Abbey Road | London Relocation Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Abbey Road’

London Bundle: The Residential Roam

Friday, May 28th, 2010

We’re going to move it on up a little North of our Shopping Spree bundle today to some charming residential neighborhoods of London.

Hop the Tube to Regent’s Park Underground station (Bakerloo line). From here, we’re going to walk into, surprise, surprise…Regent’s Park! Explore this vast park to your heart’s content—if you haven’t had breakfast yet, you can grab a bite at either the Boathouse or Garden Cafes, and do stroll through Queen Mary’s Rose Garden, the largest of its kind in London. You will notice the Open Air Theatre as well, which runs performances from May through September, and in the Northern part of the park, you’ll find the zoo!

If you’ve had enough fresh air and are itching for a museum of sorts, just off the lower West corner of the park (near the Baker Street Tube) are the famous Madame Tussaud’s wax museum as well as the Sherlock Holmes museum.

From here, you can walk into Marylebone and acquaint yourself with this neighborhood and either go on foot or catch the Tube at Baker Street or Marylebone Underground stations to St. John’s Wood. This upscale residential neighborhood is home to Paul McCartney and Abbey Road Studios (yes, you can even walk on the famous zebra stripe across Abbey Road as the Beatles did for the album cover of same name). Sports enthusiasts will also find the Lord’s cricket pitch here where the Marylebone Cricket Club plays its matches.

If you follow St. John’s Road toward the West and hang a left onto Maida Vale, you will then gain exposure to yet another delightful and peaceful area—Maida Vale. Here you’ll find the road made famous by Duffy’s song, “Warwick Avenue,” but of most aesthetic interest is Little Venice, so named because of its canals and boats. This is such a fun spot for cafes and pubs, so this might be a good time to stop for lunch or even early dinner, depending on how your day’s been going.

Otherwise, if you hold out for dinner and are open to spicy international food, I absolutely recommend heading down the Maida Vale street, which will eventually become Edgware Road. Here you will find a row of restaurants representing a range of Middle Eastern cuisine for very reasonable prices and can even treat yourself to a shisha and mint tea (hookah) after dinner out on the sidewalk.

The rest of the evening is up to you…if you’re a Paddington Bear fan, one little sidetrack you could make is to see Paddington Station where this little bear from Darkest Peru was discovered. Otherwise, maybe go get some rest after this long, fun day!

Tags: Abbey Road, Edgware Road, Little Venice, London Relocation, Madame Tussaud's, Maida Vale, Marlybone, Paddington, Regent's Park, Sherlock Holmes, St. John's Wood, west london relocation
Posted in London Food & Beverage, London Recreation, Miniseries: London Bundles, Moving to London: Tips & Culture | 7 Comments »

Looking Both Ways Before Crossing the Street After Crossing the Pond

Friday, March 12th, 2010

I’ve mentioned before that London is very well-suited to getting around on foot. Sure, it needs to accommodate masses of tourists safely, but you’ll find that it is highly pedestrian-friendly for its locals citywide. This is something you’ll be grateful for once you’ve made your London move and need to deal with it on a daily basis.

If you have ever visited London, surely one of the first aspects of traffic that you’ve noticed is that automobiles are driven on the left side of the street. This inevitably sets itself up as a hazard when Northern Americans, Continental Europeans, and visitors of other nations in which one drives on the right side have the reflex of looking in the wrong direction of traffic when trying to cross the street. To blatantly assist with this problem, you will notice the words “Look Left” and “Look Right” literally painted onto the road at the edge of the sidewalks in the city center. In outer neighbourhoods, even though tourism is not as high, there are still large arrows painted onto the lanes–these confused me at first, as I intuitively thought the arrows pointed in the direction traffic flowed, but it’s actually pointing counter to that in the direction you should look to know where it’s coming from.

As in most cities, there are buttons you can press at the stoplight to get a “Walk” sign to light up for you at an intersection. Yet a regular feature on the streets here that is not-so common elsewhere is the zebra stripes, i.e., pedestrian crossings (indicated by parallel white stripes) that cross the road at a location other than the intersection. These are supplemented with a black-and-white pole with a round yellow light that flashes at the top, and cars are required to stop there if pedestrians are present. And if you’re having any remote difficulty picturing what I’m talking about, just think The Beatles’ Abbey Road. This album cover has resulted in non-stop tourists seeking the road out in St. John’s Wood to have their picture snapped at the legendary location.

And as is the case in most places you travel, there’s usually a pedestrian road sign or two that stirs up a giggle. In the UK, this one to the lower right is the one that does it for me:

If you don’t care for your commute to involve too much walking after you move to London, London Relocation Ltd. is always sure to find you a flat within easy walking distance of public transportation. The thing with this city, though, is that you’ll find yourself wanting to ditch the bus or tube for a nice stroll around, especially on those elusive sunny days. It’s a city made for walking, so you’ll feel footloose and fancy-free!