SWINGIN' LONDON: Don't Forget Your Rubbers (It rains a lot)

LONDON is the capital and largest city of England, and one of the great cities in the history of the world.  What can you say about London that hasn’t already been said?  It’s huge, sprawling, magnificent, and once controlled about half the world.  The Romans founded it in 43 AD as Londinium on the River Thames, from which it grew to become the largest city in the world for almost a hundred years.  To this day it’s the best place from which to access the rest of the world, somewhat equidistant to all the rest, economically if not geographically.  You can easily spend a few days sight-seeing here.  Major tourist attractions include the famous Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.  That should keep you busy.  If not, then check out the British Museum, the National Gallery, Madame Tussaud’s wax museum, and the three major South Kensington museums (Victoria and Albert, Natural History, and Science). 

     Then there are the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Borough Market, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern Art Gallery.  Tired yet?  Trafalgar Square is more or less in the center of the cookie jar.  Wear good shoes.  Hostels are numerous and good, but be aware that many non-travelers use London hostels as a base for party weekends.  There seems to be a lot of consolidation in the London market, too, chains now dominating the hostel scene, with ensuing price rises.  

Still, there are some thirty hostels listed in the book, complete with specs and contact info, so that gives you some options.  I'm not joking about the rain, either.  Strangely enough, though, winters here are relatively mild, what with the gulf stream and all.