Are you feeling restless? Want to be on the move? Don't know
what it is you want? Then take the tube to Piccadilly Circus and walk up Shaftsbury Avenue or Coventry Street to the
Trocadero, London's premier entertainment complex.
Here you'll be in sensory overload, as the complex is a shiny, shimmering universe of pusing neon lights flashing to an urban beat.
Ride up and down the escalators in this neon wonderland and check out all the shops, cinemas, cyber cafes, restaurants, video arcades, and exhibits such as Madam Tussaud's "Rock Circus." A carnival atmosphere prevails, and the place definitely is for the young or young-at-heart. However, being on the far (and matronly) side of forty, didn't stop me, and I never felt out of place.
I did, however, regret for the first time on my trip that I was on my own, without family in tow. Soon I found myself imagining that my ten-year-old son was with me, giddy with excitement at the prospect of all those video games, sweet shops, and gadgets.
After riding up and down the escalators and wandering around the complex for a half hour or so, I went into the Sweet Centre. Kid heaven! I'd never seen such a variety of candy - gummy animals of every conceivable species, indescribably shaped and flavored candies, yard-long licorice in dozens of flavors; candy teeth, candy lips, jawbreaker eyeballs and any other body part you'd care to name rendered in confection; marshmallow sharks, chocolate dinosaurs, jelly babies, gum-drop dwarves, and jelly beans in a hundred flavors. Tastebud overload! I filled a bag with some of the most peculiar and appealing sweets, taking a vow of candy chastity as I did so (it was for my son, you see. Hah!).
Exiting the Trocadero into the heady London atmosphere that is Piccadilly, I made myself a promise: the next time I came, I'd bring along my son, and he'd pick out his own candy.