HELP ME!!

I'm going to London next week on business, my first trip to the capital, usually I prefer to stay in the North, but I don't have a choice this time

Anyway, I'll be in the Euston / Bloomsbury / Holborn sort of area. And I've got most of Monday to myself. So can anyone recommend:

Places to go for my tea
Any decent record shops in the area (that might have Rare/unusual/interesting stuff )
Anything worth seeing
Any other decent shops

Unless I get any better offers, I plan on having a look round the British Museum. But I still need somewhere to eat!

Thanks in advance

PS I'm obviously totally gutted that I'll be away from my computer while Musicology drops - can anyone think of a way around this? If not, it'll be NEXT FRIDAY NIGHT before I get to hear it! Arghhh!

Don't drink the water!

2the9s said:

Thanks - I've had me jabs.

1p1p1i3 said:

btw I like the fact that the first thing you ask for is a place to have your tea!

My kinda guy!

ah damn...Edgewear Road is THE fucking place to be!

ArdeoTheMerciless said:

Hmm.. don't think I can walk that. And I don't want to be messing about with the tube, just to get some food or some records. Unless you really think it's worth it???

1p1p1i3 said:

Oh wait. I get you! I won't need any of that

I've been here for the past 6 months, and stayed near the Euston station the first week after I flew in. There's really not much to do there except hop on a bus or the tube up to Camden and hit up the stores and open-air markets. There are some cool, retro-style record shops up there too... and an awesome Chinese food place with really decent food (plus HUGE portions!) down the road. It's called the Wok-Inn and right across the street from Pizza Hut.

The British Museum is totally overrated. I love the Tate Modern and have been meaning to go to the Saatchi Gallery (also modern art) for ages now. The Imperial War Museum, at the Lambeth North tube stop, is fucking amazing. We accidentally spent 5 hours there a few days ago.

Portabello Road Market (Notting Hill tube stop I think) is cool. I went there ages ago, last September, but we had a good time. I think there are some good record stores there as well, but I've only heard that through the grapevine.

As for food... hmm. I went to an amazing Indian restaurant on Brick Lane a while back. But if you manage to get over there, any place will do - it's FULL of Indian eats.

Skip Leicester Sq, Piccadilly Circus, and Oxford Circus - SO OVERCROWDED AND OVERRATED! Pick up a Time Out if you need some entertainment, or the London guidebook put out by Time Out for really great recommendations and descriptions of everything to do in London.

Good luck and have fun!

Natsume said:

All your advice sounds good, Natsume.

The Imperial is a treasure - even though you'd be pleased if there was no reason for it to exist.

Whatever your convictions, try to visit the Holocaust exhibition there. Once you've visited, you'll understand why I haven't the words to explain why you should go there.


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Natsume said:

haha..i went to Saatchi!! and you havent...lalalalallala

langebleu said:

Thanks, lange! The Holocaust exhibit was heart-wrenching... I've been to both Auschwitz and the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, as well as the museum in Hiroshima and it never gets easier. But, it's important. Also don't miss the Crimes Against Humanity exhibit (which isn't really an 'exhibit' at all, just a 30 minute video, but great just the same) up on the top floor. And the Trench and Blitz experiences downstairs next to the bathrooms are awesome...

sosgemini said:

How'd you find it?? That giant rat-ball in the front made me crap myself... and the wax people look SO DAMN REAL!

Natsume said:

I agree! I was glad we didn't miss it last time I was in London.

Don't eat the food! Seriously!!!

SpcMs said:

Ohmygod, it's not THAT bad! Just people don't come to England specifically for the food, that's all.

Natsume said:

They will tell you it is chicken. IT IS NOT CHICKEN!!!

SpcMs said:

Chicken, bacon, goat, it's all the same!

Natsume said:

it was a bit...much...the chapman brothers need help!! seriously..but beyond that i found everything to be very intense and interesting...a wonderfully spent evening...

Natsume said:

Sorry, nat ... in all seriousness, I agree , I visited the trench experience many years ago and it's very effective

.... but somehow, the way you have expressed this makes it sound ....

honestly, I'm not trying to laugh but ... that is one of the funniest lines I've read on prince.org

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langebleu said:

It doesn't help that the museum put them dead next to the toilets does it? I dunno, I'm a big horror fan, and the whole trench experience - though harrowing - was more pure entertainment value than anything else. I didn't think it was 'effective' as you say - effective how? To see what the soldiers went through and to identify with them? I would argue it was put together more for the Haunted House effect than to be horrified at what happened in the trenches. Then again, maybe I'm just from the wrong generation to fully experience it as it's properly meant to be?

Thanks for your advice everyone - so that's chicken and water I have to avoid

Cheers Natsume - I might head over to Camden and check out that Chinese.

Natsume said:

I think I found some of the exhibits helpful in trying to capture something of the experience at the time. I drew on the source for something I was writing back then and I found some of the written stuff presented (diary entries) rich in detail and thought-provoking, as well as the opportunity - for example - to smell the different types of gases that were used to begin (and that's all) to understand what perhaps it might have been like for some people there.

My parents both traced lost relatives back to the trenches and I found their curiosity a little morbid and self-serving at the time, but the experience did help me begin to understand.

I can see how the experience comes across like a Haunted House effect and i wonder if the Museum has ever thought about dealing with feedback like that?

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Don't go to the New Experience massage parlour on Euston Road, it's totally overpriced. Get yourself up to Edgware Road for that, like your man said earlier.

ConsciousContact said:

There you go - doing yourself out of business again!!!! You're a fool to yourself sometimes.

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[This message was edited Sat Mar 27 16:21:45 2004 by langebleu]

langebleu said:

Ouch!

Have a great time and say hi to Bridget Jones for me!

Natsume said: