London Apolyton Meet

[Locutus]

On August 8 there will be an Apolyton meeting in London. Several CtPers are certain/very likely to attend this meeting: IW, Peter, CoT, Barley and yours truly.

It would be cool if any other CtPers would attend this meeting as well, would make it a real CtP event (though a whole bunch of non-CtPers will be attending as well) So Maq, John and other British posters -- or other Europeans with the time and money to fly to London, are you guys coming? (I can give some tips on cheap flights and accomodation for continental visitors if needed )

The OT thread about this meet with details on when/where/why/etc can be found here: http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=91914


CoT,
You live in London, right? Zopperoni and I will be spending 2 days in London. Any tips on what to do/see/etc? We've both been to London before a couple of years ago, so don't bother with standard tourist attractions like Buckingham Palace or the Tower

[child of Thor]

er get out of london as quick as you can and visit somewhere nice in the Uk, like the Lake District, Wales,Scotland,Ireland,or Cornwall(i didn't give away i'm a celt did i ).
(whats with the hats?)

Er no seriously.....let me have a think on nice things to do, maybe a trip down the river? It all depends on how much you want to spend.
If money is no problem, then i'd say a trip to the London Aquarium is cool(£8ish) followed by a ride on the London Eye(£?) which is right by the Aquarium. A visit to London Zoo(£8ish). I'm not sure how much a boat trip down the Thames is, but i expect at least £10.

If you want cheap/free stuff, then The Natural History Museum and The Science Museum(both near South Kensington tube station) are excellent to while away a few hours, and free to boot

Alot of what you do in London is dependant on the weather, so its best to plan for indoor things just in case.
If the weather is great then a walk down the river from Hammersmith bridge will take you to a great little traditional british pub called 'The Dove', its got the smallest bar in Britain(about 6' long), BUT does very decent food and beer, and has an outdoor bit overlooking the river. If it is crowded you can buy your beer/food and take it to a park about 100meters away.

Hope some of that is useful? Its weird but living and working in london doesn't always mean you get to know about all the things going on here.

Let me know what dates you'll be here +I'll try to get sometime off work to coincide

[hexagonian]

Send me the money and I'm there...

[Peter Triggs]

(whats with the hats?)

Today is Poly's 5th birthday.

Locutus and I were in the chat room earlier but he's gone off to watch a movie. If you're around later, keep your eye on who's chatting. (IIRC, I think he said he'd be in England from 12:00 of the 8th to 16:00 of the 9th.)

[Locutus]

Thanks for the tips, CoT, very useful When I talk things over with Zop I'll definitely mention those tips.

I expect we'll be doing most of the traveling by tube -- after having done cities like Amsterdam, Venice and Bangkok by boat, I can't imagine a trip over the Thames will be too exciting, or am I wrong?

The times Peter mentioned are pretty much correct.

And yes, it's Apolyton's 5th birthday today. You can find the birthday feature here (the Contest is quite fun, if I may say so myself).

[J Bytheway]

I would like to come, but alas, I am in South Africa at the moment, and until after the event. Ho hum.

[Maquiladora]

Another no im afraid ive already had way too much time off with my birthday next week aswell wouldve been great too a kind of source code celebration maybe not. Have a few for me.

[child of Thor]

Originally posted by Locutus
edit...

I expect we'll be doing most of the traveling by tube -- after having done cities like Amsterdam, Venice and Bangkok by boat, I can't imagine a trip over the Thames will be too exciting, or am I wrong?

edit.....

No, i suppose after those boat trips the London one would be rather naf.
If yourself and Zop fancy a quiet beer at some point in your trip i could be your beer guide
(it's a shame all the CTP2'ers cant make it, but it's understandable - if Pedrunn wanted to do it in Brazil it would be quite tricky for me to get there.)

[Cort Haus]

Excuse me crashing in on this forum. I'm a Civ3-er, but I did play CTP2 for a while and would give it another go if that border intrusion bug ever got fixed/patched.

I live in London and love it, and I'm sure the earlier poster was joking when he slagged it off. Sure, the Lake District is the most beautiful place in England, but London is one of the worlds greatest cities.

If boat trips and zoos are not quite enough for you, I'd recommend Camden in North London for live culture and atmosphere - markets, music, food. The high street is a work of art in itself (shopfronts), and all around the canal are markets - fashion, art, craft, antique, music - with foodstalls everywhere. There are restaurants and pubs galore and the live music scene is the best in Europe (my opinion, but I welcome anyone to challenge it).

Bands are playing most nights at the Monarch (Chalk Farm Rd), the Dublin Castle (Parkway) and the Bull and Gate (Kentish Town Road). Bands also play regularly at the Underworld and Jazz Cafe (near Camden Town tube).

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by Locutus
after having done cities like Amsterdam, Venice and Bangkok by boat, I can't imagine a trip over the Thames will be too exciting, or am I wrong?

Not over the Thames, along it. A trip between Westminster and Greenwich will take you past some stunning architecture - at least as good as Amsterdam : Parliament, the Embankment, St Pauls, Tower Bridge and you should see the jaw-droppingly beautiful 'gherkin' building still under construction in the City. Can't comment on Bangkok, but I thought Venice was over-rated and a bit smelly. Maybe it's improved since.

For a suberb view of the London skyline climb Primrose Hill immediately north of the Zoo, by Regents Park. It's also a short walk from Camden (which I recomended earlier) and btw,much of the residential architecture around Primrose hill is also superb.

[Barley]

The jury is still out on my attendance, I have been invited to an engagement party and as there is a good chance I may be asked to be best man (since its my best mate of 30 years) so I would feel pretty guilty not going.

I'll confirm later in the week but I really want to come to the Poly meet (not been to one before). Just hope we dont all sit around talking about games and coding all day/night lol.

[Locutus]

Cort Haus,

Thank you very much, that is some very useful information Camden sounds great, if Zop likes it as well and we have time, we'll definitely go there...

Barley,

Well, it'd be great if you could make it, but it goes without saying that a wedding would have precedence of a silly Apolyton Meet, so you certainly have a good excuse not to...

[child of Thor]

Cort Haus, you got me
My comments we in the context of i'd just come back(to work) from 2 excellent weeks in wales with family and friends, and it didn't even rain once

London is a cool place to live for sure
And to redeem myself i'll add some other good things to see and do.

visit Soho for night life, food/bars.
Chelsea's King's road for looking cool with the cool people as they shop.
Anywhere south of the river for a more laid back feel, particularly Putney and Richmond areas - nice pubs and a more relaxed vibe.

you should have plenty to do in your trip

[Cort Haus]

Londinium and Lundenwic

coT,

You did well to catch a dry fortnight in Wales :umbrella smiley:

There is a different vibe in South London , though 'more relaxed' is somewhat subjective - North Londoners tend to feel a lot less relaxed 'South of the River' - and vice versa. Richmond and Putney are 'relaxed' (affluent) areas but not really representative of South London generally.

We now have suggestions for North, South and West London, so I'll add Shoreditch for the East. Loads of pubs, clubs and restaurants around the Rivington Street / Old Street area.

For civ-heads wanting to get some ancient London, visit the City - the area defined by the Roman wall aound Ludgate / St Pauls in the West, Aldgate / Tower of London in the East, Moorgate / Bishopsgate to the North and the river to the south.

The Romans needed a river crossing to get their quick roads through the island. The bridge (site of London Bridge) needed defending with a military base and Londinium was born.

The city faded in the 5th and 6th centuries (after the Romans left) but Saxon port settlements sprang up to the west in the 7th and 8th centuries - in what they called 'Lundenwic' - now known as the 'West End'.

Conflict between Saxons and Vikings lead to the original walled Roman city coming back into play as a stronghold in the 9th Century, whilst Lundenwic faded.

The Saxon Kings set up administrative HQ further west at Westminster just before the Norman occupation (which lasted for ever). The old Roman city would be the industrial and commercial centre throughout the middle ages, and it is the street plan from this period in history that remains today. Street names like Poultry, Threadneedle St, Cannon St (Candlewick St) survive, and twisty passages and alleyways link the narrow streets. Go up an alleyway and you'll probably find an old church, a little garden and a pub. If you wait long enough you'll probably get a Starbucks there too .

A thriving financial centre on weekdays, it's dead in the evenings and weekends, so catch it while it thrums.

(typo edited)

[Immortal Wombat]

aside: I've had a haircut, I now look utterly unlike any photo of myself I've ever put online.