city trip: london (aug ’12)

This very spontaneous, last-minute visit to London included… classic fish & chips at the famous Poppies Fish and Chips (6-8 Hanbury Street) in Spitalfields // a visit to Hampstead to assist the making of a video about collecting photography for Unseen Photo Fair // lounging in Hyde Park in the afternoon // coffees-to-go and a boxed slice of carrot cake from Yotam Ottolenghi‘s trattoria in Belgravia (13 Motcomb Street) // visiting the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens for the Yoko Ono exhibition, To The Light (19 June-9 September) // admiring the setting of the sun in the park that afternoon // delicious burgers at Honest Burgers (4a Meard Street) in Soho that evening // a classic American breakfast off eggs, bacon and blueberry pancakes at The Diner (18 Ganton Street) in Soho // wandering the streets // stopping by the National Portrait Gallery for the exhibition, Road to 2012: Aiming High // passing through Covent Garden on a busy Sunday afternoon // 5 o’clocktails at All Bar One (19 Henrietta Street) // wandering through Fitzrovia on a quiet Monday morning // a delicious coffee at Tapped & Packed (114 Tottenham Court Road) // and a quick stop by Liberty London (Great Marlborough Street) before heading back home.

recent in 5 (#7) london snaps

A few more from my recent trip to London (other posts: weekend in 3 (#30), recent (London) and Photoessay: The Table).

These photographs were taken on Brick Lane (1), Rough Trade at 91 Brick Lane (2), Shoreditch (3&4) and outside Spitalfields (5) in East London.

the table (london)

I mentioned last week that when I was in London, I had the most delicious brunch at The Table (83 Southwark Street).

I’m not alone in saying it’s one of the best breakfast places in London – here are reviews by Time Out London, Conde Nast Traveller and the London Review of Breakfasts.

We had Toasted Date & Walnut Bread with Pears & Regents Park Honey…

And pancakes with Valrhona chocolate, vanilla yoghurt and mixed berries…

Absolutely delicious. See more from this same day in London, and previous posts of London.

fallen leaves (london)

A few photographs from a day in London…

See more London posts.

weekend in 3 (#30)

On Friday afternoon I left to spend a weekend in London with my sister. I’m lucky enough that my sister lives there (and will be for a little while!) so when she’s not too busy, I can make a trip over. I’ve been several times this year, so the touristy things were out of the picture. Instead, we spent the weekend exploring new places, new restaurants, exhibitions, etc.

I arrived Friday evening by train, and Saturday morning we had the most delicious brunch at The Table (83 Southwark Street). I’m not alone in saying it’s one of the best breakfast places in London – here are reviews by Time Out London, Conde Nast Traveller and the London Review of Breakfasts. We had a Pancake with Valrhona chocolate, vanilla yoghurt and mixed berries (pictured below) and Toasted Date & Walnut Bread with Pears & Regents Park Honey. Delicious. (See more photographs of The Table).

We strolled the streets of London, visiting the World Press Photo exhibition at the Royal Festival Hall (Belvedere Road), the exhibition ‘20 Years of Dazed & Confused Magazine‘ at the Somerset House, eyeing the Christmas decorations at Covent Garden, stopping for a quick coffee at Monmouth Coffee (27 Monmouth Street), browsing second hand books at Any Amount of Books (56 Charing Cross Road), stumbling upon Cecil Court and ending the day on Regent Street and Oxford Circus, visiting the one and only Anthropologie (158 Regent Street) and buying matching Monogrammed Mugs. (See more photographs of the first day in London).

On Sunday we visited the Columbia Road Flower Market, one of my favorite new places in London. It was pleasantly warm and the sun was shining, people were out on the streets, musicians jamming on the sidewalks, flower vendors yelling out prices of roses, tulips and even poinsettias. We visited the shops along the side of the market, like Jessie and Buddug, Elphicks for prints, Suck and Chew for traditional British sweets, Ryantown (the shop of talented artist Robert Ryan), Treacle for cupcakes and trinkets and many more.

I’ll be posting more about this trip to London next weekend. In the mean time, check out previous London posts and previous “weekend in 3” posts.

city trip: london (april)

A collection of my favorite photographs of my last trip to London…

And that’s all for now. Till next time, London! For previous London posts, click here. Other city favorites include Antwerp, Berlin, Florence, Ghent, Istanbul, Montreal, Paris and Portland.

monmouth coffee (london)

A visit to Borough Market (see previous posts here and here) wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the famous, and delicious, Monmouth Coffee shop.

They make single cone filter coffee (see below) and espresso based drinks…

And they serve pastries and bread from bakeries like Paul and Villandry (we didn’t try any but will definitely have to next time)…

Mmmm Monmouth Coffee is delicious…

Monmouth Coffee has 3 locations, the one in Borough Market can be found at 2 Park Street, The Borough, London SE1 9AB and is open Monday to Saturday from 7.30am to 6pm. The other two locations are in Covent Garden and Bermondsey, visit their website for more information.

borough market (london)

Borough Market. I don’t even know where to start. Wow, wow, wow. What an incredible place. It is not only a place that will satisfy all the senses (the smells of fresh bread and fruits and vegetables, the taste of home-made toffee and olive oil, the sight of beautiful cakes and pies on display… I could go on and on) but it is also a photographer’s paradise, if you can imagine. I couldn’t stop taking pictures, and as you can imagine, I left the market that day feeling as though I hadn’t taken enough (so I’ll be back…) But here’s a collection of some of the images I did take. Warning: do not proceed if hungry.

We walked past each stall, eye-ing all the delicious food on display and I really couldn’t make up my mind on what I wanted for lunch. We finally chose a sandwich shop, where I splurged on this actually incredible lemon chicken sandwich with aioli and salsa verde sauces…

And to top it all off (I didn’t think it could get any better at this point!) my sister and I shared a slice of banoffee pie (a first for me!) and a Monmouth coffee (see previous post here). For those visiting London, Borough Market is a MUST-SEE. You won’t be disappointed.

across town (london)

On Thursday, my sister had to go to class all day and I spent the day exploring new neighborhoods, making a school visit, walking down the Birdcage where the London Marathon would soon take place, through St. James’ Park to Buckingham Palace, and more. Here’s an overview of my day!

I took the tube all the way up to Finchley Road to visit a university campus…

Then back down to Westminster to start my “historic walk,” or so I considered it! Started at the Big Ben…

Past the Houses of Parliament…

And past Westminster Abbey (where the Royal Wedding will take place on April 29th, oh Londoners and the Royal Wedding, they can’t get enough! The amount of ridiculous souvenirs for sale these days…) I ended up walking down the Birdcage Walk and saw them setting up for the Virgin London Marathon 2011 (which took place on Sunday, April 17th)…

And through St. James’ Park…

To Buckingham Palace…

Spotted this ridiculous German news broadcast, haha, in preparation for the Royal Wedding I’m assuming?

Then past Fortnum and Mason to a local coffee shop for a needed caffeine kick!

And finally past Trafalgar Square to the National Portrait Gallery for the exhibition, “Hoppé Portraits: Society, Studio and Street,” on display till May 30, 2011. Love the London 2012 Olympics countdown…

And my sister and I went to see the incredibly talented Ben Howard at The Borderline (be sure to check out his Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube channel, and if you have the chance to see him live, do it, you won’t be disappointed!)…

What a wonderful way to finish a busy day in London!

decor8 at liberty (london)

On Wednesday evening, after a long day (see previous posts of the same day, The Breakfast Club, V&A Museum and Hyde Park), we went to the fabulous Liberty London (see previous post here) for a blogger event. The event was for the launch of decor8‘s Holly Becker‘s new book, “Decorate” (purchase via Chronicle here).

Holly Becker, featured here on the very left, is the founder and editor of decor8, and an American freelance journalist and design consultant who lives in northern Germany. In addition, Holly is a weekly columnist at Real Simple online and she maintains a blog of her life as an American expat called, Haus Maus. In February 2009, Holly founded Blogging Your Way, a series of online workshops on “creative blogging, writing from the heart, and how to make a blog a personal reflection of one’s own style and taste through text, careful curating, styling and photography.” Follow Holly on twitter!

Two other women accompanied Holly at the event. On the left is Leslie Shrewring, a Los Angeles-based photographer and stylist and once monthly columnist on decor8 since the summer 2009. Leslie produces the Color Me Pretty posts, “focusing on color palettes and inspirational photography meant to inspire creativity.” She even has her own blog, A Creative Mint, where you can find her own color posts and travel stories. On the right is Sania Pell, photographic stylist, designer and author specialising in interiors and craft. She has published her own book, “The Homemade Home” which can be purchased on Amazon.co.uk.

At the event, Leslie, Sania and Holly walked us through a styling demonstration for a “get together with your girlfriends” using Liberty London prints and other great elements. I took some pictures of the table, don’t you just love the bright colored streamers?

And here are some photographs of the details…

And last but not least, here are some additional articles/blog posts about the event: Holly Becker posted before, during and after her London visit, Liberty London posted a video, and here’s an interview with Holly Becker by Life.Style.etc. Can’t wait for the next blogger event!