#365DaysofLondonBaby- Day 28- A Georgian Seductive Valentine’s at the National Maritime Museum Greenwich

Valentine’s Day is approaching fast and love is in the air! If you don’t have any plans yet, why not do something different this year- go to a museum! A Museum??? Yes! For a night of Love, Romance and Friendship,  The National Maritime Museum Greenwhich has timed up with the two wonderfully witty Ladies of the Georgian Dining Academy for a special event.

Miss B and Miss Kitty Pridden are known for their jolly and delicious Georgian Dining nights (see our post here)  but this time, they  prepared an evening of conversation and entertainment by artists, authors and much more. And of course in costume (you can even get a discount when hiring one!).

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#365DaysofLondonBaby – Day 27 – Cocktail Heaven at The Gibson

Welcome back to London Baby! I apologise for the long break – it wasn’t really planned, but summer was busy!  Lot’s and lot’s of great places waiting to be introduced via a blog post. Today’s has been on the list for long- and it continues where i ended in the last post – cocktails! This time not outside (having said that, Midnight Apothecary has moved inside for the winter now!) but in a great little cocktail bar.

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The Gibson has been probably one of the best secret tips of Old Street. Opened only last November, it is at 44 Old Street (located West of the Roundabout so out of the main Shoreditch Party Zone) between Goswell Road and Golden Lane (opposite Look Mum No Hands). Owner Marian Beke is no stranger in the London Bar world and is considered one of the best bartenders in the world- having previously been Chef de Bar at the Night Jar near Old Street (which has ranked in the Top 3 Cocktail bars of the world 2011-2015). With The Gibson, he has opened his own place aiming to be a small neighbourhood place where people have a good time, leave happy, and come back.

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#365DaysofLondonBaby – Day 26- Midnight Apothecary at the Brunel Museum

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Its finally summer and while the big heat wave has gone, the evenings are just right to sit outside and enjoy the night with some friends and a drink or two. If you are looking for a place to do just that, look no further and head to the Brunel Museum on Fridays or Saturdays. Not the place for a drink? – it sure is. Since the opening of the roof garden on top of the Southern Shaft of the Brunel tunnel, they have been organising Midnight Apothecary.

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#365DaysofLondonBaby- Day 25- a weekend stroll through Shoreditch / Hackney

The sun has finally decided to make an appearance this weekend and I used the opportunity to spend a lazy Saturday in Shoreditch / Hackney with some friends. Even though my picture-taking activity was on the low side, it was so much fun that I thought I share our route with you nevertheless. So here it comes…

Your lazy weekend tour through Shoreditch / Hackney

Note: for the “market” part of the stroll, the market will depend on whether you go on Saturday (then you’ll experience Broadway market, left picture) or Sunday (Columbia Road Flower market, right picture). Both streets are also great without the market, as there are nice shops and good food opportunities anyway!

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#365DaysofLondonBaby- Day 24-Yayoi Kusama@Victoria Miro

Good Morning Art Lovers! If you do only one thing this week….get in line at the Victoria Miro Gallery in Wharf Road (at the  Old Street Basin of the Regent’s Canal) – to see what might be the most popular Gallery Exhibition of the summer, if not the year.

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Yayoi Kusama is one of the most important Japanese Artists of the 20th Century and even though she is 87 years already, this is all new work on display. Kusama is most famous for her Polka Dots and has become known to the London public through her exhibition at Tate Modern in 2012 and her collaboration with Louis Vuitton, transforming Selfridges Windows in 2013.

In this exhibition, there are a few of her sculptures and paintings, but the true draw are the large installations, one in the garden (see above) as well as 3 “infinity rooms” – mirrored rooms where one feels like Alice in Wonderland. They are absolutely stunning in their visual effects reflecting pumpkins and chandeliers millionfold (the pictures below don’t do it any justice).

Last but not least, the gallery space as such is also stunning to experience, a transformed wharf house at the canal basin, making the most of its large spaces and the canal-side garden.

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If you want to know more about Yayoi Kusama, check out her Website or Wikipedia. If you want to really know more and see her art in a new context, her autobiography, titled “Infinity Net” is an impressive and touching read.

If you want to visit, the exhibition is open until 30th of July on Tuesdays- Saturdays 10am-6pm. On Saturdays, it can get very busy and there will be a “one in-one out” policy, meaning you’ll have to stand in line (could be up to 1 hour) to get in. Inside, there is more waiting, as the infinity rooms can be viewed only by a handful people at once (but its absolutely worth  the wait).

More information on exhibition and gallery can be found at the Gallery Website.

#365DaysofLondonBaby – Day 23 – Greenwich & Docklands International Festival (GDIF)

Good morning! I’ve been wanting to write a post again for a long time but somehow never managed, as I was out and about, exploring, travelling etc. Now I realised I am massively late for an event that I’ve been wanting to showcase for a long time (but posting in the middle of the winter did not make sense) – The Greenwich and Docklands International Festival.

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It’s my absolute favourite festival of the year. Its a festival in Greenwich and the Docklands, set over 2 weeks, featuring street (park!) performances of theatre, acrobats, dancers, pantomime, art installations etc. with the best performers of all of Europe.

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#365DaysofLondonBaby – Day 22- Boat race or goat race

Time flies! It’s almost a year ago and this was one of the first posts I have written. As both of the races are again tomorrow (27th March),  find all info in the blog post below. Especially check out the section what great places to visit before or after the race!!

All of this year’s practical updates can be found  on  Time Out for the Boat race or on this post for the Goat race (i suspect it’s sold out though).

But now enjoy reading (see link below)

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#365DaysofLondonBaby – Day 21 – Sonos Studios

 

Its almost weekend! In case you find yourself in Shoreditch or simply need an injection of creativity or hipsterism, check out the Sonos Studio in Club Row.

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During a recent stroll through Shoreditch, I had the urge for a good cup of coffee. I was in Redchurch street at that time, so the first place that came into my mind was Allpress (58 Redchurch Street). But the lines were long as usual, so I spotted a small sign just a corner further, pointing to a place that I had not noticed before – 21 Club Row, just off Redchurch street.

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#365DaysofLondonBaby – Day 20- Walk the Circle Line on Sunday!

Good morning! The weekend is almost here and the lovely folk from Walk London (the organisers of the great free walk weekends a few times a year!) have contacted me to share their next walking event with you. Its a walk along the Circle Line (or for non-Londoners, the yellow tube line) and its taking place This Sunday, 13th March, from 10:00 am.

I think you can’t just walk around London enough and this is a perfect opportunity to start (no time this weekend, here are some other tips to start walking in London!). The walk suits all abilities, as there are 4 starting points on the route (see map below in red), so you can choose the section nearest to your house or your favourite section and since its a circular walk, you can either go for the full 14.5 miles or just drop out at any point in time. And, the route is a “highlights of London” walk- it will pass through many of London’s historical landmarks such as Westminster, Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge as well as many hidden gems, beautiful parks and charming neighbourhoods.

Circle Line map

You can find an interactive version of the map here (as soon as its public access, I’ll embed it into this post but for now we need to do with the static version :))

The starting times for the four sections are 10am, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm  in: Fitzroy Square Gardens, St Botolph-without-Bishopgate Gardens, Christchurch Gardens and Kensington Gardens.

The Walk is for free, but you need to register – click here!

At the same time, the walk is a charity event for Sport Relief, so if you feel like supporting to this worthwhile cause, feel free to raise funds or donate. Any donation will help a young person, living with a disability in the UK to take part in sporting activities – so the money you fundraise can make a significant difference to someone’s life.

Happy Walking!!

 

 

 

 

 

#365DaysofLondonBaby Day 19- Get your Goat Race Tickets

Wow, time is flying, London Baby is getting almost a year old, and one of the first posts was on the “Boat Race vs. Goat Race”, two annual institutions in London (one very old and one new institution :))

Now, tickets for the Goat race 2016 have been released and they are going fast! The event takes place on Sunday, 27th March (at the same time as the Oxford vs. Cambridge Boat Race on the Thames). But, let me refresh you on the Goat race….(picture credit http://www.demotix.com)

 

The Goat race

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