Sans Pere is my new favourite place to have breakfast, café or lunch. In the heart of Shoreditch it really feels like a modern home. Their quiches are delicious and they have an in-house patisserie kitchen and let me tell you their cute bite-size choux and bronuts (brioche-donuts) are worth the detour.

A treasure trove in the The City of London. The Archive of London. Strongrooms hold kilometres of shelving; boxes of matter that has somehow been catalogued and categorised in a traceable manner by the public, for academic, genealogical and other research. This beautiful book is from a box on Epping Forest. On the same visit, I looked through photographs of Blitz singsongs in Bethnal Green Underground station, 1980s anti-Thatcher / pro-GLC gig posters and paper concertina optical models of the Crystal Palace.

I worked at the Barbican for several years and during that time became very fond of its architecture. One of my favourite spaces within the centre is the conservatory, a giant tropical garden in the middle of a concrete city.

Beautiful architecture and setting, ideal place for catching the latest art-house flick or to enjoy evening tea and a journal session. Friendly staff, ambient atmosphere and a wonderful crowd.

This is a great, free and lesser known spot in London. A glass lift takes you up the side of st.Paul's cathedral right out onto the roof terrace of this shopping centre. A great view over London.