LONDON is a very cramped city but this can work to a foreign vacationer’s advantage when he or she intends to buy a home here and settle for good. After all, there are lots of people out there who have retired at the age of 40 and for the rest of their lives, they want to spend it attractively with no boss nosing around. London is one such ideal place if you love the urban life. Parties here last up to sunrise and they do party even on weekdays. Parties are more pronounced at this time when 2007 is about the end and London’s Big Ben is ticking the seconds closer to 2008. There’s booze everywhere that even the London Metropolitan Police has instituted a booze bus to bring tipsy and intoxicated partygoers right at their doorstep.

London being a dense city, prices of homes here have steadily dropped since 2002. London is actually a melting pot that is why there are lots of expatriates here. And pop music artists come here all year round to perform. In fact, London’s O2 has just hosted the homecoming concert of the Spice Girls whose individual members have already enjoyed fulfilling private lives both in and out of spotlight. Close to 16,000 people attended the concert at a stadium reserved only for football fans.

Another thing to watch out for in London this Christmas is the shopping. There are lots of items on the shelves which may possibly last out that retailers and malls in London have issued so-called rain checks, promising them of the items by January 2008. Some of the items which easily last out are game consoles such as Wii, Apple’s famous 2007 craze iPhone and various brands of HD and Blu-ray compatible accessories. There are also yearend sales everywhere and not just in malls but in street markets and garage sales up in the suburbs. Of course, salesladies and salesmen are dressed in Santas to help you out.

And just in time for Christmas, a rail service has recently debuted its London to Wearside route and vice versa. It will be a four-hour trip for each journey and the company that made this possible was Grand Central. There will be three trips every day. Another train company, Wrexham & Shropshire, will also debut the London route by 2007. Meanwhile, one pastime that is slowly gaining ground in London nowadays is horse racing and other forms of equestrian sports. Equestrian will become a major event in the 2012 Olympic Games and this early, horse riders from all over the United Kingdom are practicing for the huge activity.

As more and more people are scrambling to be health-conscious, so too are the Londoners. Aside from equestrian activities, people in London have also took a liking in running races. In fact, celebrities often lead these races, exhorting London folk to join them. One of these celebrities is eccentric British rocker Pete Doherty.