London (England) > Reviews > Streets still paved with gold

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Average
Sightseeing	Excellent
Shopping	Excellent
Nightlife	Average
Ease of getting around	Excellent

Advantages:	The most enchanting, thrilling city I've ever visited
Disadvantages:	Can get expensive

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I am really disappointed that the old view of the streets paved with gold has gone out of fashion. We all see it so often on the TV, and we see the streets, most of us will have walked on them at some point, and we know for a fact that they're not made of gold. But as a metaphor it's as relevant as it's ever been, possibly more so as we can only see it as a metaphor.

I was born in 'the heavily industrialised West Riding' of Yorkshire. It's a wonderful place, rolling hills, valleys that seem to appear from nowhere and majestic, towering, terrifying mills in every city. I love it to bits, but whenever I go to London I want to live there, more than any other city I've ever visited.

It was a long time before I visited London for the first time. I went with school when I was about 13, then again with my family when I was 14 or 15 and a couple of times since. To put this in context, I visited Beijing when I was 15, and without the school trip there I would probably have visited the capital of China before I visited the capital of my own country. (Loved Beijing, but that's another story).

From my first trip to London I loved it to bits. I don't know whether it's the amazing mix of old and new, the sheer number of people or the huge variety of pretty much everything, but it's got something that Birmingham, Leeds, Coventry and Glasgow simply don't have, but Manchester, Beijing and London do in bucketloads.

I remember dragging my parents and godfather (who lives there) to Chinatown, shortly after my Beijing trip, to look round, and wandering through Canary Wharf, trying to find Tesco and finding a railway as well, and just being completely amazed.

I'm a country girl really. I'm trying to decide my university at the moment, and I'm having to choose between York and Birmingham, and much thoughI love them both York is the city that I would rather live in becauseit's smaller, older and greener. Yet if I could afford it, I spend money like I drink cola, as much as I can, London is the city I would choose. It may be the biggest city in the country, but it's beautiful and magical and exciting and it makes me feel like I'm six again.

I'm not going to recommend museums or areas or sights. I'm not even going to recommend a way to get around, apart from saying "don't" go by car. London is enormous. It has always drawn people from all over the country seeing the streets made of gold, but people eventually stopped believing in them; they're still there. If you go to London seeing your fortune you will find it; it might not be monetary, but spiritually you will come away much richer. There's no best places to visit, no best way to do it, except the way your heart takes you.