Why a Booktrail?
2000s: Would you uproot your family and move to a completely different country?
Falling for London
What you need to know before your trail
When Sean Mallen finally landed his dream job, it fell on him like a ton of bricks.
Not unlike the plaster in his crappy, overpriced London flat.
The veteran journalist was ecstatic when he unexpectedly got the chance he’d always craved: to be a London-based foreign correspondent. It meant living in a great city and covering great events, starting with the Royal Wedding of William and Kate. Except: his tearful wife and six-year-old daughter hated the idea of uprooting their lives and moving to another country…
Travel Guide
London
Just two weeks notice before you are due to head off to pastures new for a three year posting to London. You want your family with you but moving from your Canada home close to Chateau Laurier is not going to be easy.
First impressions:
As I was about to learn, Britain was not longer so welcoming to immigrants as it has once been.”
He stays at Mayfair when he first arrives so doesn’t get to see the real London from the word go, just the posh version from the television. His office is in Camden Market so that’s the more boho area (he’s never heard of before)
Fitzjohn’s Avenue
He gets shown a house here which is close to the school he thinks Julia might attend. It’s densely poulated area though and it always jammed during rush hour. The other areas he sees are equally as ‘interesting’ ranging from garden/ground floor flats to a flat close to a strip club. It’s where the house hunting starts but doesn’t end.
Buckingham Palace
The Royal Palace which everyone who visits London wants to see. Famous scenes on the Royal Balcony after the wedding of course!
Westminster Abbey
He’s in London not to see the Queen but to cover the Royal Wedding between Kate and William. There is a big area for journalists set up infront of Westminster Abbey where the wedding will take place.
Hampstead
He finds a place close to the tube station but it’s the deepest station in London with 390 steps so when the lifts don’t work…
The city as a whole
London is a city of villages. As it grew ver the centuries, it walled up smaller communities. It means that there is no downtown in the traditional sense. Instead each neighbourhood has its own high street and commercial area, remnants of the independent village that each used to be. It is one of London’s most attractive qualities.
Streetview Maps
C) London - The World's End
D) London - Pirate's Castle/Global News office
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Falling for London: A Cautionary Tale
Destination : London Author/Guide: Sean Mallen Departure Time: 2000s
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