If you feel the need for a little adventure without having to leave the country or break the bank, why not climb the O2 Arena?

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If you’re a movie buff, the Sundance in London Film Festival is an absolute must.
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Along with the famous and historic boat race on the Thames, the Oxford and Cambridge Goat Race sees goats strive for glory at Spitalfields City Farm.

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It’s silly season again. Deck the halls and be jolly with all the festive finds you can source from these London-based Christmas markets and fairs. Continue Reading

Maximum speeds, the longest flights, flight attendants’ weight and pilots’ meals – here are 20 little-known facts and snippets about air travel and its history.

1. Many airlines have a rule that each pilot flying the aircraft eats a different meal, in order to minimise the risk of all pilots on board being ill.
2. One third of the world’s airports are in the USA.
3. The first flight attendants had to weigh less than 115 pounds, be unmarried and be trained nurses.
4. An online check-in facility was first introduced by Alaskan Airlines in 1999.
5. QANTAS, the name for Australia’s national airline, was originally an acronym for Queensland and Northern Territories Air Service.
6. In 1987, American Airlines saved an estimated $40,000 by giving one less olive in each salad served in first class.
7. The world’s busiest commercial airport is Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, with 970,000 airplane movements a year. It’s followed by Chicago (ORD), London (LHR), Tokyo (HND), Los Angeles (LAX).
8. A Boeing 747 is made up of six million parts.
9. In 1971, D. B. Cooper hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines Boeing 727 – flight 305. He successfully negotiated a $200,000 ransom for the release of the passengers. He then parachuted from the rear of the plane and was never found.
10. Since 2004, the longest scheduled long-haul flight was the Singapore Airlines flight 21 from Newark to Singapore, which takes 18.5 hours via an Airbus A340-500.
11. Earlier this year, Singapore Airlines cancelled this flight, meaning there is now no direct flight from the USA to Singapore.
12. The longest flight is now a Delta flight between Johannesburg and Atlanta, which at 17 hours has the longest duration, while the longest route will be a Qantas flight between Sydney and Dallas — around 8,500 miles.
13. The maximum speed of a Boeing 747 is 955 km/h.
14. At any given hour, 61,000 people are airborne over the US.
15. British Airways passengers consume six tons of caviar per year.
16. Singapore Airlines is the second largest buyer of Dom Perignon champagne in the world.
17. In the early years of commercial flight, before pressurised cabins were invented, airline passengers sometimes had to wear oxygen masks during routine flights.
18. In 2011, Heathrow Airport handled 69, 433, 230 passengers.
19. Famous people killed in aircraft accidents include SA cricketer Hansie Cronje, golfers Payne Stewart and Davis Love Sr, musicians Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Denver, Jim Croce and Aaliyah, as well as John f. Kennedy Jr.
20. In 1936, the airship Hindenburg provided entertainment in the form of a piano lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar during the 2½ day flight between Europe and America.

If you’re a Saffa who’s new to the UK, you might already be missing some favourite flavours from home.  But don’t fret – there are many physical and online stores that specialise in South African food imports. Continue Reading

COMPETITION: Your next summer holiday could include a seven-day tour through Pamplona, thanks to 1^st Contact and First Festival Travel. Continue Reading

In the spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, here is our A to Z of sports in the UK. Expect some popular sports – as well as some rather weird and wacky ones too. Continue Reading

Well-known sport and adventure club 8th Day Adventure is offering all 1st Contact clients a massive discount on joining their club - £25 for a year’s membership, reduced from £140. Continue Reading

British Airways have launched a new marketing campaign to highlight their role as an official Olympic partner to Team GB, and to encourage Brits to stay at home and support Team GB during the London Olympics. Continue Reading

Our A-Z of the upcoming Olympic Games has some really nifty resources and information. It also tells you all about the alien invasion, the zombie apocalypse, and the possibility of Keith Moon performing at one of the ceremonies. Continue Reading

The annual Homelanz event is taking place on Saturday 16 June in London’s Boston Manor Park. This popular one-day London festival is all about celebrating the Southern Hemisphere: its culture, entertainment, music and cuisine. Continue Reading

Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa was recently declared one of the provisional “7 new Wonders of Nature” in a campaign that lasted 4 years and was decided by public vote – more than 100 million votes were counted.

Other winners included The Amazon, Halong Bay in Vietnam and the Komodo Island in Indonesia. While re-counting and verification still needs to take place, we are sure Table Mountain will remain as one of the Worlds 7 New Wonders of Nature.

For Capetonians, Table Mountain is a source of immense pride and enjoyment – from Cable Car trips to rock-climbing, amazing fauna and flora to incredible hikes, Table Mountain has it all. Continue Reading

If you’ve ever taken your dogs for a walk and then wished you could stop at a pub for a beer on your way home, here’s your chance! Our list covers many areas and most of them are close to a park or common, meaning you can walk your dog and then wet your palate! Continue Reading

With around 300 days to go before the 2012 Olympic Games, we thought we’d find out a bit more about the impressive Olympic Park and stadium. Continue Reading

We all know that Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam Tournament still played on grass and most of us are aware that at 17, Boris Becker was the youngest player (and first unseeded player and first German) to win the men’s singles title… but here a few facts that might be entirely new to even the most ardent tennis fans.

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This month we look at fascinating Poland, a country rich in history, with a population of 39 million people. Continue Reading

Next Saturday the 11^th of June, more than 1000 people are expected to participate in the London Naked Bike Ride. Should this number be achieved, it will officially go down in history as the largest naked protest in London.

The worldwide event is staged for many reasons – it’s a demonstration against oil dependency, a call to protect the environment, a celebration of the human body, a call for safer cycling lanes and facilities and a campaign to encourage more people to use bikes to get around in cities.  
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Having earned the reputation in recent years as possessing one of the UK’s most unique and cutting-edge festival line-ups, Standon Calling’s 2011 bill is shaping up to reaffirm this accolade. Continue Reading

London is indeed a one-of-a-kind city; a city that gets under your skin. Maybe this is why it has long been a favoured subject of novelists, lyricists and filmmakers.

We decided to weed out our favourite London-based novels and select a Top 20 list of recommendations. Whether you’re travelling to London soon and hoping to gain a sense of the city; curious about life in London through the ages; or a Londoner who just can’t get enough, there’s bound to be something in here for you – from quick, light reads to intense, epic novels you can literally lose yourself in.

Below is our Top 20 List of novels set in London, in no particular order.

1. The End of the Affair –Graham Greene

Set in London in the time of World War II, this brilliant novel examines the conflicts between self-love, love for another and love for God. A real classic!

2. City of the Mind – Penelope Lively

This story focuses on Londoner Matthew Halland and his life as a recently divorced father and architect working on the renovation of an old industrial building. The author uses Matthew’s architectural perspective to not only evoke London’s past eras, civilizations and landscapes, but also reflect on the building up and decaying of human relationships.

3. The Repentant Morning – Chris Paling

A remarkable novel set both in Civil War Spain and in the pubs of Soho, which tells the tale of Meredith Kerr and the four hapless men in her life.

4. Bitter Sweets – Roopa Farooki

This charming and witty narrative follows three generations of a family caught up in a monstrous web of lies and deceit, starting with 13-year-old Henna’s wedding night, when her husband discovers she is not the accomplished and intelligent 17-year-old her parents said she was.

5. Absolute Beginners – Malcolm MacInnes

Written from the perspective of a teenage freelance photographer, this delightful book is set in a rundown part of West London in the summer of 1958 – the time of the Nottinghill race riots.

6. The Time of the Crack – Emma Tennant

A social satire about the chaos that ensues when an overnight split in the earth’s crust causes a huge rift beneath the Thames splitting London in two.

7. The Ballad of Peckham Rye — Muriel Spark

This humorous novel tells the story of the devilish Dougal Douglas, who moves from Scotland to London, where he wreaks havoc amongst the lives of the Peckham working class.

8. London Fields by Martin Amis.

A black comedy murder mystery narrated by Samson Young, an American writer living in London who has suffered from writer’s block for 20 years and now has a terminal illness.

9. Past Imperfect – Julian Fellowes

From the pen of Julian Fellowes, who won the Oscar for his Screenplay ‘Gosforth Park’. An enjoyable and well-paced novel which sees the narrator searching for an heir to his dying friend Damian’s vast fortune.

10. Our Mutual Friend – Charles Dickens

Undoubtedly one of Dickens’ most sophisticated works, Our Mutual Friend is a vivid tale about money, fate and human values.

11. White Teeth – Zadie Smith

A funny, affirming and uplifting debut novel about friendship, love, war and family.

12. A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary For Lovers – Xiaolu Guo

Despite the title this is in fact a beautiful novel, and tells the story of a young Chinese woman sent by her parents to London to learn English. In an unfamiliar world, where nobody can pronounce her name, she meets an Englishman who has no name…

13. Brick Lane – Monica Ali

A captivating tale of desire and the contradictions of life, as told through the eyes of Nazneen, a Bengalese immigrant who finds herself married to a man 20 years her senior and living in East London.

14. A Vicious Circle by Amanda Craig

This vivid and passionate novel is set in 90’s London amidst the cut-throat world of literary criticism. Wildly funny, poignant and well-paced!

15. The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad.

Set in London in 1886, this much celebrated novel tells the story of Mr Verloc; his life, his job as a secret agent and his relationships with his wife and her family. It was ranked the 46th best novel of the 20th century by Modern Library.

16. The Tiger in the Smoke – Margery Allingham

A chilling and highly enjoyable crime novel set in 1930’s London.

17. Only in London – Hanan-Al-Shayk

This well-written, entertaining book tells the story of a chance meeting of four strangers on a plane, and how their lives intertwine from the moment they touch down in London.

18. An Equal Music – Vikram Seth

A romance of epic proportions set mainly in London, (with beautiful bits in Venice) told through the eyes of Michael, a violinist with a passion for music, love and life.

19. Night Watch – Sarah Waters

This moving and highly acclaimed novel from Sarah Waters tells the stories of four women dealing with disappointment and loss in 1940’s London.

20. Cheet – Anna Davis

And last but by no means least, Cheet is a fun but surprisingly meaty novel about Kathryn Cheet, a London taxi driver with 5 lives, 5 lovers and 5 colour-coded cellphones to keep track of it all. Her life takes an unexpected turn the day Twinkle arrives…