Alternative Tourist Attractions

It has recently dawned on me that having completed two out of the three years of my degree course in London, I could soon be leaving the capital for good. Cue dramatic overtures.

It’s not as though I have tired of the city, but boring, real life stuff like getting a job, putting a deposit down on a flat, being able to afford food are somewhat selfishly getting in the way of my plans.

With this thought in mind, I realised that there are many things that I have overlooked in my two years in London town. Places which seemed a bit too obvious to visit when I first arrived on Brick Lane with my suitcase and apprehensive, yet curious, attitude towards the city.

The main reason this realisation has set in is that for the past two months I have been away from my Dalston home, working in the northern city of Manchester. I have had to readjust my way of life, taking care to turn down my newly acquired London pace a notch or two.

Thanks to my new job I have met many new people who are obviously interested in my double life, spanning between the north and south. The classic question posed by my new, temporary, colleagues goes a little something like: ‘Ooooh, I went to London about three months ago and went to this really unusual bar/restaurant/club/shop/park. Have you ever been?’ To which my response is always the same: ‘Erm….no.’

After several of these encounters, one of the said inquisitive colleagues finally exclaimed, ‘Well, where have you been then!?’ To which I was quite taken aback before deciding they actually had a point. I have lived in London for two years and I have hardly been anywhere that doesn’t comprise a run of the mill tourist attraction…I’m talking Madame Tussauds, The London Dungeon, The London Aquarium…

With this as a prompter, I have decided to make a mental list of the places I must visit before I potentially leave my East End home. I mean, despite last year living a ten minute walk from Tower Bridge, I haven’t even visited the Tower of London. Despite having an interest in unusual bars and venues, I have never been to the Ice Bar on Heddon Street. Despite getting sick of the usual chain restaurants where I spend many a Sunday evening, I have never been to Dans le Noir in Clerkenwell Green – a restaurant where diners eat their meals in absolute darkness.

And so, my final year in the capital of England (at least as a student anyway) begins from this day fourth. Tourist attractions of London, of the understated variety, here I come!

My top five alternative tourist attractions:

1) M. Manze’s traditional cockney pie and mash shop, 87 Tower Bridge Road SE1 4TW

2) Cellar Door burlesque club, including lessons, Aldwych, WC2E 7DN

3) Blitz Party, swing band and 1940s fancy dress in a bunker, Village Underground, 54 Holywell Lane, EC2A 3PQ (next event Sept 18)

4) The Blind Beggar pub, 337 Whitechapel Road, E1 1BU (of Kray twins fame)

5) Jack the Ripper tour (www.jack-the-ripper-walk.co.uk) and a hot cider in The Ten Bells, Spitalfields, E1 6YL.