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Initially, I wasn't sure what to do on my "day off" in London.
My initial thought was to do a 'Monopoly Challenge' - work my way through the properties on London. My sister had tried (or possibly done it) so I thought I would finish off for her. And also, my memories of London are a little sketchy, worn down by time and distance.
I think the last time I was in London (other than that single afternoon last year while trying to get a flight to North America) was around 2015 - stayed in Finsbury Park...did...things...? I'm reasonably sure I went to the Borough Markets, but that's about the only thing I remember and even I'm not entirely certain if I recall it correctly.
From the (new) place I was staying at (near KingsX/St Pancras station), it was easy enough to get to Mayfair and wander the streets and lanes, recognising the streetnames from various regency novels and noting the architectural and historical high points: apparently the Coach And Horse is Mayfair's oldest surviving unreconstructed tavern. It's not very large, is it? Gives new meaning to those 'coach stops' that one thinks about in the various novels one reads!
Of the most notable spaces to me, though, was "St George's Church" which is the standard "regency novel" church since it was standing at the time but probably also because it's still standing today.
Isn't it beautiful? One can see why it was a popular place to get married back in the day (and probably still is today, I don't doubt). The interesting part? It's still being used as a church today! I poked my head in (it was open) and there was a guy doing a sound check. Probably for a service later on that day.
If he hadn't been there, I'd have sung a hymn full volume, just for the heck of it.
There was a really lovely lane with sunlight coming down it and Christmas decorations up all over the streets:
Anyway, got through Mayfair and Park Lane, stopped by one of the oldest hostelries in London went to find Regent, Bond, and Oxford St. All by foot. It makes a difference to going by tube - in part because you get a better feel for the streets, for the directions of everything, for the spaces.
Around Regent Street, I tried on a Regency-ish dress at the famed fashion/fabric house Liberty Of London. It fit okay although I wasn't really in the market for a dress, and I liked the general design, but the dipped back was all wrong for my tattoo! I admit, I wouldn't mind making one in this style, but for what? I've made so many dresses over the last dozen years, and I can't fit them all in my wardrobe!
In the middle of the shop, I noted what was probably an original fireplace of the building that featured some lovely ceramic tiles! Delft, perhaps? Cue me taking pictures of fireplace tiles, much to the bemusement of a number of other shopping patrons!
And then I discovered that IKEA has nothing on Liberty of London. Getting out of IKEA? They have signs; it just takes forever. Liberty of London has no signs and the exits are cunningly disguised such that it's good bloody luck getting out of there! There was a moment when I thought I might have to go through one of the plate glass windows to get out. *shudder*
Major Christmas markets on at Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square - very commercial, not my thing. Not to mention that they'd set the stalls up with their backs facing Mr Shakespeare, so you could seen his statue at all! At least Trafalgar hadn't tried to enclose the fountain, but a quick squiz at the stalls showed there was little of interest to me there. More food, but I'd already had more than enough food!
Then it was on to Piccadilly Circus where Mercury (Hermes) also was not clear for photos, being surrounded by boards. *sigh* They did have one set of Christmas lights in the shape of him, though. I'm a little sad that I didn't go back at night to take photos; it would have been spectacular!
It was at that point I got distracted by Chinatown. Additionally, my sister finally woke up and told me that the Monopoly hunt wasn't worth it. At which point I was pretty tired of toiling around on foot, gave up the property hunt entirely, and just went off to the Borough Markets for late lunch!
--
I didn't have much remaining in me after the late lunch, so I think I ended up just wandering back to my stay, and packing up ready to return to The Netherlands (Rotterdam) the next day.
My initial thought was to do a 'Monopoly Challenge' - work my way through the properties on London. My sister had tried (or possibly done it) so I thought I would finish off for her. And also, my memories of London are a little sketchy, worn down by time and distance.
I think the last time I was in London (other than that single afternoon last year while trying to get a flight to North America) was around 2015 - stayed in Finsbury Park...did...things...? I'm reasonably sure I went to the Borough Markets, but that's about the only thing I remember and even I'm not entirely certain if I recall it correctly.
From the (new) place I was staying at (near KingsX/St Pancras station), it was easy enough to get to Mayfair and wander the streets and lanes, recognising the streetnames from various regency novels and noting the architectural and historical high points: apparently the Coach And Horse is Mayfair's oldest surviving unreconstructed tavern. It's not very large, is it? Gives new meaning to those 'coach stops' that one thinks about in the various novels one reads!
Of the most notable spaces to me, though, was "St George's Church" which is the standard "regency novel" church since it was standing at the time but probably also because it's still standing today.
Isn't it beautiful? One can see why it was a popular place to get married back in the day (and probably still is today, I don't doubt). The interesting part? It's still being used as a church today! I poked my head in (it was open) and there was a guy doing a sound check. Probably for a service later on that day.
If he hadn't been there, I'd have sung a hymn full volume, just for the heck of it.
There was a really lovely lane with sunlight coming down it and Christmas decorations up all over the streets:
Anyway, got through Mayfair and Park Lane, stopped by one of the oldest hostelries in London went to find Regent, Bond, and Oxford St. All by foot. It makes a difference to going by tube - in part because you get a better feel for the streets, for the directions of everything, for the spaces.
Around Regent Street, I tried on a Regency-ish dress at the famed fashion/fabric house Liberty Of London. It fit okay although I wasn't really in the market for a dress, and I liked the general design, but the dipped back was all wrong for my tattoo! I admit, I wouldn't mind making one in this style, but for what? I've made so many dresses over the last dozen years, and I can't fit them all in my wardrobe!
In the middle of the shop, I noted what was probably an original fireplace of the building that featured some lovely ceramic tiles! Delft, perhaps? Cue me taking pictures of fireplace tiles, much to the bemusement of a number of other shopping patrons!
And then I discovered that IKEA has nothing on Liberty of London. Getting out of IKEA? They have signs; it just takes forever. Liberty of London has no signs and the exits are cunningly disguised such that it's good bloody luck getting out of there! There was a moment when I thought I might have to go through one of the plate glass windows to get out. *shudder*
Major Christmas markets on at Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square - very commercial, not my thing. Not to mention that they'd set the stalls up with their backs facing Mr Shakespeare, so you could seen his statue at all! At least Trafalgar hadn't tried to enclose the fountain, but a quick squiz at the stalls showed there was little of interest to me there. More food, but I'd already had more than enough food!
Then it was on to Piccadilly Circus where Mercury (Hermes) also was not clear for photos, being surrounded by boards. *sigh* They did have one set of Christmas lights in the shape of him, though. I'm a little sad that I didn't go back at night to take photos; it would have been spectacular!
It was at that point I got distracted by Chinatown. Additionally, my sister finally woke up and told me that the Monopoly hunt wasn't worth it. At which point I was pretty tired of toiling around on foot, gave up the property hunt entirely, and just went off to the Borough Markets for late lunch!
--
I didn't have much remaining in me after the late lunch, so I think I ended up just wandering back to my stay, and packing up ready to return to The Netherlands (Rotterdam) the next day.
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I didn't end up going to Chinatown. They're not generally all that different from city to city and these days I find they tend to cater to mainland Chinese tourists with Things To Buy From This Country That You Can't Get Back In China Without Paying A Lot.