London: NY Times Story, In-Depth Look, Interesting!!

Coming tomorrow in the Sunday New York Times travel section, they have this headline: "My London, and Welcome to It" with this small sampling for some of this writer's viewpoints and highlights: "This city has become a homogenous, integrated, international place of choice rather than birth. Not without grit and friction, but amazingly polyglot and variegated. I travel a lot, and this must be the most successful mongrel casserole anywhere. Every national team that comes to compete will find a welcoming committee from their homes. London is the sixth largest French city in the world. You’re not going to find ’60s psychedelia and the Beatles in Carnaby Street. There aren’t any punks under 50 on the King’s Road. A lot of London’s image never was. There never was a Dickensian London, or a Shakespearean London, or a swinging London. Literary London is best looked for in books, and in old bookshops like Sotheran’s on Sackville Street. With more guilt, I realize that London may be a great metropolis, but it’s not very nice to people. We’re not friendly. Not that we’re rude, like the Parisians with their theatrical and frankly risible haughtiness; nor do we have New Yorkers’ shouty impatience. Londoners are just permanently petulant, irritated. We have, collectively, osmotically, decided that we hate the Olympics. It’s costing too much, it’s causing an enormous amount of trouble and inconvenience, it’s bound to put up prices, make it impossible to find a taxi. "

As this small, above sampling shows and details, this lengthy piece is an interesting mix of viewpoints from this one writer on how London has changed and evolved. The author is A. A. Gill, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair and a features writer for The Sunday Times of London. There is also a "PRACTICAL TRAVELER" segment that is headlined: "Want to Go to the Olympics? Act Now"

We have visited London and the nearby area four different times. It has been fun to see it evolve since our first visit there in 1977. Great history, culture, charm, architecture, people and sights are there. Love London so much. Not sure everyone will agree with all of this writer's viewpoints, but, like London, the story reflects its interesting diversity and people. If you're visiting London in the upcoming year, this story is worth reading and considering your many options in this great city.

Full stories at:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/travel/a-profile-of-london-by-aa-gill.html?hpw

http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/travel/last-minute-tips-for-traveling-to-london-for-the-olympics.html?ref=travel

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 75, 733 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 67,413 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

Yikes, he doesn't make it sound to great.

:rolleyes:

If I may say so... the Old Gray Lady has been recycling the same travel articles for years, even if the author's name is different this year.:rolleyes: I never liked their attitude, but it took me years to figure out why--and when I did, I stopped reading the Times (indeed, both the NY Times & the Times of London) altogether, & have been all the happier for it ever since.;)

Of course, visiting a place--any place--as a tourist for a few days or even a few weeks is quite different from living there. The longer one spends in a place, the more complex love-hate relationship one develops with it. That is as true of London as of any place.

DeloreanGirl ~ Don't be put off by the cynical grumblings of A. A. Gill. Instead, cheer yourself up with My Love Affair with England: A Traveler's Memoir, by Susan Allen Toth. It's slightly out of date, and hopelessly romantic in its view of England, but it's a delightful read. (The NY Times used to publish Ms. Toth in the Sunday travel section, before they completely went over to the Dark Side.)

They had a very dark view of London a few weeks ago in the magazine .I dont take them seriously anymore and I dont think many people do .It use to be the best paper but now they have some real whackos in charge.

They had a very dark view of London a few weeks ago in the magazine .I dont take them seriously anymore and I dont think many people do .It use to be the best paper but now they have some real whackos in charge.

Post Captain: If I may say so... the Old Gray Lady has been recycling the same travel articles for years' date=' even if the author's name is different this year. I never liked their attitude, but it took me years to figure out why--and when I did, I stopped reading the Times (indeed, both the NY Times & the Times of London) altogether, & have been all the happier for it ever since. Of course, [b']visiting a place--any place--as a tourist for a few days or even a few weeks is quite different from living there.[/b] The longer one spends in a place, the more complex love-hate relationship one develops with it. That is as true of London as of any place.

dolittle: They had a very dark view of London a few weeks ago in the magazine .I dont take them seriously anymore and I dont think many people do .It use to be the best paper but now they have some real whackos in charge.

Post Captain summed up well the unique situation of how a tourist views things versus a long-time resident. In such an opinion piece' date=' you might not agree with everything, but it is a "sampling" that is not read and viewed literally, word-for-word.

[b']YES, people's views on some of the major newspapers have evolved and changed.[/b] Fortunately in today's Internet world, we can read information and viewpoints from a wide, wide range of difference sources. Then we can visit personally and put it "ALL" in better balance for what we like and don't. London is a very interesting and varied city with a wonderful variety of great options. That's why we love it so much.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 75, 975 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 67,502 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

Ah, A. A. Gill. That explains it! Always controversial

I thought he wrote about resturants,not that well mind you :)

If I may say so... the Old Gray Lady has been recycling the same travel articles for years, even if the author's name is different this year.:rolleyes: I never liked their attitude, but it took me years to figure out why--and when I did, I stopped reading the Times (indeed, both the NY Times & the Times of London) altogether, & have been all the happier for it ever since.;)

 

Of course, visiting a place--any place--as a tourist for a few days or even a few weeks is quite different from living there. The longer one spends in a place, the more complex love-hate relationship one develops with it. That is as true of London as of any place.

 

DeloreanGirl ~ Don't be put off by the cynical grumblings of A. A. Gill. Instead, cheer yourself up with My Love Affair with England: A Traveler's Memoir, by Susan Allen Toth. It's slightly out of date, and hopelessly romantic in its view of England, but it's a delightful read. (The NY Times used to publish Ms. Toth in the Sunday travel section, before they completely went over to the Dark Side.)

Hurray!

Because all I've ever heard about London is how amazing it is and how nice everyone is. That's not to say it's perfect. But it sure seems like a fantastic place to visit and we can't wait to see it next month. :D:D

(This is coming from someone who lives near Los Angeles who could easily write an article similar to that one above.) ;)

You had me at A. A. Gill. :D

Thanks for the link. Off to savour...

In the mid 60's while in the service of my country, I visited London many times. As a young man, and of the Beatles and Carnaby St era, I found London as exciting as can be. We had the good fortune to see the movie

'2001 A Space Odyssey' when it opened in London. We loved the excitement of this city.

On going back, over 40 years later, maybe I have changed, but the city hadn't changed that much but my view of it had. Much of the excitement, to me, was gone, but it was still the magnificent city it always was. I have thought about it since then and I see one word that sums it all up, 'Tradition', the entire British experience is tradition. London is Tradition, from the Changing of the Guards, to the Globe theaters performances, to St Paul's services, to the Tower of London to Parliament, to the chiming of Big Ben even to madame troussards, it is all about Tradition. Either you love that or you don't. We do and we loved London. To us it may not be as exciting as it once was, but it is still the wonderful place we all imagine the British capital to be.

Cheers

Len