1. Does everyone drink like Winston Churchill?

Thanks largely to a film and television conspiracy (and the complete works of Kingsley Amis), many Americans view London as a place where everyone drinks, all the time. And it’s sort of true. According to Britain’s National Health Service, 12 percent of Londoners (about 900,000 people) drink more than five days a week. And, according to a 2009 report, as many as 17 million working days are lost to booze each year in the United Kingdom. Ravi Somaiya

2. That said, what’s the best off-the-beaten-path pub?

London excels in luxurious hotel bars and gastro pubs, but more than once upon entering a local pub on my own, I’ve felt a bit like that unfortunate stranger blowing into the saloon in a western. Not long ago, though, I fell for an unassuming pub in Peckham called the Gowlett Arms. It had good, real English ale — they have Fuller’s London Pride on tap — in addition to a lavishly tattooed bartender, Betty, and regulars who were more than happy to talk to a stranger. After a few pints, I recalled that I was just steps away from Peckham Rye, where William Blake claimed to have had his first vision of angels. If I lived nearby, I’d be there every other night. Rosie Schaap

3. Are Londoners psyched for the Olympics?

Absolutely not. In the annual tourist rush of July and August, London is like a cranky father compelled to host a party for his teenage daughter — awkward, uncomfortable and simmering with barely concealed fury at the ghastly, noisy interlopers who insist on having a good time. It is reasonable to expect that all these hostile instincts will only be amplified by a larger-than-usual influx of people who can’t pronounce “Leicester Square” properly. So there’s that.

Also: Londoners are not impressed by anything, at all, ever. Everything has already happened here — including the Olympics, twice, in 1908 and 1948. Sometimes, the weary stoicism of Londoners is a boon. But it is an outlook instantly affronted by any suggestion that any future happening is going to be profitable, transformative or, worst of all, pleasant. Andrew Mueller