My Top Eleven Things to Do in London for Free

1. Art Galleries
London has some of the best art on the planet.The Tate Modern focuses on contemporary art while Tate Britaindisplays British Art from the sixteenth century to the present day.Other major London art galleries include the The National Portrait Gallery,The National Gallery,both in Trafalgar Square.I would also recommend, The Wallace Collection,which is a great respite after a hectic day of shopping on Oxford Street. And remember,many musuems and galleries are open late on Friday night.








2.London Museums
Visit and enjoy many of the London museums which happened to be free.
These Museums not only are free,they offer a great way to see world class art, sculptures.In Kensington you can hit three museums in one afternoon on musuem row:
The Victoria and Albert Museum,
The Natural History Museum,
and The Science Museum .

At The British Museumin Russel Square one
can see Egyptian mummies,ancient Roman,Greek and Oriental artifacts, Elgin marbles(involved in an ongoing cultural tug-of-war between the British and Greek Governments),and the Rosetta Stone(the key to translating hieroglyphics).Much of it was stolen from other countries.Not only is it the oldest museum in the world but, since its inception in 1753, the institution has managed to build an unrivalled collection of exhibits from the ancient world, many of them gifts from wealthy collectors.






3.London Churches
You can see insideWestminster Abbey
for free.The Abbey never charges people who want to worship but they rely on admission fees from visitors to cover running costs. Evensong is the most beautiful of services where the Abbey choir sings. The Choristers of the Choir are educated at Westminster Abbey Choir School and are all extremely talented. Evensong is at 5pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, plus at 3pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

American Girl Will Show You London Tour

Chuck Lankford on The American Tour of Westminster Abbey

You can also enter St.Pauls Cathedral
to see the Choral Evensong. Like Westminster Abbey, it ususally starts at 5:00pm Monday thru Friday, and it's free! Also, The Brompton Oratory has free concerts.The choir has appeared in award-winning recordings on DG Archiv and frequently sings for productions of the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Enjoy beautiful polyphonic music and Gregorian chants while sitting in resplendent baroque Italian architecture.








4. Royal Parks
There are often free talks and guided walks in the royal parks so do check the What's On section of the Royal Parks website.Royal Historic Parks. There are 8 park. St. James Park. Regent's Park. Hyde Park. Kensingston Gardens. Bushy Park. Greenwich Park. Green Park. They often have wonderful walks and events that are free.



5.Changing of the Guard
No visit to London is complete without seeing this military tradition. The Queen's Guard in London changes in the Forecourt inside the gates of Buckingham Palace at 11.30am every day in the summer and every other day in the winter. Get there early and view the spectacle from outside the front gates.




6. South Bank
It really is amazing how many London landmarks you can see along this stretch of the River Thames including The ship theHMS Belfast,
Tate Modern, Shakespeare Globe Theater, and so much more.









7. Street Performers
The West Piazza of Covent Garden Market has street performers to entertain you every day.Covent Garden has live singers from The Royal Opera House and classical musicians. (All performers have a license and have gone on an audtion).Grab a hot cocoa or glass of wine, sit on the piazza and voila there you have entertainment for an afternoon and evening.You will find more street performers at the weekend along the South Bank, particularly outside the National Theater.






8.London Markets
London is well-known for its popular street markets. The most popular are Camden Market and Portobello Market, following closely by Greenwich Market. Find out about these markets and more:


London Street Market's
Camden Market
Portobello Market
Greenwich Market
Old Spitalfields Market
Brick Lane Market(Sundays only)
Petticoat Lane Market
Picadilly Market
Columbia Flower Market (Sunday mornings only)
Borough Market







9. Libraries
Many of the London Libaries are free. When you got the site seeing blues, check out your local London library and just relax among the books. Get a library card and then you can check your internet for free. But, the best library of them all, and probably the best library on the planet is The British Library.They care the biggest collection of the world of Jewish, Christian and Muslim books. Check out Shakespeare's original folios.See The Magna Carta. Find out how different people were effected by the Magna Carta.







10.Free Entertainment
St. Martin in the Fields Church offers free Concerts on Monday, Tuesdays and Fridays at 1 pm. It's very relaxing, just to sit back and relax and her a Brandenburgh Concert or Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Also, there are inexpensive concerts in the evening where you can hear French cafe music or live jazz. Usually it's quite inexpensive and tickets are usually £10.

You may also attend a Lunchtime Recitals at the The Royal Opera Houseat 1 pm. The tickets need to be confirmed 9 days before the show.And, can be bought online at www.roh.org.uk. It's a great way to spend an afternoon and take a break from your work day, or if you want to relax and hear some beautiful music.






11. TOWER BRIDGE

You can't go inside the Tower Bridge for free, but you can look at it for free.
London Bridge was originally the only crossing for the Thames. As London grew, so more bridges were added, although these were all built to the west of London Bridge, since the area east of London Bridge had become a busy port.

American Girl(that's me),Will Show You London Tour

Lee Howard on The American Tour of Tower Bridge

Schedules for Events in London:

St. Martin in the Fields Concert Schedule
Changing of the Guard
Westminster Abbey Music and Choir Schedule
St.Paul's Choral SongSchedule
The Brompton Oratory Choir Schedule
London Market Schedule
For More Free Things to do in London


One of the few things I do in life is give TOURS OF LONDON,
American Girl Will Show You London

MORE IN SABRINA'S LONDON DIARIES
-How to be A Romantic Romeo on a Date
- Green London
- Ghosts of London Walking Tour
-What to do if your in London for awhile and have seen all the major sites

What to do on the First Date

DO'S FOR BLOKES ON FIRST DATES:

1.Do be confident. Confidence is the great elixir for success and happiness in life. If you not that good looking and if you aren't very wealthy. You can make up for it if you have confidence and believe in yourself.Be confident. This is the best advice I can give any man. Just be yourself. Don't apologize so much if you make a mistake. Don't explain yourself so much. Act as if everyone loves you and they will.If you want to see her, just call her and ask her out. During the date, just be yourself. Confidence is sexy. If you don't' have a lot of confidence do whatever it takes to build your confidence levels up. If you need to write a list of the ten things that you love about yourself and think about it. Or, say your positive affirmations before you go on a date and look at yourself in the mirror and say aloud " Damn, I am a god of love, all women love me!"

2.Play it cool- Don't go too hot and heavy in the beginning otherwise you are likely to ruin something good. Also, if you are too pushy and too much into her you seem like you are too needy and that's not attractive at all. Just be cool and be patient and wait to see if something happens.

3. Try to talk about common interests. If you love football and cricket and she could careless. Dont' go on and on about how Chelsea won over Barcelona and how you and the boys had 5 pints of Guinness at the pub.Try to find something that you mutually love or are passionate about and fly from there. Make it genuine. If you dont' like cocker spaniels and she does don't pretend that you do or she'll see right through it. That's lying and not cool. Just pick up on what she wants to talk about and then ad what you want to talk about and that should make for mutually fulfilling conversation.

4. Try to keep up with cues- If she says she doesn't like hot peppers or spicy food don't offer to take them to a restaurant where they serve Mexican or hot Indian food.If she says she's tired that she's just gotten over being sick don't' offer to take her to a boat ride when it's raining.

5. Take her to an interesting restaurant. This shows the lady that you
have some style and character. This also shows her that she's important enough
to you that you've taken some time out to research a special restaurant.
It doesn't have to be expensive. If she's sensible and practical she' ll appreciate that you don't just drop loads of money on her initially.

In the end, it's best to use your own judgment and instincts about finding or attracting someone. After all the road to love, has no rules but is best perfected and mastered by our own mistakes a long the way.

If you are TORMENTED, WHIPSAWED? WHITLESS WITH CONFUSION
GO ASK AUNTIE E'S ADVICE VIXENS
http://www.askejean.com/

Dating in London: Part 2: What to do on the Second and if you are lucky Third, Fourth and Fifth Date

6. Show interest in her life. If she says she likes scuba diving. Ask her if she's been to the coral reef. If she says she's really motivated to write her first screenplay ask her where she went to school and what are her favorite books.


7. Respect her feelings- If she says she doesn't want to drink any alcohol in the middle of the afternoon, don't insist that because you are partying hard because tomorrow is Diwali ( the Indian New Year) and that today you are letting it all hang out and going wild. If she just wants to have one drink that's her business.
Besides, if you push her to much into drinking she's going to think your just out to take advantage of her. It's so obvious.


8. Do go slow. Sometimes, it's best to just go slow and take your time. Nice and Easy like Sinatra says. This way your feelings can build up.The romantic tension can develop too. If you go slow, by the time you do finally kiss there will be some powerful fireworks and you'll have laid the foundation of a long lasting relationship.


9. Do value just being friends. Friendship is the basis and foundation for something deeper. Sometimes, a woman can fall in love with her friend. But, if you burn out the relationship too soon, you may loose that opportunity to ever be friends with someone and also you end up enemies too. Sometimes, a woman might fancy someone more than you at one time in her life but if you still like the person and want to hang out because you dig each other than by all means do so. Men should try to develop more friendships with women and by doing so will not only increase their success with women, they'll be able to understand their psyches much more.


10. Do be romantic and chivalrous- This could mean writing a note about what you like about her. On the first date, you can do one romantic gesture that says you dig her. You can tie her shoe, if it needs tying. Or, take her hand while she's crossing the street. Or, brush her hair out of her face. Or, put your arm around her. Or, wink at her while you are looking into each other eyes over dinner. These things are subtle, but ever so sexy and will warm her to you. You don't always have to bring a box of chocolates and a big bouquet of roses on the first date. That might be over the top. Unless, let's say you've known each other for years or have watched each other for months in the office and can't wait for some time to be alone together finally ! Or,you have been friends for years And the romance is there just waiting for one quiet night out to unfold your inhibitions. But, if you do it from the beginning and you don't' know her very well it could seem a bit pretentious and presumptuous. It could seem like you are trying too hard to win her and that's a bit of a turn off.



11. Have your own life. I think what makes a man attractive to me is that he has masculine drive and purpose in life. He has some towering goal he's working towards. He's powerful in his own way and that has nothing to do with what he says about himself it just shows in the way he walks and carries himself. He has dreams that he's made true and he 's working towards other dreams and you can see that he's a person that can manifest things. He has his own hobbies, friends,interests, goals completely apart from you.You can be someone that a lady could respect and admire.

Dating Don'ts Continued

Here's More Dating Don't Continued.

6. Don't pick a generic restaurant

Story: It was my first date with this man that I had met quite naturally. I had a date once, we had planned to meet in Notting Hill where there are a lot of restaurants. We met at somewhere popular like Starbucks and then decided to go further. I asked him where he wanted to go for lunch. He said Nando's.
I just practically rolled my eyes.( Well, I did roll my eyes, but he just didn't see it.) I politely suggested that we go to some nice restaurant on Portobello Road. We ended up going to a nice Thai restaurant and we had ended up having fun. But, the key is to pick a restaurant that lets her know you spent ten minutes on google just to figure out where to take her. That she's that important to you. Or, maybe you are so hip that you already know of a chic fun restaurant. Men ! This doesn't have to be expensive something under £15 per person. We are not talking about five star restaurants here. Or blowing your paycheck on this woman you hardly know.And, if your a student £7 or 8. This is about using your imagination, creativity and personality
and showing her that you can be real fun man.


7. Don't compliment her looks or her outfit so much. A good looking woman
has been told all her life that she's beautiful. You can compliment her on her outfit because everyone wants to feel admired but do it to a minimum. Instead, compliment her on her uniqueness, her intelligence and her accomplishments.

Story: An intelligent woman wants to be admired for her individuality and creativity and the things that make her and her alone unique. Cue into that and you will win her over a little by little, of course, along with everything else.

8. Don't be pushy. Don't start hanging on your dates.

Story: I was at a movie once with this young man it was our first date. The guy he would not let me breathe he practically suffocated me. He just
hung on to me for dear life and hugged me so hard.I was annoyed that he
was not into the movie and was just too affectionate. And, hung all over me like a lost puppy dog. Gross. I wanted to push him away from me, but I didn't want to be rude. I felt like telling him: " Jesus, I just met you man would you control yourself, sit up straight up striaght and watch the movie, after all you just paid 20 quid to watch it ! Damn!


9. Don't be too affectionate-
Don't insist that you have to have kiss on the first date.
I often don't kiss on the first date. I like to have a connection to whom I am kissing and sometimes the first date seems a bit too unnatural or rushed to kiss someone you hardly know. Don't underestimate the relationship. Sometimes it takes time for sparks to fly.

Story: I had a long term boyfriend once, I didn't kiss him for like the first 5 dates. I quite fancied him for sure. I just like to take things slow. He was very persistent and he knew that I liked him, but he was quite patient at the pace I wanted to take the relationship. His patience paid off because we ended up being together for 2 whole years.


10. Dont' talk about heavy subjects. Don't hang your laundry.

Story:I went on a date with a man that talked about how he was in the Iraq and he saw his friend's leg get blown off by shrapnel. And, that he's still scarred by the act and traumatized so much that he can't sleep at night. This is scary for anyone to hear on the first date. Although, you want to get your life out on the open and you probably want to see her reaction, don't' do it. It's in poor taste. And, the other person doesn't know what to do. She doesn't know what to say except " Gee I am sorry about that! " It makes the other person feel really uncomfortable. You also run the risk of her feeling sorry for you. But, it makes you look like your life is there all hanging out and that you have no discretion or privacy. It's better if you just say something like I went to Iraq it's not a fun place and just leave it at that. If she likes you,then the next few dates you can reveal intimate things about yourself. I am sure she'll be compassionate. Most women are innately compassionate.But, don't' do it on the first date, its not a good impression and it makes you look like you are reaching out for sympathy even if that's not your intention. Or that you still haven't recovered from your trauma and you need someone to vent to.

In conclusion,it's harsh out there, but with a little hope and some good karma eventually I will find my Mark Darcy. This is a list of a Moron.Why don't you make up your own list on how to be a successful dater and send it to me because I am really feeling things as I go along.It would be nice if someone could give me a few tips instead of me always having to give everyone advice.( Lol!).Anyway, Mark Darcy is out there somewhere and it's just a matter of time before I meet him or run into him. Cheers, Sabrina