Yes, it's sad, but there are almost no restaurants serving the sort of food that English people used to eat at home before the era of ready-made meals.

Even the pubs no longer serve things like steak and kidney pie. Now it's all Thai food, or Ciabatta and snail droppings.

To make up for it, London offers a vast range of foreign cuisines.

The strange thing is that Britain offers better fresh fish and fresh meat than any other country save France. And English food is very good (if you like red meat and fish). But you won't find such a thing as an English restaurant, save perhaps Rules in Maiden Lane.

Rules

I heartily recommend it, but take several credit cards.

G

Incidentally, and wearing my non-contentious hat, I was sorry to hear that my comment about the dearth of English people in London caused dismay, and was also deemed off-topic.

I am quite well-travelled, and when I go to another country, I go primarily to experience a different culture. I don't go to Patagonia to do the things I do in England, or eat the food I eat in England, and I enjoy the challenge of grappling with different languages.

Whilst I enjoy the cultural diversity of London, I do feel that foreign tourists might be a little bemused to find that many of the people they come across in their hotels, and in the places they go to, are not English. There is nothing particularly new in this - London has offered shelter to foreign exiles over many centuries - but in the last few years there has been such a massive influx that London is effectively no longer an English city, in the sense of a city inhabited predominantly by English people. The suburbs are another matter, but tourists seldom venture into the suburbs.

For that reason, a visit to London is a visit to London. If a tourist wants to see England and the English, and experience English culture, he should go elsewhere.

And incidentally, I have stayed as a friend and guest of local people in private houses in India, North Africa, and Poland, amongst many others (I had mentioned Arabic, Polish and Gujerati in my post), and I have reciprocated their hospitality. So any suggestion (if there was any) that my post was in some way prompted by racial prejudice is very wide of the mark.

I just wanted to make that clear. I am not interested in, or trying to encourage, further discussion in public. There are PMs if anybody wishes to take issue with anything I have said.

G

Yesterday I took myself by river from Chiswick to Greenwich to see the annual Watermen's Barge race. A very interesting spectacle, though none of my pictures adequately convey the sense of total chaos caused by dozens of boats, some quite large, milling about the lighters that the watermen were trying to row (with 20ft oars) to Westminster.

My excuse is that it's tricky to combine the jobs of photographer and helmsman in such conditions, especially as the weather was not very kind to the participants or the spectators.

However the light did create some interesting opportunities before the race started. Here is the Mayor's office:

Mayor's office

The point of all this? Well, it is to underline the advice of Digikid to take a river trip. I hadn't been down this way by boat for years, and the skyline has changed out of all recognition. It's really very dramatic.

G

If your pictures are this good now, then we will expect great things from you when you have more experience and more equipment.

I think your present set would benefit from a little more contrast.

G

Totally agree. I haven't been doing enough shooting recently to justify upgrading to a K5, so I can't comment on that, but I prefer the IQ of the K10D, and even the *ist D, to that of the K20D. Of course, the last is a better camera in many other ways than the first two, so that is what I generally use, but I don't believe that CMOS is better than CCD in terms of pure image quality.

G

St Pauls Cathedral (IMO Britain's finest building) has just been cleaned, and is looking wonderful. You are free to photograph the best bit - the exterior. Nearby on Watling Street is Ye Olde Watling, which was reputedly built by Wren so that he could take refreshment while supervising the construction of St Pauls.

Don't miss the great museums, of which the V&A and British Museum are world-beaters. But there are many more.

If you like art, try Tate Britain on Millbank. If you don't, Tate Modern will suit you fine. My own favourite gallery is the Wallace Collection.

You'll find eating out is expensive, compared to America. Thai restaurants are ubiquitous and usually quite good. Lots of Middle Eastern restaurants around Queensway and Edgware Road, which will be near to your hotel if you are north of Hyde Park.

For Japanese, the best value is Kulu Kulu, close to Piccadilly Circus.

Most cheap Chinese restaurants are poor, in my view. I usually go to Queensway for Chinese. More relaxed than jostling for a table in Chinatown.

Indian food is familiar to the British, but may come as a shock to Americans. Westbourne Grove used to harbour some good ones, but I haven't been there for a while.

The TFL website has good bus-maps. Except for the longest journeys, use buses. The Tube is best left to troglodytes, were-wolves, and harassed office workers trying to get home.


Good luck.

G

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I must have out-of-date eyes.

Mine reshape themselves to adjust focus. Must be nice to have zooming-eyes.

G

If you are buying a second body as backup for an important event, with no second chances, there is only one way to go and that is to buy a second K20D. Then make sure all the settings are identical on both bodies.

Flog them both after the wedding and buy a K5.

G

Well, 400 is a third more than 300, and 500 is a quarter more than 400.

The difference between a third and a quarter is a twelfth, or 8.33%.

Not huge, really.

G

Does anybody still do this?

A friend of mine has a load of old print films, and I have suggested he process them himself. He's got a tank, and now needs chemicals. Any suggestions as to what to use, and where to get it?

Thanks