Tag: Hyde Park

New Year here we come….

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I hope you all had a happy Christmas. I was with family in Kent but managed to squeeze in a few London things around the festivities to tell you about and have a few more Christmassy photos of course.

Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park was lovely and worth a good few photos. It is a big funfair full of rides and loads of Germanic stalls selling all kinds of stuff – food and gifts. Unfortunately I’ve not yet mastered posting videos on here so you’ll just have the photo of the moose and will miss his lovely singing of Silent Night which was hilarious!

 

One hotel worth a mention for their Christmas decorations is the Mandarin
Oriental in Knightsbridge – just an iPhone photo so not as clear as others but you’ll get the idea of how lovely it looked.
I went to see Avatar in 3D on a huge screen at the Odeon Leicester Square. It was an amazing visual treat and tho’ very long, it sped past. I’m not a great fan of 3D as it gives me a headache but for the flying scenes in particular, the high speed vertical drops it made the experience completley breathtaking. Treat yourself to a big screen if you are going to see it.
Also managed to squeeze in a restaurant trip which saw us at Kitchen W8 in Kensington. It was really good – the room, the service , the food and the extra little extra bits in the form of amuse bouche and great truffles with coffee, all came together for a lovely evening. We took the Time Out special offer which was amazing value at about £20 for 3 courses and the kind waiter hurried us along politely as I’d not noticed the offer ended at 7pm and we just managed to order at 6.59!
I wish you all a fun New Year’s eve and all the best for 2010.
Bye for now.
Sue

Autumn colours, blue skies and sunshine

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What a beautiful autumn we are having! September and October have been a delight and with the odd day’s exception, we’ve had sun and warmth beyond the season’s norm.

This Sunday in Hyde Park was wonderful and I’ve attached a photo to show the autumnal colours with a group of horse riders from the local riding school and one of the Serpentine lake at its best. It was the kind of day which you just want to hang on to as you feel winter approaching. Our clocks went back this weekend so we are now back on GMT which means darker afternoons and very soon it will be much colder.

 

 

After last week’s art fest, only one visit to report this week – to the Wallace Collection to see Damien Hirst’s new paintings called ‘No Love Lost’ . Very blue with skulls, lines and ashtrays so work that out if you can. The Wallace Collection has wonderful art, furniture, ceramics and armour and, as important to some, a lovely courtyard restaurant where we had a late breakfast to sustain us on our visit.

 

A couple of restaurant visits to report – one to The Criterion in Picadilly Circus which must be one of the most stunning dining rooms in London with it’s gold mosaic ceiling and marbled walls and welcoming bar. They call it neo-Byzantine and they’ve been serving dinners to everyone from Suffragettes to Arthur Conan Doyle for over 100 years. We also had a meal at Vasco & Piero’s Pavilion as Michael Palin recommended it and I believe every word he says! A good Italian meal was had but I prefer the Criterion as surroundings are very important to me and it’s hard to beat theirs.

 

 

 

I had a good afternoon exploring pubs in Victoria but all in the line of business as I have some Americans coming in today and they wanted to eat in a ‘proper pub’ ahead of their evening’s show in Victoria. It’s not an area with that much to offer but I’ve chosen 2 and will talk them through which style their prefer and report back on which one we go to next week! I took the opportunity of being in the area to revisit Westminster Cathedral, the home of Roman Catholic church in the UK. It’s a wonderful building and continued the neo Byzantine theme this week with its golden mosaics which are unfinished as they want each generation to add to the building. Dating from the turn of the last century it also has fine sculptures by Eric Gill and have a look at the photo of the exterior.

 

Off to meet my Americans so bye for now.

 

Sue

 

 

Lazy days in the park…

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The return of sunshine lead to a batch of outdoor activities – from walking round Hyde Park to sitting having coffee with friends in my garden – and being amazed by the strength of the sun!

Culturally this week’s highlight was a ticket for Streetcar Named Desire starring Rachel Weisz at the Donmar Warehouse. Strong performances in a small venue made for powerful theatre. A warm evening helped give some idea of a steamy New Orleans night and cocktails after at the Covent Garden Hotel with 2 funny barmen made for an excellent evening’s entertainment.

Saturday saw several hours whiled away in Hyde Park starting with a visit to the Jeff Koons exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery which is based on inflatable beach toys, odd but amusing. The reflecting outdoor pavilion at the Gallery, this year’s winning commission for the annual temporary structure, was strangely calming. The park itself was full of people sitting, picnicing, boating, playing games and enjoying the Serpentine Bar and Kitchen, now run by the Benugo group which has upped the quality so we joined them there for a snack and a Pimms.

More entertainment came in the form of a live band at Charlotte Street Blues bar. They were good but I’d definitely call them rock not blues, still live music is a treat in a small venue so no harm done, except for any die hard blues fans who’d have felt rather cheated!

One bar to sign off with…… Albertine’s in Shepherd’s Bush has been there for many years (19 to my knowledge) and is just what a wine bar should be: no nonsense, reliable good and a lots of choice of wine, good food without being fussy or taking over and it doesn’t change apart from the odd lick of paint. Long may it last!

Bye for now.
Sue