LONDON — This is my first trip to this city of lords and chimney sweeps. As I was raising four children, everyone else seemed to slip away to London except me. The London I've finally discovered is as rumpled and comfy as old corduroy (which I like) and as stylish and smug as the sassiest fashionistas (which I don't).
But what a buzz fest. London is a city on the verge of a nervous breakdown yet so sated on its own glories that nothing seems to bloody bother it. At this European crossroads, my 25-year-old daughter Jessica and I found the mad pace and the musty masterpieces a perfect contrast. Just when you can't take another minute of London's twitchy streets, you can slip into some spectacular ancient hall and, like Sherlock Holmes himself, spend an afternoon seeking Anne Boleyn's bones.
Or, more festively, you can take a day and just sample the pubs, which are everywhere, a drinker's dream. If they are fading away, as some suggest, it wasn't apparent to us. Pubs, Britain's version of Starbucks, are like chatty little lighthouses placed strategically around the city, drawing folks together.
Take that, you city planners in Orlando or Fort Worth. Sometimes the best 'hoods just happen.
Sorry to gush, but there is much to recommend here to those who haven't been. You can ride the river, admire the views from that crazy-slow Ferris wheel, wander the markets till your knee bones click -- how British.
Pick your passion. Indulge your pleasure centers. Take a million photos. Around every corner in London, it seems we found another intriguing attraction. During the changing of the guard, for example, the regimental band suddenly broke into "Dancing Queen" by Abba. I kid you not, kid.
It was whimsical, odd and wonderful, much like London itself.
My maiden voyage to the motherland in late April was filled with such moments. I liked how unconventional everything seemed, the authenticity of most sights, the lilt in the locals' voices. (As my daughter noted, anyone with a British accent is 25% hotter).
I can't wait to come back.
Till then, here is a first-timer's guide to many of the things a wide-eyed American traveler needs to know to enjoy an initial visit here, based on my full and very switched-on week:
Hello, you
This city, we learned quickly, moves elbow to elbow, jowl to jowl. It's about 2,000 years old, so its interior streets are best suited to bony supermodels and sleek Italian scooters, of which I am neither.
