The Christmas lights in London are brilliant!

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The Christmas lights seem to go up earlier each year but by December we are all getting into the swing of the festive season. Huge numbers of people come to visit to big shopping areas in London like Oxford Street, Regent Street and Covent Garden to buy presents but also to enjoy the wonderful Christmas lights.
This will be a 2 part blog as there are so many to show you. Here’s part 1 and I hope you enjoy a trip around London with me!

One of the loveliest and yet very simple Christmas lights are the blue arches in South Molton Street:

I’m not usually a great fan of Oxford Street as it’s so busy and has mostly chain stores but their lights are great this year and really lift the mood in the crowds:

St Pancras Station have cornered the market in lego and have this massive tree made completely of lego! I’ve put a close up so you can see some of the pieces – it must have taken ages to put together!

 

Carnaby Street is often the best of the lot and this year they have gone all loved up with their mistletoe and holly branches and Kingly Court looks magical with its fairy lights:

 

 

Just one more for today! The tree in Trafalgar Square is very special as it is sent to us each year from the people of Norway to thank us for our help during the Second World War. It’s a huge and beautiful tree and each evening you can listen to the carol singers gathered underneath it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed a short trip round the London Christmas lights. I’ll try to squeeze a few more in very soon.

Bye for now,
Sue
itsyourlondon.co.uk
@itsyourlondon

Exploring London – Brixton Village Market

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One of the best things about living in London is that there is always something new to see and do. I’ve lived in London for longer than I care to mention but I can still be delighted by finding a new area to visit.  Last week a group of us went exploring to Brixton Village, south London.
We headed there on a Saturday morning and entered the Village which sits under the railway arches. I didn’t know what to expect from the title ‘Village’ and especially from this entrance.  However, as soon as we walked in, we were greatly entertained by an amazing range of stalls and cafes in an old covered market.

This once run down arcade with an empty unloved corner now houses over 20 new cafes and shops according to Time Out but I’m sure that number has grown massively since their article.  It’s a foodie’s paradise with great independent cafes and restaurants and food stall groaning with great produce. This link gives you the chance to ‘be there’ via some videos of the

http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/1543/brixton-village-market-restaurants-and-cafes-guide

We made use of the wonderful array of eateries and tasted the burgers at Honest Burgers which were very good. This tiny cafe with a few tables inside and outside has constant queues outside which are testament to its quality – so we went for take-away.  Simply walking around was fabulous sight seeing and this selection of photos will give you a feel of the place.

What else is there?  Upstairs there are artists’ studio and as there was an open day when we went, we could go up and chat with artists about their work from photography, to model making to printing.

Nearby I need to  mention the Ritzy Cinema, a fabulous building, showing great films with a wonderful history. Those of you who read my last blog post will know my love quirky local cinemas. I’ve not seen a film at the Ritzy so it couldn’t make my list. Dating from 1910 it offers 4 screens, bars and restaurants and a lively social centre.


Finally, for music lovers with a good memory, one of the local streets brought about an outbreak of bad singing – remember Eddie Grant’s Electric Avenue? Well it’s here and was so called because it was the first market street to have electricity in the 1880s.

I’ll be going back to Brixton Village Market, that’s for sure!

Bye for now
Sue
itsyourlondon.co.uk
@itsyourlondon

London is tops for cinema lovers!

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I’m a great fan of cinema and much prefer seeing a film on the big screen than on the TV with all the fun of the movie going experience. London has an amazing range of cinemas, from the swanky thousand-plus seaters in Leicester Square like the Empire and Odeon, through to the many intimate local and boutique places.

London has great movie credentials as it hosts one of the world’s top film festivals in October every year when over 200 films are on show and the stars come to town to parade on the red carpets. As a venue for shooting of films there are too many to mention but from the top of my head come ‘Notting Hill’, ‘The King’s Speech’, ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Bridget Jones’ and of course the recently released ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’.

My favourite cinemas are the small, boutique and quirky ones and here are my top 5, not in any order as it’s too hard to chose!  Those of you with a working knowledge of London cinemas will notice that these are all around the Notting Hill area. This is not just because I live there, but we have an amazing concentration of great movie houses and I celebrate that!

1. The Electric

This is the last word in luxurious film viewing with extra wide seats, a bar with snacks in the auditorium, plenty of space for drinks by your seat, a footstool, bed sized seats at the back for – well, best leave that there…. All this and up to the moment films and a long and interesting history as they have closed and nearly gone under many times since opening in 1910!  They are one of the oldest working cinemas in the UK

2. The Lexi

This a wonderful warm hearted little cinema, staffed by volunteers and sending their profits out to an amazing project in Africa, the Sustainability Institute. They show you a film about their work with kids so you are in no doubt as to the good they do.  You can catch the latest films here and it’s well worth heading out to find them.

 3. The Gate

The Gate is a very comfortable stylish cinema dating from 1911 with a splendid Edwardian interior. It is an independent cinema showing big name films as well as more hard to find gems and live screenings of opera and plays from the National Theatre, which is pretty cool of them!

4. Portobello Pop Up

This is a brilliant place – a digital non profit microplex, the antidote to multiplexes, made of recycled materials, sitting under the Westway.  The box office is made out of – you’ve guessed – cardboard boxes and the seats are a collection of odd reclaimed seats. They show a range of films, of with director’s Q&A. This year I saw My Beautiful Launderette with a chance to chat to Michael Frears. There’s no booking, no tickets, you just turn up – how refreshing! Just check when their season is….

5. The Coronet

Lots of history associated with the Coronet as it started as a theatre in 1898, featured in the film Notting Hill (remember the scene where Hugh wears his snorkel goggles – of course you do!) and I recall it being the last cinema you could smoke in – upstairs only!  The interior gives away its theatrical background and the tickets for all the latest films are good value too.

London has loads more great cinemas but these are my top 5 – which are yours?

Bye for now,
Sue
itsyourlondon.co.uk
@itsyourlondon

London’s Small and Hidden Theatres

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London is the home to hundreds of theatres from large and glitzy famous West End ones like the Palladium and the Palace Theatre (long time home of Priscilla Queen of the Desert) to the very smallest room at the back of a pub.  In between you will find the National Theatre ,a home fine productions both new writing and revivals, as well as the excellent range of ‘off West End’ theatres such as the Old Vic, the Royal Court and the Donmar.

The Donmar Warehouse deserves special mention as it is a wonderful small space with just 250 seats where you can see the big stars of stage and screen – currently Jude Law is in a sell out production. As with many of the small theatres, its entrance is easily missed on the street and if you are lucky you can get hang around these doors and get close to the stars – here’s my favourite photo of me and Dominic West!


What about the ‘hidden theatres’ then? Well there is an amazingly well hidden small theatre in Notting Hill called The Print Room which is down an alleyway, through to a welcoming reception area and is a converted 1950s warehouse.  From these unexpected premises they put on great plays and if you like to meet the cast, they are usually in the bar opposite, the Commander! Their staging is amazing, one production was set inside a disused tennis court and another on a huge mound of soil which actors had to climb across (well the play was called ‘Kingdom of Earth’!

Another very small theatre well worth a visit is the Gate just off Notting Hill Gate. They have a really small room, with about 70 seats, above the Prince Albert pub but manage to pull off the most imaginative use of space and I hardly recognise the room from one production to another.  New writing is on show and it specialises in international work. Their last production, Wittenberg, was fun, challenging, incredibly well staged

Much grander and more famous is The Old Vic which currently has a wonderful artistic director – Kevin Spacey!  He often stars in plays there and most recently was Richard 111 and previously in Speed the Plow with Jeff Goldblum and Inherit the Wind. It is a treat to have him regularly on stage, but the Old Vic was great before him and will be great when he leaves.

So many more theatres worthy of mention but hopefully this has given you as taster for some of London’s less well known off West End delights.

Bye for now,
Sue
www.itysourlondon.co.uk
@itsyourlondon

Looking for a weekend away from London? Try Rome!

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I love London, it’s my favourite place but sometimes it’s good to go away for a weekend. London is a great transport hub so getting away couldn’t be easier whether it’s to somewhere else in the UK or to Europe.  So this weekend it was Rome!
So you leave London early (very early!)  on Friday and are back in time for Downton Abbey on Sunday, how much can you squeeze into an action packed few days?  Here goes:

The Colosseum and Constantine Arch. We walked around these, felt the grandeur and imagined the gladiator fights inside – helped my numerous men dressed up in gladiator gear.No time on this trip to go inside but it’s pretty good from the outside. Nearby is Trajan’s Forum, Market and Column which you can walk by, again saving time on a tour but leaving plenty of time for photos.  There are ruins everywhere and every corner and turn is a delight. Rome is compact and easy to walk around especially as many sights are very close to each other.  Also located just by the Colosseum is the Vittorio Emanuele monument which is absolutely huge, very white  not universally popular with Romans, it goes by the nickname of ‘the typewriter’ and they say the best view of Rome is from the top as you can’t see it!

Another good batch of sightseeing delights is the area around St Peter’s which gives you the church itself, the wonderful piazza in front of it and the Vatican. Together these would fill a good half day but the friends we were with had booked a Vatican tour for after we had to leave and I’d been already on a previous whistle stop visit. I still remember the sheer scale of the Vatican City and was awe struck by the Sistine Chapel.  We had every intention of having a look inside St Peter’s but the queue was at least an hour long so we wandered along the Tiber and enjoyed the wonderful October sunshine instead.

I love the Pantheon, built by the ancient Romans, it’s their most complete building in the city and is still used as a church despite the hoards of camera clicking tourists that flock in. It is an architectural wonder with its height (43m) being the same as its diameter and has a domed roof with no visible support.  Nearby is the Trevi Fountain which is enormous and takes up most of the square where it is squeezed in along with tons of tourists, many throwing a coin in the fountain which is supposed to ensure their return to the eternal city. From this iconic sight, it’s not far to another, the Spanish Steps which we reached at sun down giving it a mellow feel.

 

What else did we manage to fit in?  Several drinks stops, lunches, dinners and ice creams!  A visit to the Botticelli and Lippi exhibition,  several churches,some window shopping and some great catching up with long missed friends. Could we have stayed longer – definitely? Did we fit in as much as possible – absolutely!

 

One final sight to leave you with – in Rome, even gladiators need to do their shopping!

 

The next blog will be back in London so bye for now.
Sue
@itsyourlondon

5 big reasons why we love the River Thames!

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Here at It’s Your London we love the River Thames and this week’s blog will give you 5 big reasons why:

1. Number one has to be Tower Bridge, one of the most iconic sights in London. If you are lucky you can catch it as it opens and here are 3 shots of the levers up to allow passing traffic. One of the shots is really unusual as the sides are completely open to allow a tall ship through.
Tower Bridge was built in 1894 and the design is an amazing arrangement which allows traffic to flow by road and by river with the minimum disruption and they can open and close it in just a few minutes. It is situated next to the Tower of London making an amazing pair of sightseeing treats.

 

2. Number two reason is that there is always a great event going on.  In the last month we’ve had the inspirational swim by David Walliams. He swam the full length of the Thames, a daunting 140 miles, for the charity Sport Relief, raising over £1 million pounds for his efforts.  We rushed down to catch him coming out of the water for the last time and then could see him being interviewed by Lenny Henry holding a bottle of dubious looking water! The Thames does has fish in it in now so it reasonably clean but definitely not for drinking!

Then on the south bank of the river a set of beautifully decorated life sized gorillas appeared to publicise their plight as endangered species. They were fabulous – just another day on the river bank!


3. Number three is the Thames Barrier – an extraordinary feat of engineering that saves London from major floods and keeps the river under control. It’s out in the east of London and you can visit to see how it works and also see what a beautiful construction it is. Without this barrier London would be in great danger as climate change brings higher waters surging up the Thames estuary. Built in 1983 it is the second largest of its type in the world (after the one in Holland).


4. Number four reason why we love the Thames is the brilliant views you get from so many angles. The river bank is lined with historic and fabulous buildings and where ever you look there is a great photo opportunity. I have hundreds of photos to chose from and have picked out just 2 here. One is taken from the top of Millbank Tower and shows the sweep of the Thames past the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye. The second is at dusk with the sun highlighting the bridge with St Paul’s and the Gherkin behind.

London is a photographer’s dream and the Thames is at the heart of that dream, so do come and visit and get snapping!


5. Our number five reason was hard to chose as there are so many more….. However we went for Richmond as it is one of the lovely towns along the Thames which are easy to reach from the centre of London. It has a wonderful old bridge, great walks along the river banks, excellent bars and restaurants. It also has an outstanding view of the Thames, across a meadow showing the curve of the river, one of its islands and the countryside stretching out in the distance.

 

Hope you enjoyed the Thames as much as we do!

Bye for now,
Sue
itsyourlondon.co.uk

Behind the scenes at some of London’s great buildings!

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Once a year thanks to Open House London, all kinds of buildings that you can’t normally get into open their doors for us to have a good nose around – and it’s absolutely free!. The big challenge is to decide which ones and fit them all in. I went for 5 amazing places on Sunday and we squeezed  them in despite crowds and road closures due to the final leg of the Tour of Britain cycle race wheeling into London. My choices were: Trellick Tower; Customs House; Apothecaries’ Hall; RSA, and the star of them all, The Foreign Office.

So let’s start with our favourite, the Foreign Office, just off Whitehall, which was so much more decorative then I expected (wasv thinking dull civil service type offices and corridors) . It’s grand, beautiful and must be an incredible place to work from the imposing entry courtyard, to the unbelievable central Durbar Court. There are beautiful ceilings and elaborate staircases to take your breath away with a rich history to match. I expected someone to break out singing ‘Rule Britannia’!

In complete contrast is the block of flats called Trellick Tower which dominates the skyline in North Kensington. I’ve never managed to get inside before so relished the opportunity of a tour given by a resident who showed us in 2 flats and told us about the delights of living in a Erno Goldfinger designed environment. It’s 31 floors high and the views are amazing – photos show the west view towards Westfield and the BBC and east along the canal to the City. The flats are incredibly spacious and all have balconies (great for frustrated gardeners) and the corridors are bright and colourful, unlike many public housing projects. This grade 11 listed building is still majority occupied by council tenants – what a flat to have!  And yes, the James Bond villain is named after Erno Goldfinger!

The Apothecaries’ Hall dates from about 1670, although the lovely courtyard is newer being remodelled in 1786 (!).  Inside we were treated to loads of information about the ancient Livery Company and a chance to see their magnificent great hall, their beautiful old jars and one jar that reminded us of older remedies with its caption ‘leeches’ – ouch…

The RSA building dating from 1770s, just off the Strand, was a strange mixture of conference style rooms with amazing ceilings in pastel shades. It designed by Robert Adam as one building but more were purchased and incorporated including the Adelphi Tavern. The Great Room  has the most extraordinary wall sized paintings by James Barry and the roll of honour of Chairman ranges from monarchs, to Olivier, to Crick and Berners-Lee.  I really liked the full name of the society on the doorpost – such a worthy aspiration…
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Our last visit to mention was to the Customs House on the Thames by the Monument. Steeped in history as from 1671 every ship’s captain coming up the Thames with cargo had to register here in the famous Long Room  and pay his Custom duties before he could unload or sell his cargo. The old entrance on the river is not the one we came in but as you step out and smell the river you can easier imagine how it was back then – aided by the excellent displays of paintings on the wall around you.

So that was Open House weekend for another year but we are planning next year’s already!

Bye for now,
Sue
itsyourlondon.co.uk
@itsyourlondon

Now a Night Carnival!

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Just when we had recovered from the Notting Hill Carnival, along came another one! But it was different, it was a Night Carnival. I’d never been to one before so it was a must for a Sunday evening.

The weekend had been full of fun events as the Thames Festival took over the South Bank of the Thames with hundreds of stalls selling every type of food and gifts. Face painting, Korean plays, bands, plays, boat parades, lantern displays, al fresco tango (!), art displays and much much more took over the river bank and thousands of people turned up to enjoy the free events.

As night fell at the end of the 2 days extravaganza, the streets were lined with visitors who were hugely entertained by dancers, floats, music and the most amazing costumes. I’d seen the Notting Hill parades and this was great but different and the entertainers had made brilliant use of lights on their bodies, on their floats, and they twirled their way through the route with shaming amounts of energy!  The twirling made the photos a little difficult but here they are – look out for horses, space  monsters, turtles, dancers, a lion and even a teapot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bye for now.
Sue
itsyourlondon.co.uk
@itsyourlondon

Notting Hill Carnival 2011 – what a blast!

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Notting Hill Carnival is two days of madness around the streets of this lovely part of London. You’ll find: hundreds of thousands of people; amazing costumes in the parade; incredibly loud sound stages; lots of dancing; a fair amount of drinking (!); quite a lot of police; great Caribbean food; stalls; something for young and old; and,  a huge amount of fun!
Enjoy the photos and look out for yours truly with a festive face painting!

 

 

 

 

Bye for now,
Sue
itsyourlondon.co.uk

3 top London markets!

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My 3 favourite markets in London are Camden, Portobello and Spitalfields. They have a different feel and are in different parts of London but beware, don’t ever try to do more than one in a day or you will have a severe case of market overload!
Let’s go to Camden first. It’s in north London and is made up of several markets that cover a huge area around the Grand Union Canal’s lock which is why you’ll see many references to the lock and this can be another name for the markets. Camden market grows every time I visit and has mushroomed from being some stalls around the canal area to the massive redeveloped Stables area which is full of huge bronze horse statues as it was once a stable and horse hospital. There is always something new and one area which burnt down a couple years ago has been rebuilt and incorporates a fun cafe of Vespas (see photo)
One thing hasn’t changed in all the years I’ve been coming, is Camden fashion’s love of black and leather and outrageous visuals. There are tons of food stalls, clothes stalls, jewellery stalls but most of all clothes stalls. My last visit was rather sad as the news of Amy Winehouse’s death spread through the crowd while we were there and as fellow local, the stall holders felt a great affinity with her.

Camden is full-on over the weekend when they reckon 100,000 people visit, especially on a Sunday, but you can visit during the week tho’ don’t try going in the morning as no one is up! The streets leading to the market are amazing too, trading on the image of Camden of black leather and tattoos – see photo
Photos are: the lock and the market; Vespa cafe; classic shop entry!; Camden fashion; and, the street leading to the market.

 

Next we are off to east London to Spitalfields market where Sunday is the big day, tho’ again there are some markets during the week but unlike Camden, they are much smaller. On Sunday the square is humming with stalls manned by new designers just starting off with their creations – mostly clothes but other items too. They are always keen to tell you about their work and tell you about the creative process. Of course there are the food stalls and stalls with stuff you’ll see elsewhere but there is still a good selection of one offs. This market has grown recently and is now surrounded by large shops and well known restaurant chains but it has kept its buzz and is a great Sunday out.

There has been a market on this site since 1638 when fish, fowl and roots were sold here. The original market, specialising in wholesale fruit and vegetables was moved to new premises out of central London in 1991 and now it is at the centre of a busy market area. Close by is Brick Lane, Petticoat Lane and Truman Brewery so on a Sunday you can wander from one to the other and experience the amazing range of cultures and styles in London.

A key landmark in the area is the beautiful  Christ church built in the early 1700s which is the first photo. The others show the busy market trading .

 

Our final stop today is my favourite market because it is round the corner from where I live – Portobello Market. In fashionable west London this market is best visited on Saturday, as the other days of the week are a shadow of the bustle of the main day. The market lines both sides of Portobello Road and it changes character as you move down from antiques at the beginning, to fruit and veg, to general items, to a new designers section, a major second hand clothing section, a farmers market (with a seasonal pop up cinema!) and finally to the north African/Portuguese/Spanish section as you get to Golborne Road. The area where the antiques are is where you see the classic views of the brightly coloured houses that typify the road.

Portobello Road was the setting for Notting Hill the film and we still get lots of visitors trying to find the famous blue door and the travel bookshop. The market is also famous as a favourite Saturday activity for Paddington Bear who lived locally! Trading however dates back to the early 1900 when it was mainly fresh food with the antique traders arriving in the late 1940s and 1950s. 

Photos are: busy market day ; a quieter day with the food stalls and the Electric cinema; the beautiful coloured houses; and, the famous travel bookshop.

 

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed my favourite London markets – there are loads more, but that’s for another day.

Bye for now,
Sue
itsyourlondon.co.uk