STEWART COPELAND

Anyone got a suggestion? I may be headed that way with me mum in April.

Looking for something located near a Tube station and not in a hideous neighborhood, preferably close to a good shopping/dining/theater district. Any suggestions most welcome. Email me at the address in my sig if you have thoughts.

[Will delete if I need to not post off-topic stuffs...it's just that I know a.) we have some world travelers hereabouts and b.) most everyone here has good taste!

Hey! Just occurred to me we may need this thread anyway, if the Police are playing in Europe!!]

http://www.winchester-hotel.net/

My wife and I stayed at The Winchester. It is within walking distance (about a block and 1/2 from Victoria Station).

If you fly into Gatwick, there is a train that runs from Gatwick to Victoria. Victoria also is a tube stop.

The prices at The Winchester are very reasonable for London and it's location. About $120 a night as I recall.

Rooms were small, but it included breakfast. It is private run place. We liked it.

I slept many times at Victoria station...yes, right in the middle of the station...I'm not the one who can give real suggestions about it, right?

You should defenitely go. I had the time of my life over there. And it's ok to get lost; Makes the experience more interesting.

[quote="giovanni"]I slept many times at Victoria station...yes, right in the middle of the station...I'm not the one who can give real suggestions about it, right?[/quote]

Did anyone bother you, or steal your stuff while you were napping?

hmm....to tell the truth I used to be THAT kind of guy that people wouldn't like to meet while walking in the night or alone in a street... but I have always been nice to everybody....that was just a matter of image

never had problems anywhere in the world...even walking in the night in NYC or Milan....

I'd avoid the King's Cross/St. Pancras area. The last I stayed in London it was Some scruffy looking bum threatened to f#$k me up the bum because I didn't have a lighter to light his cigarette and thought I saw some kids (college age) sitting on the sidewalk and doing what appeared to be freebasing for all to see. Although, the best Indian food I had while I was there was at a restaurant right around the corner from King's Cross and not on Brick Lane.

So there really is a King's Cross.... I thought it was only in HP.

And Gio, your to nice to be that creepy guy no one will look in the eye.

Yep, it's real. I think they filmed part of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere there, too.

There's a Kings Cross in Sydney, too (probably not very coincidentally)....it's the red-light district, but you don't get an evil creepy feeling walking there at night.

(Can you tell I love Sydney with all my heart? I'd move there in a second if I didn't have a million friends/family in this area...)

Try staying around the Covent Garden area. It's probably the best for tourists.. nice and central

Anything close to a mainline railway station is always a bit rough!

Thanks guys, I'm looking into all this...any particular hotel you like in Covent Gardens, Mr. G?

Dive... DON'T go to Sydney!!

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Man Pokes Shark in Eye, Survives Head Bite

SYDNEY, Australia (Jan. 23) - A diver escaped a 10-foot shark's attack by poking the animal in its eye after it had already chomped on his head once and was preparing for another bite, witnesses and officials said Tuesday.

Eric Nerhus, 41, was flown to a hospital with serious injuries to his head, body and left arm after the attack Tuesday off Cape Howe, about 250 miles south of Sydney.

The shark grabbed Nerhus by the head, crushing his face mask and breaking his nose, said Dennis Luobikis, a fellow diver who witnessed the attack.

"He was actually bitten by the head down - the shark swallowed his head," Luobikis said.

The shark, believed to be a great white, came back for a second bite, clenching its jaws around Nerhus' torso and leaving deep lacerations in his side, said Luobikis.

Nerhus wrestled free of the shark's jaws, and later told rescue workers he had poked the shark in the eye, an unidentified worker from the Snowy Hydro Rescue Helicopter service told local media.

Nerhus was pulled from the water by his 25-year-old son and rushed to a hospital, suffering blood loss and shock.

"Eric is a tough boy. He's super fit," said Luobikis. "But I would say that would test anyone's resolve, being a fish lunch."

Shark attacks are relatively common in Australian waters, home to some of the world's deadliest sea life. Scientists say there are an average of 15 shark attacks a year in Australia - one of the highest rates in the world - and just over 1 per year are fatal.

Original article:

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a ... 0000000001

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In all seriousness, i'm sure you're aware of the high shark attack rate there, but i couldn't help thinking of you when i read this!

Yeah, stick with London - it's flipping awesome! You'll love it I guarantee.

Heh! Too late, I've not only been to Sydney (which has terrific diving in its own right) but last year I dove on the Great Barrier Reef, which was the culmination of a more or less lifelong goal of mine. Remind me to post photos sometime. This July I'm going to the Galapagos Islands, filthy with hammerheads and also the world's largest shark: the whale shark. Can't wait.

The number 1 question I'm asked, of course, is why I'm not afraid of sharks. It's kind of a complicated issue, really...mostly I'm not afraid of them because I've been swimming with them a lot, and they're not lying in wait to chomp off one's arm, despite most media reports. Not every shark is a great white (or white pointer, as they're called Down Undah); mostly they eat fish, and will leave you alone if you look un-fish-like or large enough to put up a struggle. (Some are downright cuddly, like the nurse sharks that follow divers around for handouts in Belize. You can actually pet them like kittens. I really hated to leave 'em.)

That said, you'll never get me on a surfboard, and I'm usually not on the surface if I can avoid it. If there *are* large sharks around, you look like a yummy seal from below...

You'll notice that this guy sustained serious injuries, but didn't die. Great whites are naturally the subject of much trepidation by most folks (many of whom I've met won't go in the water because of them, even in places like Florida, where they're exceedingly rare - nothing for them to eat, really). Yet, bull and tiger sharks are much more lethal to humans on a per capita basis. Yes, I have seen some in real life, and yes, I did turn around and swim...away...calmly...

You'll be glad to know I'm also going cage diving this fall in Baja California...with great whites. I'll be sure to post some photos.

p.s. I do feel compelled to mention also that, while ten or so people a year are fatally injured by sharks, humans kill around 50 million sharks per year. They are greatly imperiled at the moment...it takes 'em around 9 years to become mature enough to reproduce, and their numbers are dropping precipitously. A fact that makes me very, very sad to contemplate.