I'm waiting for a vegetarian-friendly event to get the full dining experience, but in the meantime there's wine!

Let your imagination run wild in this surreal London Park. Crystal Palace is a great place to walk around dinosaurs and get introduced in prehistoric vibes.  Sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins was commissioned to make lifesized models of newly discovered dinosaurs back in 1952. They were the first dinosaur sculptures in the world, pre-dating the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. They have been recently remodelled in 2002. Note: family and children friendly over the weekends

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.

Eccentric and surprising house and museum of architect Sir John Soane. Mostly unchanged since his death over 180 years ago, it is full of atmosphere. Also have spotlit, late night openings.  

This is the place where ghost pirates roam in times forgotten. Where great poems were once written. Everything has happened here. A few abandoned boats and much stillness. And an island in the middle. Most curious. Not much choice but to explore as far as your nerves will take you. Watch out for Zorro the dog.