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United Kingdom
The past week has seen the DLR train connection to London City Airport closed for line upgrades. Before setting off to the airport, it is wise to check online at www.tfl.gov.uk or www.londoncityairport.com to check for travel disruptions. There are replacement bus services in place but you should give yourself an extra half an hour if taking these to allow for delays and traffic
Absolutely delicious Keralan food served in a delightful way. This branch specialises in vegetarian and seafood and we had the feasts in both and both were fab. By 7pm they were turning people away so best to book or get there early.
5 Charlotte Street, London, W1P 1HD. www.rasaresaurants.co.uk tube - Tottenham Court Rd or Goodge St
Wine tasting on your doorstep in London. This fun night at cosy 'local' pub The Alma, is held approximately once a month on a Wednesday evening. Enjoy tutorials for different tastes and vintages from around the world, plus a selection of complimentary nibbles to stop you getting too drunk!
There are just 10 places per evening (book in advance!) so it feels pleasantly intimate - and you really do get to learn about what you're drinking.
All in all, a great, unusual night out in London.
Newington Green Road (North London - Canonbury or Highbury & Islington)
See the-alma.co.uk/wine-club.html
These are both great festivals, with excellent bands playing, a chilled out vibe and they are family friendly.
My tip for festivals is very very simple... Baked beans and Beanfeast! One of the big costs at festivals after admission and booze is the food. One way you can save money in these credit crunch times is to bring along at least some of your own... its not practical to bring it all. Baked beans are a staple: nutritious, cheap, easy to heat... even edible cold! Beanfeast is great, bit of that and pasta and some nice bread = dinner for four for about a fiver which is hideously cheap. And tasty!
Pack it before you leave home... available in most supermarkets and some health food stores.
This is a lovely vegan restaurant in a red double decker bus. Food is brilliant and the staff are very friendly!
Elys Yard, just off Brick Lane
www.root-master.co.uk
Festivals in London have been cropping up more frequently in recent years. Mostly they're one-dayers, like the O2 shows; or events that run in a series of venues on back to back days, like the Stag and Dagger festival or the Camden Crawl. In a sense these aren't really festivals, more a string of back to back gigs in a typically uptight London gig going atmosphere.
The upside of London festivals is how little it will cost you to get about if you're in and about London. That benefit is massively outweighed by watered down, over-priced festival beer.
My favourite London festival is set away from the centre of town, near Hainault Forest. It's a two-dayer, with super-early bird tickets coming in at £35 (and sadly sold out) and early bird tickets going for £45. The line up this year is pretty solid. A Certain Ratio and The Slits playing amid a veritable horde of young talent, and the vibe of the festival is much more laid back than you get in the centre of town. Being out somewhere green and connecting with nature overnight does tend to chill people out, comparing favourably to being stuck in a grimy, too familiar city setting, wondering if you'll get in to see the band that everyone wants to see in a venue that's probably much too small for the entire festival crowd to squeeze into. Some of last years Concrete and Glass patrons were heard to remark that that was all they saw when trying to get in to TV on the Radio at Koko last year.
Also, while Offset still falls into the weak, expensive beer trap, you can drink as much as you like of what you can bring in to the camping area of the site, which is well served for water and toilets too. If last year's experience is a guide, the campsite isn't a Reading/Leeds style warzone either.
It's on over the 5th and 6th September, near the temperate end of the scorching festival season. In my opinion, it's a cheaper, better alternative to the major festivals. Give it a look.
It might not be cool or particularly flattering, but a decent sized bum bag for all your essentials (loo roll, antiseptic hand soap, camera etc) means you've got your hands free to throw them in the air, carry multiple drinks and you don't have shoulder ache after three days of carrying a bag on it.
Fantastic, small-scale festival in London's East End, marking its third year in 2009. I've been to the last two and, despite teething problems in 2007 (not enough toilets and hour-long queues at the bar) and the rain in 2008, I'm predicting that 2009 will see these issues ironed out.
Both years had an exciting line-up of new music, with Bat for Lashes (2007) and Jeffrey Lewis (2008) my highlights. Final Fantasy is my bet for 2009.
The Palm Tree pub in Mile End park is a great venue for a few warm-up drinks.
Hackney's Victoria Park
www.fielddayfestivals.com/
These four are essential items (the shewee not so for men).
Self inflating camping mat. These are little gems, they inflate to give you a great nights sleep and roll up to the size of a small sleeping bag easily, you will be the envy of your fellow campers.
The shewee. Ladies, no longer will you need to endure that toilet line while the men just breeze in for a pee and are back in no time.
Loo paper. No explanation required, rookie mistake if you leave home without it.
Whores bath. When the bathing facilities are not up to scratch grab yourself a wet one and give you self and rub down and you are ready for the day.
Any UK festival
It is a good way to see how a weekend festival will pan out. Great for children of all ages. If the kids hate loud music, big crowds and mud maybe wait a few years.
Bring picnic, water bottles - lots of wet wipes and waterproofs!
For younger children ensure they have your mobile number on their arm, or on a sticker.
...walking along Southbank is one of the most beautiful ways to see various sites of London.
Starting from the London Eye, overlooking the Thames, Houses Parliament and Big Ben.
The Royal Festival Hall in particular, is an excellent meeting spot and place to chill... sometimes you get art or music for free in the foyer :) and there's a cafe and bar for refreshments!
There are plenty of tourist-friendly/child-friendly restaurants around here, big chains such as: Waggamama, Strada, Giraffe, also a pretty big "eat" (with great sandwiches, juices etc,.) a bookshop and music shop too... plus a regular book market outside the BFI, in the summer various free events outside, well worth checking out this area and just walking, walking, walking...
This is different venue to try when you're in the tourist hub of Covent garden. It houses the Poetry Society and every Tuesday they have an open mic night where aspiring poets read their works as well as a few more established performers and writers. They also have nights where published poets read. It's a lovely place to chill out admist the bustle of London - they serve good coffee and cake and other snacks. Take a book and indulge in some thoughtful repose!
www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/cafe/
22 Betterton Street, WC2
Tube: Covent Garden
An oasis of peace in central London! Keiko's massages are well described by a friend of mine as "a cross between psychotherapy and spa". Wide range of treatments from Balinese rituals to CACI and green peel facials are delivered in a lovely, spacious and fragrant treatment rooms.
www.naturesdumonde.co.uk
London
64 Marchmont Street,
Russell Square,
London,
WC1N 1AB
Telephone No
020 7837 9156
My top tip for rail travel is a simple one:
Always take real glass glasses to enjoy your drinks with. This way, every journey in a window seat will feel like your are in a dining car.
As an enthusiastic and regular traveller, I love to make use of all modes of transport when travelling. Train journeys are so much more than getting you from A to B, they allow you to see the local environment, save money, reduce carbon emissions and if you are lucky, you may get to meet some locals and get a great insight into real life. My top highlights and tips to train travel around the world are:
1) The bullet train (Shinkansen)
Japan's iconic bullet train lives up to its reputation. Fast, clean and always on time, the bullet train (Shinkansen) travels up and down Japan's main rail network, transporting you from hub cities like Tokyo and Kyoto in a matter of hours. Trains travel at speeds up to 300 kph and are a great travel experience. The city to city centre network means that they can be time saving as well, much quicker than travelling via Japan's notoriously remote airports.
The downside is that train travel can be very expensive, particularly at today's exchange rates. A single ticket from Tokyo to Kyoto starts from GBP100! However, there is a solution... if you are a visitor to Japan then before you travel you should get yourself a Japan Rail Pass. Available in 7, 14 and 21 day flavours, you can save a huge amount of money if you plan to travel more than a couple of times on Japan's rail network. A 7 day Japan Rail Pass costs around GBP235 at current exchange rates - just slightly more than the price of a return journey.
More details can be found at www.japanrail.com/JR_shinkansen.html
Your local travel agent or www.japantravel.co.uk can sell you a Japan Rail Pass
Remember, you have to get a Japan Rail Pass before you leave for Japan and it must be validated once you arrive in Japan. My recommendation is that get yourself a reserved ticket whenever you travel, as services can get quite busy at times. You can get reservations just 30 mins prior to travel. When you get to the Shinkansen station, go to the ticket office and ask for a reserved seat or go to the English speaking Tourist Information centre in the main stations for further help.
One additional tip, if travelling with a group of friends, also note that the seats also spin around so that you can sit face to face. Just place your foot on the lever under the seat and spin (thanks to a local passenger for showing my friends and I this!)
2) Eurostar
London to Paris in just over two hours? Yes we can with Eurostar departing from the newly redeveloped London's St Pancras station. The grandiose building solicits great thoughts of the history and romanticism that is linked with a train travel. Train travel for this popular route is recommended over air travel as it is quicker, cheaper and all the more comfortable. There are different classes of service available depending on your desires and travel times. My personal recommendation is to double check the price of leisure select ticket - the business class travel for leisure travellers. It often is available for just a small supplement and adds to the journey experience with food and a shorter minimum check-in times. The great thing about the Eurostar is that it goes straight into Gare de Nord, right in the heart of Paris. Here you can join the metro system and get to wherever you want in Paris.
My top tips would include being flexible with times to get the best deals and consider visiting some other of France's cities like Lille which offer an interesting alternative to Paris. Also try and avoid restaurants near the station, they tend to be more catered for tourist but as a result more expensive and less authentic.
Book tickets on www.eurostar.com but also look out for special offers.
3) Maglev - Shanghai
I had to end the tip with the world's fastest train. Shanghai's Maglev airport train shoots you across 30km at over 500 kph - the world's fastest. Take it for an experience rather than ease, unfortunately it doesn't take you right into the city centre but the station is well connected by taxis which wait around the station.
A one-way ticket is just around GBP5 so well worth the experience.
www.smtdc.com/en/
Hope you enjoy your train journey.
www.japanrail.com/JR_shinkansen.html
www.eurostar.co.uk
www.smtdc.com/en/
It is an ice rink and bowling alley in one place. It also has a karaoke bar attached. We had so much fun there. We stayed all day.
This week's heavy snowfall has reminded me of the fragility of the UK transport system. When weather is bad, it's worth remembering to check your airport's website to see if your flight has been cancelled or not.
BAA, operator of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted (www.baa.com) offer a flight text service to keep you informed on the status of your flight.
Great alternative theatrical dining experience. It's had sell-out performances across South Africa over the past two years. The show combines performances from contortionists, comedians and circus actors with a four-course meal and it would be a great Christmas experience.
Battersea Power Station - a 5 minute walk from Vauxhall tube station
We went to El Torero Loco for a quick after work drink - we ended up staying there all night! It really is a tapas place with a difference - stylish with a glamorous sofa area at the back. Great happy hour 5-7pm, with amazing cocktails. The tapas were divine - try the chorizo stew and gambas.
351 Fulham road, London (Chelsea)
www.eltoreroloco.co.uk
Gloucester road or Fulham Broadway
The ice rink at Somerset House is surely the most romantic place to go on a winter's night. Enjoy the mulled wine and the good music in a twinkling winter wonderland. Don't bother with the skating unless you've been practising. Spectating is much warmer.
The Strand, nr Waterloo Bridge nearest station Covent Garden, Charing Cross, Waterloo.
For more travel tips and holiday advice visit www.bitesandblisters.co.uk
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