Soho: An Accurate Day vs Night Comparison

Since I've been living in London almost a month now I think calling myself an expert on the differences between the UK and the US wouldn't be far from the truth. All variations between cultures, from the subtle to the glaringly obvious, have been a constant source of amusement. Particularly because the longer I'm here the more noticeable those differences are. Yeah, the “driving on the wrong side of the road” was a fairly obvious one, one that we all had to accept quickly, too, or risk death by head-on collision....except for those of us who are young and invincible, of course. But instead of randomly selecting examples I think I will, instead, write a series on the differences I've noticed. Yes, it's possible I may then do an entire piece on the "bat outta hell-like driving conditions". But I won't start with that one. No, I've got a better idea than that for my first Comparative Essay. I will begin this series by illustrating the semi-contradictory conditions of the day- verses the night-life in Soho and perhaps include a bit about how the US stacks up in comparison. 

This is a Map

I have been shopping in Soho twice since I've been in London this time around. That's because it's just that awesome. Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London, the popular theater district. Soho has been established as an entertainment district and for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, though, the area had undergone considerable transformation. Thankfully, these days it is predominantly a fashionable district of upmarket restaurants and media offices, with only a small remnant of sex industry venues.

Kingly Court is my favorite spot for shopping in Soho

A bit of history pulled from the web: Soho's character stems partly from the ensuing neglect by rich and fashionable London, and the lack of redevelopment that characterized the neighboring areas. By the mid-19th century, all respectable families had moved away, and prostitutes, music halls and small theaters had moved in. In the early 20th century, foreign nationals opened cheap eating-houses, and the neighborhood became a fashionable place to eat for intellectuals, writers and artists. From the 1930s to the early 1960s, Soho folklore states that the pubs of Soho were packed every night with drunken writers, poets and artists, many of whom never stayed sober long enough to become successful; and it was also during this period that the Soho pub landlords established themselves.

Carnaby St is a close second.

Fun Facts:

In fiction, Robert Louis Stevenson had Dr. Henry Jekyll set up a home for Edward Hyde in Soho in his novel, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

A significant event in the history of epidemiology and public health was Dr. John Snow's study of an 1854 outbreak of cholera in Soho. He identified the cause of the outbreak as water from the public water pump. John Snow mapped the addresses of the sick, and noted that they were mostly people whose nearest access to water was the Broad Street pump. He persuaded the authorities to remove the handle of the pump, thus preventing any more of the infected water from being collected. The spring below the pump was later found to have been contaminated with sewage. This is an early example of epidemiology, public health medicine and the application of science.

Broad St Pump...CHOLERA!!

Famous Cholera Outbreak Map of Reported Cases

The 2i's Coffee Bar was probably the first rock club in Europe, opened in 1956, and soon Soho was the center of the fledgling rock scene in London.

As for me, I focused on the vintage and resale shops in Soho for my most recent excursion into the city. In search of a new wallet to replace my admittedly juvenile bright pink one, I started my shopping journey at the northwest corner of Soho and walked back and forth, up and down the winding streets, trying not to miss any of the little places that are so small you don't hardly notice them until you're right inside.

While I never did find the ideal wallet that day half the fun is finding everything ELSE, and  I did see as many of the stores as humanly possible....AND I experienced the oldest patisserie in London, Maison Bartaux. If you didn't know about this little bakery you'd never find it on your own. I'd looked it up in advance, or rather I'd read the reviews and decided that would be my lunch stop. After all, it was the late Alexander McQueen's favorite spot, or so they say. You know, the famous clothing designer?

The inside view of Maison Bertaux

After a few hours of shopping I was ready for a break anyway, but Maison Bertaux is in an odd location. Just a few seedy shops surround it but I didn't let that stop me. In the end, though, I must admit it wasn't my favorite and it is no place I'd revisit; it was no Monmouth, that's for sure. I think this place needs a bit of updating and a good wipe down; I felt like everything was covered in a layer of melted sugar. I'm all for cute and kitschy with lots and lots of pink thrown into the mix as long as it's all clean. The tiny interior was only big enough for two tables so most patrons sat outside under the blue and white striped awning, which on a day like that day would have been delightful and perfect for people watching. But I opted for an inside seat due to a chill in the wind, but that choice turned out to be a little less than optimal because so many people came in and out to purchase pastries that there was constant disruption and I felt very cramped.

The window display of baked goods! Yum!

Granted, the desserts all looked lovely and the hostess, also the owner, was very friendly and served each customer, herself. There were so many items to choose from in the window, plus there was no menu, so I couldn't decide what to order. When I asked she recommended the lemon cheesecake with a caramelized sugar layer on top. It was a creamy delectable dessert which I paired with my usual vanilla latte. For what it was, though, it was incredibly expensive. I liked that it was mostly “regulars” coming in and out instead of tourists but that isn't enough to make the place worth sticking to, for me. Oh well, trial and error.

Falafel!!!

I shopped some more, crossing over to Covent Garden for the second half of my day. In fact, I shopped til I nearly dropped at 6PM. Knowing I wouldn't want to prepare dinner once I finally got home I stopped in Whole Foods, my favorite grocery store in the UK because, as the name suggests, their food is all whole and wholesome and often vegetarian/vegan. I wanted to check out their prepared meals and ended up getting sweet potato falafel with date chutney, which turned out to be much better than the food from my earlier patisserie experience. Go figure.

Notice all the people shoving into the tube...

Don't try to get out of London between 4PM and 7PM if you have even the mildest of claustrophobic conditions. The tubes are like sausage cases packed to bursting with human meat forms during rush hour. You are quite literally smashing into the people around you, squeezed in next to the hot, smelly, tired workers heading home for the night. I guess the only good part is that you don't have to hold the hand rails because you're so tightly packed in the you don't jerk around when the train starts and stops.

Just do it.

Going in and out of London at night is quite different. I had my first city nightlife experience two days after my daytime shopping experience, both in Soho. This area of London is one of the best shopping districts and also one of the most lively nightlife areas of London. But to get there at night you can't take the tube because it's closed. So you either have to take one of the 24 hour buses or a cab; we opted for the latter. It may be more expensive...OK, it's WAY more expensive to take a cab and I wouldn't bother, normally, on my meager “wages” but with a group you can at least split the astronomical cost.

Since we live on the farthest outskirts of London its rare that you can wave down a cab on the street, so we had to call the taxi service which dispatched a van-taxi to pick us up at Roehampton. Frankly, I've always been amazed how well each taxi driver knows this city. It's true that the black cab drivers are trained more rigorously than any other drivers in the world. According to my sources, their training takes about 34 months, aka almost 3 years (as much as an undergrad degree...and they actually HAVE to know their stuff to pass! How revolutionary!). “The taxicab driver is required to be able to decide routes immediately in response to a passenger's request or traffic conditions, rather than stopping to look at a map, relying on satellite navigation or asking a controller by radio. Consequently, the 'Knowledge of London' Examination System, informally known as 'The Knowledge', is the in-depth study of a number of pre-set London street routes and places of interest that taxicab drivers in that city must complete to obtain a license to operate a black cab. 

In all some 25,000 streets within a six mile radius of Charing Cross are covered along with the major arterial routes through the rest of London. A taxicab-driver must learn these routes, as well as the 'points of interest' along those routes including streets, squares, clubs, hospitals, hotels, theaters, embassies, government and public buildings, railway stations, police stations, courts, diplomatic buildings, important places of worship, cemeteries, crematoria, parks and open spaces, sports and leisure centers, places of learning, restaurants and historic buildings. For example, The Knowledge includes such details as the order of theaters on Shaftesbury Avenue, or the names and order of the side streets and traffic signals passed on a route.

So, once you get into a licensed taxi you're guaranteed to get to the exact location in London you want, and you'll never get lost like you certainly would if you tried to do it on your own at night in the dark (and the rain, usually).

Each cab has a rate calculator inside that shows the price of your cab rise. Watch the numbers go up, up, up! No, really you should, because you need to have your money ready when the cab stops. It's a huge faux pas to be sitting in the back counting money to pay for your ride after the cab has already stopped. They're in a hurry to get on their way. Just throw a wad of cash up front if you have to but don't keep them waiting; they'll get mad.

The best advice I can offer to those of you who want to go out into London at night: Have a plan, a destination, something! Otherwise you're bound to wander around all night not knowing where to go because there are too, too, too many places to choose from. AND you'll be coerced into all the crappy ones. Yes, there are people who are paid by the clubs to try to lure you in. These people are trained to be pushy and obnoxious and if you don't immediately give them a “back off!!!!” attitude they'll follow you all over the frickin' city. What you have to remember, though, as tempting as their fake offers might sound, is that if a club has to pay to have someone outside luring people inside it isn't a club worth visiting. The good places don't need to draw people in. People already WANT to be there.

This is where we went, Rumba near Piccadilly Circus. Not Recommended

Unfortunately I wasn't thinking logically at 1:30 AM when we finally arrived at Piccadilly Circus and in the end I ended up warding off the hired lurers after a few had latched on to a few of the less intimidating members of our group and herded the group into the nearest club, mainly because it appeared to be the biggest one in the immediate vicinity. Alas, it was a poor choice. It was underground and lacked ventilation which can be a lethal combination in a country where people refuse to use deodorant (a rant I will most certainly have in a blog post at a later time). Of course there are astronomical cover charges on top of drink costs on top of bathroom attendant fees....after paying for the cab ride. Everyone inside was creepy, none of the beautiful London locals chose this as their venue, apparently. In face, there were even adults....like OLD adults trying to party with the people my age. Yes, again, creepy. So what could have been a completely fabulous night an awesome club turned out to be less than stellar. Next time, know where you're going first!! Don't waste money on terrible venues.

...When we could've gone here instead...

Out group tried to find somewhere else to go around 3AM but ended up wandering around in the rain without umbrellas for about 30mins with no luck before calling it quits. Again, we were approached by the street bikers, the ones who ride a bike and pull a mini carriage behind them that you can pay to ride in. if your REALLY want to waste your money go ahead and hire one. It's faster and cheaper and safer to walk all the way across London, if you have to, than take one of those bike-hire things. Yes, even at 3AM when you're desperate.

Our group split in half then, 3 went home and the rest of us, 4 in number, went in search of late night foodstuffs; kebab and pizza. In Central it's easy to find food at any hour, especially crappy food. We walked all the way from Regent Street (remember, the biggest shopping street with all the huge stores) to Leicester Square (where all the big movie premier theaters are) before we found what looked like a promising kebab place. Regrettably, it was the worst food any of us had ever eaten. It tasted like death. Like dry, meaty torture. Take that as you will. And then they had the nerve to include a gratuity fee in the bill, which we would not have paid otherwise since the food was garbage. Literally. Garbage. Dissatisfied and perhaps even a little ill after that, we sought out a cab and thankfully found one without too much hassle, as we were in one of the most populated parts of late night London. Yes even at 4AM the streets are busy with traffic and there are throngs of people as if the time of day were inconsequential. The difference is that the night walkers are trashed, drunk out of their minds, and they all become chatty Cathys after they have a few drinks in them. Normally, the British people are rather closed off to others. But when sobriety takes a leave of absence so do their secluded ways. So all the while, all night long, we have crazies coming up and talking to us. That's just a constant night time theme and one I experienced the last time I was in London, as well. 

Leicester Square at Night

Compared to the States, I think it's safe to say London has the upper hand in terms of night life, day life, and life in general. Heck, let's face it. London rocks, people, and the US pretty much looks like a toilet bowl in comparison. And that's all I have to say about the day/night-US/UK comparison.