Haven't been to London, but been to Dublin a few years back, and some
of this sounds very familiar.  I too like to experience the local
culture, rather than sight see.

The tour bus system where you buy an all day ticket and can get off
and on throughout the day are a great deal.  Basically just tourists
on them, but the Dublin bus drivers were a constant fount of history
and local color commentary -- very entertaining.  Being able to get
off, spend as much time as you want, and then get back on (buses were
coming by every 15 minutes), was a great way to "get the lay of the
land", spot areas for further exploration, and there was never the
herd mentality of guided tours.  One bit of wisdom:  Take the entire
tour without getting off the bus at the very beginning of the day;
take notes on where you would like to spend some time or eat; compare
notes at the end of the tour; make a group plan; then hop aboard again
for a little different commentary POV, and hop off where you want to
spend some time, going as fast or as slow as you want.  You might want
to leave the next morning open just in case you have too much fun and
don't get to all the locations on your list.

I was on my own at the time, and had no problem meeting the locals at
pubs, got invited along on an Irish wake pub crawl, got into some
boisterous sing-alongs, got involved in some debates and discussions,
and generally had a great great time.  I think it was in Galway where
I had dinner in a family pub.  Didn't know there was such a thing.
Seemed like a casual dinner party and get-together for many of the
locals and their kids.  A lot of visiting/discussions, kids playing,
games, local sports game on the tube behind the bar, and plenty of
good Irish food (depending on your tastes).  Seemed kind of like an
indoor picnic much of the time.  On the train ride back to Dublin, I
had a pretty young wife with a preteen girl and an infant son sit down
across from me.  Very pleasant to talk to as we traded information on
what the reality was as opposed to the impression of both countries
from the media.  What made it a bit hard to keep focused on the
subject to begin with, was she began nursing her infant son almost
from the beginning of the trip bare breasted -- no blanket or other
covering and just an arm's length away.  I prided myself on not being
a prude and relaxed about nudity, but the beginning of the trip I had
to concentrate on keeping the eyes up and the brain engaged on the
conversation!  By the time we were half way to Dublin, all seemed
normal though.  Just one of the many cultural "experiences" enjoyed.

If you have any hobbies or interests that would be shared by Britons,
you should see if you could hook up with some of them over the
Internet on a special interest message board.

Have fun, and let us know how your trip turns out.

Pete


On 6/25/07, Roy Brown <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> In message <[log in to unmask]>, Andrew Schriber
> <[log in to unmask]> writes
> >Seeking suggestions from the 3000 list brain trust.
> >
> >I will be in London June 30th - July 7th, accompanying my daughter who
> >will be dancing at Leed's Castle on the Fourth.   We will have some
> >free time, every day (besides the Fourth).
>
> It is vitally important to know that Leeds Castle is in Kent, and is
> about 42 miles Southeast of London.
>
> Do not confuse it (or let anyone confuse you) with Leeds in Yorkshire,
> which is about 200 miles Northwest of London, and nice enough, but not
> the place you need to be :-)
>
> >What is a must see and what should we avoid?
>
> I would suggest that you take a 'Big Bus' tour - about $40 per head:
>
> http://www.bigbus.co.uk/?AID=10294285&PID=2044157
>
> This tours round all the major sights, and for those you want to stop
> and look at, you just hop off the bus and hop on the next one along when
> you are done.
>
> Choose from the Red or Blue tours. There is more on the Blue tours, if
> you have the time.
>
> Don't worry that the stop at Big Ben/The Houses of Parliament is
> temporarily out of use. These sights are just across the road from
> Westminster Abbey, which is still on the itinerary there.
>
> Fit in the river trip if you can. We like this so much that we spent
> part of Xmas Day on one, having Xmas dinner served as we travelled -
> though obviously that's a seasonal thing :-)
>
> You must take a trip on the London Eye:
>
> http://www.londoneye.com/
>
> You can of course put together your own itinerary and get round London
> by public transport rather cheaper than that - about $2 per journey if
> you get an Oyster card (see below) - but you have to figure a lot of it
> out for yourselves. So the Big Bus is still a good deal.
>
> The London Underground (the Tube) is very easy to navigate, but you
> don't of course seen where you're going, which is the advantage of
> buses. London buses are very good, but you need to figure out which bus
> number goes where.
>
> Either way, as soon as you get here, invest in an Oyster card for each
> member of your party (£3 each, plus you place some money on them for use
> as fares).
>
> http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/oysteronline/2732.aspx
>
> Then you just swipe these in Tube stations or on buses - saves buying
> tickets each time, and costs half to two-thirds of the regular fare.
> Also, if you make a lot of journeys in one day, the cost is capped at
> whatever an all-day ticket would have cost you. It's a win-win
> situation. And you can add more money to them in any shop displaying the
> Oyster sign, not just at stations.
>
> Nothing I'd especially say to avoid, except perhaps for those places in
> Soho that are obviously not very family-friendly anyway :-)
>
> For shopping, London prices aren't all that different from US ones,
> except when they are dearer. Electrical goods generally aren't all that
> compatible anyway.
>
> Your daughter (depending on her age - you didn't specify) might like Top
> Shop, which specialises in near-copies of the latest fashion items, but
> at High Street prices.
>
> http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/TopCategoriesDisplay?sto
> reId=12556&catalogId=19551
>
> Also good for clothes is our iconic Marks & Spencer; stores everywhere,
> but the big one is at the Marble Arch end of Oxford Street:
>
> http://www.marksandspencer.com/gp/node/n/42966030/?extid=ps_ggl_P4PBrand_
> marks_and_spencer
>
> I spend most of my days in things from their Blue Harbour smart casual
> range for men, while my wife loves their Per Una range. (Slightly to
> M&S' surprise, this range designed for the younger customer is flying
> off the rails to everyone who wants to look stylish - and Twiggy
> (remember Twiggy?) - as she is today is one of M&S key models.
>
> All the big shops are in Oxford Street. Some of it is a bit tatty, and
> there are touristy shops, but all the serious shops are there too.
>
> Me, I like shopping in the King's Road Chelsea, but you have to see
> Oxford Street first.
>
> >What used/antique book stores are worth a visit?
>
> One of the nice things about London is that although it is so big, all
> the shops of a certain sort tend to cluster together. So the place you
> want is the Charing Cross Road:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charing_Cross_Road
>
> If you have a specialism, ask in just about any shop there, and they'll
> be pleased to tell you which of their fellow shopkeepers has that
> specialism too. There's a good spirit of camaraderie there.
>
> (The entry talks about Diagon Alley, from the Harry Potter books, being
> here. Though personally, I think J K Rowling got the idea from Gee's
> Court, off Oxford Street, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it gaps between two
> buildings scarcely big enough for two people to walk into side by side,
> which opens out into St Christopher's Place, a pedestrian haven of very
> exclusive shops. If you are in Oxford Street, see if you can find it :-)
> )
>
> http://www.stchristophersplace.com/maps.html
>
> >On Sunday (July 1st), we are free after Lunch.  We would like to go
> >somewhere or to some event to meet Londoners as opposed to a tourist
> >destination.
>
> Tough - Londoners tend to go to destinations, and do things when they
> get there. (Where would you go to meet New Yorkers, for instance?)
>
> But three suggestions are:
>
> (i) in the London parks, if the weather is nice. I used to go and sit in
> St James' park, and I would often get talking to people there.
>
> (ii) at street markets - but the ones where people go to shop, not the
> tourist traps. And most are morning things, over by lunchtime. But here
> is a selection:
>
> http://www.streetsensation.co.uk/markets.htm
>
> (iii) if you travel by bus, you tend to meet more Londoners, as most
> tourists go by tube.
>
> Happy Travelling!
>
> Roy
>
> --
> Roy Brown        'Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be
> Kelmscott Ltd     useful, or believe to be beautiful'  William Morris
>
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