The Olympic Cauldron has won the Visual Arts prize at this year’s South Bank Sky Arts Awards ceremony hosted by Melvyn Bragg in London. What was certainly the centrepiece of last year’s Olympic Games, the Cauldron warded off stiff competition from the Olympic Velodrome.

The Olympic Cauldron was designed by the English designer Thomas Heatherwick, who is known for his inventive use of materials and engineering in public sculptures and monuments. The Cauldron was a ‘magnum opus’ of surprise theatre, and nothing of the like had been seen at any previous Olympic Games.

Each of the 204 nations delegated a team member to receive and look after a beautiful copper petal, which was laid out in a designated spot at the opening ceremony. These petals were then lifted skywards by a thin and almost invisible wire. One by one the petals took position besides the Olympic torch making one huge beautiful flaming flower.

At the closing ceremony the opposite occurred, and all the polished copper petals were returned to the nations to take back to their homeland with their names inscribed upon them, symbolising the great togetherness that is the Olympic spirit.

This was an absolute masterstroke by Heatherwick, and no one could deny that the designer earned the prestigious Visual Arts award.

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Similar to many of the world’s most prominent places, there are several dishes which are native to London. Perhaps the most famous of traditional London dishes is pie and mash served with parsley gravy. The unusual, and it has to be said stomach-tuning ingredient of the London pie is the filling, eel.

The dish gained popularity during the 18^th century and although tastes have changed with the passing centuries and the thought of eel today is not what everyone wants in the centre of a pie, it has to be said that it is a wholesome, nutritious and healthy meal and it must at least be tried if you want to get into true traditional London spirit!

Not far behind pie and mash for eye-opening and time-honoured gastromonomic delights is London are Jellied Eels.

The eels are cooked in spices and vinegar and are left cooking slowly in order to reduce into its own jelly. The eels are then refrigerated and served chilled with a slice of lemon.

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So the great man is performing back in the city where he used to busk back in the swinging sixties! Yes, Rod Stewart in London!

Having sold way over 100.000,000 albums, having had number one’s with six consecutive albums, and being one of the most recognisable faces in the world, Rod Steward needs no introduction.

Whilst musicians chopped and changed throughout the sixties as they attempted to find that perfect artistic niche, Rod Stewart remained a refreshingly steady, a rock among a predominantly brittle industry. And he has played with them all – Ray Davies of the Kinks, in fact Rod could have easily ended up as lead singer of the Kinks! He has played with the legendary Jeff Beck and was the subject of a rediffusion television documentary in 1965 called “Rod the Mod.”

Although it has to be said that the stalwart singer’s talents don’t stop at singing, as in 1960 Rod even had a trial with Brentford F.C but it didn’t go any further.

Although Rod is proudly Scottish it was London is where he grew up, and the capital holds a special place in his heart.

And now Rod is coming back to his roots and you can see him perform at the London O2 arena in early June. It has to be said that the husky voiced blues/soul singer is not getting any younger and future performances  are likely to be limited, so if you are a fan and if you wish to see Rod Stewart in London then it might be wise to see him while you still can.

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Traditional London songs – Timeless, cheerful and inimitable music from a bygone era! One way to step back in time and get sucked up into what can only be described as being traditional London flavour, is to go to one of the London pubs which still have a good old Cockney-style sing-alongs.

You can even have a delicious slap-up meal in some of these pubs before joining in with the singing and merrymaking in an extremely authentic of London environment.

The Coach and Horses Public House on Greek Street in Soho is one such pub where they still belt out the London tunes. Every Wednesday and Saturday the pub is engrossed in singing songs from a bygone age.

Songs such as ‘Roll out the Barrel’ – apparently written by a Czech, but certainly embraced by Britain’s armed forces and Londoners -, the ‘Lambeth Walk,’ ‘Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner,’ and many more can be heard blasting out from The Coach and Horses into the Soho night air. Of course slightly more contemporary songs have been added to the list, such as Ralph Mactell’s ‘Streets of London.’

Another fairly central London pub which dedicates a few nights per week to a traditional London knees up is the Golden Eagle on Marylebone Lane.

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You cannot help but feel the excitement of London when standing in Piccadilly Circus. All the noise and hustle bustle, the shops, the eating houses and the crowds. Then at night the flashing neon adverts make the place become even more alive.

It is safe to say that at Piccadilly Circus you are inside the very heart of vibrant London.

Originally built in 1819 to connect Regent Street to Piccadilly, the Circus quickly became a major junction come meeting place. What has been one of the busiest regions of London for the best part of two centuries includes a memorial to the great reformer, Lord Shaftsbury. The statue is nearly always referred to as the statue of “Eros,” but in actual fact the statue is an image of Eros’s brother, Anteros.

Besides being the home to famous and historical memorials, Piccadilly Circus is most famed of all for its advertising in neon lights. In fact the region’s mesmerising blur of dazzling neon is en par with Tokyo or Times Square in New York City.

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