I know that when many tourists come to London, there are certain attractions, sights or places that are a must visit on virtually everyone’s list. People have seen them featured countless times in magazines, on television and in movies and cant wait to experience them for real.

Who would come to London and not want to see Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, The River Thames, Tower Bridge, Downing Street or to visit places like Hyde Park, China Town, Soho, to name but a few, the list is endless I could go on and on.

I have put together a wee YouTube video, where I feature some of London’s many iconic sights. I can honestly say that London is a city that is even better in real life than it is in pictures. It is one truly buzzing and alive city.

London and especially Hampstead Heath is such a great place to laze around at on a sunny day with few a  chilled beers enjoying the view or should I say views. This shot was taken from the top of Parliament Hill, which provides one of the best views in all of London and I’m not just talking about sexy London  girls.

It is said that Hampstead Heath is London’s very own countryside on its doorstep and I guess I’m inclined to agree with that. I think there was even some people flying there kites on top of Parliament Hill but my attention was distracted by the things, such as the magnificent views of all the buildings of central London on the skyline.

I came across a section in a rag that was called The Docklands and a featured article called “The Single Life” with Tracey Tarling and Ben Welch and their personal experiences of dating in London in the 21st century.

Lets start of with Ben and after looking at his picture and reading about him, I fear he maybe be single for a hell of a long time. Now it was the ramblings of the girl that had me laughing out aloud. She was whingeing on about having to pay for lunch on her second date with a guy and how she almost had to call the paramedics to resusatate her because she had to spend money on something other than on herself. (Okay I will be honest, I added the last bit myself, but it is probably true).

Tracy went on to explain her attitude towards dating in the 21st century! “I’m all for a girl offering up a token gesture of payment in the first couple of dates, maybe a round at the bar or the popcorn at the cinema, but for him to expect me to pay for the whole meal was a bit of a shock”. Maybe Tracy is the kinda girl that likes to pay her way with guys in kind, if you know what I mean! Those days are long gone Tracy, equality is very much alive.

Unfortunately Tracy isn’t alone in her prehistoric and self absorbed thoughts. I was sitting on the bus today listening to a London girl called Jane moaning about her date with a guy that she had met from MySpace. Would you believe the guy had the cheek not to buy this girl drink the whole night. He had bought the first drink and patiently waited for poor Jane to buy the second round. Jane was outraged and believe me she used the F word a number of times as she cussed the modern guy.

London girls give us guys a fu**cking break, haven’t you heard there is a recession going on. Also nowadays we guys like to look good, smell sweet and wear nice clothes too. If make we ourselves broke spending all our money on the actual date itself, we would then have you complaining that we turned up looking like a dogs dinner. It is after all the 21st century and it is time to get with the century that you are living in and spend a little bit on treating us guys, we after all deserve it.

This article was originally published at London Is Cool, and I felt it would be a good idea to remind the ladies that they need to start spending there money on someone other than themselves……

The Thames is the second longest river in the UK, of which only a small part actually runs through London. It is the longest river running entirely in England and is 215 miles long or if you prefer metric 346 km long. The longest river in the United Kingdom is actually the River Severn, which is 220 miles or 354 km long. The River Thames begins in the Cotswold Hills near a village called Kemble and spills out into the North Sea near Southend.

It is of course no coincidence that London was built next to the Thames, that was the whole reason for the city beginning life there. There are countless historic and iconic buildings built near to the banks of the river, including West Minister, St Pauls Cathedral, Greenwich Naval College, Tower of London and modern day structures such as the Millennium Dome and the London Eye.

River Thames Facts

1. The Thames is not only the oldest place name in London, but in the entire UK

2. The River Thames is 265 metres / 870 feet wide at London Bridge.

3. In Greater London there are a total of 34 bridges, which cross the Thames River, including road, rail and pedestrian.

4. The oldest Bridge across the Thames in London is London Bridge, which was originally made from wood. In 1209 it was replaced by a stone bridge with shops and houses along its sides. This was followed by a granite bridge in 1831, and the present concrete bridge in 1973.

5. The newest bridge across the river is The Millennium Bridge, which is a pedestrian bridge that was erected to connect the Tate Modern and St Pauls Cathedral. It was originally opened on the 10th of June 2000, but closed on the 12th of June, due to it wobbling like crazy. It was reopened on the 27th of February.

6. The River Thames has a charted depth of about 1.8 metres at London Bridge.

7. The Thames path which follows the river for 184 miles (296km) is the longest riverside walk in Europe.

8. The Thames River looks so brown because of five-metre tides, which means mud on the river bottom is continually being stirred up, giving the river the water its brown colour.

9. A baby Northern Bottlenose whale swam up the Thames to Chelsea in 2006, it was the first ever recorded sighting of that species in the Thames. It only survived for a few days.

10. Tower Bridge is the tallest bridge in London going across the Thames and stands at 61 meters (200 feet) in height and 244 metres (801 feet) in length.

The River Thames in London is a great place to go  for a walk or a river cruise in order to enjoy the many amazing sights that this crazy city has to offer.

The London Eye is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe and stands at a height of 135 metres or if you prefer 443ft. The wheel has 32 glass pods, each of which holds 25 people and you are allowed to wander around freely during the 30 minutes that the journey takes.

As you would expect you will get a fantastic view of all over London during your 30 minutes on the Eye and it has been said that your total view from the highest point is 40 kilometres on a clear day. That is some view but whether it is any better than the free views you can get from places like Primrose Hill or Parliament Hill is debateable.

The London Eye has become one of the most recognisable sites in London and it sure is an amazing site, espciallly at night when it is all lit up. I sometimes wonder if it is better looking at it all lit up nicely at night, which is of course for free, or paying the not so cheap at over £15.00 for your journey on the Eye. I suppose there is only one way to find out and that is pay your money and find out, why it is the number one paid for tourist attraction in Europe.

The Cutty Sark is permanently moored at King William Walk, Greenwich in London. The ship was built for a John “White Hat” Wills who wanted it, to be the fasted tea clipper supplying tea from China to England. The Cutty Sark actually broke the world record at the time, by completing the journey in 107 days.

The Cutty Sark unfortunately is still under going renovations from a devastating fire that it had over a year ago and will reopen in March 2010. I for one cant wait to get the opportunity to visit one of the most famous ships in the world.

The Cutty Sark’s wonderful and unusual name comes from a tale called “Tam o Shanter”, which was written by the legendary Scottish poet Rabbie Burns. The name cutty sark is an old Scots word, which means short undergarment and was worn by the beautiful witch Nannie in Burns classic tale. Incidentally the Sark’s orginal figurehead was also named “Nannie.

The tale “Tam o Shanter” immortalizes the legend of Tam’s escape from Nannie, a beautiful witch, who could not catch Tam because he escaped over a river. As we all know witches cannot cross bodies of water.

When The Cutty Sark reopens and they have their fancy opening ceremony, I hope the organisers have the ingenuity and foresight to have someone recite, “Tam o Shanter” in honour of  Rabbie Burns  and his connection with providing the name of the ship.

London is cool and the Cutty Sark is one of the coolest attractions to visit in London, well it will be when it reopens.

In my mind Serena Williams is a Goddess, she has an amazing body, is extremely pretty, with an amazing smile and above all else, I feel that she comes across as having a sound character and a fairly sane mind.  She is a very, very allluring lady, with tons of  sex appeal. Just think how dull  womans tennis would be without her amazing talent and great looks and delicious body.

I hope Serena Williams continues to grace the hollowed surface of Wimbledon for many more years to come, because the female singles part of Wimbledon would barely be worth watching, without her. Not only is this stunning ebony lady the sexiest lady in all of tennis but she is also an fantastic athlete and amazing tennis player.

Serena Williams is without a shadow of a doubt the winner of the sexiest tennis player of Wimbledon 2009.

There are countless con artists operating a variety of London property rental scams in the Big Smoke. . The police are next to useless at being able to stop or even catch these fraudsters. The bottom line is, if you fall victim to the scammers you will never lay your hands on that money again.

Whatever you do, if anybody that is supposedly renting a property mentions the dreaded words, Western Union, the first and last thing you do is delete the email or hang up the phone. Don’t even read or listen to another word they have to say. It is a scam, and I cant believe the amount of people that I hear or read about that have been scammed out of money in this way.

Also never send money to anybody, if you have never seen the property before, no matter how desperate you think you are. Don’t even think about this one. You would have to be totally crazy to even think about it. Don’t even send money to companies that you think are legitimate! Why would anybody pay for a property that they have never seen before.

To give you good folks an idea of the kind of scams that are part of the memorandum of the London property rental scammers, click on the links below.

London Property Rental Scams

 1. A blog devoted entirely to London rental scams on Gumtree, Scams On Gumtree

2.  An interesting article, that shows very clearly why you never send money via Western Union, BBC Article

3. Someone that fell for the tricks of the scammers, I can’t believe I fell victim to the Scammers

Also watch out for  leasing agents, that charge you an upfront fee for their services. Their  favourite ploy is to  advertise loads of  cheap properties all over London, on Gumtree and Craigslist as well as in the Loot newspaper, Leasing Agents etc.

When your looking to rent a property in London or for that matter any city in the world, be careful and do your research. The scammers know every trick in the book and the reason that they are still in business, is that they quite simple,  keep on getting customers! Whatever you do, don’t become victim to the scammers.

Another article that I have written, which may be of assistance  to those looking for  guidance is , How Not To Rent A Flat In London.

My own personal favourite quotation is number 4, which was created by the English poet William Shenstone and he perfectly sums up life in London using only   seven  simple words, which for me has a deeper meaning than just merely money!

Even though most of the quotes that  I have used are from days of old and are well over 100 years old, they still amazingly ring true to this very day.

10 Famous London Quotations

 1. “You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”

Samuel Johnson

2  “London is a modern Babylon.”

Benjamin Disraeli

3. “Nobody is healthy in London, nobody can be.”

Jane Austen

4. ‘It is not adversity that kills, but the impatience with which we bear adversity”

Prisoner condemned to death in the Tower of London

5. This melancholy London- I sometimes imagine that the souls of the lost are compelled to walk through its streets perpetually. One feels them passing like a whiff of air.”

William Butler Yates

6. “I came to London. It had become the center of my world and I had worked hard to come to it. And I was lost.”

V. S. Naipaul

7. Scores of Iraqi exiles met in London to discuss ways to overthrow Saddam Hussein in a grand gathering dubbed the ‘Iraqi Military Alliance Meeting.’ Of course, these people are no longer Iraqi, they have no military, and there is no alliance. But they did have a meeting.”

Jon Stewart

8. “Flowers are as common in the country as people are in London.”

Oscar Wilde

9. “Hell is a city much like London – A populous and a smoky city.”

Percy Bysshe Shelley

10. “Nothing is certain in London but expense.”

William Shenstone

I may not be a great thinker, writer or intellectually as advanced as many of those great minds that created the famous London Quotes that I have featured in today’s article, but that hasn’t stopped me from writing my own quotation relating to London.

“London is the world Capital of Cool, thanks to the huge mix of different cultures that have descended upon the city, which has resulted in a place that is a melting pot of everything that you could ever imagine, whether it is good, bad, ugly, beautiful, sinful or down right crazy.”

The Wandering Scotsman

The concert was part of a Rock Against Racism concert, which was basically a movement at the time that was making a stand against the xenophobia and racisam fulled by oranisatons like the National Front.

I feel it is a sad reflection on the country that we live in today, that a party like the BNP is still around and seemingly gaining in popularity. Give me a break, it is the 21st century and we are living in a multi cultual society and that is never going to change!

Enjoy the amazing sound of The Clash, who are a band that’s music, most definitely sounds as good today, as it did all those years ago. They were a band that was truly originally, unlike all the crap X Factor, Simon Cowell puppets, that are making a mockery out of the once great British music scene.