Bright Lights Big City-I visited the Cosmopolitan city of London

London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom, is a leading global city in the arts, tourism, education and research and development. There is a constant flow of tourists eager to view all the sights London has to offer. Having a diverse range of people and cultures, there are over 300 languages spoken in London. Some famous landmarks visited are Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London, the London Eye, Trafalgar Square as well as the many museums and art galleries.

Our accommodation, Club Quarters was situated just off Trafalgar Square, within walking distance of Nelson’s Column, St. Martin-in-Fields and the National Gallery. We slept in a superior room, which contained very comfortable bedding, a small kitchenette and a multipurpose work station. Trafalgar square, built around an area formerly known as Charing Cross, is a public square in the city of Westminister. It’s name commemorates the battle of Trafalgar. The square is regularly used for political demonstrations, community gatherings and anti-war protests.

The first day we arrived we ate in Bill’s restaurant for an early bird and went along to see Motown The smash hit musical. The story begins in 1983 with Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown records, on the eve of the 25^th anniversary, looking back on his career. The Vietnam war was on the horizon and Berry needed to broadcast music from Dianna Ross, The Temptations and The Jackson Five. Berry really crossed the line with his music and broke barriers, in the meantime his personal relationships suffered but he wanted to let people hear that music is an important part of life. The show received a standing ovation. The actress who played Dianna really engaged with the audience and even asked a girl to sing on stage.

The following day after a night at the show, we had a mission to visit the V&A museum (The Victoria & Albert museum). Founded in 1852 and a collection of over 4.5 million objects, it would have been very difficult to see it all, so we opted for the exhibition on the Revolution. Exploring the significance of the 1960’s/70’s, this exhibition played the music and displayed the fashion of the revolution in this era. Fighting for their freedom, people expressed themselves through music and Woodstock was shown on the big screen.

I am a frequent visitor to London, but never had an opportunity to visit Harrods, so it was a priority on my list. However the store was heaving with Christmas shoppers but I managed to purchase a couple of very pretty decorations for the kids back home. On that Sunday evening we booked a table for four at the exclusive restaurant The Wolseley. It was a fine dining experience and actors and actresses and sometimes royalty would eat there. Even the late Journalist A.A. Gill has been known to dine there.

One last store I had to see before heading back to Ireland was Fortnum and Mason, a luxurious department store selling hampers, tea, coffee and sweet treats. I viewed the beautiful tea cups with their matching saucers and exquisite tea pots, but they were way out of my budget. So instead, we had a coffee and a pastry in the ice-cream parlour with a little ice-cream cone on the side.