London calling

By BARBARA HARRIS

Oh my God, can't you just feel that history under your feet," says an American tourist as she strolls round the Tower of London. Living there for more than a decade, it was easy to become blasé about little old London town.

But this simple response from a tourist was a common one. Americans may have been more upfront but Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders were equally in awe.

The visitors from the New World marvel at this Roman inheritance — the settlement of Londinium that evolved into one of the great cities of the world. A magnet for poor and for rich.

Today, on the river, in the pubs, walking the narrow, cobbled lanes there are forever reminders of the past and press of the new.

A mosque and a synagogue are neighbours in the same East End street as a Porsche dealership and a rundown hostel for the homeless.

From the neon lights of Piccadilly to swanky Park Lane, a terraced house in gentrified Islington to a whiff of a scandal at No. 10, to a theatre south of the river that rose from the ashes — Shakespeare's Globe — only to be demolished by the Puritans to rise anew thanks to American actor Sam Wanamaker, this is a place of palaces and beggars, grind and dreams.

Seven million people live in this city (Greater London is home to 12 million) which likes to flaunt its cosmopolitan air. A quarter of the population are from ethnic minorities and this eclectic mingling of cultures is on show daily in its markets, its fashion and its theatre.

From the Swinging London of the 60s to Cool Britannia of the 90s, it's a city that also ebbs and flows in the popularity stakes.

But for Kiwis it will always be the big OE capital and a stepping stone to Europe.

Figures from the British Tourist Authority show that 170,000 New Zealanders visited the UK last year — 65 per cent repeat visitors — and 8500 working holiday visas were issued.

Traditional work like live-in pub jobs still exist but Britain is tougher when it comes to granting work permits so don't leave home without filling out the paperwork. For instance, if you're between 17 and 27 you can get a two-year working holiday certificate but if you land at Heathrow without it then you're a visitor and work is out of the question.

And London's expensive — it's Europe's richest city — so to avoid having to cash in that return ticket, take advantage of student/youth/senior cards to help ease the strain on the wallet.

Most of all, ignore the cynics who whinge about the weather and the crowds. Even Shelley slated the place: "Hell is a city much like London." I prefer to believe it's a helluva city.