Angel, Islington

Last Thursday one of my favourite people (and flatmate for the final 3 months of our MA) wanted a final gathering of London friends in no other place than one of my favourite London-areas; Angel in Islington. There is something special about this place, it is just so cozy and lovely, and a nice mix between modern and traditional architecture. I spent a few hours there before we were meeting, and then the thought came to me “Why not make an “Angel-guide”?” so that’s what I though I was going to do today.

The area got it’s name from The Angel, which is a grade II listed building on the corner of Islington High Street and Pentonville Road. It also gave it’s name to Angel tube station (Northern Line, Bank branch), which is located in the bottom of Upper Street, the main road through Angel. Upper Street branches out by Islington Green, and turns into Essex Road. By these roads you find the main “sights” in Angel.

Eat

I have been to Angel to eat several times and I have never been disappointed. My favorite places are both Italian (erm I always love italian, so I am a teensy bit biased there…) and were places we found generous, reasonably prices portions and good service/friendly staff. La Vita E Bella in Theberton Street (off Upper Street) had a 3 course lunch with wine for £12 last time I went there, and I would definitely go back! La Divina is located a bit further up Upper Street. It has fun, quirky decor and amazing food. Yum! When that is said…. Just walking up Upper Street will make you want to have an un-filling stomach and eternal amounts of money, because there are soooo many places to eat. I think you could eat somewhere new there every day for weeks! There are also several chain-restaurants in Angel, which seems a lot less busy (at least it has looked that way as I walked by) for example Five Guys, The Breakfast Club, Cabana and The Slug and Lettuce.

Cabana colour pop, seen from Islington Green

Drink

The Bull is a small-ish pub on Upper Street with two floors, and we were lucky enough to get a table on the top floor. Good draught beers and nice selection in cider and wine, cozy atmosphere and fairly cheap. The Duke of Cambridge is the pub where we actually met last Thursday. Located in St. Peter’s Street (off Essex Road) the area is a bit more quiet which was nice. Good selection of wines in various colors and price ranges, and the most amazing beef bourguignon I have ever had. YUM! Other pubs/bars I have had recommended but not gone to myself are The King’s Head Theatre Pub, 69 Colebrooke Row, The Old Queens Head and Earl of Essex.

Yummy yummyyyyy! Beef bourguignon at Duke of Cambridge.

Shop

The first thing that comes to mind is of course Camden Passage, a pedestrian street off Upper Street only moments away from Angel tube station. It is packed with quaint shops, antiques and cafes, and makes a really nice break from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding areas. I love walking here, browsing and looking at the nice window displays and buildings. There is also a more ‘conventional’ shopping centre, called The Shopping Centre with entrance between Accessorize and Oasis in Upper Street. It has shops like the ones just mentioned, H&M, Gap and so on as well as cafès/food booths like Pret a Manger, Starbucks and Mr. Pretzel. Also a Vue Cinema and the O2 Academy is located here. You can also continue down Liverpool Road and/or up Chapel Market (pedestrian street) to find foodshops, Superdrug/pharmacies, street vendors and cheap knick-knack shops. Top tip: there is a free public toilet in the shopping centre which is actually quite clean and nice.

Look at/Do

The area in general is just beautiful and the last time I went there I actually managed to venture away from Upper Street/Essex Road and have a proper look around, which is something I would really recommend. Lots of beautiful architecture, quiet side streets and lovely green spaces. Duncan Terrace Gardens and Regent’s Canal are two very beautiful, calm spaces quite close to the main streets, which only makes them more special. I will never get this about London, how only a short distance away from traffic, it can be so quiet. Along the Regent’s Canal there are narrow paths, lovely river boats and back views of houses (even an art gallery!) and it was just a lovely, little walk. The Business Design Centre off Upper Street hold regular fairs and events and is in general a nice building to look at. Everyman Screen on the Green (in Upper Street once again) is part of the Everyman independent cinema chain which is a cinema experience that is a bit different. I haven’t been here, but it is on my list! It looks like an old-school cinema with a lounge and everything.

 

That was my little “Angel-guide”. There is soooo much more to this area than what I’ve written about here, this is just the tiny piece I have experienced. Please share with me if you have other recommendations, as I am definately going back.

Oh dear

I had people over this weekend from Norway, which was lovely. I got to see some sights again! My parents and other friends have been over several times so they have already seen all this, but this particular friend had never been to London before! When they arrived on Friday we walked through Bayswater, Hyde Park past Italian Gardens, Peter Pan, Princess Diana-memorial, Serpentine and out on Hyde Park Corner. From there we walked to Buckingham Palace and up Pall Mall, to Trafalgar Square and then Leicester Square. Then we took the tube to Holborn and our ‘usual pub’.

On Saturday we went to Notting Hill and Portobello Road, then Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and London Eye, walked along Southbank and to Waterloo Bridge, got on a bus to St. Pauls (to catch a little break) and had lunch and coffee near the cathedral, then walked through the City of London and to Tower of London, over Tower Bridge and to London Bridge station. From there we went to Harrods just to have a look. I am not particularly rich or into designer attire, but the food hall at Harrods is amazing and much kinder to your wallet (at least if you choose wisely)! I ended up buying the best macaroon I have ever had (which was huuuuge and tasted of coffee and hazelnut with a filling of rich chocolate and a salted caramel centre – heaven!) and three packs of flavoured black teas; strawberry, apple and mango (amazing as well). After Harrods we started to get hungry so we went to Piccadilly Circus just to have a quick look and then went and ate at an amazing chinese place in Chinatown called Plum Valley. When we finished dinner the shops on Oxford Street were still open for another hour and a half so we went there for a little bit. Then I had to go home as my back was literally killing me… Which is the sign of a good day where lots has been done! These 1,5 days were hard, but a proof that if you really want to, you can see “all” the London sites in two days. If we had a whole day on Friday as well, I would have taken them to Regents Park/Primrose Hill and the Museums in South Kensington, which were the only “famous attractions” we didn’t manage to see on the trip.

The macaroon (and my diseased-looking hand!)

Sunday my visitors wanted a ‘couples day’, which meant chore-time for me…… I had to start packing for my move next weekend (!!) so I had to get boxes and storage boxes. I also did some food shopping. Went to the gym, my last day at the gym was this Sunday… Now I have to struggle to stay fit, haha. Made dinner, talked to my mom, did some work for the exhibition at uni this Friday. Then watched a movie called ‘Chef’ (it was good!) and slept. A very ordinary day, sadly.

Last run at the gym and test run without orthotics (which went very well!)

Yesterday I had to take a quick trip to uni in the morning. Then I met my visitors at Oxford Circus. We walked down to Piccadilly Circus through Soho, and on our way we had lunch in Kingly Court at Whyte and Brown. Yuuum! We also had a quick look in Choccywoccydoodaah – a shop where everything is made of or covered in chocolate. We walked from Piccadilly Circus to Covent Garden, had a look around, bought macaroons in Ladurèe, and then it was time for them to leave and me to go back to uni…. I finally finished my exhibition (just have to print, mount and hang it today) and then met my boyfriend to have dinner at Five Guys. Oh dear lord, that was fantastic! A proper messy, sticky burger designed by me, with fries and bottomless drink (I chose raspberry coke zero and made the rookie mistake of filling it up completely, so I only tried that one flavour – haha!) is not frowned upon on a Monday eve. The rest of the evening was spent in bed watching Parks and Recreation, the perfect start of the week after a superbusy weekend!

Delicious!

I have my life back!

FINALLY I have my life back! On Monday I celebrated by lugging all my superheavy folders and books on the Circle line around to Cannon Street, and proceeded to sit outside my boyfriend’s job for 40 minutes (I didn’t even realise it was that long because I was listening to Insurgent on audiobook – oh my god, it was nerve racking!) waiting for him to finish. Walked to the train station and arrived to an absolute utter madness, as half the trains were cancelled and the other half delayed. Finally managed to get on a train after wrestling a dozen people out of the way, went to his place and ate candy and watched Parks and Recreation until it was time to sleep.

Yesterday I did nothing worth mentioning, really. I had to stay at my boyfriend’s because we had ordered some furniture to be delivered. I was woken up at 6.30 by my boyfriend going to work, which in itself is annoying because it was my first actual day off, but it got even more annoying when I couldn’t go back to sleep. Managed to go back to sleep for a bit after putting CBeebies on (lol??) and the rest of the day was spent tinkering on the computer and watching TV. Finally the furniture arrived, and people started coming home from work, put wardrobe together, argued (mandatory when building flatpack furniture) then slept.

But today. Finally. I got to do some London-stuff again. So I went to Greenwich.

all pics by me

The City of London viewed from Heron Quays on Isle of Dogs, underneath a DLR bridge.

And I got to take a look at the oddity that is Canary Wharf. It is just so.. Strange! And the whole concept of the DLR.. It has to be experienced to be understood.

Glass and metal at Heron Quays station.

I decided to go to Cutty Sark and all the historical buildings, Royal Naval College, The Queens House, Trinity Laban and Royal Maritime Museum, just to mention a few. It was a gorgeous day, almost summer again, warm and sunny.

Domes of The Royal Naval College.

Contrasts. View towards Canary Wharf.

Royal Naval College.

Silhouette.

Gorgeous!

Greenwich Park, walking up to the Royal Observatory.

View towards Canary Wharf from The Royal Observatory. The Queen’s House in front.

Then I walked towards Blackheath, another beautiful green lung in London. Both Greenwich park and Blackheath are places I warmly recommend for a stroll. Greenwich park even had a deer enclosure! If it wasn’t for my plan to go to Richmond park soon to see deer I would most definetely have gone to have a look at them.

Now I am sitting with my sketchbook and planning for my meeting with the tutor tomorrow about our end of year exhibition. And then it’s finally my daily excercises and bedtime! Zzzzz….

Hope you had a greaaaat Wednesday!

The City of London

Even though City of London (meaning the business district of the English capital, not the city itself, of course) is virtually dead after 6PM, there is something peculiar about this area I really like. It could be the suit-clad men of all ages (y u m), but I think there is something about the whole athmosphere of the area. After starting to go out with a man that works in the City a year ago I have started to strangely appreciate the little break from the rest of London. You can’t get a coffee, unless you are on the border to one of the other boroughs, but that doesn’t mean there is nothing to do!

The City of London skyline at dusk, Picture

The City of London is where many of Londons icons are found, like St. Pauls Cathedral and The Gherkin. It is also where the Romans first settled in the 1st century AD, which I think makes the very interesting contrast between highly modern, 21st century against the Renaissance styled traditional London architecture and even remnants from the early city. This is also where the Great Fire of London (1666) started, which is when the council declared “no more wooden buildings in London”. Fun-fact.

The Royal Exhange and Bank of England

The Royal Exchange © Patric Vacek, Picture

Bank of England (picture from Wikipedia)

Right outside Bank station (Central, Circle, District, DLR, Northern and Waterloo&City lines) you find these two gems. Bank of England is the central bank of the UK. Its interiors were used in the Harry Potter-movies to portray Gringotts. Unfortunately, no one are allowed in the building except in the museum at the back. Here you can learn about the history of the bank and also see a real gold bar! The Royal Exchange started out as the main stock exchange venue in London, however at present day it is home to some of the finest merchants and restaurants. The front is (quite clearly) inspired by Pantheon in Rome.

Leadenhall Market

Leadenhall Market, Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0, Picture

Walk up Cornhill from Bank station and quite fast you will encouter Leadenhall Market on your right. This is one of the oldest markets in London. It looks quite special placed here in the midst of “skyscrapers”, glass and metal. This is another location from the Harry Potter-films, used to portray the area around the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley. Today it is not so much a market anymore, but it still has restaurants and pubs (some of the only ones I have seen open after 6PM, actually) and a few shops.

The Lloyd’s Building

“Willis and LLoyd’s” by Colin – Own work. Licensed. (Lloyd’s building seen to the right)

This building is known as the “Inside-Out building”, because all the vertical circulation and services are put on the outside of the building to allow for more space inside. I walk past this building quite often as I commute from Fenchurch Street on a regular basis, and I always have to cast a second glance…

The Monument to the Great Fire of London

Monument, picture from Wikipedia

Right by Monument Station (where Bank’s District&Circle lines actually run from) you find this little gem. Not worth it to travel all the way just to see this, but if you are in the area it is quite a sight.

Remnants of the London Wall

“London Wall fragment” by John Winfield – From geograph.org.uk.

The London Wall is the defensive wall built by the Romans around what was then called Londonium. Until the late Middle Ages this wall defined the City of London. Now there are only fragments of it left, most of which around the Tower of London-area and around the Barbican-estate.

Temple Church

Temple Church, Picture

Almost on the border of City of Westminster, this church is placed in almost an alley or courtyard. It is interesting to see how the city has grown around itself, taking up all available space. It was originally built by the Knights Templar but today there are held regular services there.

Greyfriar’s Garden

Greyfriar’s Garden, Picture.

This little park-thingy inside the ruins of Christchurch is something I actually discovered just yesterday on the number 8 bus to Liverpool Street. It is located only moments away from St. Paul’s, but I’d much rather go in this one than St. Paul’s. Don’t you think? So lovely.

Fleet Street

“Londres – Fleet Street” by Josep Renalias – Own work. Licensed.

Last but not least, Fleet Street. Everyone has seen Sweeney Todd-The Demon Barber on Fleet Street? Well, it’s nothing like that film. I am not even sure it used to be, but still I like it very much. It is something about walking down this mixed road, classical looking architecture, then suddenly glass, metal, a Starbucks, an Itsu and then St. Paul’s and a pub. Needs to be experienced. I particularly like walking from Holborn Circus down Fetter Lane and turn towards St. Paul’s when I hit Fleet Street.

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Well, that was my little “London Guide” on a Saturday morning. Hope you enjoyed!