London's Madame Tussauds

Madame Tussuads is said to be London's most famous visitor attraction-and I guess it would be hard to find someone who has not heard of the London Wax Museum. The most recent announcement is that the slightly mad London pop star Amy Winehouse will become a fixture at Madame Tussauds after she has been immortalised in wax. She will join just other modern favorites as Paris Hilton and Brad Pitt.

Millions and millions of people have flocked through the doors of London's Madame Tussauds since they first opened over 200 years ago and it remains just as popular as it ever was. There are many reasons for this enduring success, but at the heart of it all is good, old-fashioned curiosity. Today’s visitors are sent on a unique, emotionally-charged journey through the realms of the powerful and famous.

Some of Madame Tussauds’ original work and earliest relics are still on display in London, including the death masks she was forced to make during the French Revolution and the Guillotine that beheaded Marie Antoinette. Guests can also marvel at probably the earliest example of animatronics –‘Sleeping Beauty’, a breathing likeness of Louis XV’s sleeping mistress Madame du Barry sculpted in 1763, is the attraction’s oldest figure on display.

London's Madame Tussauds is full of interactive figures – Jennifer Lopez blushes, Britney Spears breathes and Kylie smells sweetly of her signature fragrance Darling. Meanwhile, Jamie
Oliver’s stomach rumbles, and Brit comedy stars David Walliams and Matt Lucas
wisecrack together.

A staggering 2,400lbs of wax is used in nearly 400 figures currently on show in the London
attraction. That’s roughly equivalent to 16,000 candles, even though the ‘Japan’ wax used
to create figures is incapable of melting.

500 precise body and facial measurements are taken over two hours at a standard sitting
session with the celebrity subject. This gives expert Madame Tussauds sculptors all the
information they need to create a strikingly realistic figure.

From initial sitting to press launch, a typical Madame Tussauds figure takes around four
months to make, utilises a team of around 20 skilled artists and costs £150,000.

Madame Tussauds- Adult £25.00, Child £21.00, Family £85.00

London Festival of Architecture 2008

London Festival of Architecture-there is a lot of great architecture in London-so they are spending a full month talking about some of London's greatest buildings. I like all kinds of Festivals and you have to love one that wants everything to be Fresh. Like fresh food, events will include a continuous picnic through Bloomsbury, growing projects across London and demonstrations and exhibitions about urban agriculture at Cheapside Market.

The London Festival of Architecture invites people to Take a Fresh Look at London. The central theme of 'fresh' is reflected in series of events that cover all five Festival Hubs. The LFA Fresh Flower pavilion designed by Tonkin Liu Architects will serve as a mobile platform for Fresh Thinking talks; the National Architecture Student Festival showcases Fresh Talent from a dozen universities; a series of expert design workshops will take a Fresh Approach to some of London's lost quarters; our guided walks and cycle rides encourage people to explore the city in the Fresh Air; and talks about Fresh Food and urban agriculture accompany a series of urban allotment installations and a public picnic.

During the Festival month, the buzz of activity will move across five key areas or 'Hubs' of central London, with large-scale public events taking place in a different Hub each weekend. Each of the Hubs covers an area with a very different character - historic, present and future – and full of different institutions and activities.

All in all it looks like a lot of cool stuff going on. But then it is in London, so it has to be cool, right? The London Festival of Architecture things of interest:

Wallpaper magazine is hosting Hauswork, a series of talks on the 21st-century townhouse.

The French art collective Exyzt is transforming Southwark Lido into conceptual Roman baths.

Scott King, former art director at i-D magazine, is creating an installation on hoardings in SE1.

David Chipperfield is lecturing on the King's Cross masterplan.

Screening the City is a series of films celebrating architecture.

London's National Portrait Gallery

Being a portrait photographer, I kind of like places like London's National Portrait Gallery-just to see if much has changed over the years. Not much has-just the medium and the costumes, the lighting and body angles are often exactly what I use today. I have always been one of those people that likes the look of a real painting hanging on a wall in front of me. The Wife seems perfectly content just looking at a photo in a book. I like to stand where The Master once stood in front of a painting.

London's National Portrait Gallery is right behind Trafalgar Square, famed for pigeons and London's Smallest Police Station. When I was there you could buy cracked corn to feed the pigeons, who are not at all bashful in Trafalgar Square and will freely sit on an outstretched arm or perch upon your head if you stand still for a minute. Amid the splashing water of the fountains and the screeching of the birds, this is a loud and fun spot. Your sure to want at least a few pictures of pigeons before heading off to the National Portrait Gallery-or maybe a bit of video would be better at catching the energy of Trafalgar Square.

There is a lot to see in The National Portrait Gallery and there are a few paintings you should seek out-including Sir Joshua Reynolds's first portrait of Samuel Johnson, a full-length of Elizabeth I, and a Holbein cartoon of Henry VIII. There's also a portrait of William Shakespeare (with a gold earring) by an unknown artist that bears the claim of being the "most authentic contemporary likeness" of its subject.

The website for London's National Portrait Gallery is filled with a mind boggling amount of information-The Online Database contains info about 113,519 works-57,952 of are illustrated. The National Portrait Galley's collection includes over 330,000 works. The database is being expanded regularly. For example, there are 39 portraits of John Lennon and 6 portraits by famed Hollywood Portrait Photographer George Hurrell. It would be easy to spend a good deal of time wandering around the images online. But I do like seeing these kinds of things in person.

OPENING HOURS-Open daily 10am - 6pm Late night opening Thursday and Friday until 9pm Last admission to paying exhibitions is 45 minutes before the Gallery closes. Closing commences 10 minutes prior to the stated tim0.The Gallery is closed 24-26 December. ADMISSION-Entry to the building is free. There are charges for special exhibitions throughout the year. Ticket prices vary. Disabled visitors pay concessionary rates and carers are entitled to free admission.

Photography is not allowed in The National Portrait Gallery.

Liberty of London

The Liberty store has a striking façade, however, once inside the true beauty of building is realised. From aged wooden staircases and quaint lifts to awe-inspiring atriums and hidden rooms, Liberty's interior is as much a constant source of wonder as the exterior.

The more my thoughts wander around London, the more I realize that it is impossible to see all the cool London Attractions one would like to see without actually living there. Since it is unlikely that I will be moving to London, barring winning a very large Lottery, I will have to be a bit more selective on what I plan on seeing when I do manage to get back across the Pond.

I feel that I have seen a good deal of the Major London Attractions, though there are plenty of those that I would like to stop by and see again. I keep thinking of smaller, and yet still very interestingattractions in London. London is filled to the gills with all kinds of great attractions, both large and small, well known and unknown. Well, unknown to the likes of me, anyway.

Liberty of London is one such place. Right-I know Liberty of London is not exactly on a par with The Tower of London or The British Museum, but I have a great weakness for junk shops of all sorts-and Liberty of London is a junk shop of all sorts. Plus I really love their website-that bit where you can play random piano notes as you scroll over the thumbnails is brilliant.

You have to just love old Tudor buildings in London and Liberty is a great old Tudor Building. While not exactly Hampton Court, it does have a lot of high beams and plaster walls and I have always had a weakness for skylights of all sorts. Ok, not exactly a junk store, more of a fine and rare stuff store-and lots of it.

They even have food and a place to get a haircut. I could easily see spending the better part of a day wandering around Liberty of London, or at least until I ran out of money and had leave before taking out a loan-they do offer financial services at Liberty of London. The very idea of a Champagne & Oyster Bar is kind of posh for me, but I think I could get used to it. I do like oysters. The description of the room says they have Acropolis marble counter tops-no wonder the old place is a ruins if people take the marble and make counters out of it.

Liberty of London is open seven days a week, so there is no excuse not to stop by for an oyster or two and maybe a nice scarf. Nearest tubes-Oxford Circus - Central, Bakerloo and Victoria lines and Piccadilly Circus - Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines.

London Foods I Like

I like most British Foods, well, mostly I like British Junk food. There is just something about Shepard's Pie, Fish and Chips, Bangers and Mash, Jelly Babies, Clotted Cream Fudge, and the occasional Cup of Tea. I also like sillyl stuff like Liquorice flavored Altoids-I really like the Liquorice flavored Altoids.

There are a lot of pretend British Pubs around home, but they are not the same as a good London pub. You can whip up your own British Food, or you can wander around London to eat any of the amazing foods that strikes your fancy. There's really only one Brit Food that I hate-Salmon, but that just might be because I had my appendix removed after I ate salmon once. Not likely to happen again, but memories are sometimes tricky things.

A good real British food is Cottage pie, a traditional English dish made with minced meat covered with mashed potato and often topped with cheese. While a variety of meats can be used, the dish is traditionally made from beef or lamb. The lamb version is often called shepherd's pie but there is no hard-and-fast rule about either term. You can even get a bit of Cottage Pie on British Airlines-though I can't say I'd recommend it.

Another great British item is clotted cream-a thick yellow cream made by heating unpasteurized cow's milk and then leaving it in shallow pans for several hours. During this time, the cream content rises to the surface and forms 'clots'. Clotted Cream Fudge is great stuff. The clotted cream fudge that I ate came from Harrod's, if memory serves correct.

Bangers and Mash may, even when cooked at home, be thought of as an example of pub grub - relatively quick and easy to make in large quantities as well as being tasty and satisfying. More up-market varieties, with exotic sausages, are sold in gastropubs, as well as less exotic alternatives being available in regular pubs.

My favorite London junk food was Fish and Chips from a Donner KaBob in Camden Town. The Donner Kabob is a take away place with very large meatballs for sale in addition to the very generous portions of fish and chips. It was also a pretty good spot to stare out the window at the crowds passing by.

Of course, London chocolate is a bit sweeter and softer than American chocolate, doesn't get as hot in London so the chocolate does have to be protected from melting as much. All kinds of odd and wonder sweets in London, just grab one and enjoy.

Well, just a quick hit of the high points, I'm sure there are lots of other great things to eat in London.

Folio Society-Thousand Best Houses in England

Sir John Soane's Museum- London

The Sir John Soane's Museum, which has been described as the most ingenious domestic architecture in Britain, is an amazing London treasure-house.

The Sir John Soane Museum is my kind of place, clutter everywhere and a nice sense of ordered chaos. Left to Great Britain by the architect Sir John Soane in 1837, this is the kind of place that Victorians would dream about. Mounds of antiquities and lots of shadowy corners-with a good deal of London sunlight streaming in here and there as well.

London's Soane Museum has developed a programme of free Audio Tours-which can be downloaded to you MP3 player, iPod and some mobile phones. There is an introduction by the brilliant Stephen Fry, who speaks briefly about his own love of the Soane Museum. You can listen to the audio tour before or after your visit and plan your tour of the Sir John Soane Museum.

One of the prizes of the John Soane collection is William Hogarth's satirical series The Rake's Progress, which includes the well known Orgy and The Election, a satire on mid-18th-century politics. Sir John Soane's Museum also has the sarcophagus of Pharaoh Seti I, found in a burial chamber in the Valley of the Kings-London seems to have a lot of Egyptian stuff lying about. Also on display are John Soane's architectural drawings, about 30,000 or so. Be sure to see the West End Attractions map.

Sir John Soane's house is on a lot of must see London lists, and for good reason.

Sir John Soane's Museum is open free: Tuesday to Saturday inclusive, 10-5. Also on the first Tuesday evening of each month, 6-9 pm. Closed Sunday, Monday, Bank Holidays and Christmas Eve.