Return To Innocence.

It's odd to think of going to London for a holiday. How bizarre, I never thought this day would come. Returning back to my home town, the city I was brought up in did feel a bit odd. The city never suprises me with its dull weather, the unkindness attitudes of peoples energy whilst standing in the queue to buy milk for afternoon tea at Tescos. The mundane lives that people live, and the constant complaining of how sorry they feel for themselves.

But it ain't all that bad, I think it’s safe to proclaim that Spring is finally back. I gladly replenished my supply of antihistamines and had been busily stopping to smell the proverbial flowers at every opportune moment (my father created a beautiful flower garden that were filled with the most amazing colours. Good job Baba, what a creative man you are). Falling cherry blossoms decorating the pavements like a fluffy pink carpet, what a great time to be alive. Let rip the pollen grains somebody. When the sun shines in our capital, I feel as though the drenched reputation London has, begins to evaporate. Colours become more vivid, people are generally merrier. You have to be, since it is one of the rare days you get to rock £100 Ray Bans. Given that we would be spending more time out of the house, certain establishments suddenly become a more attractive proposition, one suddenly returns to innocence.

London’s roots go back to Roman times and the city seems to reinvent itself regularly. It has swung, but it’s also been the home of bowlers, stiff upper lips, and over-cooked vegetables. Today’s loosened-up London is a cultural center with some of the best theater, shopping, and yes, even dining in Europe. Good times to visit are July, when the Wimbledon tennis tournament takes place, and August and September, when Buckingham palace is often open to the public.

Planning to visit? It’s not a bad idea to pick a hotel close to the popular attractions, because London is the sort of city where the popular attractions really are worth seeing. Sure, everyone tries to make the guards giggle at Buckingham Palace, hopes to spot the ghost of a former prisoner at the Tower of London, and climbs the 334 steps to the belfry of Big Ben. That’s because these are genuinely fascinating places to visit. Consider staying in the Mayfair or St. James neighborhoods, which are both convenient west-end enclaves.

London is one of the best cities in the world for shopping. There’s always Harrods (butterflies in my stomache as I type) and the Seville Row shops if you’re in the market for a bespoke suit. Harvey Nichols also offers the best names in clothing and house wares under one (slightly less staid) roof.

Newer shopping hotspots include cutting-edge fashion on Mayfair’s Conduit Street, and the boutiques on Chelsea’s King’s Road. Also consider a visit to Covent Garden. The cockney vendors who once inspired George Bernard Shaw to write Pygmalion are long gone, and today the district houses hip clothing stores and antique emporiums. The city is also synonymous with theater. If you get the chance to see the likes of Kevin Spacey or Dame Helen Mirrin onstage in the West End (both have trod the boards in recent years), jump at the chance, but keep in mind that London also has an equivalent to the concept of off-Broadway, called “fringe” theater. One of the best-known fringe establishments is the new Globe Theater, a re-creation of Shakespeare’s original on the south bank of the Thames. It’s far from avant-garde; in fact the Globe is devoted to preserving the Bard’s canon.

If theater is one pillar of London’s culture scene, then world-class art is the other. You could easily spend a whole vacation among the antiquities in the 2.5 miles of gallery space that make up the British Museum. An interesting complement to that experience is the decorative arts collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum. For contemporary art, the Tate Modern, which opened in 2000, contains one of the best collections of 20th and 21st century art in the world. It’s enough to shake up anyone’s vision of London as a stodgy place.

Perhaps surprisingly in a city that likes its lager, London pubs close at 11pm—10:30pm on Sundays. Restaurants stop serving alcohol at that hour, too. It's rubbish! What to do if you fancy an after hours pint? Club hopping is the next best thing.

Here are some Kodak moments;

You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford - Samuel Johnson.