London / Replaying The Tourist

One of the benefits of revisiting a known town is already knowing what's good and what's not, at least for a lot of general areas. We knew Bill's wouldn't disappoint when it comes to good, simple traditional food, so it was an easy choice when looking for some breakfast South of the Thames. 

After being disappointed to learn Borough Market was closed on Sunday, we were relieved to at least have our first order of proper British tea, English Breakfast of course. Along with some amazing bacon on eggs and toast, it was a good first meal for the trip. 

Gotta love the colorful, modern European architecture that sprinkles the city. 

The Tour of Britain was going on while we were walking around. Pretty cool seeing riders on bikes that are normally used in a velodrome pushing themselves on the streets. 

Soon we started to get better acquainted with our local neighborhood. Despite the months we stayed here before, we never really explored this area since it was on the opposite end of town. Certainly a lot prettier than East London. Love the greenery! 

Some exclusive British metal. Always loved classic Ranger Rovers, but these three-door models are just amazing IMO. Would consider one over a Defender. 

It's neat how every 4 or so blocks has a different look. The occasional Maserati doesn't hurt to improve things either. 

Small wonder why some locals consider Kensington to be the "Beverly Hills" of London. 

Back to SoHo.

Aw yeah! Gotta get some of that Chatime milk tea. 

Easily our favorite ramen place in London, Tonkotsu in SoHo is the spot. My recommended choice is the Tokyo Ramen which has some top notch pork and thick, chewy noodles. Last part of the first day tomorrow! I promise this is the day with the most pics, I won't be doing a bunch of multiple-part posts like the first London adventure. 

London / I'm baaaack!

Welp, I'm back in London again! This time it'll be a brief trip, only a week long.

This time I was prepared for the late summer/early Autumn weather. Typically when Americans think London weather, the main thing that comes to mind is a grey, cold and rainy city. Well, it may still be grey and a little rainy, but it is definitely not cold! It wouldn't hurt to bring a light rain jacket, but otherwise you need to dress like it's mid-summer in SF. As someone who grew up in the bone-dry heat of the high desert, temp gauges stating "70F degrees" can be VERY misleading. One word: HUMIDITY

But enough about the weather, more about the city! This time around Michelle and I are staying in the Kensington area where her work is located (the main reason for the trip). It's a very nice part of London although it is noticeably touristy compared to Shoreditch or Islington, the areas where we stayed before. Many of the buildings have been converted into hotels or hostels so there's an unusual amount lot of late-night activity for such a distanced neighborhood. To make things stranger, if the buildings aren't being used by a collection of students/travelers, then they're owned by a wealthy family, so the area still has an upper-class neighborhood feel to it. 

Ah the Scirocco. The elusive yet sexier European cousin of the GTI. Such a tease...

Our place is located within a 3 min of Hyde Park. Not the worst place in the city to be.

Oh look! Some blue sky!

The Shard is a pretty amazing looking building. It stands out quite a bit compared to all of the older building arourn, especially since it's so difficult to build skyscrapers in London. 

Gotta love how well London combines the new & old architecture styles. 

Or how well they combine contrasting styles in general. That new vs old juxtaposition is present everywhere you look in this city. Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow!

London / The National Gallery & Big Ben

As daylight began to fade away, we were going to make one more stop before calling it in. In the States, we have plenty of progressive architecture as well, but I it seems like Europe utilizes the exoskeleton-style more. I can dig it.

When the sun is actually out to set and you can get somewhere clear of buildings, the sky can look pretty impressive. Hello your Majesty. 

A giant blue cock. *snicker*

Arriving at Trafalgar Square in front of the National Gallery. 

Several street performers had set up around the area, including this fella who could levitate. How does it do it?! And why is he always holding onto that pole...

Managed to grab the two shots inside before being promptly told, unlike the Tate, photographs weren't allowed. Definitely a museum worth going to though. There was plenty of Monet, Van Gough and Manet pieces in addition to a plethora of impressionist and 17/18th century Dutch paintings which I generalize as my favorite styles of classical artwork. 

As you can probably tell, this was still before Christmas decorations were taken down. 

Some fancy police cars here...

...and even fancier personal cars! From every angle, the new Vanquish is a beautiful machine to look at, especially in that color-catching silver. Mmmmm

Some four months in and we finally went to see Big Ben. 

Then we went to grab some dinner and go home. A pretty successful day playing tourist. 

London / Tate Museum

And so we began where we left off, at Borough Market, as we head west along the South Bank towards the Tate Museum.

We have still yet to get any Monmouth coffee, but from what locals have said, it's supposedly London's equivalent to SF's Blue Bottle Coffee. We'll see...

As we walked away from the market, I spotted a brand new S Class. First one I've seen in person and I gotta say, I'm a big fan of this gen. It just oozes class in a slick manner that the previous 2 gens could never touch. 

The colors...

Pretty interesting how they set up the Starbucks here. The hole-in-the-wall manner would not fly as well in the US.

A pretty cool LED firework display. They did a good job keeping the light grid low key and hidden. 

We've still have yet to go to a Wagamama. Their noodles look quite tasty and the prices weren't too bad either.

The Globe, where Shakespeare debuted his plays. It's still in use today, though nowadays they prefer women to play the roles of women.

What did the fox say...

And here is the Tate Museum which is London's premiere museum for modern art. Looks kinda like a huge factory right?

Of course the Millennium Bridge continues to be an outstanding structure to look at no matter which angle you stand.

Didn't I mention the size? It really is bigger than it look in these photos.

What's wonderful about it is how they left the center hollowed out to continue that theme of scale. Had this been filled up with its many levels of galleries, the structure wouldn't have seemed as impressive. But left in this manner with its cavity open to observe, it gave the impression of a massive hanger where blimps and rockets were built from. 

The ever amused Michelle...

Meanwhile a serious battle of good and evil was unfolding below us.

Dude needs a burger or something...

F-YEAH!

Most art museums usually have a pretty good gift shop but this one really had a ton of books I would have loved to go home with.

Last part coming soon. 

London / Borough Market

Today we decided to walk around all the areas of London what we haven't yet been able to go to, starting with the ever talked about Borough Market. Unlike the other market places that offer clothes or accessories, this one specialized in food. As one could imagine, it was AMAZING. 

It was pretty hard not to buy everything we saw because it all looked delicious. 

And unlike other places, this isn't a glorified food court but an actual market where many restaurants would actually shop for their ingredients. For serious foodies it seems. 

Definitely the most "Harry Potter" looking area of London I've been in. 

I miss 'Murica's love of micro brews and ales, but Europe still has a healthy choice of pretty tasty beers. 

Some of the booths were pretty specialized in what they sold, like this one that only had extracts, mustards and a few jams/sauces. 

Towards the end of the market there was this little flower shop tucked deep inside under a bridge. Not exactly the usually bright and cheery place one would expect to find a flower shop, but it actually worked pretty well. 

One of the great things about this market was the wonderful smells that bombard you as you walk through. Eventually, we couldn't stand it any more and finally gave in to getting some delicious thai chicken curry soup. 

Doesn't look like much but it's worlds better than any canned soup. 

Michelle posing in front of a Christmas tree before it gets taken down. 

More of our adventures to be posted later. 

London / Christmas Along The Thames Pt 2

Just some more photo dumping. The 2nd half of shooting along the Thames on a rainy night. 

I never knew about this, but this is actually a platform for a train station that they stretched over the Thames. Pretty neat way to wait for your train. 

And of course the Millennium Bridge. It's only meant for pedestrians, but it's a elegant looking bridge. 

Christmas is definitely London's favorite holiday. 

Loved the look of this Guest Info building, reminds me of the sculpture on Lemaitre's album covers. Perhaps by the same person? Wouldn't surprise me. 

Now in front of St. Paul's Cathedral. The rain started to really come down at this point.

London / Christmas Along The Thames Pt 1

Christmas is just a night away! A few nights ago I had a chance to just stroll around the city on a slightly rainy evening, so I grabbed my camera, set my playlist to some jazz and wandered around the Thames. 

I started off around Holborn Station which is located in eastern central London. One of Michelle's school campuses is located here so I find myself in the area often.

Lots of narrow alleyways that normally are packed at all hours, but as Christmas approaches, everyone is mostly around the shopping areas like Oxford Circus. 

The rain brings out a new element to the city, dripping light into crevices otherwise left alone in the darkness. Cars float across streams of white and yellow with hissing clouds on their tails. 

South Bank always provides a colorful burst of life and activity. 

Mmmm, donuts...

The Eye always provides stunning visuals. 

Christmas Market on the Bank being a festive place to be. 

Another photo dump coming soon.