London 1 - London's free newspaper - a lasting trend?

London's free newspaper - My Savior during the mind-numbing commute. 

I have lived in London for over an year now, but surprisingly this is my first text post on the city. Since its my post first on London, I will make this a tribute to the London's ubiquitous free newspapers and magazine that make my awful commute to work, in packed trains and tubes, a little tolerable.

In 1999 Metro, UK's first free newspaper was launched. The trend continued when in 2004 another free newspaper Standard Lite (later called London Lite) was introduced. Two years later the London Paper, by Rupert Murdoch's News International was launched as evening paper. Both London Lite and London Paper went out of circulation in 2009.

However, the shift to free still continues now faster than ever. Recently Time Out magazine, a 45 year old listing magazine, in a hope to raise its circulation converted itself into a free magazine. Two magazines are already available for free since 2007 and 2009 one targeted at men and other at women. Is circulation of free papers the only way to win the readership of the London's smart phone juggling commuters who real time, customizable access to multitude of news sources. The model has proven successful so far for some of the players. The Evening Standard which made a successful transformation as a free newspaper in 2009 had upped its profit by Jun 2010 due to increased ad revenues from higher circulation. But it is not all success story. In 2009, London Paper went out of publication due to losses and 'downturn in ad revenues'. Recently another free newspaper City AM, which is London financial free sheet, showed signs of struggle as it suffered 95% slump in profits blaming it on rising costs of the newsprint. 

The question is whether the trend towards free newspapers sustainable over time? Besides profits, experts have also raised  concern about quality of journalism in such papers. There is an additional problem tonnes of waste generated by the free newspapers. In 2007, the London council,Westminster, threatened to ban the free newspapers given the huge waste problem. However, now the newspapers have deployed recycle bins close to the distribution points resolving the issue to a great extent. However, the question of quality and disposability of the news still stays.

I, on a personal note, appreciate the 10 minutes of preoccupation that the free papers provide. If you do too, here is a list of major free newspapers and magazines and a few tid-bits about them. 

Metro UK

Available to commuters in 50 UK cities available. The newspaper distributes around 1.3 million copies are distributed across the UK. It is the world's largest free newspaper and the third biggest newspaper in the UK. This paper can be picked from special racks installed at London stations and transportations hubs.

Evening Standard

The Evening Standard became a free newspaper in October 2009 after 180 years in circulation. Before going free it was available for a 50p. The newspaper which was launched 1827 had a daily circulation of 250,000. But after it became free, 600,000 copies were in circulation with a reach of 1.4 million people. The newspaper would either be thrusted in your hand as you walk in or out of a station or you could pick it up at the racks used by Metro in the morning.

City AM - Handed out 212 stations, City AM is London's financial sheet. Usually distributed by vendors standing in front station gates and major transportation hubs, its current circulation rose to 130,000 however, its last profits as reported in October 2012 slumped by 95%.

Time Out - London's leading listing magazine launched in 1968, currently has a circulation of 55,000 copies. It became free in August 2012 expecting it to push up its circulation. 

Stylist - Launched in 2009, Stylist is a free weekly women's magazine available with fashion and beauty related content.

Shortlist - It is men's lifestyle magazine launched in 2007. Its circulation in June 2010 was a little over 510,000.

Besides there are other regional newspapers and magazines available in different parts of London. Check out this wiki link for the ones you could pick up.

Some of the information above is picked from the following articles: 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/aug/02/time-out-free-london-edition

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/02/london-evening-standard-free

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/oct/09/city-am-profits-drop-95-percent

Italy 5: Your wedding in Italian town of Ravello?

Although small in size, the little town of Ravello is by no means little in its stature as a leading tourist destination in Italy. The total population of the town is 2,500 with its central piazza overlooking the Duomo di Ravello brimming with tourist enjoying coffee and drinks or strolling up and down trying to locate a secret corner. Except that there are no secret corners in Ravello - at least not between May and September.

After a quick walk around the town, avoiding extremely crowded Villa Ruffolo, Duomo, Piazza and Ravello's many touristic ceramics and art shops, we decided to tread a little further away from the popular hangouts of the tourist in the area.  

Welcome to Ravello: Beautiful little town established in 6th Century AD on Italy's Amalfi Coast

As we walked away from the crowds into a little street on the other side of the cathedral, we saw two musicians, one with a guitar and the other with a mandolin, seated by a door leading into a little terrace garden overlooking the sea. And as we entered the garden we had a moment of calm as we sat on a bench. Escaping the tourist buzz, we were now in the Amalfi paradise we had hoped for. Smell of lemon groves, soothing views of the revered "Italian Riviera" and musicians practicing their strings in the background. Just as I thanked the Lord for the good fortune that brought me here, I realized that we may be intruding a wedding party. A group of 20 people had entered the little garden space. The guests were hugging and congratulating the new couple. We had a few minutes of discomforting curiosity trying hard not to look at the married couple as they posed infront of the camera. The musicians were now playing their practiced tunes. The rhythm of guitar and mandolin lifted the atmosphere. Could it get more romantic. I snuggled into my husbands arms for a quick hug. But then the party left as quickly as they arrived. The music fell to silence. In another five minutes, another party arrived. And then another. And then another.  

Quite Street which is not quite quite - Ravello is brimming with tourist between May and September

As we walked out, I saw at least five couples (including one from Japan and one from India) stepping out of the cathedrals one after the other walking up and down the steep slopes of Ravello, living there dream of white christian wedding in a quaint Italian village by the sea surrounded by vine yards. Impeccably dressed they looked gods and goddesses, prince and princesses in their fairytale attires with the a hired photographer in toe. The joy all too obvious as they obliged the shutterbug copying every pose in the wedding book. There was of course a manager following ensuring everything stayed on time. Many couples were waiting to live their dream so - the musicians, the photo-op spots, the cathedral must be cleared on time. After few minutes it felt like an assembly line of weddings. 

A wedding in progress at Ravello's catehdral

It soon became obvious that Ravello is a much in demand town for weddings and this demand is obliged by a number of wedding experts. 

View from the sea front of Ravello

About the legal and religious aspects of the wedding: the use of local churches are allowed for non-Catholic Christian weddings. If you are already married and need a "symbolic" ceremony without the rigmarole of paperwork, that could be arranged too. Civil marriages can also be arranged at the local town hall. Receptions are then held in beautiful gardens, villas, terraces or hotels along the edge of the cliff, the town is located on. Every married couple and their guests get photo-ops and celebration time with the view of the sea, vine yards, lemon groves with the wonderful company of Italian wine and cuisine.   

The town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

All of us have dreams of weddings in exotic locations with perfect arrangements - musicians, flowers, dresses, guests and fine dining. Ravello offers all of this. So could Ravello be your wedding destination?

Ravello is famous for its fine ceramics. You will find many shops displaying beautiful pieces as you stroll around the town

Italy 4 - A peep into Positano

Italy 3 - Five reasons why you will love Naples

Naples is said to be 'the city of damned' with mounds of waste and violence of organized mafia. It is quite often referred to be the 'shit hole' of Europe. Offensive as that may be, tourists have reasons for such extreme reactions to the city. (Read: Four reasons why people hate Naples)


But not all go unhappy and shocked. There are many pressing reasons why this place which was one of the great capitals of Europe in 18th century is so loved by a section of travelers. Chances are you may love it too.

Sfogliatelle napoletane - The many layered, shell shaped pastry "invented" in 18th century

1. Pizza - It is not a couple of great outlets that people line infront of, it is the whole city sitting by wood fired while specially milled flour, tomatoes and cheese of a particular specification are brought together in Neapolitan style for what is the most authentic and unarguably the best pizza in the world. This place is the birth city of Pizza and Neapolitans take their reputation with pizza very seriously. Neapolitan Pizza Association is an association of pizzerias representing those making the true Neapolitan pizza. Since 1984, the association has established International regulations for what is a true Neapolitan pizza made from ingredients sourced from a list of approved suppliers. I can name a few pizzerias - Friggitoria, De Matteo, Da Michele but I realized that the list is practically end less. No matter where you go and order pizza you will get off the table with a great meal that will be extremely kind to your pocket.

22. Archaeological Museum: Visit to Naples is incomplete without a visit to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. If you are fascinated by the Roman towns - Pompeii and Herculaneum that were devastated by volcanic eruption and preserved under its pyroclastic flows,  then before you head to the ruins, it is best to first visit the museum spending a couple of hours in its galleries looking at the variety of material that have been excavated from the sites. These include mosaics, glass and clay utensils, jewelry, coins, erotic artefacts amongst many other treasures of the past. 

33. Food culture - I had the most luscious coffee of my life in Naples. It came with the glass encrusted with cashew bits and a chocolate spoon for a Euro 2.5. Another cup of simple cappuccino tasted amazing and was a treat for the eyes. It took little before I realized that there is much more to Naples than its wonderful pizza. There are coffee, pastries and snack items to be bought as you walk around for 1 Euro. 

My handsome husband very happy when his coffee is served with a chocolate spoon :)

My cup of cappuccino

A chunk of rice covered in batter and fried, bought for 1 Euro

4. Cheap decor items - There are wonderful, cheap decor items with paintings with Amalfi views, Neapolitan bay, small miniatures of vespas, arty wall clocks and other cute and endearing items that you can buy for cheap and take back to decorate your own houses or to gift your friends.

An antiques shop in Naples

55. Proximity to Pompeii - You are within an easy reach of the Pompeii, Mt Vesuvius, Herculaneum. You can make easy day trips to these stops and return to a hot pizza in the evening.  

Most buildings in City Center of Naples have huge wooden doors leading to multi-storey buildings

Italy 2 - Four reasons why people hate Naples

Greg McElhatton says "Naples made me hate life." Leif Petterson says he went around looking for gems in Naples and found none. He ends his travelogue with a passionate suggestion "Don't go to Naples!" Hal Licino issues a similar advisory "Avoid Naples" but in much stronger terms.

It brings out extreme reaction from visitors. Such abhorrence for a city is unbelievable. Never before I read tonnes of reviews about a place telling you not to visit it (except in cases where the place is in a war or experiencing political instability). But, in a country like Italy, there is a city that is so hated that people say they would not visit it even if paid to do so. 

Here are four key reasons why people hate Naples so much!

1. Garbage - The foremost reason travellers dislike Naples is garbage. The locals are known to dump the garage onto the street. As you walk from street to street a glass bottle or a bag of something may just fall from the skies and land on your head. Tourists complain of hoards of trash mounted in front of buildings and houses and the constant smell that follows you around in the city. This place does not stand up to the Western standard of hygiene and sanitation. Here is an interesting article in Independent discussing just when the waste situation in Naples got bad.

2. Crime Scene - As you step out of the central train station in Naples and step onto the lanes leading up to Piazza Gabrialdi you see local and immigrant population walking around selling expensive gadgets for cheap. It makes you want to hold onto your back pack tight and run to your hotel room and hide there till its time to leave. Travel bloggers have reported being pick pocketed and robbed in the city. The danger is palpable. The threat feels real. Its no joke. Naples does feel like a really unsafe city. Besides, the smaller crimes perpetrated there is a situation of lawlessness with secret crime mafia Camorra operating in the city.

3. Neapolitan - People are said to be rude and mean in their attitude towards travelers who have reported back saying that they are not taken care of. Basically, people are said to be hostile and inhospitable.

4. Traffic - The taxi drivers drive too fast following no rules or signs and jumping the signals. You don't want to be in their cab. The traffic will never stop for a pedestrian. So you don't want to be outside of the car either. The traffic jams are so terrible that you don't want to be driving around either. Basically, you don't want to be in Naples at all.  

It is the third largest city in Italy but undeniably the most hated one in Europe. I still five special reasons for loving the city. Watch this space…it is coming soon.