Some Ways to Enjoy London if Your an Expat

The Expats:Katka,Check Republic,Frederico,Spain,Nacima,French via Morocco,and Sabrina,The American. Four friends,getting together for a day on London's Southbank to enjoy Shakespeare at The Globe.Katka and I used to work at the Rizzoli bookstore in Santa Monica together and would cause a bunch of mischievous havoc together. Now living back in Check Republic, she came to visit me in London with her posh American doctor boyfriend, who was really gracious and treated us to pizza after the show.It's a small world after all.

London is one of the most diverse and cosmopolitan cities in the world. It's a virtual historical theme park. There are more free things to do per square feet. But apart from there being more free galleries and museums than anywhere in the world, London can be seen and enjoyed on any budget. If you are an Expat and you want to see more of London and you've seen British Museum 10 times and you are a bit bored by King Ramses, and you are tired of having tea with the Queen, here are some ideas that will give you some inspiration to delve a bit deeper in English and London culture.



1)Royal Historic Palaces. A membership for a whole year will cost you just £39 and you 'll be able to enjoy free entrance on all five historical palaces for a whole year. In addition be invited to exclusive parties and events for example concerts in Banqueting House. The five Historic Palaces are: Kensingston Palace. Tower of London. Hampton Court. Kew Palace and Gardens. Banqueting House.

The Tower of London

I know Disneyland was modeled after the castle in Germany, but
I can't help it, but The Tower reminds me of Disneyland.It's no Disneyland,for sure,it's filled with ghosts from England's torturous past. Anne Boleyn was decapitated here.Guy Fawkes and countless other poor victims punished for sometimes innocent crimes.Some, were fed to the eels in The Thames River.

Sabrina with the judges at the Anne Boleyn Trial.
Notice that the judge would not let me hold his hand, it had to be like so, very proper Elizabethan Court etiquette, mind you.What I really wanted was to hold the judge with with the dark brooding looks,I mean hold his hand that is.Isn't he gorgeous? I would like to get a job at The Tower of London just so I can look at him all day.

2. London Walks One of London's best kept secrets is The London Walks.Go on a specialized London Walks with the London Walks people.They have walks on Victorian London. Occult London.The London of Harry Potter.Da Vinci Code London. Shakespeare and Dickens London. Many are specialist in their chosen field, some are actors so the walk is not only educational, they can be quite funny and entertaining.

Oscar Wilde( Alan Titchard)- London Walk

3. Thames River Dinner Cruise. This is a great way to see the city and enjoy the architecture. For only about £7 you can get an all day pass. You can go up and down the river. Or, if you are feeling like you want to celebrate and paint the town, go on aRiver Boat Dinner Cruise.

Hey! Save some for me man! My American friend Chuck from Texas, that doesn't like to admit he's from Texas.Can you blame him(Lol!)

After a full day of site seeing, going to about 5 museums, the London Eye then we went on the Bateaux London River Boat Dinner Cruise. It included live music,full 7 course dinner, complimentary glass of champagne,vodka sorbet,desert, and then a bottle of wine to boot. Two crazy Americans in London, we were so happy, we ate, danced and drank and if that wasn't enough when the cruise ended,we hailed a cab to take us to Buddha Lounge to party more. We didn't realize it was just 2 blocks away,How stupid did we feel.Hilarious! This was one of my most memorable and MAGICAL days of many magical days in London!!

The riverboat tour is wonderful it meets at Embankment(across from the tube) and goes first West then makes a loop and at the Tower of London( all sorts of excited hoopla happens there for some reason) and then goes East towards Greenwich. Seeing London by boat is a first class superb way to see all the major London attractions and architecture without walking around or getting into a car.I really recommend the Bateaux Riverboat experience.

4.See Theater-London is perhaps best known for its first-class theater scene. From raucous musicals to serious Shakespearean dramas, there is a show for every taste. Go to a matinee. Matinees are always cheaper than night shows and are generally less crowded. Go to a show just before it starts. If the show is not sold out, leftover tickets are often sold at a lower rate. See shows in the middle of the week rather than on the weekend. Shows midweek are generally less crowded and you are more likely to get cheap tickets. Buy tickets online. Many online ticket agencies offer specials for as low as 10 pounds. But, the best thing to do is just head over to Leicester Square about an hour before the show and buy your tickets. Then, go to a pub, or the Theaters cocktail bar for a drink.




5. The best thing about living in London is that it's so close to so many fantastic English towns:Cambridge,Windsor, Oxford, Brighton,Stonehenge and
Bath just to name a few, and are just a few hours away on the train. You can also travel all over the United Kingdomo, Edinburgh, Scotland and Wales. Book online and in advance and you'll get a good offer. Book online with National Express, Virgin Trains, and Megabus. Megabus, like in America offers really cheap fares even for the same day.



Some Important Websites
http://www.nationalexpress.com
http://www.megabus.com/uk
http://www.greatwesterntrains.com
http://london.lastminutetheatretickets.com/


More in Sabrina's London Diaries
Dating in London
London Fashion

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.