Ah, I finally made it to London. After many surprising eyes stared me down for never having been to this city, I caved in and made the trip up. And it was glorious! The timing couldn’t have been better. The weather gods treated me with the most and London showed me its best side.
I landed in Stansted Airport, thinking that I would save some money by taking a cheaper flight to a remote airport, just to pay an extra £18 one-way (or £29 for return tickets) to take the Express Train for an hour to Central London plus an Uber Pool (which was cheaper than the subway, excuse me, the Tube), to my final destination. No money or time was saved that day. Oh well, lesson learned!
But first things first and I got myself a coffee at Costa coffee and, sorry, Costa dear, but that was not it. I switched to Caffe Nero for my caffeine fix for the rest of my trip.
I stayed at the Hoxton in Holborn in Central London. The trendy hotel chain has comfortable, clean rooms with free (simple and healthy) breakfast and a beautiful lounge area. After I arrived there around lunchtime my sister Gizem, my brother-in-law Johnathan and our friend Jan had lunch at the hotel right after check-in. I went with the Tuna Tartare - fresh, but not exceptional. After lunch we went to TJ Boulting, a gallery of Trolley Books Publishing on Riding House Street, where Jan’s friend and director of the gallery & Trolley Books Hannah met with me. She walked me through her current exhibition and we talked about art, my background, and projects. Hannah was very nice and it was super interesting - and valuable - to listen to a publisher’s point of view. After chatting for a while and looking at other photographers’ published books, we commemorated the meeting with a glass of champagne and promised to stay in touch. Cheers!
From there on we roamed through Covent Garden district, passing Leicester Square, getting the first feeling of London style and culture, towards Neal’s Yard, a small alley, which opens into an adorable courtyard full of boutique shops and coffee places. It was named after the 17th-century developer, Thomas Neale. Get yourself a cup of joe here and relax from the hustle and bustle an alley away.
For supper, we chose Lima Floral, a Peruvian restaurant with delicious chef selection options for a fixed price. A couple of delicious Peruvian Pisco Sour rounded up the beautiful evening.
On our second day, we made our way to Somerset House, a huge Neoclassical quadrangle building on the south side of the Strand, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. In its courtyard, you’ll find so-called dancing fountains, which are the perfect playground for kids on a hot summer day. After fueling up with a coffee and a sandwich here, we walked over to the Temple Church, which is known as the former Knights Templar’s headquarter, a Catholic military order. After we stopped by at the Simpson's-in-the-Strand, which made noise back in the day with its prestigious chess tournaments. Walking on we went into the Galeria Melissa for a quick minute, a gallery exhibiting a mirror maze in the basement. From there I went to Trafalgar Square and checked out the National Portrait Gallery, which houses various great portraits - painted, drawn, collaged, or photographed - of new and well-renowned artists. In the afternoon my sister and I took a summer stroll toward Hyde Park. On our way, we passed Buckingham Palace, which was not on my radar tbh, but it was a nice “surprise” to see it. Arriving in beautiful Hyde Park we took a break at the Serpentine Bar & Kitchen and enjoyed a drink and some quality sibling time along the Serpentine lake. Moments like these are my favorite: Having a good conversation, the sun is shining, a nice cold drink in my hand, and a beautiful view. Pure bliss!
On the evening of our second night, we first headed to Circus, which is known for its cabaret-style performances, for a drink and then the infamous Bagatelle for dinner. After enjoying a really fancy dinner and a warm-up dance we moved on to the close-by Mahiki Mayfair club, where celebs like Rihanna and Drake have shaken off some dinner calories. As the name predicts the design was aimed to fulfill your Hawaiian dreams, including mermaids greeting you at the entrance. The music was what I missed in so many other clubs: good old RnB, HipHop, and Pop. We danced like there is no tomorrow until the early morning hours. On our way back home the guys insisted to try their luck in gambling at the Hippodrome Casino. While I enjoy the occasional poker night with friends, I’m not into the whole serious money betting scene. So I let the others play and walked around the very interesting and at the same time strange establishment and made friends with a doorman named Remi. Cheers, mate!
The next morning/noon I made sure that we would have good hangover food, so after a quick research on the internet, we headed to Camden Town’s The Blues Kitchen. I ordered Eggs Benedict with crab meat and a Bloody Mary. It must have been my lucky day since I got extra eggs, extra crab meat, and a cappuccino on the house, due to a tiny minor incident and mix-up. I definitely felt energized afterward and we walked straight over to Camden Lock Market/Stables Market. Here you will find warehouses turned into shops and restaurants. One shop was gaining the attention of a lot of visitors: Cyberdog, a trance music and cyber clothing/accessory retail chain. The salespeople were all dressed like they are from another planet and the shop itself makes your futuristic neon wishes come true. One visit here and you are ready for your next love parade/rave, for sure!
Following Camden Town, we paid a visit to the London Film Museum, which exhibits the Bond in Motion: a collection of many James Bond mobiles and vehicles. After channeling our best version of a Bond girl, we went to the Sketch Bar for a drink, a quirky 18th-century townhouse tea-room with various rooms, all in different designs. You have the restrooms, which look like individual space ships, then the pink tea room and a mystical forest-like, something out of Alice-in-Wonderland bar, where we sat down. Next on the agenda was to check out the infamous Ice Bar in Mayfair. Now, I really don’t like to be cold, especially when I have only a light dress on, but this was really a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For 40 minutes max you are invited to “chill” and have a drink in ice cups in -5°C with ice sculptures around you. Before you enter you get a coat and gloves, which only keep your upper body part semi-warm. To no surprise, we left after 25 minutes. Thank goodness London was hot - literally and figuratively - that we warmed up pretty quickly.
Our evening plan was per usual something unusual: the Bunga Bunga experience, an underground Italian restaurant with quirky live entertainment. Unfortunately, the food was less than average, but the certain flair was an experience. Not long after finishing our food, we went next door into Tropicana Beach Club, where we danced off the carbs we just took in. At one point Jan “dared” me to get glitter on my face by a make-up artist, who took her place literally next to where we were dancing. I said “Only if you do it, too, Jan!” and the good sport he is, we both sat down and got our face plastered with shiny glitter.
For our last full day (and the hottest so far) we took a stroll along the South Bank, passing the London Eye, then crossing the Westminster Bridge, walking by the British parliament buildings including 10 Downing Street and the Big Ben, which was disappointingly still under construction.
For the next part of the day I wanted to check out the Columbia Road Flower Market, which was recommended to me by a lovely saleswoman in a fragrance shop the day before. So we took a cab and rode towards Hackney. I’ll have to admit that so far I did not hear so much about this borough. Yes, you’ll know about standard districts like Chelsea, Soho, Camden, etc. but not so much about Hackney. And boy, I think you’ll be missing out if you don’t check it out. A down-to-earth, stylish, edgy, artsy, yet sophisticated neighborhood, full of boutique shops, restaurants, tiny bars in the shortest alleys. After walking through the amazing flower market, which I would totally visit every week to satisfy my green thumb, if I would live here, we roamed about the area. From Columbia Road, we took a turn into Ezra St. to end up at the Columbia Road Gallery, which is tucked in a small courtyard. Besides the art, you get to people-watch here, who were very relaxed and enjoying their sunny Sunday to the fullest.
We strolled on through Shoreditch and by chance we witnessed the artist Thierry Noir, while he was working on a new piece above an Osteopathy doctor’s office. He was the first artist to paint the Berlin Wall.
For dinner, we suggested staying in and cook at Jan’s apartment. After some quick and targeted grocery shopping, we headed to the apartment and started prepping a simple yet delicious meal. Some tapas for starters - prosciutto, cheese, fresh bread, olive oil with a splash of vinegar, mozzarella, and tomato salad - and as an entree Spaghetti Bolognese. Alongside we popped the bottle of red wine my sister and Johnathan brought from Rioja, Spain, which was a poem in itself. Salud!
Our return flight was the next day in the evening, so we made the best of the remaining time and went to see the Manga exhibition at the British Museum. It was the last day of the exhibition, hence the place was overrun - no surprise here! Yet the rest of the museum was equally overcrowded so that there was no way I’d enjoy being there. It was like playing bumper cars but with humans. We quickly wrapped up our cultural intake and slowly walked back towards our hotel. On our way, we stopped for the last lunch in this exciting city. And we experienced the most impeccable service by a waitress at Byron — Central St Giles. She was quick-witted, kind, friendly, competent, courteous, and all-in-all just a nice person. In the end, she made sure to tell us that she hoped to see us all again and if it doesn’t happen, “ I wish you a wonderful life!” I could not ask for a better send-off.
Thank you, dear London! It was a great first trip and I’m sure I’ll be back.
