A SPARKLING NIGHT IN LONDON

Hello! Finally I can write something again about our short trip!Let’s go on with our promenade in London: Piccadilly Circus is the most famous square in London, as well as meeting place and beating heart of the City, located in the City of Westminster.

They call it the “Times Square” of London. Built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with Piccadilly, became during the years one the main street junctions of the urban traffic.

Its position, in the hearth of  West End, and the proximity to the major points of interest as Shaftesbury Avenue’s theaters, and streets like Coventry Street and The Haymarket, full of  shops and trendy clubs, have made Piccadilly Circus a symbol of London. Famous for the bright displays and the insignia LED, located on a building on its northern side, and for the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain – which depicts the Angel of Christian Charity but was later renamed “Eros” after the Greek god of love and beauty – the square is surrounded by imposing buildings like London Pavilion (an entertainment complex – Trocadero) and Criterion Theatre.

It’s hard to resist a tour of the nearby Mayfair, with the galleries of luxury boutiques, and the gorgeous hotels. Piccadilly Street and the most chic clubs, seems so far from an ordinary life. They made me feel quite in awe.

We went back slowly to Regent Street: this elegant street, marked by white and refined residences, divides Mayfair from Soho quarter. Drawn by the architect John Nash, today connects the crowded Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus. It’s particularly suggestive during Christmas time when it’s decorated with beautiful illuminations.

Spend a saturday night in this area is pretty exciting. London is just full of lights, people, life! Every cafè, every brasserie slowly fills of people in the evening. Traffic in the peak hour is just happily frantic, and it’s part of the lively atmosphere. Taxi cabs hurtle up and down the streets, but differently from other big cities, also the vehicles have a kind of ordered. With a beautiful walking, you could reach easily also Soho and Covent Garden: in Soho don’t miss the Chinese Quarter, always crowdy.
Soho is a menagerie of shops, clubs, pubs, restaurants and populace. It’s an area which is very much like a maze with streets crisscrossing each other. Originally a hunting ground, legend has it that Soho got its name from hunters crying out “So Ho!” – pretty curious, isn’t it?

Soho is famous also for its Chinese quarter, with its numerous restaurants and shops, as well as some very good Italian restaurants. In fact some may say that Soho is a gourmet’s paradise ’cause it gives the visitor the choice of all sorts of possible tastes as well as to suit all budgets. Soho is now celebrated as one of the most fashionable parts of London.

to be continued…