Sluggo said:
In the spirit of greater cultural understanding, I want to have a thread dedicated to.. um.. greater cultural understanding.
I remember reading Harry Potter and the Thing of the Whatever and wondering if things in the book were wizarding references or just British. And I am sure my friends across the pond get just as befuddled by movies like Rocky IV.
So, let me start with a question to my British mates*:
Which is cooler? Trafalgar Square or Piccadilly Circus?
*"Buds" for all my American friends reading this.
It depends if you mean the locations in London or the associated tube stations (Charing Cross for Trafalgar Square).
I haven't been to visit London for a very long while (I've passed through it a number of times but I've not actually been there to walk around in a meaningful sense for well over a decade) so this information may be a bit out of date.
When I was a kid Piccadilly Circus was kind of fun.
It had some sketchy shops and cinemas (the one in American Werewolf In London was a fake I believe but it sums up some of the feel of the place back then).
The traffic was crazy but it was exciting.
It's really been cleaned up and it's lost most of it's cheesy charm.
If you are familiar with New York it's sort of the London Times Square (only much much smaller).
I'm a big fan of Alfred Gilbert and spent a long period of my degree time studying him. The statue of Eros is probably his most famous piece.
Leicester Square is more my thing though because of the giant cinemas.
Trafalgar Square is a civic meeting place with fountains and some of the best views of central London.
Last time I was there it was not a place for people who are scared or annoyed by birds (I love birds).
The pigeons had several generations of genetic hotwiring and would swarm around any part of your body with bread on.
There were somewhat annoying street merchants selling bird food at astonishing prices so if wearing birds was your thing bringing your own bird food (remember seed is better than bread) was advised.
This has all been stopped, it's now illegal to feed the birds and trained birds of prey will pick off any that you manage to feed.
The buildings (many by Nash) are beautiful and the fountains are nice but there isn't much going on there either.
However the National and National Portrait Galleries probably make the location essential for any visit.
The Lions around Nelson's Column are nice.
Personally I prefer Covent Garden as the shops are good and it's much more personable.
London is a rather dull and paradoxically threatening place.
If you want an English City to visit I'd go to Newcastle or Blackpool.
Honestly central London is so small you could walk around and get a feel for the whole place within a long weekend.
If it's a choice between tube stations the answer has to be Mornington Crescent.
