Monday, 12 August 2019

London - off the beaten track

London is weird and wonderful and a place I love exploring each time I visit.

One of those more-weird-than-wonderful things to see in London is ears. Yes, ears! 😆 If you happen to wander over to Floral Street in Covent Garden, keep an eye out for ears! This post is already going downhill 👀

The traffic light tree near Billingsgate Market might not be something the average tourist would chance upon or one you might miss altogether if you don't know it's there but it's worth a look.

More on traffic lights - there are ones near Trafalgar Square, I think on Duncannon Street, which display LGBT+ images. So cool!


Then there's the grave in the graveyard of St Pancras Old Church that's rumoured to have inspired the telephone box.

This graveyard is also home to the equally quirky Hardy Tree. This is an ash tree with hundreds of gravestones around its base, which were placed there by novelist Thomas Hardy.

Did you know Britain's smallest police station is in London? I challenge you to find it!

And there's a rhino hanging about. A sculpture of one to be precise.
At the time I accepted it as just one of London's many obscure works of art. A bit of research now tells me it's called Rhino Sospeso by sculptor Stephano Bombardieri and the person whose property it is displayed in front of calls it 'a thought provoking sculpture designed to encourage reflection on the link between man and nature'.


Food to die for

Anything from the Cheese Bar, Camden Town

Peas, mange tout and quinoa salad from Harrods.
Yes, it's green.
Yes, it's a salad.
Yes, it's amazing.

Chips from HipChips. You can have these funky chips with sweet or savoury dips.

Jellied eels from Goddards at Greenwich. This is best eaten with vinegar and pepper. Makes it far more palatable as I found out the hard way.

Things to do

Take a tour of the Royal Opera House - My sister is a classical singer and my playlists are full of an array of music ranging from hip hop to EDM and rap to Latin music but we could both appreciate what goes into a performance here.

Walk through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel - I forget how far beneath the water this is but it's well worth the walk just knowing you're under a large body of water.

Visit the Fan Museum - It doesn't take long to go through the collection but it is surprisingly interesting and the highlight was seeing that they even have a Sri Lankan sesatha on display.

Dine in the dark - Yep, that is exactly what you do. You will not see what you eat, you won't even see your dining partners but you will get some pretty good food served to you by vision impaired waiters and the chance to experience food with one less sense at your disposal.

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