Homeless People Give Tours In UK City

by Libby Zay on

Homeless people can often be found outside of many landmarks in Bath, England – but now instead of begging for change they’re leading tour groups.

The initiative is the brainchild of Dr. Luke Tregidgo, a former student at the University of Bath, who is working to solve one of Bath’s biggest social problems by leveraging the city’s greatest asset – its tourists.

Dubbed Secret City Tours, the new program promises, “the most entertaining guided walking tours of Bath, combining the city’s most popular destinations with hidden gems and undiscovered stories that you won’t find anywhere else.”

Bath’s homeless are already biting at the chance to become guides, and a local theater group is helping to train them. And don’t worry: they won’t be showing off the underside of bridges or abandoned buildings – the homeless guides will actually be taking tourists through Bath landmarks like the Crescent, the Roman Baths and the Abbey. And soon, the guides will hopefully earn enough money that you can’t call them “homeless” after all.

[Via Skift]

[Photo credit: Flickr user Andy Welsher]

Roman London Uncovered In Massive Excavation

by Sean McLachlan on


Archaeologists from the Museum of London have uncovered three acres of Roman London, they announced in a press release.

The team was excavating ahead of construction of Bloomberg Place, in the heart of what used to be Londinium, the capital of the Roman province of Britannia. Over the course of six months, archaeologists picked their way through seven meters of soil to find some 10,000 artifacts dating from the very start of Roman occupation in the 40s A.D. to the end in the early fifth century.
This painstaking work revealed whole streets of the ancient city with wooden buildings preserved up to shoulder height, prompting archaeologists to dub it the “Pompeii of the North.” The damp soil not only preserved the buildings, but also perishable artifacts such as the leather shoe and the basket shown here. The team also found a previously unexcavated section of the Temple of Mithras.

Other finds include phallic good luck pendants; a hundred writing tablets, some containing affectionate personal letters; and the bed of Walbrook, one of the “lost” rivers of London. There’s also this amber amulet in the shape of a gladiator’s helmet shown here.

Bloomberg Place will be Bloomberg’s European headquarters once it’s completed in 2016. A museum on site will exhibit the finds to the public.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City has deep connections with London that were the subject of a recent feature in the New York Times.

[All images copyright Museum of London Archaeology]

Louvre Shut Due To Violent Gang Of Pickpockets

by Sean McLachlan on


The Louvre temporarily closed on Wednesday due to a strike protesting trouble with violent pickpockets.

The Guardian reports more than a hundred staff walked out on Wednesday in protest over “increasingly aggressive” gangs of pickpockets that harass both visitors and staff. Staff members who have tried to stop the criminals have been kicked and spat at. The strikers are demanding extra security.

The popular art museum in Paris is now open again, according to the Louvre’s website, but the problem isn’t solved. With the influx of art aficionados, there will be an understratum of the criminal element.

Pickpocketing is a serious problem in many parts of Europe. While I’ve lived in Europe for more than a decade, I’ve never been a victim. Perhaps it’s because I used to live in New York City and learned to pay attention. I’m a frequent passenger on both the Madrid Metro and the London Underground, both notorious hotspots for pickpocketing. I always keep my wallet in my front pocket with my thumb hooked into that pocket and my fingers resting on the outside of my pants touching my wallet. Sure, that signals where my wallet is, but good luck trying to get it.

Pickpockets often target families with small children because the parents are distracted. When I’m in the Metro with my wife and little boy, my wife watches the kid while I watch them, with my hand on my wallet the entire time. Nobody has ever managed to rob us.

So if you’re planning a trip to the Louvre, or to Europe, or to New York City, pack your street smarts along with your guidebook.

Do you have any other tricks to foil pickpockets? Share them in the comments section!

[Photo courtesy Benh Lieu Song]

A Look Inside The David Bowie Exhibition At London’s Victoria & Albert Museum

by Sean McLachlan on


David Bowie is a pop star. David Bowie is a designer. David Bowie is an actor. David Bowie is a painter.

David Bowie is a lot of things, which is why it’s appropriate that his retrospective at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum is titled “David Bowie Is.”

The museum gained unprecedented access to the David Bowie archive to select five decades of mementos like this striped bodysuit designed for the 1973 Aladdin Sane tour. There are plenty more of Bowie’s crazy costumes on display, as well as photos, video, handwritten lyrics and original album art. Many of the pieces are by Bowie himself, showing off his range of artistic talents. More than 300 items make up the exhibition and it’s the largest of its kind ever shown in public.

The exhibition traces Bowie’s evolution as an artist and his collaborations on various projects. Video screens show some of his music videos and excerpts from films such as “The Man Who Fell to Earth.”

There is also a series of special events related to the exhibition, including lectures and a chance for kids to design their own album cover.

“David Bowie Is” runs until August 11.

[Image © Sukita/The David Bowie Archive 2012]

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Paris Redux: Classic Parisian Neighborhoods As Seen Through Typography

by Anna Brones on

Design geeks and French lovers beware: this video was made for you.

Using some of Paris‘ most iconic neighborhoods and coming up with simple visual representations of them, the video was made as a holiday greeting card by global design agency Havas Worldwide.

My favorite is Canal St Martin, an area most tourists recognize from the “Amélie” stone-skipping scene and nowadays with the collection of bars, cafes and small boutiques, the preferred destination of Parisian hipsters. It’s ingeniously represented by a bridge in the shape of a mustache.

[Via: Huh Magazine]