London Places To Stay Things To Do The 2012 Olympics And Beyond

To the casual visitor to London appears to be a huge city. It is a mega-city, but what most tourist do not understand is that, it is in fact a series of small towns and villages, they just happen to be very close to each other.

Seen from above, as your airplane dips it's wings on final approach, to either Heathrow or Gatwick. London's 2 main international airports.

You could be forgiven for thinking that London is indeed massive. It is but not how you think.

Stretching 607 sq miles, it does cover a huge area, of the Thames valley floor. But it retains a very village feel to it, when you get into town.

When you depart the airplane. The signs read 'Welcome to London'. Do not step outside though as you are about 15 miles from London if you landed at Heathrow and 25 miles from London if you landed at Gatwick.

Luckily for visitors many years ago we invented trains and they will get you to London in less than 20 minutes.

The City Of London

The Square mile or The City of London Corporation is the real business and finance centre of London.

Here you will find the Bank Of England, The Stock Exchange and Lloyds Insurance of London to name just 3 of the big hitters in the Square Mile.

The City Of London has it's own Police force and it's own laws and regulations. It also has it's own Lord Mayor.

Down the river Thames the new Canary Wharf CBD has emerged from the derelict London Docklands.

The London docks moved further downstream when containerization was introduced. Deeper water was needed for the larger ships.

Leaving these huge docks in the centre of London unused for decades.

A Canadian property developer saw what London didn't have.

All the colonial contries had a CBD or central business district and that is what him and his brother set out to build.

His name was Paul Reichmann and the company was Olympia and York.

Along with the London Docklands Development Corporation the Reichmans blew new life into this derelict area.

Lying to the East of the city is the oldest part of London. Tower Hamlets.

These Hamlets (old English for villages) were built up on the north bank of the Thames around the Tower of London over the centuries, hence the name Tower Hamlets.

It was always a good idea to be near a castle. Who knew when the next marauding hoard would come along the river?

There has been a settlement at this point in the river Thames for thousands of years.

The Romans were in London 2000 years ago and actually gave the then village it's name Londinium. The name London is derived from this Roman name.

If you have time go down to the riverside at low tide, you can have a go at mud-larking. This is a great way to find yourself an old relic, to take home and treasure.

Anything from an old Dickensian clay pipe to a Roman gold hard. You never know what you will find. But you will find something. Guaranteed.

The Tower Hamlets

Is made up of the following ancient boroughs. They radiate from the Tower Of London in this sequence. Wapping is the oldest part of London.

Next Whitechapel infamous for Jack The Ripper and the notorious gangsters, the Kray Twin, Stepney scene of the Sidney Street Siege where a shoot out took place between the police and some alleged burglars on 2nd of January 1911.

Bethnal Green were the museum of childhood is based.

Poplar has many landmark buildings including the Bryant & May match factory. (now luxury apartments)

Where a historic women workers strike took place in 1888 for better working conditions.

The women were working with white phosphorus and it was common for it to eventually eat your face off.

And finally Bow, famous for many things but not as many believe. The home of the bells that define you as a cockney.

To be born within earshot of the bow bells means the bells of St Mary-Le-Bow church in Cheapside. Just to the east of the City Of London.

Each of the above boroughs are further subdivided into smaller villages. i.e Wapping has Shadwell and Ratcliff.

The Tower Hamlets

Tower Hamlets is famous or should I say infamous for many things including Jack the Ripper, the Elephant man, the Kray Twins and the setting for Charles Dickens famous novel 'Oliver'. To mention just a few.

The whole area is steeped, nay! dripping in history.

There are walking tours for all of these areas.

On the north east border of Tower Hamlets, we have Stratford where the Olympic Village has been built. The stadium complex is immense and has been built largely on old industrial waste land.

The Olympic village has 2,818 apartments (flats) that are almost ready for occupation, and are in the final fit out stage, ready to cater for the 16,000 athletes and officials from the 200 competing countries.

After the Olympics these apartments will be rented to both private and public tenants. They have in fact already been sold.

To the Qatari Royal family and the British developer Delancey for £557 million ($906 million)

The hype has started in earnest now with the announcement that the Queen is to sail or be rowed up the river Thames to open the 2012 Olympic games.

Britain really should take a credit for the modern games. It was Britain that restarted the modern games after WW2 in 1948, and kicked this whole shebang off again.

The idea was to bring people together from all over the world in peace and harmony and compete only on the field of play.

It is often argued that the Olympics, does not really make money, for the host countries. That is missing the point.

The games are supposed to be for amateurs and were for many years run on tiny budgets.

Some people of course will always make a killing. I am not talking about the guy selling a few flags, although that, I am sure is a nice little earner.

As sponsorship came into the games, the whole thing got very expensive.

As I mentioned above the Olympic Village is in the East of the city and has been creatively named the East Village.

At least this is a nod to the reality that is London. As I have stated in this hub. London is just a bunch of villages.

The East Village has been built on former industrial sites. And has transformed the whole area.

It has created many jobs (16,000 jobs approx) to the surrounding area and has improved transport links. You can catch a high speed train to Paris in less than two and a half hours.

Beyond the games the stadium complex will be used by local football (soccer) teams and other public bodies and community groups in the area.

London places to stay things to see beyond the 2012 Olympics

There is a wide variety of places to stay in London and to suit every budget, from Caravan parks in the Lee Valley, in the east of the city. To 5 star hotels in Park Lane, on the west side of the city.

Things to do are innumerable and there is something for everyone. From art galleries to museums to the best theaters in the world.

You are spoiled for choice. A coffee on the sidewalk at Covent Garden, watching the street performers is a must see.

My Top 10 Places to see

The Tower Of London

Buckingham Palace

The Tate Gallery

The National Gallery

The Science Museum

Oxford Street

Piccadilly Circus

The British Museum

The Museum of Childhood

The City Of London (square mile)

The list above is obviously pretty predictable. It is exactly what you would expect to see if you came to London.

In fact, if you didn't see these iconic buildings, you would be missing a great, historic and personal experience.

For example. You will never forget what you were doing, when you took that picture of Buckingham Palace.

These buildings and monuments, can all be seen at no cost, unless you want to go in and look around, then there is a small charge.

Most people just like looking at the buildings and taking pictures.

There are tour buses that follow a route that passes all of these attractions and you can buy a ticket and get on and off wherever you like, see what you want and get back on the bus to the next attraction.

So you don't really need a map or GPS.

The original idea, was to bring together the best amateur athletes in the world. To compete in a friendly atmosphere. The games would further good relations between nations, that we should all get to know each other better. And in this spirit of cooperation and competition, grow together as equals.

Sounds like a pretty good idea.

In 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttmann, wanted to find a way to help injured soldiers after World War II.

He organized a sports event for soldiers with physical injuries and amputees, to run alongside the 1948 London Olympics.

The event was held at the Stoke Mandeville hospital. They were first called the Stoke Mandeville Games.

The event has grow in stature over the years and inclusiveness is now the order of the day. Each country that hosts the Olympics, must also host the paralympics.