"If you are tired of London,....." London by cochinjew

London has always loomed large in my imagination. I have always known about London, we studied about it at school and I clearly remember visiting London as a school student and finding all the names and streets bearing very familiar names. Also the history of Britain and its empire, came alive for me at those earliest vistis. Then I came here twice to live and sudy, first to do Medicine and then the second time to do postgraduate studies in Anthropology. The second time around, i enjoyed it even more, it was a feast for the mind.
There has been dramatic changes in London and there is a buoyancy unprecedented int his city. It is not a secret that the majority of the financial decisions have a London tilt to it, in the world of business all over the world. I am told that more than 50 per cent of the Insurance transactions internationallly are done in London. Currently it is enjoying a very high standard of living, gone are the shabbiness and dinginess and in with new architecture, fashionable stores and even more fashionable rsidences and restaurants..
Samuel Johnson is even more appropriate today than before:
If you are tired of London, you are tired of life..

There are other cities with cultural institutions but none can hold a candle to London. Of course for an English speaker the theatre is the best in the world. I used to be able to go three or four times a week while being a student to theatre, and saw major plays and major actors in all the major venues and some minor ones. Alas, I llive elsewhere now and can only visit London..
One thing attractive for the visitor as well as the resident is the chance to take in the museums and galleries at leisure. Most of them are free so that instead of hurrying in to take everything in, one can come back again and again.. while i was a student, i would go to the British Museum and spend each visit concentrating on just one section or room, same with national gallery in that way , you were able to educate yourself with the multitudes of images and compexities of cultures presented here.

of tourists.. this is only February, but oxford street on this sunday was a sea of people.. as if they were attending a sports event or a political rally in pakistan! but all the shops were holding sales and i am sure it is what was attractive.
the air of buoyancy is from money made from stocks, trading, insurance and such. many of the blue collar jobs have gone to the newcomers from eastern europe.. i heard more polish and spanish today than any other languag4e, and some languages i had no idea where they came from. ltos of japanese tourists as well. Asians and Africans were absent.. locals are either not shopping here or gone elsewhere. i remembered as a student i used to keep away from the areas of the tourists.. so the locals may elsewhere..
a nice lunch at a lebanese restaurant. tastes reminded me of the restaurant in Acco.. So the three meals in the course of 24 hours: south indian, lebanese and thai.. that is the way life has turned out to be..

• Pros:Fantastic feeling to be back where once roamed as a student
• Cons:Tourists Tourists everywhere..
• In a nutshell:Come, bring your credit cards and Enjoy the new ambience