Iconic buildings, snazzy bars, lush gardens, the West End…it’s a well-acknowledged fact that there’s never a shortage of things to see and do in London – not just for the repeat visitor but also for the long-term resident.
But beneath all that historical and cultural gravitas is a city that is continuously reinventing itself in all sorts of ways and inadvertently pushing the wacky envelope that much further. If you wish to explore beyond London’s monuments, parks and party scene, there are offbeat dos aplenty to amuse oneself with. Here are my top picks.
Dinner on the tube
Out in a vacant yard in North London rests a decommissioned carriage of the tube network’s Victoria Line. On select weekends it gets a temporary lease of life as it perks up to host Chef Alex Cooper’s pop-up restaurant. The BYO option and the nature of the venue keep the evening casual and convivial, a charming contrast to the gourmet food that’s on offer. As an added treat, guests are allowed to make their way to the driver’s cab, pre-dinner, and have a go at the (now defunct) controls.
Dinner on the tube
Secret cinema
Applying the concept of immersive experience to cinema, Secret Cinema gives the viewer a chance to participate in the movie rather than just watch it.
Armed with a ticket and no more information than the time and dress code, I arrived at the venue to present myself ‘before the magistrate’ along with about a 100 other ticket-holding ‘offenders’. Charged with varying offences we were transported in barricaded vehicles to a convincingly erected jail and made to change into prison clothes by authoritarian prison officers. Fellow inmates heckled and teased while we were locked away in prison cells. Only to be released half hour later and herded into a room to watch our experiential world unfold on screen in the form of ‘The Shawshank Redemption’.
The film and the genre change every season.
The Bullshit tour
Londoners are mostly a city-proud lot, but the folks at Bullshit tours wear their heritage rather lightly. As is the case with walking tours, you are taken on an amble along sights of interest, but with one difference – facts and credibility are jettisoned in the Thames somewhere along the way. The flamboyant guide lets his imagination run riot as he dishes out original but bizarre takes on the legends behind well-known monuments. You are encouraged to work your own creativity and add your two bit of ludicrousness to this absurd but enjoyable outing.
Chewing-gum art trail
A London artist might have just found a way of turning eye sores into eye fulls. ‘Chewing-gum man’ Ben Wilson has been transforming tossed out chewing gum into works of art since 1998 and now has a trail of them in different parts of the city. Having started off just prettying up these banes of urban streets, later ‘works’ have involved intricate designs, some even with political statements. Now if only something could be done about the cigarette butts as well!
At various locations around the city, notably Muswell Hill and St Paul’s.
Chewing-gum art
Bedtime stories for adults
Arriving at the boutique East London hotel, you are ushered through straightaway to the changing room to slip into your pyjamas. Meanwhile, dainty eats and gin cocktails await you in the kitchen. Warm and fuzzy, you make you way to the story room, grab a cushion and find a cosy spot by the fireplace. Professional story-tellers take centre-stage and regale you with tales new and old, rehashed and untold, often around a theme. The fascinating throwback to the single-digit years comes to an end a couple of hours later – when it’s time to change into your day clothes and make your way back…to home and reality.
http://www.40winks.org/bedtime-story-nights/
Keeper for a day
This one is for all the animal lovers out there. If your idea of a perfect day is eight hours spent getting up close and personal with critters of different shapes and sizes, this experience is absolutely up your alley. Kitted out in overalls, you get to live the zoo keeper’s life for a day – getting your hands dirty at a spectrum of chores ranging from the downright mucky (cleaning the zebra enclosure) to the sublime (lemurs eating fruit off your hands, perched on your lap) and everything in between. The experience doesn’t come cheap but it affords an animal fix unlike any other.
https://www.zsl.org/experiences/keeper-for-a-day
Edible cinema
If the folks behind Edible Cinema had their way, the humble popcorn would forever be banished from cinemas in favour of treats tailor-made for every movie.
Unlike secret cinema, the name of film is revealed in advance with the intrigue being limited to what and at what point you would be eating. A set of numbered food boxes is provided at the start. The screening commences as usual but at specific points during the movie a number lights up at the side of the screen prompting you to open the box of the same number in your food tray and consume its contents. The ‘food’ (always immensely edible) is at times directly relevant to what you see on screen or may be recreating a mood or invoking a lateral connection. Either way, it is an experience to be savoured.
Edible cinema
What’s your favourite off-beat thing to do in London?
Really intriguing!
Aren’t they?! And to think that these are the more sedate ones 🙂
Very very interesting Manju! My pick is the Edible Cinema. Definitely trying it out on my next visit to London!
Thank you! You would definitely enjoy Edible cinema…the contents of most of our boxes were really yummy!
Very much out of the ordinary. Would definitely like to try out a few.
Please do…you might discover some quirkier ones along the way! Thanks.