Flora & fauna in London

Lond for free

Grow your own veg. and keep your own hens

Who is the pretty Polly? If you ever wondered whether you can keep egg-laying hens in your back garden in a terraced house/conversion flat in London, the answer is yes. Of course you need to get the neighbours agree with you to start with. Don't keep any cockerels as they are notorious for waking up your neighbours and you far too early for anyone's comfort. This is a friend Lucy who keeps 2 hens that have laid 300 eggs or so a year each. This is not a bad idea considering the food prices keep going up and up, soon we all should keep a chicken or two to provide us with good quality food at reasonable price. Grow your own herbs and vegetable such as chives, garlic, chard or even horse radish. they are so easy to grow and make your dishes tastes so much better. If you haven't got a garden, just grow some in a pot on your window sill. It's ever so good for your spirit as well. Grow herbs and vegs and enjoy life more!

Night Views in London

If you enjoy the nightlife in London, don't just go to the night clubs. Try a gentle walk on a summer's evening preferably with your loved one hand in hand to wonder around the streets of London while enjoying all these fantastic sights at night time. Happy holiday any time, any season in London!

Night life in London

Piccadilly is the heart of London where you can spend many happy hours looking around the shops, street entertainers, visiting bars and restaurants, casinos or cinemas. There are also many wonderful theatres in this area. If you like something a bit more lively Soho is the place for night owls as well as gays.

Royal Academy of Arts, London

RA is located in Piccadilly in London.

London for Free!

If you are visiting London for the first time, it is quite difficult to decide where to go and what to do in this great capital metropolis in the world. Should I follow the tourist crowds and do what everyone else does or should I explore the London only known to real Londoners? As a London Tourist Board registered qualified Blue Badge Tour Guide (BBG)and having lived and worked here for the past decade or so, I can certainly give you some sound advices on what is hot and what to avoid during your short stay here. Of course you can always book a BBG Tour Guide on eileengao@hotmail.co.uk or contact the Guild to book a qualified registered Blue Badge Guide for a day or half a day to make the best use of of your time here. If you are here for a day only, of course you must visit all the most obvious tourist sights London has to offer and they are usually free. Number one on your list has to be a tour on a bus or tube or hop-on hop-off tour bus around all the major sights such as Tower Bridge, Tower of London, St Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, the Changing the Guard either at Buckingham Palace, St James's Palace or Horseguards, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben at the Houses of Parliament. If you are not exhausted after all these, you must visit China Town or Co vent Garden for some serious lunch or simple refreshment to restore your energy so that you can visit some of the serious museums and art galleries available for your musing.

British Museum founded in 1753 by Sir Hans Sloane in Bloomsbury now houses over 6 million exhibits from nearly all over the world. You can admire beautiful sculptures from Egypt, Greece, ancient Rome. If Oriental art is what you are after, the fine collection of Chinese art as well as that of Japanese and Korean art will keep you occupied for hours on end. If you want to see some Islamic art then head for the Islamic Art gallery on the ground floor at the Montague Entrance. If you are short of time, book a highlight tour at the museum to see the treasures of British Museum. The tour normally lasts about a hour or so. If you like fine art, why not head for the National Gallery where over 2000 paintings of the old masters in Western art are at your disposal. Next door is the National Portrait Gallery with over 15,000 portraits of the people who have mattered in British life both now and in the past centuries. Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington is another brilliant museum where you can appreciate applied art both old and new. While in Kensington you might as well visit the grand Natural History Museum where you can find over 3 million objects on display including the specimen collected by Charles Darwin. Next door is the Science Museum where you can enrich your brain with all the wonders of scientific discoveries which have made our modern day life what it is today.

If museum visiting is bit too tiring, either head for Harrods for some serious retail therapy or go to Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens to enjoy some fresh air and beautiful wild life. Don't forget to take some peanuts with you to feed the squirrels and birds in the Floral Walk. Unwind yourself with some lovely afternoon tea at the Ritz or Fortnum Mason if you are more inclined to some elegant refined surroundings with music gently played by a maestro and cucumber sandwiches and dainty cakes served by impeccably dressed and polite waiters.

If you are here for a few days or longer, the choice is even more endless. How about Greenwich Royal Park and the Old Observatory and the National Maritime Museum as well as the Old Royal Naval College now part of Greenwich University. The prime meridian line (ie longitude 0) is based here, hence time begins here for Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+0). The whole site is a World Heritage site. You need a whole day here though. Try to travel on the Thames cruise (you have to pay for your travel) to see the river. It is very relaxing to watch London's skyline change as you move down rive. You can board the cruise at Westminster or Embankment pier or a number of piers in the nearby areas.

For shopping expeditions, Harrod's or Selfridges as well as Bond Street is for serious deep pockets or window shoppers only. Marks & Spencers, Primark and Miss Selfridges are pretty good at the low budget end. If you are more avant gard, then try Carnaby Street, King's Road or Camden Town market. If you want a nicely tailored suit, do go to Saville Row to get yourself measured up for some serious sartorial investment. After all clothes makes the man. It will be a good investment in the long run.

Next time I'll talk about some of the grand houses and unusual museums for you to visit. London certainly is never boring.