well.

Poor families up and down the land filled their rumbling stomachs, after a meagre main course with pudding. These were cheap concoctions of flour, fat, sugar and jam or fruit, steamed for a few hours on top of the stove. To counteract the sticky texture that would cling to the roof of the mouth, puddings were often served with custard.

Another great inventor found that instead of using expensive eggs and cream to produce a vanilla flavoured custard sauce cornflour with artificial flavourings would give a similar result. Custard powder was mixed with hot milk. Eureka, the great British pudding with custard was born.

Custard powder is mixed with milk to form a pudding sauce.

Custard is heated in a saucepan until it is thick.

In the dead of a frozen winter, you may find yourself in a pub, gazing longingly down the menu at the pudding section. Maybe the inn keeper has one of these delicious puds with your name on it…

Spotted Dick with Custard is Such a Traditional British pudding that it is served in the Houses of Parliament.

Spotted Dick is a boiled suet pudding dotted with currants or raisins. The dried fruit are the “spots”. This pudding is also known as Spotted Dog. To avoid hilarity and school boy humour, in the Houses of Parliament it is called Spotted Richard. Dick is an abbreviation of the name Richard. Our politicians can be quite puerile.

Other steamed British puddings are treacle sponge, jam sponge, marmalade pudding and chocolate pudding. All of them are made with the additions of pantry staples such as golden syrup, jam, marmalade and cocoa powder. Prior to the fast food revolution, these puds were not only served in homes throughout the land but also made in gargantuan rectangle tins by school dinner ladies. They served them with a dollop of custard issued with force from a ladle. Some people went back for second helpings!

Traditional British puddings are gaining a resurgence in popularity. They cost pennies to make, freeze well and can be reheated in a microwave for 30 seconds. This means a pretty profit for a restauranteur.

Jam Roly Poly is a Traditional British Pudding Almost Universally Loathed by School Children from the 1950s-1970s.

Congratulate yourself if you see this traditional British pudding on a menu. A Jam Roly Poly (otherwise known as Dead Man’s Arm or Dead Man’s Leg) is a great rarity. Basically, suet (shredded beef fat) pastry is flattened into a rectangle, then smothered with jam, rolled up like a Swiss roll and boiled in an old shirt sleeve. Much beloved by Mrs Beeton (the Jamie Oliver of the 1830s) and dreaded by school children up and down the land.

Christmas Pudding

Christmas Pudding is the most famous of the traditional British puddings. It is is usually served after a heavy Christmas dinner. A lead ball of a pudding that is made months in advance from mixed dried fruits steeped in half a bottle of brandy according to Mrs Beeton. Dark treacle is added before boiling for many hours. This gives the pudding its distinctive dark colour and taste. Traditionally, a 6 pence coin was added to the mixture and was given to the person who found it. You do wonder how many people choked on that coin.

Crumbles

Crumbles come in many different forms, the most popular are apple. Usually it is made with the Bramley cooking apple because it forms a white fluffy puree when cooked. Crumbles may also be made from rhubarb and plum. Restaurants make the most of fruits in season and add a crumble topping of flour, rubbed with butter and sugar. The dish is then oven baked until the fruit is soft and the topping golden.

Bread and Butter Pudding is a Retro Traditional British Pudding that is Making a Come Back.

Thrifty families use up stale bread in this recipe. Bread is buttered and sprinkled with sultanas or raisins before adding an egg custard, flavoured with grated nutmeg. Today you may see restaurants offering a croissant, panettone or brioche bread and butter pudding which enables them to use surplus bakery items from breakfast.

Rice Pudding

Another one of granny’s favourites is a baked rice pudding. A short grain “pudding” rice is baked with full fat milk, sugar and flavoured with cinnamon or nutmeg. The secret to cooking it is to let it cook on a very low heat. I have seen versions made with basmati but these are not retro at all.

English Trifle

A trifle is made using leftover or dried cake. This is doused in a sweet sherry and layered with bruised or squashed fruits, fruit puree or jelly. Followed by a layer of custard and whipped cream. Lurid red jelly and tinned fruit trifles are typical of the 1960s-1980s offerings at cheap hotels and restaurants throughout the land!

Tinned Fruit Salad

Canned Fruit Salad. Where is the cherry?

Tinned fruit salad is a personal favourite although you won’t see this on any menu. It is chopped pears, peaches, grapes and pineapple with a few cherries buried deep in the tin. We used to fight over the cherries as children. Served with a trickle of evaporated milk. If you were lucky you may get thick tinned cream.

So before you scoff at the idea of these traditional British puddings give one of these a try.

Find Out More About Traditional British Puddings

Rice Pudding and crumble are some of the easiest puddings to make at home but if you are feeling adventurous why not try your and at a few others. This is our favourite pudding basin for steaming and it is made by the iconic British brand Mason and Cash.

Traditional British Pudding Recipes

The BBC is a reliable web site for traditional British pudding recipes and some have a modern twist.

More About Desserts on Londonology

If you enjoyed this piece on traditional British puddings you may like to discover more about London’s best dessert (in our humble opinion).

March 8, 2023June 23, 2023

Red Icons – The Cultural Emblems of London

Look around you, London is ablaze with red icons and they are not just any shade of red. They are Pantone 485C…the colour of our London buses, Royal Mail, London Underground, the Union Jack, the Coldstream Guards and the Beefeaters at the Tower of London. What is the cause of this rash of redness?

Why Are Our Cultural Icons Red?

Perhaps the fault lies with our long line of monarchs? Our flag designers? Or our military garment manufacturers?

A famous red icon - the red, white and blue in our Union Jack — A famous red icon – the red, white and blue in our Union Jack

A Red Uniformed Coldstream Guard Outside Buckingham Palace

In fact, we probably need to thank the management of the London General Omnibus Company.

A Bus Company Randomly Chooses Red

In the 18th century, there were several different bus companies who ploughed up and down the streets of London with green, yellow, brown and maroon liveries. Then in 1907, the London and General Omnibus company merged with the Vanguard Motor Bus Company and became the leading bus operator in the capital.

The Vanguard Motor Bus Company took a momentous decision that would shape our lives and photography forever, they decided to paint all their buses a cardinal red.

And we don’t know why!

There were no meeting minutes. It could be because red is a symbolic colour for England but the most likely explanation is that it made the buses easy to spot. Imagine an elderly English gent with failing eye sight (and without recourse to the NHS which was a later 1940s initiative), he needed to be able to spot the bus amongst the dense London smog, get his pennies ready and prepare to board.

“Prior to 1907, it was common to see buses in green, brown, yellow and maroon.

Red Pillar Boxes Were a Red Icon Forerunner

The red of course wasn’t entirely plucked from nowhere, our streets were already littered with Royal Mail pillar boxes which had been in use since 1852.

Then Came Our Emblematic Red Icon – The K2 Red Phone Booth

And after the red buses came the red telephone boxes. In 1924 Sir Giles Gilbert Scott won a competition for the redesign of the red phone kiosk (known as K2). This was famously made of cast iron and smelled of urine – an indelible feature of my teen years spent ringing boyfriends out of earshot of nosy parents.

The Iconic K2 Red Phone Booth designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott

London Underground Creates Yet Another Red Icon

Things must have snowballed from there, as London Underground adopted red for its logo and red for the Central line on the tube map – symbolically, this line goes through the heart of London.

London Underground Adopted the same Colour Red as Buses and Pillar Boxes for its Logo

Then It Was the Turn of One of our Famous Chocolate Brands

And then Nestle used red on the packaging of Kit Kat one of our most famous bars of chocolate

Margaret Thatcher Launches “Buy British” with the Union Jack

In the 1980s, we had Margaret Thatcher as prime minister, who berated us to buy British to revive the failing economy. Companies up and down the country used the Union Jack on their labels to signify British made goods. The Union Jack thereby became a symbol for quality against an influx of supposedly cheaper fruits and vegetables from South Africa and inferior goods from Hong Kong.

The Buy British Campaign Used the Union Jack

Then we had Cool Britannia and punk rock…

Cool Brittania and the Skin Head Movement Used Red British Motifs

…and the England Football Team and some rather nasty right wingers (not to mention the Labour Party with their Red Rose insignia and Red Flag anthem) and before we knew it our streets, our homes, our shops were emblazoned with red, white and blue, billowing in every direction in a dystopian nightmare.

Fast Food Gets on the Red Icons Bandwagon

And just as we were coming up for air, it was the turn of fast food…Wimpy Bars, Coca Cola and then Macdonald’s cheekily turned to patriotism and used our primary red colour for their logos.

Macdonalds Used the same Pantone Red at the Base of its Yellow Arches Logo

The cultural elite thought they were safe from this onslaught until the artists of the modern age started to adopt our red cultural icons for their own purposes…Pop Art was on the bandwagon and our galleries were no longer safe from red.

And as with anything, London tourists got a taste for red; they wanted some of the action, our flags, our buses, our underground symbols, our beefeaters, our phone boxes. Things at this point started getting seriously out of hand as we began to disseminate cheap plastic souvenirs in Pantone Red 485C to all nations of the world.

Tourists Can't Get Enough of Our Cultural Red Icons — Tourists Can’t Get Enough of Our Cultural Red Icons

Even Las Vegas, with enough kitsch of its own, was given the Gordon Ramsay restaurant with its iconic K2 phone booth doors.

Gordon Ramsay Fish & Chip Restaurant in Las Vegas has K2 Phone Booth Doors

And before we knew it the whole world was drowning, not waving or basking, in LONDON RED. And all (in my view) because an unknown person, in an undocumented meeting, decided to paint their London bus fleet red.

If you would like to spot some of our famous red icons, why not try some of these free and cheap sightseeing ideas.

March 8, 2023September 17, 2023

London on the Cheap – How I Changed My Life.

London on the cheap? That is the question. Can you go out for a fiver for a full day of London food and entertainment? This is a story of my £5 a day experiment and how I had a fabulous time and restored my health and sanity. My life was a mess there was no denying it. Suffering from exhaustion and overwhelm, a chance reading of a blog changed me forever…

Events that Led up to Doing London on the Cheap

A London in the Cheap experiment wasn’t in my horoscope but here is how it came about.

My mother had been ill for some years and was now confined to a wheel chair. My father at 87, was a bit doddery but still a practising pharmacist. And I was working 80 hour weeks managing the e-learning output for a large organisation…and managing my investments and properties…think deadlines, mold, damp, repairs, neighbours, tenants. It wasn’t kittens and roses.

And just when it didn’t look as if it could get any more complicated, my father had a fall on a bus sustaining a bleed on the brain. So now I had two parents, both frail and bonkers, and a pharmacy to close down, plus everything else.

On the exact day of my father’s death, the phone rang…I had won a lucrative but complicated project in Sweden, the land where a glass of wine costs £15, the sun sets at 2pm in December and waiting for a bus causes icicles to drip from your nose.

My face was red and puffy from exhaustion. My eyes had shrunk further into my skull. My whole life was subcontracted to cleaners, gardeners, virtual assistants and doctors. And my sole entertainment comprised going to the local pub for lunch on Sunday.

And all of this came at a monetary cost too. I was earning a fortune and spending £21,000 a year on foreign travel, meals away from home and the plethora of other useless things that go with an executive consulting career.

A Blog Post on a £5 a Day Challenge Changed my Life

Late one night I was researching investments, when I fell upon a blog written by a business school professor. She described how she was was paying off £60k of debt by eliminating all unnecessary outgoings with the exception of gym membership and a meagre £150 a month for entertainment. This worked out at a fiver per day.

Her story preyed on my mind. Could this be the key to changing my life? Where would a fiver in London take me?

My plan on how to do London on the cheap took some working out. I would ignore any transport costs. I joined a luxury gym. And I wouldn’t take into consideration any of my existing memberships which were:

In turn this £5 a day challenge became the inspiration for me starting the Londonology bog as I explain in Hello World.

London on the Cheap, or for a Fiver, per Day

That left me with a fiver, or £5 a day, to go out..and as a cup of coffee in London was about £2.50, I was clearly not going to get very far.

But what if I stayed local to my home in West London on one day, used my memberships and took a picnic lunch? My expenses for those days would be zero. Then on alternate days, I would have £11 to spend. This was much more viable. The plan was born.

My “Free” Local Days

My local days didn’t involve much suffering despite all expenditure being (largely) forbidden.

Invariably, I would start my gallivanting, with a trip to the gym where I spurned any form of strenuous exercise and headed straight to a hot foaming jacuzzi alternating with the steam room, solarium, a brief swim and the sauna.

My gym and the jacuzzi where I whiled away my mornings

Sometimes I would swing by Waitrose for a free coffee (it’s shame that they stopped that source of profound pleasure).

Then I would drift between a walk in Kew Gardens…

Kew Gardens in West London is cheap if you have an annual membership

Or a free Tai Chi class overlooking a grand tree lined vista…

Or a trip to Richmond Park to see ancient trees and deer…

I discovered that the Odeon ran a scheme for the over 60s (Odeon Silver cinema) where I could have tea and biscuits and watch a movie for £2…so not zero expenditure but fairly close.

Ultra cheap Odeon Silver Cinema screenings

My “free days” were, in fact, quite a lot of fun!

My First London on the Cheap Adventure

On an overcast day in December 2013, I embarked on my first budget adventure with a well researched plan.

I started at the V&A, where I joined an organised museum tour of the little known Theatre and Performance Collection.

Among the costumes, set designs, advertising posters and oil paintings was the horse from the theatre production of Warhorse. Joey the puppet had starred in over 1,640 shows of the stage adaption of Michael Morpurgo’s book before he retired to the V&A in March 2013.

Slightly exhilarated with my no cost V&A success, I walked on icy pavements to the Serpentine Gallery. I was overawed by the cafe extension, built that year and designed by Zaha Hadid; a cloud like edifice of steel and glass where the undulating roof plummets to the ground at various points. I stopped for a pot of tea with a complimentary lavender shortbread biscuit.

The Zaha Hadid designed cafe at the Sackler Serpentine Gallery

There was an interesting, if not unnerving exhibition, of Klu Klux Klan figures and multilated art in their Contemporary Art Space (free and entertaining).

Walking back to South Kensington, I abandoned my plans for crepes when I saw the welcoming orange awnings of Comptoir Libanais.

I had a late lunch feasting on the Mezze Platter of hummus, baba ghanuj, quinoa, tabbouleh, falafel, labne, cheese samboussek, flat bread and pickles. And to drink, I had rose mint tea which arrived in a steaming Middle Eastern silver tea pot and was a refreshing blend of green tea, fresh mint, rose water and sugar.

I then hopped on a bus to Harrods to see the Christmas windows. It was the year that they were decked out like carriages on the Orient Express. Really, they were a 1920s marvel to behold.

I ended my First London on the Cheap mission with a walk round the Harrods Food Hall which was brimming with Christmas treats – bronze turkeys at £120 and all manner of pricy delicacies.

The total for my exhilarating day out had come to £11.34 including tea at the Serpentine cafe and my mezze lunch at Comptoir Libanais. The theatre tour at the V&A was complimentary, as was entry to the art exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery. Bear in mind these are 2013 prices but this wouldn’t cost much more today.

My “London on the Cheap” plan was not only born but my plan worked!

Fine Tuning My Days Out

Over the coming months, I discovered a few things that helped me to refine my London on the Cheap plan.

The key was lunch for a fiver, a few coffee stops to rest and get a caffeine boost and a well researched plan of things to see and do.

Of course, anyone can get a sandwich on-the-go but I wanted something better and for £5 there’s a surprising range of tasty morsels.

I was bowled over by both Mr Sammy (such a charming man) and his Beigel Bake shop in Brick Lane where I was given the most enormous white doughy bread roll stuffed with huge amounts of salt beef, neon yellow, nose tingling mustard and gherkins for £4.25.

A Beigel Bake sandwich is delicious and perfect when you are doing London on the Cheap.

Then there was Five Guys, where somewhere at the bottom of the menu they advertised a small beef burger for £4.75 and when they asked me what toppings I wanted, I said “All of them!”. This was a gargantuan lunch time treat as they slapped on tomatoes, mayo, lettuce, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, jalapeño peppers, green peppers and ketchup.

And I loved the soup and crumble combination at Cafe in the Crypt under St Martins Church. Each day they brought out a vat of fresh home made soup, hot baked bread and an apple crumble with a jug of custard which was £5.95 (slightly more now).

These days my caffeine fix is taken care of with a £20 monthly subscription to Pret which includes smoothies, cappuccino, hot chocolate and a large range of barista drinks – useful for someone like me who is always on the go. You can have up to five drinks a day at 30 minute intervals.

It is worth noting that Pret does a black filter coffee for a £1 reduced by 25p (pre coronavirus) if you bring your own travel mug.

It's easier to do London on the Cheap if you use the Pret subscription which provides free hot and cold drinks. — It’s easier to do London on the Cheap if you use the Pret subscription which provides free hot and cold drinks.

The easy part was finding things to do. I discovered the key was to research the day before online, find vouchers and keep an eye open for membership based entertainment. I would try and contain my activities within a small area, or on a single tube line, and have some variety between them eg. an art gallery plus a performance or recital.

I still get excited when I find an interesting lunch deal for a fiver. Look at this one that I found yesterday at the famous Poppies which is arguably the best fish and chip shop in town. But honestly, if you are near a market, or street food stall, you can pick up amazing things in the £5-8 range.

By the way be sure to check out our blog post on free and cheap things to do in London as this is a great way to get started.

The key to doing London on the Cheap is to spend no more than £5 on lunch.

So Where is My “London on the Cheap” Plan Now?

Before my great budget project, the only people I really knew were old friends, neighbours and IT work colleagues.

Now my friendship circle is simply magical…amazing, creative people with interesting stories, who I have met on my London adventures. We hoot with laughter and are always booking things for each other and zooming into town.

As I was having such a good time, I would prefer to be out living it up, instead of chained to a desk and a computer, so I retired.

And I no longer look like the walking dead.

Do I still go out for a fiver? No, sadly not. I did it for years and it was the most fun ever but I decided to pay more to properly recompense the fantastic venues, bars and restaurants that are the backbone of my new life. And I like to be out with my friends without feeling financially constrained.

I think back to 2013, the blog that started it all and my chance decision to click on the author’s About page which was the catalyst for my London for a Fiver project. But even 7 years later, going out every day to fascinating places, all for the price of your average office worker’s lunch is definitely achievable.

Me, Today

Happy and relaxed with friends in our opera box at the London Coliseum.

Me following my London on the Cheap experiment in a box at the London Coliseum.

So I implore you dear reader, get off your sofa now and go out. You can go out for free! And you can definitely have the time of your life in London on the Cheap.

March 8, 2023June 23, 2023

A London Winter Packing List Compiled by a Londoner

This is what we recommend as a London Winter Packing List and we also advise on where to shop for the things you forgot. Do you spend your journey to the airport remembering all the things that you forgot to pack? Well you aren’t alone…

What Goes into the Perfect London Winter Packing List?

London can be wet and dreary when you are trudging about on foot and then you find yourself thrust into overheated steamy shops, sipping cocktails in chic hotel bars or spending the night at the theatre. So there is a lot that needs to be crammed into a small suitcase. Here we explain the 15 must haves for a London trip – the perfect London Winter Packing List.

How Not To Look Like A Tourist

Wear dark colours like navy, black and dark grey and only wear one or two colours. Don’t carry a selfie stick or camera. The London look is understated and ‘put together’.

Hannah at Cocobeautea has nailed London style and you may want to check out her blog and Instagram for ideas.

London Winter Packing List Essentials

Outer Wear

It rains a lot in London. You won’t get very far with just a blazer, hoodie or a fake fur coat. So unless you’ve arrived on the one week of the year where no rain is forecast your coat will need to be waterproof.

In the midst of Winter, this may be a full length down filled coat, and in Spring or Summer you may get away with a lightweight Mac or thin padded jacket.

Go to M&S if you haven’t brought this item with you. It’s a mid range shop selling quality clothing and you’ll be able to pick something up in the £40-£100 category. Make sure your coat is labelled as Stormwear…unless of course you are here to buy an iconic Burberry.

There are large M&S stores in Victoria, High Street Kensington, Marble Arch and Oxford Street.

It can get chilly here in Winter so you’ll need a scarf, fingerless gloves (so you can text) and a warm hat.

The leader in high street scarfs, wool hats and gloves is Accessorize. There are branches throughout the West End. You’ll be able to pick up something on trend…be that clashing or co-ordinating. Fortnum & Mason do a nice range of hats. Or you could try the Royal Hatters Lock & Co.

High Street clothes Shops for the Young or Super Stylish:

Zara
H&M
Mango
All Saints
Hobbs

Walking Shoes

Leave your high heels at home, as you’ll need comfortable, easy-to-put-on flats for getting about and travelling on public transport in London in Winter.

For daytime walking, Clarks has a superb quality flat shoes with a grip. Look for Goretex lined leather that makes the shoes waterproof. You may also find what you are looking for at Uggs, just off Piccadilly Circus. Carvela and Kurt Geiger do some ultra chic trainers.

Bear in mind that you are looking for urban walking shoes or chic trainers not hiking boots or scruffy, utilitarian trainers.

Jumpers and T Shirts

The London climate tends to be mild and damp, even in the middle of Winter. Added to that, you will be going in and out of department stores, museums and hopping on and off the tube, so you don’t want to get too hot. It’s best to dress in layers. I would recommend a dark merino wool or cashmere jumper over a cotton long sleeved T shirt. Or you may consider a loose fit jumper half tucked into jeans or trousers. Cardigans are a difficult look to pull off when wearing a coat.

M&S does a good range of wool mix and cashmere jumpers in plain colours and layering pieces like t shirts and vests. River Island and H&M sell nice winter knits.

Evening Wear

If you are going out, you’ll need to be able to switch up your outfit for the evening. For most of the year, I wear black trousers which I have in a variety of fabrics e.g. faux leather, velvet, jeans and suiting. I wear these with an evening top and jewellery for the London theatre and restaurants. I can then add a coat, scarf, gloves and Uggs to stay warm for the tube journey home.

Monsoon does a good range of tops and evening dresses which can work as tunics over black trousers. Also check out evening knits.

Nightwear

I buy all my nightwear in the ultra low cost store Primark. They sell 100% cotton night dresses and pyjamas in the £5 price range which wash well and last forever. Check out their slipper socks for using in your hotel. There is a large Primark on London’s Oxford Street.

Tiger is also good for slipper socks.

Underwear

M&S has made a name for itself as the leading brand for quality high street underwear, bras and socks. Why would you go anywhere else?

Bags

Bags are an emotive subject as many feel that this is where their social status is judged. If you are after a designer bag head to Harrods, Selfridges, Liberty’s or Harvey Nichols.

Kurt Geiger is a UK company focussed on the London Look . Bags are mostly priced bag in the £100-200 category. Their flag ship store is in Covent Garden. For everyday use, I wear one of their leather crossbody bags.

Umbrella

Bring a telescopic, ultra light weight umbrella. London rain can be gusty and travel horizontally!

As there’s a high risk of losing umbrellas in cafes, buses and tubes I’d recommend a cheap, sturdy umbrella from Tiger for approximately £5.

Toiletries and Beauty Essentials

There’s always a huge number of items required to maintain a beauty routine and some you are not able to carry in hand baggage. Tiger will be able to fulfil most of these needs from small magnifying mirrors with suction pads, foot files, emery boards, scissors, tweezers and travel hair brushes – all at very low prices in stylish colourful, Scandi designs.

For really high quality hand creams, in lovely retro metal effect tubes, go to The Body Shop. I always carry a travel size of their Hemp Hard Working Hand Protector which has a nice slightly earthy smell – perfect for chapped Winter hands.

Alternatively, try Superdrug for essentials, it is slightly cheaper than Boots with an excellent range of vitamins and drug store brand makeup.

The best drug store make up brands are:

Bourjois
L’Oreal
Max Factor
No 7 (Boots)

Medicines and Vitamins

When travelling, I bring a small toiletry bag containing all my meds for any past, current or (likely) future illness. I also use 7 day tablet organisers containing my prescription meds and daily vitamins which I carry in both my hand luggage and my carry on.

If you are after medical advice, head to Boots or anywhere that you see the green cross pharmacy sign as they will have a resident pharmacist who will be qualified to advise.

While you are in a pharmacy consider the purchase of these Winter essentials

blister gel plasters
lip salve
anti bacterial hand gel
multi packs of travel tissues

Splitting headache with no pharmacy in sight? Try a newsagent as they have a small range of over-the-counter meds.

Phone Chargers

A couple of small lipstick style phone chargers will get you through the day. You can buy these plus the phone leads in Tiger or most drug stores. While you are there check out their travel plugs.

Electrical Equipment

Most hotels have an iron, hair dryer and phone chargers if you ask at reception.

Looking for specialised camera or phone equipment? Try the vast number of shops on the Tottenham Court Road.

Writing and Drawing Equipment

You may have the urge to document your thoughts and travels the old fashioned way, using a pen and paper, or get crafty, or creative. Tiger does a range of notepads, pens, drawing or craft supplies…you could also try Paperchase and John Lewis.

Things to Buy When You Arrive

Cooking Utensils

If you are here for longer and self catering, you may require utensils or equipment. Most Londoners will buy these from large out-of-town supermarkets like Tesco, Waitrose or Sainsbury’s. If this isn’t an option for you try John Lewis in Oxford Street, Peter Jones in Chelsea and there is a limited range of very basic equipment in Tiger.

Hotel Room Dining and Snacks

On some cold, rainy days in Winter, you may not feel like going out for a meal, or you are preparing for when the urge for a midnight snack strikes. M&S Food Hall in Marble Arch is a paradise of pre prepared food which will cater for every need, from a substantial dinner, to snacks on-the-go, park picnics or midnight morsels. Alternatives are Pret and the Selfridges or Harrods food halls.

A Londoner’s London Winter Packing List

As a Londoner, these are the things that I advise my visiting friends to put on their London Winter Packing List…and I never leave home without my tissues, phone battery charger, paracetamol umbrella and a comfortable pair of shoes.

If you are looking for places to go to that will fully utilise all your wet weather and outdoor clothing look no further than our posts on Richmond Park and Kew Gardens.

March 8, 2023August 9, 2023

A Day Out in London – Plan It With Our Detailed Guide

So exactly how do you plan a day out in London? Here’s how to go from a hum drum day in which you have little to show for it but throbbing blisters to one where you are energised by London in its glory. As they say, “fail to plan and plan to fail”.

Plan a Day Out in London by Finding Your Starting Point

Well in advance of your day out, decide where are you going. The sooner you start to plan the more options you will have. You will be able to book tickets that will be sold out nearer the day and you will have more time for research.

Research London Activities and Restaurants

Your start point is going to be the theme for your entire day.

For example, if you are going to see Buckingham Palace you may decide to have a Royal day. Or maybe a Thames Clipper boat trip to Greenwich could become a maritime adventure taking in the naval museum and the the Cutty Sark. Or the Churchill War Rooms could be the spark for a military history day.

Good places to research your starting points are:

Think of what could spoil your enjoyment like long queues and crowds, rain and bad weather and make contingency plans.

If a heatwave is expected, you may want to postpone a walking tour of Kensington for a trip to the Regents Park Open Air Theatre where you can rent a deckchair and have a picnic and a leisurely stroll of the famous rose garden before a performance. If rain is forecast you won’t want to be on a Thames river boat so consider indoor or covered venues like The Tate Modern and Borough Market.

If you are planning many weeks in advance you can check the average weather and precipitation levels for the month online.

Match your activities to the weather forecast

Is there a Google chart which shows when the venue is less busy? Avoiding busy periods means that you are more likely to get tickets and you’ll spend less time waiting in queues.

Amp Up Your Main Experience

Check the Events page of the venue’s website. By arriving earlier or later you may be able to take advantage of a free guided tour or performance.

Or maybe you could plan your day out in London to coincide with with a Happy Hour at a nearby bar or the pre-theatre menu.

Time your activities to make the most of Happy Hours

Museums and major attractions often have delightful museum shops and cafes.

Read about the main exhibits, paintings or features of the place that you are visiting in advance as this definitely enhances the experience.

Add Additional Activities

Now we are going to look at how to take the day from special to amazing by researching nearby activities which are a different type of experience to your central event. If you have been on your feet sightseeing or at an art gallery, look for concerts, restaurants, cafes and theatres.

TripAdvisor is a useful reference as it has a map function which shows nearby attractions, restaurants and bars.

Put your Day Out in London Plan Together Like a Movie

Once you have your plan, sequence it together in your mind like a movie. What’s is the day going to look like? Imagine the photos that will make up your day.

If you live in London mix things up, don’t just tread a well worn path to your favourite cafe or restaurant.

Be Realistic About Your Time and Energy

When you plan a day out in London, allow for both travel time and downtime. Also allow for things going wrong. Check, and double check, opening, closing and last entry times. Does anything need to be eliminated or saved for another day?

Refine the Plan to Meet Your Budget

Are you getting the most for your expenditure?

Get the most value from your money when you plan a day out in London

It’s about getting the best value for money not about overall cheapness.

Maybe you could switch in some more budget friendly options, or spend more on some aspects of the day for a memorable, luxurious experience.

Save Vouchers and Make a Rough Schedule

Finally, print out anything that you will need like vouchers, tickets etc or photograph them to save to your phone. You will need a record of your London day plan and easy access to it.

Photograph your tickets and vouchers on your phone

Its amazing how your internet signal mysteriously disappears as soon as you arrive at a box office.

I sometimes use Tripit for planning day trips especially if my day includes a lot of time critical events.

With a bit of forethought and research, you can plan a day out in London that is truly amazing.

Additional Information on how to Plan a Day Out in London

If you have enjoyed this guide on how to plan a day out in London why not check out our other blog posts on cheap and free days out in London and planning a day out at Buckingham Palace?

March 8, 2023September 17, 2023

London West End Theatre – Make the Right Choice

London West End theatre offers a dizzying choice. I go to the theatre most nights and I have some tips on how to to avoid a dud.

Begin by Choosing the Right London West End Theatre

My success lies mostly in selecting the right venue…that’s right, the venue is absolutely key. Each theatre has a budget for a play which determines all critical factors like its director, cast and set design. The better known West End theatres simply have bigger budgets! And that means one thing, more razzmatazz!

Different London West End theatres are known for producing different types of plays. Here is a general guide.

The Dominion and The Palladium are the Biggest Theatres in the West End

The Palladium is one of the biggest theatres the London West End. Expect block busters.

The theatres with the highest seating capacity are more likely to produce “blockbusters” with mass appeal. Theatres like the Palladium and the Dominion need to fill thousands of seats each evening they won’t put on esoteric play that would be attractive to only a small sector of the theatre-going public. And as they have bigger stages, you are likely to find large cast musicals with elaborate stage effects…think cars, helicopters and aerial stunts.

The Savoy is one of the Smallest but Most Stylish Theatres in the London West End

The Savoy Theatre was rebuilt in 1929 as a magic miracle of Art Deco modernism, by Rupert D’Oyly Carte with the architect Frank Tugwell and decorative designer Basil Ionides.

I always think that its productions echo the values of the adjacent Savoy Hotel that shares its name; classy, stylish and with plenty of glamour. Expect music, beautiful costumes, dancing girls, clever staging. And there are some lovely bars which let you bask in its jazz age setting.

The Trafalgar Theatre is known for its Avant Garde Productions

The Trafalgar Theatre specialises in productions that are vibrant and cutting edge. The smaller of the two studios is a stage in the round where you feel that you are on set with the performers. Often portraying harrowing, or controversial subject matter, the performances are emotional and breathtaking.

Pay Attention to the Playwright and Casting at the Duke of York, the Garrick, the Noel Coward, the Wyndhams, the Vaudeville, the Adelphi, the Lyric, the Vaudeville, the Theatre Royal

Dotted around St Martins Lane, The Strand and Haymarket are a number of theatres primarily owned by the Ambassador Theatre Group, Delfont Mackintosh and Nimax. You can expect to see a wide range of plays and musicals with everything from everything from Ibsen to Meat Loaf. It’s hard to generalise about these productions so pay special attention to the playwright, reviews and casting.

Theatres Outside the London West End That Offer a Unique Experience

The National Theatre on Southbank Has a Wide Arts Remit

The brutalist, concrete exterior of the National Theatre

The National Theatre on the South Bank is state subsidised theatre with a remit to promote the arts to the widest possible and most diverse audience. Here you will find productions of high artistic merit. The NT usually push the boat out with their special effects, sounds and lighting systems. There are three stages at the NT, the largest stage is The Olivier and there is a smaller, newer theatre, The Dorfman, at the rear of the building, which I always feel is more akin to the Young Vic…showing avant garde productions appealing to a younger, Converse trainer wearing audience.

The Globe and The Sam Wanamaker Produce Memorable Shakespearean and Revival Plays

The Globe is a specialist Shakespearian Theatre which produces authentic Shakespearian drama. As far as the Board of Directors is concerned, this means mostly two things, “shared light” and “no voice amplification”.

‘Shared light’ is able to provide an atmosphere wherein the people onstage are playing ‘with’ rather than ‘to’ or ‘at’ those in the audience.

A few years ago, the Globe hired a brilliant artistic director, Emma Rice, who introduced stage lighting and microphones but this wasn’t really “Shakespeare” so she fell on her sword. You can find out more about this controversy on The Guardian website.

This is the place where men and woman “shout Shakespeare” and it all makes for a historically accurate and riveting Shakespearian experience.

If you are on a budget with a lot of stamina, you can buy standing tickets for £5 per performance. Those that do so, are called “groundlings”

However, not many groundlings can last the full duration of the play. The staff have a special mission to make sure that groundlings don’t lean on the wooden posts, or sit on the floor!

The Globe is only open during the summer months as there is an open roof. Wrap up warmly if you are attending an evening performance and hire a cushion if you don’t relish sitting for several hours on a hard bench.

Inside the Globe there is a newer theatre, The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, which is a little wooden timbered and stencilled, jewel box of a theatre, lit by candles. It specialises in small period plays. This is one of my favourite theatres – small, intimate and with a special atmosphere.

The Old Vic and the Young Vic Theatres in Waterloo Offer Unusual and Unique Plays

The Old Vic and The Young Vic are two completely different kettles of fish.

The Old Vic is a not-for-profit beautiful and slightly decaying, grand, traditional theatre with historic decor performing high quality drama and musicals. Famed for its £10 previews…I am still gutted when I think of the performances there that I have missed.

The Young Vic is an offshoot of the Old Vic aiming at a hip and cool younger audience (diverse and engaged) with cutting edge material performed in the round.

Frank Dunlop, the Young Vic director, wanted to create a new kind of theatre for a new generation – one that was unconventional, classless, open, circus-like and cheap.

The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre Offers a Memorable Experience in All Weathers

The Regents Park Open Air theatre is not in the London West End…you’ll find it in the middle of Regents Park. I remember my first visit to the Regents Park Open Air Theatre and how I kept double checking the weather forecast and the night temperatures. Not least as their plays always proceed almost regardless of the weather.

A lovely, balmy sunny day where you are donning sun hats and slathering on sun scream quickly becomes a night of freezing temperatures, where you are rustling in your bag for hats, scarfs and thick coats and even blankets. Rain rarely deters this theatre either. They will stop the performance for a few minutes and the audience hurries to the bar and prays for it to stop.

This theatre epitomises “summer in the city” for me…you can get there early and walk through the confetti-like rose garden, grab a drink or a pizza in the park cafe or hire a deckchair in the park before the show.

The theatre opens two hours beforehand to enable people to eat their picnics or indulge in their legendary burgers that are barbecued in the garden.

And then there is the excitement of the show and the the thrill of the weather!

Other London West End Theatre Considerations

Playwright

Don’t sail blythely into a production if your unaware of the genre of the play. For example Samuel Beckett or Jean Paul Sartre plays usually have a small cast and a dystopian theme…think half a dozen people locked in a room, sitting on a sofa, or a woman up to her neck in rubble for the duration of the first act.

Plays by Eugene O’Neill or Tennessee Williams may be set in the American mid west and explore themes of alienation and the American Dream. Hard work for some!

Or a historical reenactment of Webster’s Duchess of Malfi will have blood, guts and madness at his heart with a rendition in Jacobean English.

Everyone has their own tastes but make sure that you choose a play that best suits your particular palate.

Cast

Famous names, like Simon Russell Beale, famed for his Shakespearian roles and Maggie Smith, of Downton Abbey fame, will only appear in top notch productions. So check the cast as this can indicate the strength of the play.

Press Reviews

I have often seen amazing performances that the critics have hated. Sometimes I think that we have been to two different plays! Therefore, I don’t pay too much attention to an isolated poor review. However, if the play is consistently poorly reviewed across a range of media, you want to consider giving it a miss or buy a cheaper seat, so that you have less invested.

Look at the Theatre Website in Advance

The play will be promoted on the London West End theatre’s website. You will doubtless find a gallery of photographs and possibly a video as well. The synopsis, costumes and cast list should give you an accurate flavour of the production.

The theatre management may have also uploaded to Youtube.

It is invariably forbidden to use your phone for video or audio recording within a theatre.

Check that Seasonal Specials are to your Taste

At Christmas, it is common for theatres in the West End to put on pantomimes and Christmas themed productions like Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. It will explain on the website if these productions are suitable for children and adults alike.

Don’t make my mistake and go to see The Snowman and find yourself surrounded by an audience of toddlers in fancy dress waving fairy wands.

General London West End Seating Tips

The most expensive seats in a London West End theatre are the front row of the stalls and the boxes. The boxes have more prestige but often have a slightly restricted view as they are usually at right angles to the stage.The front rows of the dress circle are also good seats. As you move further towards the back row the view can be slightly restricted or you feel further away from the action. In the Upper Circle, you will definitely benefit from bringing opera glasses. Some theatres have a further level knowns as the Balcony or the Ampitheatre. Seats here can be surprisingly cheap and it is a good way of trying out something that isn’t in your usual genre.

Are you also an opera fan? If so you may enjoy our tips on a night at the London opera. You can also check out our blog post on how London Theatre’s achieve their ultra realistic special effects.

With these tips you are well equipped to make the best London West End theatre choices.

March 7, 2023September 16, 2023

The Brasserie Zedel Set Menu is Surprising Good Value

The Brasserie Zedel Set Menu is the star of the show. Brasserie Zedel has to be one of my favourite venues in London. Hidden away in a Piccadilly basement, it has the feel of a luxury Art Deco transatlantic liner with beautifully remodelled 1930s interiors. For such splendour and luxury, it’s amazing to find that it has a couple of fixed priced set menus that are surprisingly good value.

Brasserie Zedel Set Menu is Surprisingly Good Value

The first thing to say is don’t be suspicious…I have studied the Brasserie Zedel staffing and the chef is a fully trained expert in those unctuous cream and wine sauces and crispy, slender frites that epitomise French cuisine. Each member of the waiting staff has a full week of training and embodies all the service values of luxury hotels and dining establishments. And the small details of authentic Parisian glasses and bespoke linens transport the diner to another place and age.

Crystal Chandelier in the Restaurant Foyer

Corbin and King, who own many upmarket restaurants including Colbert in Chelsea and The Wolseley in Mayfair, have kept true to the history of Brasserie Zedel with very democratic pricing.

And now on to the menus…

The Brasserie Zedel Set Menu Options

Brasserie Zedel has a three course Menu Formule which at £27.95 includes a glass of wine, or bottled water, and the Prix Fixe at £16.95 or £19.75 which is a two or three course menu and doesn’t include a drink. Note that ordering tap water here raises no eye brows. If you were thinking of a glass of house red or white with your meal you will find that both of the Brasserie Zedel set menus work out at about the same price.

First Rate Service at the Brasserie Zedel

French Bread and Butter

This is arguably the best part of the meal! I have friends who are on strict low carb diets who devour the entire bread basket and are on their second basket before the starter arrives. The French bread has a deep, slightly sour crust and a soft spongy interior. I defy anyone to find better bread in the whole of London and it comes with a small porcelain dish of butter with a paper seal. And the best part of it is that the restaurant does not charge extra for bread and butter on either of the Brasserie Zedel Set Menus.

If you are looking to read about another French Restaurant at the other end of the price spectrum read our review of Les 110 de Taillevent.

The Formule

Celeriac Remoulade
Celeriac Remoulade is a big hit with the French and hardly known over here. The grated root of the celery tasting like a cross between fresh celery stalk and turnip or swede, is mixed with a mustard mayonnaise. I like it and sometimes make it at home using a Jamie Oliver recipe. Some may find this an acquired taste but on the occasions when I have asked for a swap for something else on the menu it has been refused.

Blanquette of Lamb or Fillet of Sea Bream

I am hugely impressed with the main course of the Formule. The sea bream in is nicely cooked and seasoned prior to pan frying.

Tarte au Citron

Forget those bland English lemon meringue pies that taste of cornflour or worse still Green’s packet mix, this generous portion transports you to the finest of French patisseries. It has a delicate, lemon cream custard filling on a pastry base with an oozing soft meringue topping with just the right degree of caramelisation.

My Verdict on the Brasserie Zedel Set Menu – Formule

I have to give this 9.5 stars as I can’t really see how it could be bettered…although I personally would prefer the pea soup for a starter. It represents astonishing value for money.

The Prix Fixe

Carrot Salad

Many people expect a mound of raw grated carrots and are surprised by the flavour imparted by the dijon mustard dressing.

I am personally delighted that they have added the Minted Pea Soup with Creme Fraiche as an alternative starter option.

Chopped Steak Américain
The hamburger of minced steak comes with the option of having it cooked either slightly pink (medium) or well done, served in a cream peppercorn sauce with a side serving of a cone of finely cut, hot salted, crispy, French fries.

Absolutely delicious!

Brasserie Zedel has now added a vegetarian main course to its set menu. This is Butter Dhal.

Chocolate and Caramel Tart
The Manjari tart has a crisp biscuit base with a chocolate ganache filling. It is very rich and chocolatey and the perfect end to the meal.

My Verdict on the Brasserie Zedel Set Menu – Prix Fixe
Whenever, I am in Piccadilly I find myself on autopilot heading for the brasserie to have this set menu. So this menu also gets a 9 star rating from me! Maybe it could do with a green salad but this can be purchased separately for £4.75.

If this food was purchased individually on the A La Carte Menu it would cost in the region of £18.

The one thing that used to amuse me at Brasserie Zedel is that they offered the French menu to everyone regardless. The French speaking staff probably entertained themselves with the hilarious, customer mispronunciations. I now see that the menu is in English and no translations are required. To see the full menu online click this link Brasserie Zedel Menu

If you have enjoyed this blog post on the Brasserie Set Menu you may want to look at our piece on The Swan at the Globe which is a Modern British restaurant.

March 7, 2023June 23, 2023

The Swan at the Globe – Restaurant Review

We sauntered in to the Swan at the Globe late, thirsty and ravenous, after a socially distanced performance of As You Like It which lacked an interval in these Covid times. And within minutes we were ensconced on a velvet sofa sipping Bloody Marys and tucking into the very best of English fayre. Hot tasty, crispy, succulent – all foodie adjectives could be employed here to excess.

Perfect British Cuisine at the Swan at the Globe

The Swan at the Globe has a Modern British Menu – so think Fish and Chips, Shepherds Pie, Scotch Eggs, Sausage Rolls, Welsh Rarebit and Sticky Toffee Pudding…all scrumptious and uniquely English things – the stuff of nursery rhymes and fairy tales.

The Swan at the Globe is moderately priced when compared with the very average meals that you could have in the nearby chain restaurants on London’s Bankside.

Restaurant Setting

There are few places in London that are in such a grand setting overlooking the Thames and Saint Paul’s and bang next to The Globe and The Tate Modern. The rear terrace overlooks the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre courtyard with its thatched half-timbered playhouse.

The Swan has a Backdrop of St Paul's and the Thames — The Swan has a Backdrop of St Paul’s and the Thames

Dress Code

So why am I dressed in sequins? And what does this tell us about the the Swan dress code? I am of the view that you can never be too smart! The Swan at the Globe gets a lot of people coming in from the theatre next door. So my advice is to dress up but leave your tiara, floor length ball gown or a tuxedo at home. And if you are wearing street casual wear, no one will bat an eyelid. It’s hard to feel out of place in this welcoming restaurant.

The Swan at the Globe Drinks Menu

As a “real drinker” and a connoisseur of Bloody Marys, this one was the cat’s whiskers and pyjamas. Nicely and delicately spiced and garnished with an emperor of an olive. It had a real kick to it…no stinting on the vodka.

The cocktail menu is fairly extensive with most mixed drinks falling squarely in the London average of £11 – £14.

Their Bloody Mary is the finest in London

An emperor of an olive tops the Swan's Bloody Mary — An emperor of an olive tops the Swan’s Bloody Mary

Restaurant Menu

It didn’t sound like the most exciting of choices – fish and chips and shepherds pie but the joy was in their culinary execution.

Many is the time that I have walked past their basement kitchens and seen giant pieces of battered cod waiting to be taken to the dining room and large vats of oil frying chips. And my companions declared that this was perfectly cooked, white, moist and flakey with a crispy batter.

Moist, Flaky White, Juicy Fish. A Swan at the Globe legend.

My shepherds pie would have delighted any shepherd from any Shakespeare play. It was filling and meaty, with a perfectly piped creamed mashed potato topping and the beans were drenched in butter, cooked al dente with a sprinkling of shallots.

A Shepherd's Pie fit for a Shakespearian Shepherd — A Shepherd’s Pie fit for a Shakespearian Shepherd

Service

Fantastic…attentive but not too much!

Tears fell from our eyes when we considered the solitary hardships of lockdown, the nights spent on the sofa watching Netflix and the missed dining opportunities. And then we shed a few more tears as we congratulated ourselves on discovering such a comfortable and enveloping venue. I see that we are going to be eating and drinking and theatre going here to excess.

If you enjoyed this post you may also like our review of the Brasserie Zedel in Piccadilly.

To book a visit to the Swan at the Globe Restaurant visit their website.

March 7, 2023August 20, 2023

A Herd of Elephants in Green Park

Elephants in Green Park. Whatever next? We see a lot in London! I barely bat an eyelid when I come across Bengali cats being walked on leads by their owners, pirates with peg legs and squawking parrots, inflated Donald Trump balloons boasting an orange perma tan…but this herd of elephant statues really gave me pause for thought.

Elephants in Green Park Come From India

Dozens of elephants, old and young, fit and frail are crafted in the Nilgiri Hills of India out of the weedy, reed like stem, Lantana Camara. This plant poses a threat to wildlife as it is poisonous, so it’s great to seeing it being hacked down and put towards a good cause.

This exhibition is the brain child of Shubhra Nayar and Ruth Ganesh has been facilitated and promoted by HRH Prince Charles and his wife Camilla to draw attention to the elephants fragile co-existence with man. Camilla’s brother Mark Shand ran an elephant charity before his death.

The elephants in Green Park have been beautifully characterised.

Close up of the reed like stems used to make the elephants

The tails of the elephants in Green Park

But what got me thinking as I surveyed this woody procession was how we as humans depend on each other.

The Power of the Herd

Think of the solitary human, perhaps a cold and dishevelled homeless person begging on a grimy London pavement, with a paper cup containing a few coins at their feet. Or an elderly man who, after a life time of work, is cast alone on his sofa, slowly dunking digestive biscuits into his tea with daytime television as his only source of company.

Now let us transport our fictitious humans to the convivial atmospheres of outreach shelters, community cafes, tea after church on Sundays or strolling round London on a walking tour, in the background there is chatter, laughter, warmth and friendship and now you can see the power of community.

This exquisite herd of elephants in Green Park reminds us of both the vulnerability of the solitary individual and how our very survival is dependent on our proximity to each other.

If you liked this piece you may want to visit our blog post on Richmond Park where there is plenty of living wildlife.

Sadly, this was a temporary exhibition and the elephants have moved on to new pastures. Some have been sold to adorn people’s gardens and the good news is that these elephants are still available for sale if you have a spare £6k-£30k one of these elephants in Green Park could be yours! Check them out.

You may also want to donate to the Coexistence Elephant charity.

March 7, 2023September 17, 2023

Hello World – Welcome to Londonology

Hello World When I started this blog in the darkest part of the third lockdown, I didn’t know anything about blogging but I did know a fair bit about how to crawl round London, have a fabulous time and make my money stretch stratospherically. In fact, I had such a good time I retired! But now is the time to take this blogging malarkey up a level.

Defining My Audience

Who are you?
Where are you?
Why are you here?

I’m going to find out!

Me (maybe you are like me) I’m not in my first flush of youth, I struggle with tube staircases and I like to stop frequently for a gin and tonic but I don’t believe that this has any bearing on my ability to hang out in town with my mates and have fun.

People of our age are often wedged into small places where we think that joining a book club, going to church evensong or fraternising with our neighbours is the place to be. Of course, there’s no harm in that…whatever floats your boat but it doesn’t really appeal to me. For all my introversion and reticence, I like adventure…dark jazz dives, transvestite night clubs (sequins, lipstick), swish hotel bars and sumptuous opera performances (and please invite me to the after party).

I say to myself, as I struggle out to the house wearing something inappropriate, that nothing was ever achieved sitting on the sofa.

So I would love to know who you are and how you spend your time. And please subscribe, so we can virtually hang out together.

Promoting My Blog

I feel that I have held back on both promoting my blog and getting it seen. This is partly because I wanted it to have some substance before showing it off in all its peacock feathers and partly because I hadn’t properly defined what I wanted to write about and who I wanted to touch.

London, it turns out is a big subject!

Creating a Blog Schedule

One of my first goals is going to be to write a blog schedule and identify some hot topics that I feel that all Londonologists have to know about. And if you can think of any great subjects, please let me know.

Finding My Blogging Voice

In real life, I guess I am amusing in a rather dry, understated, satirical way but when I am let loose with a keyboard I can thrash around, mix my metaphors and ping off some zany stuff. I can see that in terms of my writing style, I have been holding back, so you may find future posts that sound a bit more like I do in the flesh but on steroids as it were.

I hadn’t really realised this until I took an amazing course at Cambridge University on Blogging and Online Writing run by Louise Daisy Johnson. What a great tutor she has been, she’s so energetic, knowledgeable and positive. All her insights on my work have been revelatory. Daisy blogs about children’s fiction at Did You Ever Stop To Think.

Optimising My Blog

The buzz that I get out of my blog is mostly in the writing of it but that is not enough. It has to reach a wider audience and I have been struggling with Search Engine Optimisation. I have the vaguest idea of what to do but I haven’t done enough of it. So in the coming days I am going to sort out my blog posts and optimise the hell out of them. I am using this book by Will Coombe called 3 Months to No 1.

Blogging During the Third Lockdown

In the midst of Covid we weren’t able to leave the house which was immensely frustrating as all I wanted to do was race round town taking photos and doing blog research. Instead, I was confined to my office in my mismatching PJs trying to figure out how to get a passable blog up without any technical support and relying on desk research and library photographs.

Apart from some cut price Wix hosting I spent nada – well almost nada…£16 on a logo. But there is clearly a way to go in terms of making this blog truly original and, most of all, useful to my readers. So expect more original content and photos shot by my own fair hand.

An Anonymous Blogger

My journey to this point really started late one night when I was at the end of my personal road, exhausted and in need of a new idea.

I was randomly surfing the net, when I found a blog where the author, a business school professor had “overshared”, she told us of her £60k credit card debt, her determination to pay it and how she was giving herself a mere £150 a month for entertainment.

How is that possible? £5 a day for entertainment? The price of a London sandwich, or a coffee.

I was itching to give this experiment a try. I was going to go out from noon till night on that fiver. And I was quite amazed just how far £5 a day took you in London…I got off the sofa, I used Google to find things to do, I met people, I had fun.

To find out more about my £5 a day experiment and how it changed my life read my blog post London on the Cheap.

Blogging Success isn’t all about Stats

My Londonology blog surprised me in ways that I didn’t expect. I wasn’t inundated with page views but…

Old friends and friends of friends got in touch, I started the Cambridge University blogging course and this week I have been successful in gaining a coveted place on the ENO Response opera critics training scheme funded by the ENO and mentored by Critics Circle.

None of this would have been possible if I hadn’t started the blog and benefitted from Daisy’s helpful writing advice.

So one thing really does lead to another.

I’m forever grateful to that oversharing blogger who put me on this path. I’m sorry that I can’t remember your name or blog.

My Blogging Ambition is to Help You

My greatest pleasure would be if I could inspire someone, maybe you, to get off your sofa and get out there. To find who you really are, not what society expects of a man or woman of your age but the true you.

Oprah has this great phrase “live your best life” as in start where you are now and not at some mythical, perfect time in the future. And I have a dear friend, a former homeless, alcoholic who is now an author and Harvard student and is always exhorting people to “Think big!”.

Perhaps my blog will become your encouragement to surround yourself with the friends, places, entertainment and drinks that make you happy! Hello World!

Maxine

Maxine Morse
Mar 8, 2023 · 7 mins

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