A chap's desire to do a ton of stuff in London
Museums and parks
- Visit Madame Tussaud’s
- Visit the Bank of England museum – done!
- Visit the HMS Belfast
- Visit the Tower of London; witness the Ceremony of the Keys
- Go to the London Dungeons
- Mooch around Kew Gardens
- Monkey about at London Zoo
- Behave regally in Buckingham Palace
- Visit Kenwood House
- Go to Highgate Cemetary; be sure to look at Karl Marx’s grave
- Visit the Crossness Pumping Station
- Eat a picnic in Temple Gardens
- Nod approvingly at Changing the Guard
- Visit the newly interactive Museum of London – done!
- Fail to be interested by paintings at Tate Britain
- Get the DLR down to the Museum of London Docklands – done!
- Clamber up Monument – done!
- Get excited by engineery things in the Tower Bridge Exhibition and attend an event on the walkways – done!
- Assess the decor in Doctor Johnson’s house
- Make it to the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park – done!
- Walk around Hogarth’s House
- Escape the maze, and look at dinosaurs, in Crystal Palace Park – done!
- Sir John Soanes’ Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields
- Old Operating Theatre in Southwark
- Find a way out of the Hampton Court Palace maze
- Snap a decent wildlife photo at the London Wetland Centre – done!
- Explore Dennis Severs’ house
- Be a rampant commercialist at Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising – done!
- Bee excited at the Chelsea Physic Garden
- Go on an east London Culture Line museum crawl
- Hackney Museum
- Geffrye Museum
- Wesley’s Chapel
- Royal London Hospital Museum
- Whitechapel Gallery
- The Women’s Library
- The Brunel Museum; keep an eye out for Thames Tunnel tours
- Horniman Museum
- Crystal Palace Museum
- Museum of Croydon
- Get around to visiting the Wellcome Collection
Tube and transport
- Go on the Waterloo & City line – done!
- Drive around the M25
- Be a foot passenger on the Woolwich Ferry – done!
- Hire a boat on the Thames (or canal)
- Pass through all Underground stations in one day of operation
- Ride on London’s only steam railway – done!
- Visit a disused Tube station – done!
- Ride on old Tube stock
- Partake in an Alternative Tube Challenges day
Food and drink
- Have a drink at Vertigo 42
- Enjoy a refreshing pint, at 6am, in Smithfield’s market
- Go on the Fuller’s brewery tour
- Do some wine tasting at Vinopolis
- Have afternoon tea somewhere you have to dress smartly
- A Monopoly board pub crawl
- A Circle line pub crawl
- Be involved in a pub quiz in each London postal area (E, EC, N, NW, SE, SW, W, WC) – work in progress!
- Eat at Konstam, where most ingredients are sourced from within the M25
- Have a shisha on the Edgware Road
- Go for a curry in Tooting
- Go to all of Fancy A Pint‘s five pint London pubs
- Drink port in a St. James’s club
- Cocktails at The Savoy
- Cigar and champagne at The Terrace Garden
- Eat meat from The Meat Wagon
Media
- See a film at the Imax Cinema – done!
- Present a programme on a London radio station
- Pay homage to Top Minder Locations
- Be an extra in something (preferably EastEnders)
- Watch an edition of London Tonight
- Phone in to the Robert Elms programme on BBC London 94.9
- Rock out to a gig at The Roundhouse
- Have a letter printed in the Evening Standard
- Try to find the Big Breakfast house
Music and performance
- Soak up some culture by attending a BBC Prom at the Royal Albert Hall
- Go to the Lord Mayor’s Show – done!
- See Chas & Dave live
- See a funny person tell jokes at the Hammersmith Apollo
- Form a joke band; get a photo on Abbey Road zebra crossing; perform once; disband
- Speak at Speakers’ Corner
- A night out at Ronnie Scott’s
- Go to a Richard Herring gig with people mentioned in his book (now with 50% off at Amazon)
- Stand up at The Globe (short play preferred)
- Lord it at the Notting Hill Carnival – done!
Politics, justice and religion
- Watch Prime Minister’s Questions from the public gallery at the House of Commons
- See someone get sent down at the Old Bailey – sort of done…
- Tour the Clock Tower – done!
- Attend a function for each of the three major political parties
- Watch Mayor’s Question Time at the Greater London Assembly building
- Mutter things in the Whispering Gallery at St. Paul’s Cathederal
- Attend a choral service at Westminster Abbey
- Visit Neasden Temple
- Cover my head at the Bevis Marks Synagogue
Sport and leisure
- Watch darts at Alexandra Palace
- Go ice skating at Somerset House – done!
- Get into the Long Room at Lord’s
- Attend a football match at Wembley
- Attend a rugby game at Twickenham
- Cycle the Regent’s Canal towpath
- Banger racing at Wimbledon Stadium – done!
- Do a length, and back, of Tooting Bec Lido (180m; best swimming certificate I have is 100m)
- Join in the Chap Olympiad
- Organise a Boris Bike race
Things that don’t quite fit
- Watch butch men sell flowers at Covent Garden Flower Market
- Take a trip to Eel Pie Island. Don’t try to annexe it (like Danny Wallace did) – done!
- Make an investment on the London Stock Exchange
- Celebrate the Chinese New Year in Leicester Square – failed!
- Window shop at London Silver Vaults
- Enter a Shoot London photography competition