Have lived there twice so I may not be a good candidate for a rec, but.... since you asked: 1) Underrated: it's a city of amazing parks -- Hyde Park, Regent's Park, St. James' Park, and my personal fave, Hampstead Heath -- set aside several hours and just go explore. Each park has its own special features and they're all wonderful. 2) Wish I had done? Well, I've ticked it off the list in the years since I first visited, but Little Venice is amazing and the Waterloo Vaults are worth the trouble to go check them out. I have a list like 10X this long depending upon if you are a foodie, music geek, history buff (esp WW2), etc. Have fun!
Feb 13, 2024

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I'm going to info dump sorry but I have lived here for 10+ years so I think I'm qualified to say that this is a good list for avoiding high traffic areas and to see more of what actual locals do (mostly south london because it's where I live) Eat: -Kudu Grill (Nunhead) also there's a Little Kudu in peckham although I've yet to eat there so cannot say whether its as good -Theo's Pizza (Camberwell / Elephant & Castle) -The Camberwell Arms (Camberwell) -Artusi (Peckham) -Brutto (Farringdon) -Max's Sandwich shop (Finsbury Park) -Jai Krishna (Finsbury Park) (rogue recommendation but you have to try a good Indian when you're in London I'd say) -Casse-Croute (London Bridge) -Manze's Pie & Mash (Peckham)(try the jellied eels if you're feeling brave) -Speedboat Bar (Soho) Books: -BOOKS PECKHAM (my fav 2nd hand bookstore and the owner is nice) -Bookmongers (Brixton) -Tenderbooks (Near Leicester Square station)(really cooool art books, the whole street it's on is known for having lots of book shops, worth a visit and very central so it's easy to find!) Pubs (London essential, sorry about the pint prices though): -Skehan's (Nunhead) -Faltering Fullback (Finsbury Park)(try find a seat in the beer garden if poss) -The Camberwell Arms (Camberwell) -The Grapes (East London-ish)(fun fact: it's co-owned by Ian McKellan of Gandalf fame) Also the parks are great to visit in summer: -Kew Gardens (the general area is nice to be in - lots of expensive homes and english quaint-ness) -Hampstead Heath (it's is a good place to walk around in for a day, the 'village' part is cute too like with Richmond/ Kew Gardens, lots to do here) -Crystal Palace Park (for the cursed dinosaur sculptures mainly) -Greenwich Park (a tourist classic but I've included it because it's just a nice park and a good alternative to Hyde Park) -Highgate Cemetery (technically not a park but you can visit Karl Marx's grave which is cool!)
Jun 9, 2024
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Ok Iā€™m biased because this is where my ā€œin-lawsā€ live and where Iā€™m based on frequent trips over. But if you love parks and green space, I highly recommend venturing deeper out into Greater London. Kew Gardens (Londonā€™s major botanical garden) is so beautiful! Complete with double-decker conservatories (lol why is everything in this country double-decker), peacocks, and a pagoda you just might glimpse from the air if you fly into Heathrow. Itā€™s nearby Richmond, which is a particularly charming lil green and town to walk around in. I also highly recommend visiting at least one National Trust property while youā€™re there. Many of the old estates are along the river, so you can combine a museum with being in nature and walking around. So far my favorite Iā€™ve visited in the area is Ham House. In terms of London proper, one of the most fascinating things Iā€™ve done there is to take an architectural tour of the Barbican, the brutalist mega-living center that sprung up in blitzed out part of the City of London after the war (fun fact this is the center of London and technically considered a separate entity with its own government). Finally, despite the bad rap it gets, British food is actually quite delicious since itā€™s far more natural and fresher than what we get here. Plus the ā€œcozzy livsā€ make most food products much more affordable. Highly recommend making use of the high quality fruit and cheese and snacks from your local Waitrose or other grocery.
Apr 2, 2024
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Lime bike around Hyde Park on a sunny day Go for a swim in Hampstead Heath Ponds (if ur brave) or London fields Lido (heated) Dalston Eastern Curve garden for coffee Brick lane on the weekend (crowd hell but the vintage market has some of the best clothes - deceptively huge and gets better the further back u go) Kew Gardens (further out but iconic) Take the cloud cable car at sunset / after dark Stoke newington has super cute cafes and great charity shops Notting Hill at the weekend is mad crowded but very iconic & postcard London vibes Pride of Spitalfields pub - cheap pints & great chat Design Museum and V&A museum the Windmill in Brixton for live music and South London pubs in general Soho / Covent Garden area is fun to explore The clink prison museum - weirdest museum Iā€™ve ever been to Borough market is highly rated Broadway market is over rated (imo) Dalston Superstore for late nights Peckham car boot Deptford market Check up sebs art list for up to date exhibitions and happenings (will add more if I think of more!)

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Hey tyler hopefully this doesnā€™t violate some PI.FYI golden rule But after nearly two years of writing, editing and arguing, my book about the EP is coming out in May and can be preordered here: https://hozacrecords.com/product/aifl/ The book is about the origins, history and cultural impact of the EP since these little objects first started coming out in the 50s. Over 50 of my music biz friends then helped me shape the list and review the top 200 ever released, according to us (ha). For those of you who are into this kind of geekery/snobbery, I canā€™t wait to hear what you think. A labor of love, as all books are! ā¤ļø
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I will fail to explain just how much this band meant to me in the 90s. So I will borrow from AV Club who did a fine job of distilling it: ā€œUnwound isĀ theĀ best band of the ā€™90s. Not just because of how prolific, consistent, and uncompromising it was, but because of how perfectly Unwound nested in a unique space between some of the most vital forms of music that decade: punk,Ā post-rock,Ā indie rock,Ā post-hardcore,Ā slow-core, and experimentalĀ noise. That jumble of subgenres doesnā€™t say much; in fact, it falls far short of what Unwound truly synthesized and stood for. Unwound stood for Unwound. But in a decade where most bands were either stridently earnest or stridently ironic, Unwound wasnā€™t stridently anything. It was only itself. In one sense Unwound was the quietest band of the ā€™90s, skulking around like a nerdy terror cell. In another sense it was the loudest, sculpting raw noise into contorted visions of inner turmoil and frustration.ā€ R.I.P. Vern Rumsey. This is their finest song, from their finest album. I really canā€™t say enough about the sheer bloody minded genius of this group. šŸ–¤
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