A slice of Scandi in the heart of London. Great for lunch, with all the meatballs, salads and classic Scandi foods you could want, along with a great little deli shop too.

Sometimes when I wake up it feels like I am at sea watching a big ocean liner pass by. It is the view from my home in one of the two stepped concrete apartment blocks that make up the Brunswick Centre in Bloomsbury. When you visit skip the chain stores of the shopping centre below (except for the excellent Renoir Cinema) and instead get an invitation to one of the small but gorgeous flats with their winter gardens or just wander through the spectacular concrete A frames and across the vast sun drenched terraces on podium level.

This is an amazing place for the summer when the water gets pretty warm or the winter if you are very brave. The only downside is that it can get very crowded in the Mixed pool but the men’s pool is normally quiet and it has a diving board.

A station, a stop or two away from London sits a shop that is only open once or twice a year – its specialty are books but it also sells things.

The best live jazz band I ever heard was at a packed out night in Brilliant Corners. I was happy to be squashed.