London for Londoners

I recently had a friend visit from Newcastle and as she had not been to London in a while I decided to plan an exciting day out for us. As a Londoner I am frequently dashing through the city, running for trains and stopping for a hurried minute to grab a coffee and bite to eat. However, on the weekend I usually prefer to relax with friends and family and avoid the crowds. On the weekend in question I made an exception and went online to plan an action packed Saturday with my northern friend Anna. Websites such as Time Out and Lonely Planet were of some use but the best by far was World Travel Guide. Here I found a London guide with a brilliant ‘things to do’ section. Using the guide was easy and putting a bit of work into the day made all the difference. We started off at Borough market for breakfast. I would really recommend going there sometime. The market has a real old-fashioned London feel about it. The butchers look like they belong on the set of Oliver and traditional beer barrels are also on sale. Maria’s Market Café serves a hearty breakfast and the lady who runs it, Maria Moruzzi, has worked at the family business since the age of seven! I went for scrambled eggs and Anna demolished a full English breakfast. We then rummaged around the market and acquired some great coffee beans from the Monmouth Coffee Company. Apparently they sell some of the best coffee found in London. After a leisurely stroll along the Thames we were ready to move on. I had planned on visiting the Tate Mode so we made our way to the huge disused power station that is now an example of modern art at its very best. Having organised everything in advance we came prepared with pre-booked tickets for the Gabriel Orozco exhibition. It was quite enjoyable. The artist used old tyres, bones and concrete as materials. So many different objects can be presented as art, it’s quite amazing. We then had a look around the permanent collection which was really interesting. Rothko’s work was particularly soothing to look at. As a child I would say things like ‘I could do that’ when I saw such a simple piece. As I’ve grown up I’ve realised working with huge blocks of colours and many layers of paint is not as easy as it looks. ‘Red on Maroon’ was my favourite and I found being surrounded by the paintings incredibly relaxing. Anna and I had a really good conversation there too, one of those deep and meaningful ones! Bathed in sunlight we walked across the Millennium Bridge and took a look at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Whilst sitting on its white steps we met some Spanish students who were heading to the Market Place bar just off Oxford Street. I had been before and really liked it so we decided to head over there with them. A few Mojitos later we still had time to hop on a tube and get home for very little. We had a really fun day and the end reminded me that sometimes being spontaneous is a great option too. World Travel Guide is an excellent resource for finding fun things to do. And wherever you are from their London page will help you navigate this great city.