Strand in London

3 September 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, London Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Bernard Gagnon/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Bernard Gagnon/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Strand (commonly referred to with a leading “The”, but formally without) is a major street in the City of Westminster, Central London. The street, which is part of London’s West End theatreland, runs just over 3/4 mile (1.2 km) from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar, where it becomes Fleet Street in the City of London, and is part of the A4, a main road running west from inner London.   read more…

National Covid Memorial Wall in London

10 July 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, London Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Polydeukes2020/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Polydeukes2020/cc-by-sa-4.0

The National Covid Memorial Wall in London is a public mural painted by volunteers to commemorate victims of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Started in March 2021 and stretching more than one-third mile (five hundred metres) along the South Bank of the River Thames, opposite the Palace of Westminster, the mural consists of approximately 240,000 red and pink hearts, one for each of the casualties of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom who died with COVID-19 on their death certificate. The intent was for each heart to be “individually hand-painted; utterly unique, just like the loved ones we’ve lost”.   read more…

London Charterhouse

6 May 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, London Reading Time:  8 minutes

© KJP1/cc-by-sa-4.0

© KJP1/cc-by-sa-4.0

The London Charterhouse is a historic complex of buildings in Farringdon, London, dating back to the 14th century. It occupies land to the north of Charterhouse Square, and lies within the London Borough of Islington. It was originally built (and takes its name from) a Carthusian priory, founded in 1371 on the site of a Black Death burial ground. Following the priory’s dissolution in 1537, it was rebuilt from 1545 onwards to become one of the great courtyard houses of Tudor London. In 1611, the property was bought by Thomas Sutton, a businessman and “the wealthiest commoner in England”, who established a school for the young and an almshouse for the old. The almshouse remains in occupation today, while the school was re-located in 1872 to Godalming, Surrey.   read more…

Hard Rock Cafe

18 April 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit, London, Miami / South Florida Reading Time:  8 minutes

London © Adz2042/cc-by-sa-4.0

London © Adz2042/cc-by-sa-4.0

Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a chain of theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2007, Hard Rock Cafe International (USA), Inc. was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida and was headquartered in Orlando, Florida, until April 2018, when the corporate offices were relocated to Davie, Florida. As of July 2018, Hard Rock International has venues in 74 countries, including 172 bar or cafe-restaurants, 37 hotels, and 11 casinos.   read more…

Brewer Street in London

27 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit, London, Shopping Reading Time:  5 minutes

Duke of Argyll © flickr.com - Pedro Szekely/cc-by-sa-2.0

Duke of Argyll © flickr.com – Pedro Szekely/cc-by-sa-2.0

Brewer Street is a street in the Soho area, City of Westminster of central London, running for about 350 metres west to east from Glasshouse Street to Wardour Street.   read more…

Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden

12 November 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, London Reading Time:  5 minutes

Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter entrance © Karen Roe/cc-by-3.0

Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter entrance © Karen Roe/cc-by-3.0

Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden is an 80 ha (200-acre) studio complex in Leavesden in Watford, Hertfordshire, in the East of England. Formerly known as Leavesden Film Studios and still colloquially known as Leavesden Studios or simply Leavesden, it is a film and media complex owned by Warner Bros. The studios were all converted from an aircraft factory and airfield called Leavesden Aerodrome, a centre of British aircraft production during World War II. The nearest railway station is King’s Langley which is a walking distance of 1.3 miles (2.1 km).   read more…

Notting Hill in London

5 November 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, London, Shopping Reading Time:  5 minutes

Notting Hill Carnival © Romazur/cc-by-sa-3.0

Notting Hill Carnival © Romazur/cc-by-sa-3.0

Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Market. From around 1870, Notting Hill had an association with artists.   read more…

Great Fire of London

31 October 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, London Reading Time:  29 minutes

Monument to the Great Fire of London and Pudding Lane © flickr.com - It's No Game/cc-by-2.0

Monument to the Great Fire of London and Pudding Lane © flickr.com – It’s No Game/cc-by-2.0

The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the wall to the west. The death toll is generally thought to have been relatively small, although some historians have challenged this belief.   read more…

Embassy of the United States in London

3 October 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, London Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Curran2/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Curran2/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Embassy of the United States of America in London is the diplomatic mission of the United States in the United Kingdom. It is located in Nine Elms and is the largest American embassy in Western Europe and the focal point for events relating to the United States held in the United Kingdom. From an architectural point of view, the embassy is interesting because, among other things, aspects of medieval castle building came into play here, including a moat. Ground was broken on 13 November 2013, and the building opened to the public on 13 December 2017.   read more…

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