Big London: New Year’s Resolutions

Jan 7, 2015

Keep those New Year’s resolutions with your partner this year. Marie-Claire Chappet presents your guide to dates with purpose in 2015…

We should be healthier….
After waking up in time for the Queen’s speech on Christmas Day with chocolate wrappers stuck to your face, why not embark upon a joint health kick for January and explore these healthy gems in the capital.
You needn’t sacrifice fine dining to eat more healthily. At Gauthier, Soho, Michelin-starred chef Alexis Gauthier puts calorie counts next to each dish (gauthiersoho.co.uk), the super healthy Grain Store in Kings Cross gives vegetables the spotlight on the menu (grainstore.com) and at Covent Garden’s Wild Food Café you can see everything – including vegan and raw food options-prepared fresh in front of you (wildfoodcafe.com).

We should be more cultured…
You see the posters and read the reviews but never find time to go? Be better this year! Watch Eddie Redmayne make a bid for Oscar glory as a young Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (out 1 January). The National is staging Tom Stoppard’s first play since 2006, The Hard Problem (from 21 January) and Ralph Fiennes is starring in Man and Superman from 17 February (nationaltheatre.org.uk). Look out for last minute tickets for the sold-out production of Hamlet, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, from 5 August (barbican.org.uk). Peruse the playfully provocative photography at Guy Bourdin: Image Maker at Somerset House until 15 March (somersethouse.org.uk) and book ahead for the critically acclaimed Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, from 14 March to 19 July 2015 (vam.ac.uk).

We should learn to…
The most common of all New Year’s Resolutions – and the easiest to break – is to learn a new skill. Why not Brush up on your French at the Institut Francais (institut-francais.org.uk) and be study buddies in the language of love, or why not take a creative writing course at Bishopsgate Institute (bishopsgate.org.uk) and read each other’s short stories? Pick up some musical skills at the London Guitar Academy (londonguitaracademy.com) or try your hands at some sushi making at London’s premier Japanese cooking school (sozai.co.uk) just in time for your next dinner party.

We should be more active…
You’re on your post-Christmas binge, watching constant repeats on the same TV channel – because finding the remote has been decried too much effort. This the moment you decide: this year you will get into better shape. So drag your partner along! Rollerskiing (cross-country skiing minus the snow) is a great, active date idea for Saturday mornings spent in Hyde Park (rollerski.co.uk). Try your hand at rock climbing at London’s newest venue Urban Ascent, Parsons Green, which does beginner’s courses (urbanascent.co.uk) or try horse riding for two across Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park with Wimbledon Village Stables (wvstables.com).

Lets see more of Britain…
The whole of Great Britain is just a day trip away and it’s the perfect excuse to leave the kids with Grandma. Explore some of Great Britain’s historical sites: the 14th century Alnwick Castle in Northumberland (alnwickcastle.com) or the breath-taking views from nearby Hadrian’s Wall (visithadrianswall.co.uk). Stroll through Nottingham’s Sherwood Forest (sherwoodforest.org.uk) or visit Oxfordshire’s Blenheim Palace (blenheimpalace.com) and explore the University town. Britain is your oyster!