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.

Full of fine books, nice owner and his beautiful mellow dog. If you like digging for books on most subjects you can strike lucky here.

Museum exploring connections between medicine, life and art. Fascinating range of exhibitions and great shop, library and cafe. Free entry too. 

A fantastic fresh handmade pasta shop and restaurant in Shoreditch. If you are looking for authentic Italian cooking, look no further!

Leila McAlister's grocery shop and café off Arnold Circus, Shoreditch. You can find the best of everything, from jars of horseradish to eggs and croissants.