London it is immense, modern, vital and interactive: but its history is breathed in deeply from the moment you set foot on it.
There are many monuments, palaces and buildings that are worth visiting but an eye, if we can say so, should go to the historic houses that contribute to characterize the city.
I list the main ones below:
- Dicken's House, house in which the famous writer Dickens lived with his wife from 1837 to 1839; in this very house he wrote Oliver Twist and concluded The Pickwick Circle. You will find it at 48 Doughty Street.
- Freud Museum, at number 20 of Maresfield Gardens, where the famous Sigmund Freud lived and where you can see the bed, covered with magnificent oriental carpets, on which patients would lie down during psychoanalysis sessions.
- Carlyle's House, a typical Victorian house where the likes of Dickens, Chopin and Darwin used to visit the writer and historian Carlyle, who lived here from 1834 to 1881. It is located in Cheyne Row 24.
- Dr Johnson's House: do you know who Samuel Johnson is? He is the one who worked on the first vocabulary of the English language, which counted 41.000 words and which was published in 1755. The house is furnished with period furniture, objects and personal souvenirs of the "doctor" and is located at number 17 of Gough Square.
- Sir John Soane's Museum: don't miss it! It is the home of the architect Sir John Soane, designer of the Bank of England of the City: here you will find a great collection of paintings, sculptures and antiquities of various types, but the real attraction comes from the eccentricity of the house, with mirrors and games of light, paintings that hide other objects and rooms inserted one into the other like real Chinese boxes. It is located at 13 Lincoln's Inn and on Saturdays they organize guided tours at 14.30pm (if you know English, they are very interesting!).
