Harlequins
London Defiant
By Prof
July 11 2005
This article is completely off topic, it has little to do with Harlequins or rugby but it is something that I have been thinking of over the past few days.
I work in central London and have done ever since I left school and I have always loved the place, on Wednesday I walked down to Trafalgar Square and witnessed people of all ages, races, creeds and colours partying and celebrating because London won the 2012 Olympics, the morning after I was on my way to work in Russell Square when the bus bomb went off.
It was a horrific incident and for those people who were killed or injured and their friends and families it is a truly terrible time and my heart goes out to them.
One thing that has been irritating me is the way the press and media have been reporting that London is terrified, that it has been brought to its knees and that it has been mortally wounded by this disgusting incident. I can't believe the bias in these early reports, thankfully they have become better since. But the vast majority of Londoners just got on with their work, got home relatively easily and didn't changed the way they have been acting at all.
I spent the whole weekend in central London, visiting St James's Park on Saturday to visit the Living Museum, there were thousands of people there looking at the WWII exhibits or just sunbathing in the park, on Sunday half a million people went to The Mall to watch the celebration and remember VE and VJ days, hardly an image of a city in the grip of terror.
The rest of my weekend took advantage of the multicultural aspect of our great capital, a visit to the Tibetan Community in Britain's celebration for the Dalai Lama's 70th Birthday followed by a free open air klezmer concert at the Bandstand in Regent's Park just over the lake from the Central London Mosque.
Basically this rambling, self-indulgant and personal article is just the start of an idea which may be of use to people coming to The Stoop on an away trip and who may be staying in London for the weekend.
I would like people to add to the attached thread information about what they love best about London, their favourite pubs and restaurants; their favourite things to do; places to visit and sights to see. Cultural places, places that are great for children, hidden places, special shops, posh places, best places for disabled visitors, hints, tips and free events.
Let's tell people about the best parts of our great city.
I hope this will be a continuing project that we can keep adding to over the weeks, months and years.
Thanks very much in advance.
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