In the last period London it is affected by climate change and the constant and annoying English drizzle are replaced warm and sunny days. Instead of spending £ 1,90 for each tube ride, my advice is to take a long but delightful walk bouncing around the area bounded by Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, Leicester Square and Covent Garden stations.
Reach the station Piccadilly tube Circus with the Piccadilly line (blue) or the Bakerloo line (brown). Among the thousands of exits that you will find in front of you, choose the Lower Regent Street one. You will exit right on Regent street and taking a few steps you will find on your left the Japan Center. In this great shop you will find fresh sushi (at half price after 17pm) and Japanese food specialties, kitchen utensils, ingredients that cannot be found in Italy and adorable items bento box.
Continuing for Regent Street you can admire the windows of high-priced shops such as Anthropology, Burberry, Apple, Tommy Hilfiger. Turning right you will reach instead Carnaby Street, with shops that are more fashionable and that are less bad for the wallet, such as for example David & goliath, a shop that sells t-shirts, sweatshirts and pajamas with prints that portray angry cupcakes and smiling sushi.
Right at the end of Carnaby Street there is Leon, a mini fastfood with oriental specialties such as hummus and pita. On trays and tables recall the vintage style you can enjoy Moroccan lamb meatballs accompanied by fresh lemonade. Do you fancy a dessert after lunch? A short distance from Leon is there Hummingbird bakery, a place of worship for foodies like me. Their specialty is cupcakes: they have a thousand flavors and colors, each one comes around £ 3. If you can't grab one of the very few seats at the tables inside the shop, ask for a takeaway. They will give you your cupcake in one delicious box and you can enjoy it comfortably seated in a park enjoying the spring sun. I ate my carrot cupcake in the park behind the church of St'Anne always up Wardour Street.
After the rest, resume your walk in the direction Covent Garden. Passing in front of St. Martin's theater you can stop at the ticket office and check if there are tickets available for Mousetrap, the Agatha Christie show that has been going on for 59 years. Tickets range from £ 16 up to £ 60 for the best seats. I highly recommend the show which is really nice, the theater very nice and the drinks allowed in the hall.
Continuing on Sheldon Street you will come up to Tea house. In this shop the choice of teas and herbal teas is very wide, they have good 70 quality at 2/3 £ per pack. If you want to take a typical English gift home this is the place to look for it. A few steps from this shop is the famous Covent Garden, in the past it was a covered market while now inside you will find shops, restaurants and stalls. It is not uncommon to see street performers singing an opera or playing magic games.
From Covent Garden you can head to Leicester square in the heart of Soho, a square always crowded with people and famous for its film premieres and the sidewalk of the stars imprinted with the hands of many stars. If, while walking, it's time for dinner, just turn right on Whitcomb Street and you will find yourself in Chinatown. A red and green wooden door welcomes you to the oriental Chinese quarter.
At its heart is also the best Chinese restaurant in London, Haozhan. At very competitive prices you can start dinner with a taste of Peking duck and continue with fish and seafood. Don't miss the noodles with scallops and prawns.
