Five Inspiring Staycation Destinations in London

Try exploring off beat London and discover how to travel the world without leaving town

1) India

With Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi being among the top ten languages spoken in London you only need to head to Wembley, Southall, East Ham or Tooting to feel like you have travelled to India. Authentic saree shops, pungent spices, snack bars and restaurants are easy to find and the music of Bollywood is everywhere. You'll come across one or two Hindu or Sikh temples while visiting these areas; they are often very beautiful and often welcome visitors with delicious home-made food. Neasden Temple, arguably the most famous Hindu temple in London, celebrates its 20th birthday this August and is definitely worth a visit. Top shopping tips: buy fresh spices, colourful cheap bangles & shiny unusual homewares like tiffin boxes (these make fantastic lunchboxes). If you'd like help with planning a trip just email us or join one of our tours.

2) Greece

While many Brits are worried about travelling to Greece for the summer holidays, an easier option might be to tune into London Greek Radio at 103.3FM and head straight to north London to Green Lanes for a flavour of authentic Greek (or more precisely largely Greek Cypriot) culture. Try the pastries at Lefteris, the Greek bakers who have been serving spanikopita to Londoners since 1918 or to find an awesome collection of Greek records or videos head to the tiny establishment of Greek City Audio. You can even sign up to learn some Greek dance steps - and practise them on a night out at one of the many local bars or restaurants.

3) Japan

The biggest annual London-Japan event is coming up this weekend. HyperJapan brings a riot of excitement to the O2 exhibition centre with massive displays of animation, cosplay (that's adults dressing up in weird costumes), food demonstrations, culture tips and more. If that sounds too much, a trip to the JapanCentre in central London (near Piccadilly Circus) is a must, just to see the wide range of Japanese products for sale. Children will love the cute HelloKitty-inspired pastries and sweets and be intrigued by the colourful packaging and gifts you can buy. If you want to explore Japanese culture further, there are big Japanese communities in Ealing, Finchley and Swiss Cottage. Our Japanese guide teaches Japanese Calligraphy lessons for children near Swiss Cottage as well as leading SharedCity tours.

4) Africa

If you have always fancied visiting Africa, this summer you can see most of the continent in one day. Spend your morning wondering around Peckham with its glorious authentic Nigerian stalls and shops, picking up colourful fabrics and traditional snacks (try Nims Kitchen in Copeland Park - highly recommended!). For inspiration watch this great intro to Nigerian Peckham. Then catch the 363 from Peckham Library to the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill where from the beginning of July to the end of August an African Summer awaits with exhibitions, workshops, films and performances from all over the African continent. 

5) Latin America

The London community from Latin America is friendly, dynamic and growing quickly. You can find pockets of Columbians near Elephant & Castle (try empanadas at La Cachita, the best Columbian cafe in town). There are loads of Brazilians living in Stockwell & Willesden - check out the delis, butchers and colourful cafes. Try out your Portuguese in Tia Maria an awesome Brazilian pub-restaurant in Stockwell or the tiny hidden gem Baracco in Kilburn. For adults sampling a Caipirinha cocktail is a must and children will love to eat Portuguese custard tarts (pastel de nata). For some of the best coffee & cakes in London, head to Golborne Road W10, the oldest hub of the Portuguese community and grab an outside table to people-watch Lisbon style. If you'd like to learn more about Latino culture in London check out the dates of our next guided trips.

________________________________________________________________________________


SharedCity are running trips to Portugal, Brazil & Southern India on Saturday 25th July and we'd love you to join us. Check for ticket availability here. One last tip for this month: our Italian guide also recommends checking out the Italian carnival procession in honour of “Santa Maria del Monte Carmelo” on Sunday 19 July in Clerkenwell. It's the closest London gets to real Italy. Here's a clip from last year.

A Mini Trip to Iran

A lovely walk around Maida Vale revealed a strong & growing Iranian community not to be confused with the larger Arab community further south along Edgware Road.  Iranians are not Arabs, they will tell you firmly.  

Saffron is a brand new patisserie that opened in February 2015 to supply the best sweets, nuts and cakes from Iran.  It's a great time to open as Iranian new year (Nowruz) is very soon and people are stocking up for traditional all night feasting. 

A few doors down is Milad, a grocery store stacked high with dates, halwa, herbs and spices - mostly all imported from Iran and other middle eastern countries.  I loved the look of the rose petals below but I'm not sure how to cook with them.

 Ofcourse, no Iranian food store would be complete without a vast range of breads, both flat and risen.  But none of them could beat the breads made in the clay oven further along the road at KISH, a wonderful little Persian restaurant.

The community seems to have sprung up around the mosque and community centre opposite which is grandly named the Islamic Centre of England (or ICEL).  It's a large and friendly mosque - open to all - housed in a large Grade II Listed former bingo hall/cinema (see below).

Four London Religions Celebrating The Full Moon

Everyone loves a full moon and in London we consider ourselves lucky if we see it on the rare occasions there is a cloudless unpolluted sky. The grey skies are probably the main deterrent in celebrating the moon but for many cultures settled in London it holds enormous spiritual significance.




Moon worship dates back to ancient Pagan, Egyptian, Babylonian, Indian and Chinese cultures and today the major religions recognise the moon's powers. Christianity, Judaism and Islam don't celebrate the full moon outright but both Jewish and Muslim calendars are founded on lunar principles, meaning they follow the cycles of the moon instead of the sun.


Here are few links to the full moon celebrations in London's different communities:


Buddhists - Join in with Buddhist chanting and deep meditation at this Full Moon Puja to mark the significance of the full moon tonight at the London Buddhist Centre or if you are looking for something a little livelier (and definitely more decadent) way of recognising the powers of the moon try the London version of the kind of Full Moon Parties travellers flock to in Thailand.


Wiccans -Wiccan traditions have specific rituals and events around the full moon. There are many active Wiccans in London and the most active coven is run by the Order of the Horse and the Moon. You can find out more here.


Shamans - Have many rituals around the moon, some include drumming, music and prayer. Tonight's moon is a Taurus moon and represents the sowing of seeds, abundance and nourishment. Join a meditation to the moon here. To find out more about Shamans in London look at this website.


Chinese - The Chinese community celebrate the moon in the autumn where it is common to sacrifice moon cakes to the moon as part of the harvest festival. Moon cakes are round like the moon and represent the harmony of family. People send moon cakes to each other to wish them a long and happy life. Try the ones from this patisserie in Chinatown - and if they have run out, there are many other tasty cakes to try.

Nine Styles of Headgear From a Variety of Cultures

At SharedCity we like hats.  We like headcoverings in general.  They can be practical - providing shade or warmth - or they might look good or make us feel comfortable.  We find it puzzling that some headcoverings, mostly ones tied to religious beliefs, get such a hard time.  This blog is to blatantly celebrate head coverings across the world, all the way from the rather silly to the uber stylish and some religious ones in between.

Models Wearing Pink Hijabis

A Stunning African Wedding Head-wrap 

UK Soliders Wearing Traditional Buzbys 

Victoria Beckham in a Much Photographed Cloche Hat

Hassidic Jews in traditional fur hats 

British Policeman's Hats 

English Ladies With Unusual Hats At the Races 

Sister Wendy Wearing a Traditional Nun's Wimpel

The Pope's Hat

Four Ways To Die in London: Funerals in different faiths

As we all know but often ignore, death is inevitable whatever your cultural background. With the Day of the Dead coming up at the start of November, SharedCity explores the different attitudes to death within our different religious communities. Religions shape many of the rituals and beliefs around death, but you might be surprised at how different traditions are across the four main non-Christian religions when it comes to coping with the end of life as we know it.

1) If you are Jewish...

...you will be buried quickly, usually within a day or two of death and mourners - including friends, family and the wider community - will hold prayers for seven whole days afterwards at the family home. Direct relations (children, siblings and spouse) are expected to mourn for a full year, which means avoiding cheerful celebrations, wearing muted clothes and, for men not cutting their hair or shaving. Mirrors are often covered in the mourners’ home to help mourners focus on the internal grief. There are Jewish cemeteries located on the outskirts of north London, swathes of plain gravestones, on the edge of M25. If you visit a Jewish cemetery, you will notice that Jews do not put flowers on a grave, but instead place a stone on the grave in memory of the deceased. Stones might not be pretty, but they do last longer.

Stones placed on a Jewish grave in remembrance

2) If you are Hindu...

...it is likely that you will be cremated. Traditionally Hindus cremate their dead on a funeral pyre in the open air. In India, many funeral pyres are found along the River Ganges where public cremations take place every day. Close relatives, often the children, of the deceased will light the fire to burn the corpse. Hindus believe in reincarnation and the fire releases the spirit to the next life. In London, open air funeral pyres are a relatively new concept, although Hindus previously used local crematoriums. A court ruling was made in 2010 to allow open air cremations for the first time, allowing Hindus to follow traditional requirements more closely. Wearing black at a funeral is not appropriate for Hindus: most people prefer to wear white clothes. Ten days after the funeral, a ceremony is held at the family home to liberate the soul of the deceased for its ascent into heaven. Many Hindus scatter the ashes of their loved ones in the River Thames, the UK’s second-rate answer to the Ganges.

Sticks for building funeral pyres next to the Ganges in India

3) If you are a Muslim...

...you are likely to believe that death is not the end at all and that the deceased will move on to a better afterlife. After death, close relatives care for the body and soul of the deceased by bathing the body, covering with white cotton, and reciting prayers. The body is usually interred quickly, within a day or two. The family home is open for a day for people to pay respects and mourning continues for 40 days after the death. A spouse will mourn and wear black for a whole year. The Muslim Burial Ground in Horsell Common, just outside London, was the first Muslim burial ground in the UK. Now there are Muslim burial grounds within most public cemeteries as well as specific grounds in Hainault and Waltham Forest.

Muslim burial grounds in Hainault

4) If you are a Sikh, you are likely to see death as a natural part of the human life cycle. A funeral is a celebration of life called 'Antam Sanskaar' and as such crying or wailing at a funeral is not common. After death, Sikhs believe the soul leaves the body in its journey back to God. Sikhs choose cremation and the cremated remains are typically submerged in a river. The whole of the holy scripture is read during the 10 days after death either in the home in in the temple or Gudawara. There are no tombstones or cemeteries for Sikhs as the body itself is never placed below the ground. The corpse is seen as an empty shell. At funerals, the men traditionally wear black headscarves, whereas women tend to wear lighter colours.

Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Southall, the largest Sikh temple in Europe

Bring on the Light - 9 Ways To Enjoy Winter!

The nights are drawing in earlier and we’re just over a week away from the clocks going back. This is normally the time of year that SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) starts for some people and sunny skies and light evenings seem but a dream away...

But it’s when you’re in the dark that you really appreciate the light and for many cultures the next few months are all about celebrating light. Here are SharedCity's favourite 9 light-related celebrations for the Autumn/Winter.  And we won't even mention the 25 December C-word. You may not be religious but it's no reason not to celebrate the many wonderful cultural ways of bringing light, warmth and feasting to the dark days of winter.

1)    23^rd October, Diwali – The Hindu, Sikh and Jain Festival of Lights, a good excuse to stuff yourself with delicious Indian food and sweets and set a few fireworks off.

2)    31^st October, Halloween – Be artistic with a pumpkin and make it glow from within - and then make some delicious pumpkin pie.

3)    1^st November, All Souls Day – Light a candle to remember a loved one by.  The way candles flicker and dance can ignite wonderful memories.

4)    1^st November, Dia de los Muertes – Do the above Mexican style.

5)    5^th November, Bonfire Night – Forget the gruesome effigy-burning and enjoy a giant bonfire.  Our canine friends might not like fireworks but it suddenly feels very quiet when you no longer hear that Whoosh, Bang and Huzzah!

6)  11^th November, St Martins Day - Germans celebrate the feast of St Martin's with a children's lantern procession around the neighbourhood. Make your own lanterns and take to the streets. 
7)    27^th November, Thanksgiving – We're not in America but perhaps this is a good time to bring out any left over Halloween pumpkin?! A splendid excuse for a mid week roast.

8)    17^th December, Hannukkah – The Jewish Festival of lights. Go get yourself a menorah and enjoy the excuse to eat donuts.

9)    21^st December, Winter Solstice – The days will start getting longer again. Hoorah! Light yourself one last candle and celebrate like a true Pagan.

London: A City of Immigrants, Since When?

History books show that our nation has nearly always been made up of people from different countries, some war-mongering, some friendly, some looking for opportunities, some truly desperate.

We Londoners are a mixed up society and a;though this isn't always easy it has made us one of the most tolerant and easy-going cities in the twenty-first century.

Look at the timeline below and next time you see a scaremongering headline about immigrants, think about the shared ever-evolving history of our city #LoveLondon

AD

250, Romans arrive in Britain

700s, Danes & Norwegians invade and settle

1000s, Normans conquer and settle

1100s, Jews are invited to settle in England (but were expelled in 1290)

1100s, Flemish merchants from the Netherlands settle in England

1500s, Queen Mary marries Philip of Spain, the first Gypsies settle & Huguenots arrive

1600s, Africans, West Indians are brought to England as slaves

1700s, Refugees from the French revolution arrive (1789)

1700s, First records of Indian & Chinese sailors in London

1800s, Jewish refugees from Poland, Ukraine and Russia arrive

1800s, Irish people fleeing famine in Ireland arrive

1800s, The growth of the empire & trade routes brings more people from China and India

1900s, Belgians fleeing the battles of the First World War arrive

1930s, Refugees fleeing Nazi oppression in Germany arrive

1940-1960s, Homeless refugees from across Europe arrive, mainly from Poland

1948,  Jamaicans start arriving, invited by the government to help rebuild post-war Britain

1950s, More settlers from other Commonwealth nations arrive eg, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Australia, Canada and New Zealand

1970s, Asians are forced to leave Uganda and come to the UK seeking refuge

1980s, Refugees from Romania and former Yugoslavia arrivve fleeing war

1992-97, After the break up of Yugoslavia, refugees arrive seeking sanctuary

1999, War in Sri Lanka leads to more asylum seekers arriving

2000s, Changes within the EU result in a wave of Polish & other EU economic migrants

2010, Unrest in Middle East leads to more refugees.