London, England - Part 3

Since the British rock explosion in the 1960's, London hasn't let up on the number of clubs featuring home-grown talent. The West End in general and Soho in particular has a number of intimate places featuring every kind of music known. The term "West End" when applied to theater, refers to commercial theaters around Shaftesbury Avenue and Covent Garden. Major companies include the Royal Court Theatre, Royal National Theatre and Shakespeare Globe Theatre. The Society of London Theatres (SOLT) operates a discount ticket booth on the south side of Leicester Square where tickets for many shows are available at half price or at a discount for over 30 performances every day. They also offer tickets in advance at full price for theatre, rock, pop, sport and other events. Tickets sell out fast, so make sure you arrive early. There is also a discount ticket booth at Brent Cross Shopping Centre. The booths only sell discount theatre tickets for performances on the same day and you have to show up in person. You can bag cheap tickets to a wide choice of productions; big hit musicals, comedy, dance and opera, even hits like Mamma Mia to Billy Eliot. Expect to pay around £10–£25. All West End theaters are closed on Sundays. Check out the listings magazine Time Out that details around 60 off-West End theaters and fringe venues where you'll see some of the most original drama in London. The best-known fringe venues include Almeida Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, and Soho Theatre. Scan http://www.lastminute.com/ for short-notice discounts of up to 50% on theater, musicals, comedy, cinema, concerts, and even VIP entry to nightclubs.

Take the trains from Paddington Station for a day excursion to visit Windsor Castle that is claimed to be the largest inhabited castle in the world and it's on a site that has been a home to monarchs for more than 900 years. Located about 20 miles from London on the Thames, the castle is the Official Residence of Her Majesty The Queen and sits on 4800 acres of lawn, woodlands, and lakes. The Castle covers an area of about 13 acres and contains magnificent State Apartments furnished with treasures from the Royal Collection, St George's Chapel (one of the most beautiful ecclesiastical buildings in England and the burial place of 10 monarchs), and Queen Mary's Dolls House, a masterpiece in miniature. During the winter months an additional five rooms, known collectively as the Semi-State Rooms, are included in the visitor route. Standard admission charges apply. The Semi-State Rooms are open to the public from Saturday 26 September 2009 to the end of March 2010.

The British Museum, with it's 2-acre Great Court main south entrance with its stunning steel-and-glass roof, houses an unmatched collecton of antiquities, most of which are the spoils of empire. Important finds from Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Cyprus share this warehouse of history with spectacular collections from Asia and the Middle East. The Rosetta Stone sits at the entrance to the Egyption Sculpture Gallery; the sculptures from the Parthenon known as the Elgin Marbles, are the most famous of the museum's extensive collection of Greek Antiquities which the city of Athens want back. The British Library Galleries include two copies of the Magna Carta (1215), Shakespeare's First Folio (1623), and Gutenberg Bible (1453). Admission is free. Travelling via the Tube, the nearest Underground stations are: Holborn (approximately 7 minutes on foot); Tottenham Court Road (approx. 6 minutes on foot); Russell Square (approx. 10 minutes on foot); and Goodge Street (approx. 13 minutes on foot).

A visit to London isn't complete without a trip to Tate Modern. Britain's national museum of modern and contemporary art from around the world is housed in the former Bankside Power Station on the South Bank of the Thames, opposite St. Paul's Cathedral. The awe-inspiring Turbine Hall runs the length of the entire building and you can see amazing work for free by artists such as Cézanne, Bonnard, Matisse, Picasso, Rothko, Dalí, Pollock, Warhol and Bourgeois. Set aside half a day for this visit.

After visiting the Tate Modern, visit St. Paul's Cathedral across the Millenium Bridge on the other side of the Thames which is the seat of the Bishop of London and a major London landmark. It is located on Ludgate Hill in the financial district known as the City of London. The present St. Paul's Cathedral, which was built between 1675 and 1710, is the fourth cathedral to occupy the site, which was sacred even before Christianity arrived. The cathedral's immediate predecessor was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981 had their wedding at St. Paul's Cathedral. In 2002, the Queen had a ceremony of thanksgiving here to celebrate her Golden Jubilee. The cathedral enjoyed by visitors today was designed by court architect Sir Christopher Wren. Wren's original, grander plan met with considerable resistance from the conservative Dean and Chapter. The present building reflects a compromise, but still reflects the grandeur of Wren's design.

Shopping is a British buzz and with around 30,000 stores, nowhere is buzzier or busier than London. The West End is the heart of London shopping. Its main artery is Oxford Street, a mile of mass-market chains and department stores like John Lewis, Selfridges, and Marks & Spencer. At the eastern end, St. Giles High Street is the gateway into Covent Garden, a warren of narrow streets lined iwth stores selling quirky specialties and the hottest fashion trends. Oxford Circus is the first big intersection walking west along Oxford Street, where it crosses Regent Street. Turning south is Liberty, Austin Reed, and Hamleys. The next landmark westwards is New Bond Street which changes to Old Bond Street as it heads south through Mayfair. It's wonderful for designer window-shopping and for fine art and antiques. Both Regent Street and Old Bond Street run into Piccadilly with its seriously upper-crust shopping. Continue west from Piccadilly and Hyde Park Corner to posh Knightsbridge and the world-famous Harrods department store on Brompton Road. Sloane Street is lined with the most rarified names in haute couture. Sloane Street runs down to Sloane Square and King's Road in Chelsea. King's Road contains a lot of mainstream boutiques and some streetwise avant-garde, but it was the center of Swinging London in the 1960's and of the punk revolution a decade later.