When dreaming up a venue for your first few dates you want your suggestion to make you seem interesting, cultured and smart. This is somewhat harder than it looks. Often time, and no matter how hard you might try, your ideas seem dull, hackneyed and boring. Well dear reader, Original Dating is on hand to help. We're here to remind you that wherever you are in London, there's always something interesting going on near you. Here are our top 5 picks of places to take your date this week.
The Wellcome Collection (Euston)
http://wellcomecollection.org/events/sand-mandala
If you and your date still making an effort to stick to your new year's resolutions about healthy living, if you love art, if you're curious about other cultures or if you're just the kind of people who enjoy looking at pretty designs then this drop in performance is an unusual (and free) place to take your date. Medical mandalas are unique to Tibetan Buddhist culture and are essentially spiritual works of art. On a more practical note, there's also a café and a restaurant that we'd highly recommend..
Camden Street Art Tour
http://camdenstreetarttours.com/
Even if you live in Camden you'll probably find yourself surprised at the street art to be found tucked away in secret places and hidden streets. As an added bonus, the knowledgeable guides on this tour will tell you about the artists behind the paintings and how they work. The tours are constantly changing as new art is created and older works are removed, updated or completely changed. This means that even if your date knows the area and/or has been on a tour before, he or she will still get a new experience (as well as your company).
Afternoon Tea at The Modern Pantry
http://www.themodernpantry.co.uk/clerkenwell/menus
This ticks a long list of boxes for a winter date. It's nice and cosy indoors, involves a decent amount of food and drink at a reasonable price and is based in a place which is chic, modern, quirky and inventive. It's also within a reasonable distance of plenty of decent pubs, restaurants and clubs if you feel like staying out for longer.
Join the City Hunt
http://www.cityhunt.co.uk/hunts/elephant-and-castle
http://www.cityhunt.co.uk/hunts/blackfriars
City Hunt is a novel concept which essentially sets up treasure hunts in different parts of the city. While the hunts are live there are prizes to be one. After they end, the hunts are left online for people to enjoy for free. At the moment, there are free hunts in Elephant and Castle and Blackfriars. All you need to participate is a smartphone or tablet. You may want to set up an account before you go, so you can type in your details at a proper computer. Once you're at the starting point, you just log in and tap a marker on the Google map to see your first clue and off you go!
Take a Free Class at Paddington Central
http://www.paddingtoncentral.com/
The big problem with dating in January is that it comes right after Christmas, which means that a lot of people are counting the pennies until their next pay day. On the other hand, who wants to go a month without a date just because you're flat broke? Paddington Central has the solution. They run a wide range of workshops and classes covering a huge range of activities from health and fitness to arts and crafts and for the month of January many of them are totally free!
Until next time,
Kit
And if your date doesn't go so well? No problem, check out our list of fabulous events this month!