Londonist likes chocolate. And children. (Especially other people's). And good charitable causes. So we were more than happy to hop on the London Eye last night to see the premier of Lindt's Easter Light Show, in aid of ChildLine. And to take part in the demolishing of a couple of gold Lindt bunnies. (Hey, we didn’t say anything about liking bunnies...) Renowned Swiss light artist, Gerry Hofstetter (you might remember he projected a polar......

Perhaps you can relate to the following experience: You’re browsing a book, a magazine, the newspaper, when suddenly and unexpectedly you stumble on it: your London – that is, London as you know it, whether gritty, whether gorgeous, whether revealed to you in the portrait of a pub or the narrative of a trip down a seldom travelled side-street. Whatever the description, it somehow rings true. And so you drop whatever it is you’re......

The trains have been re-routed, the signage amended, the tube announcements re-recorded (completed, luckily, before the woman behind them was given the heave-ho). The re-opening of St Pancras means that Waterloo's reign as Britain's main international train station, a duty it fulfilled without complaint for thirteen years, is well and truly over. But what to do with those elegant Eurostar platforms, so admired in their mid-Nineties infancy? The plan in the short term is......

A week after opening for the Queen, St Pancras International is finally ready for the likes of us. The station has been restored beyond its former glory. Britain's answer to Central Station is ready for business. Everyone knows by now that the sumptious Euston Road frontage to the station was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott. But what else in London did the Great Scott design? Time to dust off our old 'Stalks' series,......

As if Open House wasn’t enough to get you exploring the capital tomorrow, TfL announce London Walking Weekend. They’ve arranged free walks in every borough and have a big tent at the Mayor’s Thames Festival to offer further advice. As usual with such things, they’ve conducted a questionnaire to make the job of the headline writer a little easier. We’re told that 1 in 6 Londoners think Embankment and Charing Cross stations are a......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 3rd September 1878: Passenger steamer Princess Alice collides with cargo ship Bywell Castle on the Thames near Woolwich Pier. All of the 700 passengers of the Princess Alice are either thrown into the heavily polluted river or trapped below the decks of the sinking vessel. Fewer than 100 passengers survive. Tuesday – 4th September 1899: Moorfields Eye Hospital (known at the time as the Royal London Ophthalmic......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 18th June 1972: A British European Airways plane bound for Brussels crashes moments after taking off from Heathrow airport, killing all 118 passengers. An inquiry later concludes that the pilot had made a ‘speed error’ and stalled the plane, causing it to crash into a field in Staines. Tuesday – 19th June 1997: McDonald’s wins a libel case against two members of the ‘London Greenpeace’ campaigning group.......

Protestors and police never seem to be bosom buddies, especially when there is an anarchic flavour to their activity. London is no exception, where the Met police really aren't fond of the capital's monthly 'Critical Mass' bike protest rides.Each one starts off at Waterloo, and each time the destination is deliberately not agreed in advance. As big fans of order and discipline, it's no surprise that this kind of free-wheeling attitude unsettles your average......

Public consultation time, folks. Oh, come on, stop yawning. What do you mean 'It's Monday morning'? It's good to have a say in things, isn't it? Well, if you have an opinion about the proposed Cross-river tram route, now’s your chance to interject. TfL will this week present plans to the general populous and ask us what the deuce we think about them. The scheme would see a mostly over-ground route connecting Camden Town......

This day in London’s History 1978: Man executed with brolly. Unless you live in Chile, the date September 11 will only ever be remembered for the one, obvious historical event. Of course, plenty of other stuff can claim today as its anniversary, including the remarkable story of the man who was assassinated by umbrella. The writer, BBC broadcaster and Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov was approaching a bus stop on Waterloo Bridge, when he felt......

Somerset House on a warm sunny evening has to be one of Londonist's favourite places to be. Whether you're watching a band or catching a film, there's nothing better than sitting on the grass with a glass of pimms feeling like you're in a small idyllic bubble of London, even though you're practically on Waterloo Bridge. As previously mentioned on Londonist, this week the annual Film4 Summer Screen season kicks off with its, quite......

We get to see a lot of high quality performing arts in London, just by going outside and hanging around. The National Theatre is hosting another Watch This Space Festival with lots of free outdoor performances to stumble across as you wander along the Thameside walk. The plucky performers who risk the unpredictability of British summertime weather range from steel pan musicians, "anarchic silent comedy from Japan", pyrotechnics, and... three women on three enormous......

If London had to describe itself as a colour, what would it be? Seems like a trite question, huh? But, mark our words, it’s going to be a very important one for the nation’s design agencies this year. The race is on to create the winning logo for the 2012 games. It ain’t going to be black and white. So our question is apt. Traditionally, it would seem, red is the colour. After all,......

Every now and again a music video is released which features too many abstract shots of London's streets for us to ignore. It happened with the Chemical Brothers and Kylie, and now it's Coldplay's turn. Their video for the new single Fix You isn't exactly groundbreaking (close up shots of Chris Martin looking pained in an equally miserable environment), but if you ignore the posturing then it is fun to play 'Spot the Location'. Is......

In another blow to London’s industrial heritage, yesterday’s Guardian reports the looming demolition of the Guinness brewery in Park Royal. Brent Council, in collusion with Diageo, the owners of Guinness, plan to clear the site for redevelopment. Whilst this is a valuable tactic to players of Sim City, in real life a full public consultation on the matter would seem in order. Skulking in an unspectacular Brent industrial estate, the buildings might not have......

London has more corners, and secrets, than anyone could imagine; every now and then, visionaries latch onto one neglected aspect of it and bring it to general attention, in the process transforming our view of the city we thought we knew so well. Of late, the National Theatre has been rich with that sort of insight. Who really noticed, or cared about, the theatre's flytower until they struck on the idea of projecting films......

Some of the capital's more legendary buildings are going up against each other in a poll to see which is the "capital’s best-loved view". The Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, the Gherkin, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Millennium Eye, Battersea Power Station and...erm, Liverpool Street Station (?) are all up for the competition organised by the Spectrum Fine Art gallery. The shortlist has been drawn up to accompany an exhibition of work at the gallery......