A Pole's Eye View of London

Coming to London from Poland the first thing that hits you is the sheer size of the city, and the high number of Poles.

Besides the size, early on you learn that everyone is always in a rush. You get on the Tube and are pushed around as people squeeze themselves off platforms and onto trains. On the streets, it is almost a crime to walk slightly slower than the person behind.

One thing I did learn quickly is to never, and I mean never, stand on the left side of the escalator.

But the reason so many people come to London is the rush. There is so much to do and so much choice from galleries, nightclubs, pubs, plays, musicals, shops, restaurants, sports and more.

There are few cities in the world where if you want to go rock climbing, take in Shakespeare, and see a Van Gogh all in one day, you can.

One thing that I learnt very quickly is that there is no centre to London. In Poland, even in the big cities like Warsaw or Krakow, there is a clear centre where people meet and which everything revolves. In London, you have Oxford Street, Leicester Square or Piccadilly Circus, but none of them is a real centre for the action – and there are usually more tourists than Londoners.

London, I've come to learn, isn't really one city but a collections of little towns and it is finding these towns that brings out the best of the city. All the districts – Islington, Camden, Docklands, Kensington and Notting Hill etc – all have their own character and good parts and bad.

So the best tip is to ahead away from the centre and explore, whether you are shopping, after culture or a good night out.

For window shopping heading down to Knightsbridge – with Harrods, Harvey Nichols and a host of world famous designers – is the best bet, while nearby Chelsea and King's Road are perfect for grabbing coffee and watching people go by. Round the corner from Harrods, Beauchamp Place offers a series of great smaller boutiques.

For relaxing, London's parks are quite unique. Throughout the centre you find beautifully tended parks and gardens and a stroll through the greenery can take you from Westminster to Notting Hill without realising it.

Where the West End does shine is for nights out. All the best clubs, and there seems like hundreds, are 'up west', with Soho the centre of much of the action. Theatreland - around Soho and Covent Garden – holds dozens of theatres with comedies, musicals and dramas with world famous actors coming to perform throughout the year. In my city in Poland, I would wait for months for some plays that in London are on every night.

The one thing that many Poles complain about in London is the food. Well, in the last few years a good few Polish restaurants have sprung up to cater for the thousands of us here and Londoners are starting to learn about proper cooking.

London is a great to city to visit. You get all the excitement and rush and choice of a hundred cities all a few Tube stops apart.

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