Does Anyone Know London?
 

Number One Son is going to attend St. Mary's University, Twickenham, London. St Mary's University, Twickenham We're planning to spend some extended time there as well. Mrs. MRM and I have both traveled there for business, but the city of London remains a mystery to us. As George Bernard Shaw said, England and America are divided by a common language.

Can anyone offer some insider information or places to read up on life in the city in general and the boroughs and neighborhoods specifically? Most of what I know about London comes from Len Deighton novels, which are delightful, but aren't probably best to use as a travelogue.

Any tips or suggestions on where to live and how to settle in like a native?

How much money do you want to spend?

London is damn expensive.

It also helps if you tell people you're Canadian. Learned that one REAL quick.

He's from Minnesota... That's damn near Canada!

Why? I've traveled all over the world and never had an issue. I had some Belgian guys give me some BS on a train one time when I was traveling in Spain. I gave it right back. Then I suggested we open up one of the bottles of wine I had brought along and discuss the matter. Much wine later we were best friends. If you lead with "George W Bush was a moron", you'll do just fine.

London is one of the great cities of the world. Perfectly walkable. Agree that it is expensive, though the dollar is gaining in value. There are the usual places, Regent St, Soho, Shaftsbury Ave, Oxford St. For the guys there is Jermyn St and Saville Row. I found a great little hotel at 7 Dials which is a Radisson. Visit Ye Ol Chesire Cheese in the City and sit in Dicken's seat. Best Roast Beef. The Porsche Dealer is near Berkeley Square. Oh, and the Enterprise Pub for great pub food. My favorite place to stay has been torn down Roger Ebert: Farewell to my London home | Travel | The Guardian What a shame

I lived there for a while as a foreigner and found it very easy to assimilate into London society. Forget that you are a tourist. Read the local papers, find a local pub. The Brits in general are very accommodating and helpful and, as they have a very good sence of humour I found that yo be one of the easiet ways to get closer to them.

This

Oh, and don't stay in hotels! Very nice furnished aparments can be had for very little money. Try a compay called Ivy Lettings - managed through yhem to rent a fantastic apartment in Notting Hill for less than half what a hotel would have cost!

Brutal.

Twickenham may or not be London proper, but it's residential vs "The City".

I would balance distance between school and the grocery store/pubs and share a flat. Assuming the closer to the school the greater rent is. May be worth a little more to get in the thick of college life vs getting a cheap flat "away" and being land locked.

No way would I want to live outside of Twickenham if a student there.

20 minute walk to train from St Mary's. 20 minutes to Waterloo Station then another 20+ minutes to walk to destination in London center. That's for the weekend.

I worked for a big oil company that spilled stuff in the Gulf of Mexico a few years back.

In a work environment, Brits can be stodgy as hell. It's safer, right? Not a crime. On the train from Sunbury (way out by Heathrow) to London, providing I brought up conversation, had some wonderful times talking to folks. Great people.

I love this joke. Brits won't ask "How are you?" on the off chance your children burned to death that morning in a house fire. You broach conversation, the dams open.

Best learning experience on a train. English woman says to a French woman, "Get your (young) kid's feet off the back of the chair (in front of her)". French woman says, "Why would you care? English people are filthy slobs." There is stuff going on in Europe us Americans do not fully understand.

This will be great for your kid to experience. All the best.

sounds like a great opportunity. i would be planning on venturing outside England, as well, if i had the time to do so .

We're thinking we might make an extended stay as well, so this is a question for both of us. He's going to be staying in Twickenham but we would be staying somewhere else. I just don't know enough about the area to know whether the East End Boys or the West End Girls are are the rich ones and the difference between Mayfair and Wapping.

Have fun and enjoy.

there is nothing wrong with being a Dern Yankee in London. It's a friendly place and they will be dying to know more about America.

Same here. Beats me as to why. I'd say "hello" and get the eye, usually with some rude comment. A Canadian flag pin on my backpack made it a much easier time.

Newcastle - Treated well
Glasgow - Treated well (especially from the ladies)
Edinburgh - They love Americans
Birmingham - Treated well
Dover - Great times, good people
Paris - Treated well if you try to speak French
Amsterdam - Ik spreekt een beetje.

London - We sure did something to piss them off.

Other than that, had a wonderful time hitch-hiking through the UK and Europe.

St Johns Wood was nice. Harrow too. pretty pricey though. Students were real cool on letting travellers crash. One of them was a Brian May freak. Had a Red Special copy and an AC30. Learned a lot of Queen songs.

I just remembered something a Belgian guy told me on a train going to France. He said he could always tell when someone was American. When we spoke, he said it looked like we were chewing raw potatoes.

I went to Imperial College in South Kensington way back in '86 and '87.

If you stay for an extended period, don't even think of getting a car. Use the Tube with an Oyster card. I see St. Mary's is not on a Tube line. But it's closest to the District line. I'm partial to Kensington. A place near Hyde Park would be very nice. It's a great walking city, and walks through Hyde Park are the best. I did it every day. Walking distance to St. James Park and Parliament assures many other nice places to visit, like Mayfair and Soho. Knightsbridge has beautiful mews and has Harrod's. West of Kensington, it gets a little more hectic and less picturesque.

Ha, I used to live in Harrow. 43 Lucas Avenue.

We used to get a lot of Chinese people in Harrow. The used to hop in a taxi at the airport and say "Harrow."

Spent some time in the UK a couple of years ago and I found it interesting when people asked if I was American and their demeanor changed greatly when I told them I was Canadian.
Ooooh, a colonist. How nice...
I did love being there. Tons of family and the local pub was usually a quick walk away.

FWIW...I traveled to the UK and London many many times working for GSK. IF anyone had an issue with America they rarely took it out on me and never gave me grief. Of course I'm not one to get up into anyones grill when abroad. Plus my jersey italian manner of speech kept them entertained. I had been told that conversation with me was like a Sopranos episode.

In general I'd bet your biggest issue will be getting accustomed to the prepared food. I know I know that's an old tired joke but there is truth in it. Otherwise England is a great place to live and get worldly experience for a college student.

Being an ex Englishman I know London but never lived there. I lived outside of London. Most of the English are reserved and don't say much. However they will talk to you if you want help. If you come across arrogant and loud that is not good. Being Canadian I sound like an American. Some English have tried to rip me off with money coz they think I don't know any better. I soon straighten them out.

There are good areas of London and not so good. However I would be more comfortable walking at night in London than a major US city. I avoid all back streets at night. Stick to the main road for walking.

English food has come a long way. Pub food is great and there are good Indian restaurants too. I wish your son all the best in his studies. I think it is a great move for him.

Guy

Please don't say you're Canadian if you are not. Thank you

Main road? in London? :confused:

Got my flag pin at a Canadian Tire, thank you very much. :D Lovely country. Learned how wonderful and helpful you folks are when I blew a power steering line driving from Timmins to Ottawa in January.

What I mean is the sidewalk next to the main road!:)

The British Museum is really big and full of old stuff. Cool if you're into that sort of thing.
Beer is great, coffee sucks - stick to tea. Expensive as hell, and they drive on the wrong side of the road. Rural England is quite pretty. I had an uncle in Scotland for a million years until he died. Pretty little town. Glascow is more my speed - working / industrial city. If you do get up north, find a small pub and have a local Scotch. You'll never have any so good on this side of the pond.
Cheers!
-C

Re: Canadian flag pins.
We experimented. FWIW.
We received far better treatment with the Canadian pins, as opposed to no pins.
Canadians are recognized over there, due to the immense war sacrifices, in Europe. It is not a question of disliking Americans, necessarily.

Is there a US pin? i certainly have never noticed one. in my travels within Europe.

Some good insight here. Anyone have any general information on the city itself - what is the character of the various neighborhoods, advantages to being closer to the center of the city vs. the suburbs. Is there a line generally demarking the "City" and the surrounding suburbs that make up Greater London? Things like that.

Being this far north I can do a convincing Canadian accent if I flatten my vowels and don't talk too long, but I'd never try it in real life. I was mistaken (briefly) for being English the one week I did spend there for business. My Midwestern didn't seem to offend speakers of the King's English, so I have that going for me. I figure I'll walk a lot, smile and keep my mouth shut unless I'm asking politely for directions.

English accent is a cinch. Toss in some "tally hos" and "old chap" and you'll be golden...

Jolly right, there, guv. :)

Lovely news on the youngster, Mike. There is nothing better than to send the spawn out into the world equipped, without a Canadian Flag for the love of God, with a sense of humor and intellect.

He will always remember you did this for him.

First of all, when say "The City" in London, that refers to the very small inner London finance district. London is broken up into boroughs, with postal codes, like SW7 for Kensington, where I lived. There are also distinct neighbourhoods. Like I said before, I like the SW7 area, as it's fairly close to the college, but also close to most of London's nicest places to visit. And on the District and Circle lines.

The attached link looks like an excellent place to get educated.

Best areas in London | LondonTown.com

Happy to help. Lived in London most of my life. Moved out to the country but still work there (Hackney - trendy east end).

Twickenham is inner suburbia, quiet and reasonably genteel but not as much as Richmond, just across the river (very nice area).

Happy to answer questions if you want.

Read the post again, will try to answer. Central London is technically two cities: City of London (business district) and the city of Westminster (shopping, government, Buckingham Palace etc). If you refer to 'the City', it means the City of London so you are talking about the business district. The two are next to each other, Westminster being to the west (the 'West End' is Westminster) and the City of London to the east. The East End is east of the City of London (east of Tower Bridge really) and used to be the area with factories, docks, markets etc but now hopelessly fashionable in parts.

Mayfair is big on shopping, galleries etc.

Its such a big and diverse city that its hard to explain. If you are staying for a holiday then go for the West End if you can, but transport is good so its easy to get into the centre from outside. I've travelled extensively in the US but its hard to make a comparison. Parts are like DC, Mayfair and Chelsea are a bit like Georgetown, but other parts are much more New York, even Baltimore. Hard to sum up in a single post. It is a very safe city, friendly people and lots to do. Check out 'Time Out' for listings.

I loved Scotland.

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And you'd, to a large degree be correct. My travel was always due to business and I rarely had the chance to eat anywhere but small local places. The "ploughmans platter" became my favorite meal. SmileWavy

Wife and I moved to East Twickenham from Indianapolis at the start of the year. We're about two miles from your son's Uni, near the Thames, by the Richmond bridge. We love the area, spend more time in Richmond since the high street area is closer than Twickenham's. I'm not sure if you're asking if your son should live outside the area, but if so, I can't see why. There's everything you could want from an activities standpoint, Richmond has the most green space of any of London's boroughs, tons of pubs, shops, sporting venues, etc. Plus, as others have mentioned, easy access to the tube from Richmond station or the overground from Twickenham or St Margaret's to get you to anywhere in Central London. Congrats to your son, wish I had been smart enough to do something like that at his age! Let me know if I can answer any questions with more specific info.