London is a huge city, but you would be amazed at the amount of green areas, from London’s eight royal parks to the smaller lesser known gardens. You can go from the hustle and bustle of the crowded London streets to the calm, quite green lands of locations like Regents Park and Hyde Park.

In many of the large parks there are a wide range of attractions within, from boating on the Serpentine in Hyde Park, to a quite lunch or tea at “In the Park” restaurant in St. James Park.

We have listed our top ten London Parks and Gardens, it was a tough decision to include just ten, we had to leave out a few good ones!

So let’s get to the list, in no particular order of appearance with brief comments on why they made the list:

- St. James Park – small but we love the wildlife surrounding the lake and the views of London landmarks
- Regents Park & Primrose Hill – lots of activities, open air theatre, love the running trails and the Zoo
- Hyde Park – even more activities here, horseback riding, rowing on the lake, tennis, even softball at weekends.
- Kensington Gardens – Diana’s playground, the Round Pond, Albert memorial and of course the Palace
- Kew Gardens – It beautiful…enough said.
- Richmond Park – the deer
- Chelsea Physic Gardens – small and unexpected
- Hampstead Heath – the views of london, Kenwood House and the views from Parliament Hill
- Battersea Park – the Pagoda, La Gondola al Parco (cafe by the lake) and the childrens zoo
- Green Park – it has mostly grass and trees, no lakes no buildings, just a sentimental pick, I used to work across the street and spent many hours here!

To learn more about each of our selections, click here to link to our London – Parks & Gardens section of the web site.

Cheers,

Steve

Well, it didn’t take me long after finishing my last Blog post to book my next trip, and I am off to London on Monday!

I have spent the last week finalizing my schedule, I am trying not to fill it with hotel inspections and meetings, but rather relax and enjoy the city as a visitor would. So I have just a couple of hotels to visit, a few attractions to enjoy and definitely a few pub reviews to write.

I am going to explore more of West London this trip along with the up and coming area of Bermondsey, which is just south of the Thames, not far from Borough Market and Tower Bridge. I used to spend a lot of time in Fulham back in the early 1970’s, so I am overdue for a visit to Kings Road and the Chelsea Harbour. I have two or three haunted London pubs on my list to visit and I always spend a few days in Wimbledon where I was born, a walk on the Common, full English breakfast in Wimbledon Village and lunch at the Rose & Crown.

I look forward to seeing some friends that I haven’t seen for over 30 years, a visit to Wentworth for the BMW Golf Championship and maybe play a round with an old friend and hopefully kick his butt.

I will be adding a few fun posts to our Facebook page during the trip, so check in with me now and then over the next few weeks.

Will catch up with you soon!

Steve

This is my favorite time to visit London April – June, and I have this free frequent flyer ticket burning a hole in my pocket, and the more I think about the upcoming events, the more I want to sit down at my computer and book a trip!

Spring has come to Britain, during the past week or so it’s reached over 70 degrees in London, the British don’t see a huge number of hot days so it creates lots of excitement. Crowds of people empty the pubs with their drinks and stand on the pavement (sidewalk), at lunchtime the London parks are packed with office workers grabbing as much time as possible in the sunshine in one of the many deck-chairs scattered across the grass that run $2.50 for  an hour or $6.00 for 3 hours!

It’s all happening in London, what an exciting time, all starting with the London Marathon this Sunday, St. Georges Day, the patron saint of England on the 23^rd, Easter Sunday on the 24^th, and then the big event, the Royal Wedding at Westminster Abbey on the 29^th and the cricket season begins this month. Then there is May, my favorite month in London, the English football season ends with lots of exciting games like the FA Cup Final on the 14^rd and the UEFA Champions League Cup Final on May 28^th, both played at Wembley. Both finals could include the team I have supported since I was about 8 years old, Manchester United and they could also win the Premier League Championship title giving them the treble, a rare feat, last done by….Manchester United in 1999, the only team to ever do it! Sorry I digressed a little, too much football talk!

Back to events in London, the month ends with the Chelsea Flower Show on May 24-28. Then in June you have the Queen’s official birthday celebrated June 11 with the Trooping of the Color, Royal Ascot Horse Racing meeting on the 14-18 and Wimbledon on the 20^th.

I doubt I will make it through the weekend without booking that ticket!!

Have begun a new walk around London`s historic buildings cum film locations.  We visit four venues within three hours.  One location features sets from `The King`s Speech`, the Oscar-winning film starring Colin Firth as King George VI where he utters the immortally flawed line- `Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret`.  Of course he means `Princess Margarent Rose`.  So much for film authenticity.

One of London`s grand Robert Adam houses the venue doubled both for the Duke of York`s Piccadilly townhouse and Lionel Logue`s Harley Street consulting rooms.

How? Asked two of those who had booked the walk.  “Because”, I replied, “the house has two components- the 1775 bit which serves for the royal townhouse and the Victorian part which doubtless as Logue`s consulting rooms”.

Princess Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret Rose celebrated birthdays at the house, remodelled and upgraded by its then owner Baron Blyth (founder of W. A. Gilbey & Sons distillers).  Our present Queen apparently felt, because of its having London`s only hydraulic wall, that the house was even grander than their own.  Thus it is fitting indeed that the house replicates the royal residence in this film.

Colin Firth`s Oscar win brings smiles to us all.  It is after all about time.  I said he was due for an Oscar after I had seen `Genova` which was followed by a Q&A with the actor.

He really deserved it for Atom Egoyan`s `Where the Truth Lies`.  What a performance!

I didn`t like him in `Pride and Prejudice` as I believe (as does Firth`s own gran) that Darcy must be played by a blonde (to generate the right amount of tension within the story)

`Single Man` I thought was misconceived and a betrayal of Isherwood.  Gay men can and do pursue straight women and then call them neurotic when they return to gay lovers.

Firth is a funny guy.  I have met him twice- once following a screening of `Genova` and again at the BAFTA tribute to the actor.  He is an introverted, shy guy who even seems a bit ridiculous with his coiffed grey hair and humourless expression.  The number of borderline characters whom he has played make him even more of a conundrum; nonetheless, he has tremendous power and charm.  He is evidently good-spirited, generous, and easy to work with.  He is also known for evincing fierce support for the underdog

Speaking of Colin brings to mind Bill Nighy under whose photo I always sit when lunching at BAFTA.  Looking at him makes the food go down easy.

It was at the BAFTA talk that I accused Nighy of false modesty.  He refused to acknowledge his good looks, and said we were all crazy!

Stills from Nighy`s new film, `Chalet Girl`, show him sporting a typical Leslie Phillips leer…..`Hello……!!!!`

Nighy was born Nagy- probably a Hungarian Jew.  If so, he, like Leslie Howard, is another Austro to pass for the sexiest Anglo on the planet.  He is lecherous, self-mocking, shy, gentle, sympathetic and deeply contemplative.  He generally eats alone.  So we have something in common.

Well into his sixties Nighy was asked to play `Pericles` and turned it down.  I think he`d make a great Greek…an ageing male…of Austro descent….great!

And so…another week done and dusted….until next time…..

BFI Associate Tutor Sandra Shevey runs film/literary London walks bookable at sandra_shevey@yahoo.com

Copyright 2011 Sandra Shevey All Rights Reserved

There are a huge number of museums in Britain, most of the well known are located in London, but that doesn’t mean the most popular are included in my Top 10 list. Let me start off by telling you modern art and period dresses are not going to do it for me, sorry, so two famous London museums are not going to make the list, I am sure you can guess which ones they are. We all have different interests and tastes, thank goodness, which is why London is the place to go, some of the most obscure items have museums dedicated to them in London like fans, cartoons and tea (perhaps that’s not so strange in England!).

So let’s get to the list, in no particular order of appearance:

- Natural History Museum
- Science Museum
- British Museum
- Museum of London
- National Maritime Museum
- Sir John Soane Museum
- Wimbledon Tennis Museum
- Lord’s Cricket Museum
- London Transport Museum
- Sherlock Holmes Museum

I would be interested to hear about your favorites and why.

Cheers,

Steve

I have booked my air tickets to London, direct flight on British Airways to Heathrow, it’s the only direct flight from Phoenix, and I really enjoy Terminal 5.

It’s my first flight choice, I am visiting in the peak of the summer August, so the weather should be great, but never a guarantee. I have to admit to some concern booking BA as in two previous trips I have has problems because of strike action, let’s hope that can be solved by then.

Now comes the fun part, the planning, I am taking my wife on this trip and we are staying longer then we usually would, as we both have the time, I always feel like I am working when in the UK so it doesn’t count as vacation right, it’s actually fun, a “busman’s holiday” as they would say in Britain, so we will be able to explore even more than usual.

I am a planner, some people book their vacation and just wing it when they get there, I like to have it mapped out ahead of time, I am open to being flexable once we get there, but like to have a daily itinerary to build on.

It’s a fun time now because you have the date booked, now you can take the next few months to plan, checking for hotel specials, new shows and museum exhibits plus fun events within driving distance. We definitely want to take the train from Kings Cross and spend a few nights in Edinburgh but we have to wait on that because trainline.com doesn’t allow us to book our ticket until 90 days before, it’s worth waiting, you can save hundreds of dollar on two tickets on this site. So now I am checking hotel deals on my own specials page! We want to spend 3-4 nights in a coastal cottage, which is tough since most of the “wonderful” cottages are a minimum of a week in the summer, so that will be a challenge, but we feature lots of cottages on the site.

Then there are the shows, we want to see War Horse, so we will book tickets on the site, it’s a good deal. The other interesting option we are looking at is Groupon, yes there is a London version, I receive the e-mails each day, just waiting for some good dining options, there are even good hotel deals to be had, usually outside London.

I will keep you posted on my progress and any really good deals I find…I am interested in hosting drinks at one of my favorite London pubs for any member of the British Traveler Members who will be in London during my trip, more on that later.

If you need help planning your 2011 trip to London and the UK, and can’t find it on our site let me know.

Cheers