Don’t Look Back in Anger
London
Being in London makes me feel like there's electricity running through my veins. The city is so full of life—even in this prolonged period of uncertainty due to Brexit and the current government. Taken as a whole, there's a richer English-language cultural life than anywhere else. Yeah, I see you New York. I stand by what I just said.
So I'm biased. I accept that. Once upon a time—now an unimaginable twenty years ago—I lived there and often wish I still did (Brexit be damned!), especially given that it's now less expensive than San Francisco (what?!). London is the only place in Europe I've made a point of going to twice on this trip. I couldn't pass up seeing Kara Walker's tremendous post-colonial fountain installation, Fons Americanus, at the Tate Modern, which was absolutely worth the additional flights. Of course, it helps having friends and a gracious host there.
For me, being in London is a non-stop cabaret of theater, art, friends, music, great food, and long walks that are safe regardless of the hour. If you get the chance to stay somewhere central, you can basically walk anywhere you'd want to go (except for friends' houses which tend to be much further out). I don't think I took the tube at all the first week I was there this time. Routinely hitting 16,000-22,0000 steps in a day, I covered a lot of ground, ate many delicious meals, and enjoyed some outstanding art. Even now, two months later, sitting in tropical “paradise,” I think I would hop on a plane to London tomorrow if someone handed me a ticket.
Ok, so what’s good in London? Culture. In so many formats.
Music: If a band is playing in Europe, they are likely playing in London. I got to fulfill youthful fantasies of seeing Eurythmics (1999) and Soft Cell (2018) in London. Beyond the 80s throwbacks, there’s a million small venues with every genre you can think of. As with most things in London, details are a bit more difficult to come by now that TimeOut has become a shell of its former self, but spend a few minutes reading posters around town and searching the web, and anything you could want is there.
Film: London, where you can find a single-director festival that goes on for a month. Skip the Leicester Square overpriced mainstream theaters, and go to any art house around town (BFI on the Southbank, Curzon Soho, Riverside Studios, etc etc etc). Meet Terry Gilliam at a screening of his new film. See everything by Peter Greenaway in one weekend. Dive deep into Japanese horror if that’s your thing. If you have time in London, you might fall in love with film in a way you haven’t since the 90s.
Art: Again, this is where I lament the glory days of TimeOut, which I used to buy every week and highlight all the new openings. It’s current (albeit free) format is more flimsy than comprehensive. Now you might need to manually check the websites of the major museums and—as with music and film—keep your eyes peeled for the latest film festivals you don’t want to miss.
Theater: The good thing about theater is that it’s well advertised in London. You can find out what’s on in the tube stations and sides of buses. If you add in ten minutes of internet searching, you’ll be golden. Keep an eye out for the Spiegeltent for great cabarets, the National Theater, the Barbican, and the Young Vic are also outstanding, Sadler’s Wells often hosts touring performance and dance groups, and of course there’s the West End.