The London Weather Station

Today I stumbled over two very different articles related to the perception of Londoners and the British by the "outside world".

One is the Anholt City Brand Index and the other the new edition of the Rough Guide to England.

Firstly, the Anholt City Brand Index has just confirmed something that those of us living in London already know. London is the most stylish city of the world! Yay!

According to them cities are basically brands and while Paris is romance, Milan is style, and New York is energy. On the overall stylish rating the city of London comes first!And it seems that even the stereotypically wet weather that we are known for couldn't take that crown away from us!

The survey was based on a survey of 18,000 people from 18 countries. 40 cities were judged on lifestyle, buzz, multiculturalism, cultural life and attractiveness. For example, those surveyed were asked to rank the cities on climate and weather, pollution, the physical attractiveness of buildings and parks. Further on how warm and welcome they expected the people of each city would be, and how important each city's contribution to the world has been over the last 30 years in the areas of science, culture and government.

Well, the sun is out again and I am in the office again... but I cannot moan too loudly really because I have had the luxury of spending lunchtime in the little park near Victoria station - and that is a luxury that not everyone gets!

As you can see from the two pictures that I took, I was not the only person who had that idea. Everywhere there were people sitting in the grass, talking, eating, tanning and even sleeping. :)

The lovely weather we are having unfortunately reminds me of last year, when we also had lovely summery weather earlier on in the year and then the wettest June/July with the most terrible flooding you can imagine - or did we?

There have been some scary news reports according to which Britain might be facing a period of flooding “beyond most people’s living memory”. Experts have stated that more people and properties will be affected than previously assumed, as predictions were based on numbers from the 60’s when we were in a “dry period” here in Britain!

So the sun is out and I am in the office...

I have not written for a week as my parents were visiting for a week - if you were in London last week, than you will know that it was not sunny during lasy week - or you can consult the archive.

But luckily over the weekend the weather improved and we went for some very enjoyable walks in Epping Forest. Yesterday they left and I went for a skate in Victoria Park. I am currently preparing my unfit self for the Friday night skate, you see?
Last year I took part a couple of times and I have to say, although it is hard work, it is a great alternative to ending up in a pub on Friday night - especially if you are trying to get fit.

I just need some new wheels for my old Roces Inliners that my parents brought over to the UK for me. The old ones are really worn down especially from stopping with the right foot.

But back to the topic: London is really fun in the sunshine, with Parks to visit, Southbank to walk along etc, but the bad weather choices are really not so bad either.
Out of necessity we had to find an indoors alternative and online then it occured to me how amazing it is to have such high quality museums for free.

Some great free Art Galleries:

• Tate Modern
• Tate Britain
• National Gallery
• National Portrait Gallery

Some great free museums:

Today is Earth Day – at least one of the two. The 22nd of April Earth day was first started by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as a US nationwide environmental protest to thrust the environment onto the national agenda. Well I think you can safely say that the environment has never before been on the Agenda as heavily as in present times – with global warming a serious threat to humankind and the planet.

Maybe you have read in the newspaper this morning that Greenpeace activists dressed as Orang-Utans have been hanging around Unilever premises in London and Port Sunlight.

They are protesting against the destruction of Indonesia's rainforest created through the production of palm oil that is used in Dove Soap. Apparently the majority of the largest palm oil producers in Indonesia can be linked to Unilever. If you agree with Greenpeace and want to protest have a look at the Greenpeace website.

Unfortunately it is not always that easy to decide what path is the right one: Another article I read in the papers this morning proves just that: The Scottish government yesterday refused an application by Lewis Windpower to site 181 turbines on Barvas Moor, on the grounds that they were not compatible with European environmental law.

Two very different London weather reports made the news today.

On the one hand it seems that the ugly weather that we have experienced has not had a big effect on the economy in London - surprising especially in sight of the bad economy headlines that we have got used to seeing in the newspapers every day.

The reason for this and a plausible explanation were the foreign visitors that flooded into London on a mission of hunting down cheap bargains due to the strength of the euro against the pound.

However, experts warned mass job losses in the City could hit sales in the coming months. It is feared 40,000 jobs could go in the next two years. The cull has already started, with Citigroup, UBS and Merrill Lynch laying off staff.

In difference to the tourist who have been keeping London's economy afloat, Elijah Wood has revealed he struggled with the English weather while filming his latest movie.

In January 2007 the actor filmed The Oxford Murders in London and Oxford and he admitted that "It was very cold!". Poor Elijah! It was so cold that he even fell ill during shooting.

"It's funny, because it happened to be a very mild winter for the most part, and we were filming in interiors for a lot of the London time because the exteriors were in Oxford.

"But the interiors were often colder than outside. We were filming in these abandoned buildings with no heat so a lot of the scenes where it's supposed to be very cosy and warm - particularly the love scenes with Leonor in her apartment - were very cold."