In all the other capitals and large European cities I am familiar with, there is usually a center, that is, the main part—the heart of the city; thus, for example, in Paris, the center comprises all the area from the Tuileries Palace to the Place de l’Etoile; in Berlin—from the royal palace to Friedrich Street; in Hamburg—Jungfernstieg with its environs; in St. Petersburg—the First Admiralty district. In London, there is no such thing: you cannot name one section of the city superior to others; you find several big towns, of different character, merged into one whole. One more thing: in other cities, there is a kind of focal point; here everything is merged into one inorganic mass of heterogeneous objects. Geographies and ancient travel accounts describe London as consisting of three main parts: Westminster, the City, and Southwark; but from those times, it overflowed and swallowed up many surrounding areas, occupied vast wastelands, and developed them into magnificent quarters. Such, for example, is the part of London called Pimlico, stretching to the southwest of St.-James's Park and the new royal palace, situated in what was until recently merely neglected open space. In this area, there are two beautiful garden squares (Belgravia and Eaton) lined with stately homes; the streets are broad; the sidewalks are wide; the air is clean, with few shops, and with less noise than in other parts of London. The streets running to Regent's Park which were laid out about fifteen years ago on a marshy and otherwise unusable space, also seem very pleasant for living; Portland Street, or Portland Place, with a public garden called Park Crescent: everything there is quiet, fresh, clean, and comely. But other neighborhoods are quite a different matter …. I passed one such quarter on the way to the British Museum. Slovenly, poor, barbaric Irish dwell there in filth, stuffiness, congestion, clamor!

The most fashionable part of town is Regent Street, stretching for several versts, like Nevsky Prospekt—from the Admiralty to Znamenye.