hackwriters.com - London -

London is expensive, ancient, crowded, crazy, full of amazing places and secrets. Escape the centre and the millions of tourists and seek out the passageways of Hampstead, walk the Heath, find the pubs and coffee bars mingle with playwrights and actors. Travel further to Richmond Park where the royal deer roam and ballet dancers train. Walk across the wild parkland and find yourself on the edge of Richmond- overlooking the Thames as airplanes circle towards Heathrow. There's bars and restuarants, everything you need to make the day memorable. Want to explore old London? Then a day walking along the Thames from the London Eye to the Tate Modern and London Dungeon and Vinopolis where all the best wine is stored. You can find it next to Shakespeare's Globe. There's more, take a river bus to Greenwhich and find out where time began and explore Greenwhich Park where Queen Bess played and sailor heroes awaited fortune and favourable tides. Journey through the Park to Blackheath beyond, see grand Palladin homes set against a desolate treeless heath - neat little Brasseries await you and antiques (and Estate Agents.)

London is a strange eccentric mixture of periods. Walk back to Greenwhich and walk right under the Thames to the Isle of Dogs and suddenly you find yourself in the 21st Century. Canary Wharf, modern towers, a different place, unrecognisable from the busy Docklands it once was, forty years ago. Take the DLR train back to the city and now you are ready for the Museum of London, where everything about London's rich history is revealed. Tarry a while at the Barbican. London can be exciting. Seek out Smithfields where the meat trade still carries on and eat at Smiths, the biggest breakfast you'll ever taste - steak at 4am, no problem- no vegetarians either. Clublife, financial life, fashion, film, experimental threatre, dance, music, it's all waiting for you. The trick to London is to walk and talk. If you don't know, ask someone. Everyone has an opinion and likes to be asked. It really can be a friendly city.