London Archives ⋆ Page 3 of 11 ⋆ The Passenger

May 9, 2024June 29, 2024

Kensington Gardens

We all know the famous Hyde Park at London and when looking on a map you’ll see one big green rectangle between Paddington and South Kensington – but in fact the West Carriage Drive going from North to South in the center of it divides the Hyde Park in the East from the Kensington Gardens in the West. The latter is named after the Kensington Palace that was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built in 1689 for William of Orange to cure his asthma.

May 8, 2024June 27, 2024

Battersea

Well, Battersea is just a city quarter of London at the river Thames, but it has two important highlights that first time London visitors might not drop by. The first is the Battersea Park, a vast garden opened in 1858. It is great for a walk, for doing some sports like jogging, or playing tennis. But it also has a large lake on which you can ride a paddleboat, the Peace Pagoda and good bars to sit outside and enjoy nice weather (if there is some).

January 18, 2024January 21, 2024

Canary Wharf

Within the Docklands in the East of London you can find the shiny modern city quarter Canary Wharf, named like this because it was once used for trading with the Canary Islands. On the Isle of Dogs surrounded by river Thames you can find some of the highest towers of the United Kingdom. Many banks are now settled here, making the area a rival to the historic financial center at the City of London.

January 18, 2024January 21, 2024

Crossrail

I hadn’t been to London for over four years and when I headed through the underground of the Heathrow airport towards the Heathrow Express I noticed a major change in public transport: the tracks used by the high-speed train to Paddington are now also used by the new Elizabeth Line colored in purple. The new line was created in a project called Crossrail, because it is a connection from East to West throughout the city – opened in autumn 2022.

October 30, 2019April 15, 2022

Notting Hill

It is an interesting phenomenon how a movie can shape the image of a complete city quarter and bring many tourists there. Well, Notting Hill would be anyhow worth a trip – but because of the 1999 movie with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant this city quarter of London, United Kingdom gets much attention. People search for blue doors, the ‘Travel Book Co.‘ bookshop (which is in fact The Notting Hill Book Shop) and private gardens with high fences.

October 30, 2019February 19, 2020

Pizza Pilgrims

I found a recommendation on the Internet that if you want to have a good pizza in London, United Kingdom, you should look out for Pizza Pilgrims. It is a pizza restaurant with many branches throughout London and they serve good Italian pizza – even a lot of vegetarian versions. And their speciality is a ring of pizza dough filled with Nutella and decorated with ice cream; that calls for a lot of sport afterwards. I searched for one of their locations nearby and what I didn’t know – I didn’t choose one of their restaurants but ended up in the Westfield shopping mall.

October 29, 2019December 4, 2019

The Sherlock Holmes

In between all those pubs in London, England there are some that stand out. One of them I like most is The Sherlock Holmes in Northumberland Street. You can find it between Trafalgar square and river Thames, next to the Charing Cross and Embankment stations. Downstairs you can enjoy a pint while watching some Sherlock Holmes movies. Upstairs it is a cosy restaurant and you can find a detailed reproduction of the study within Baker Street 221b.

October 29, 2019February 19, 2020

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Who doesn’t remember the film Forrest Gump by Robert Zemeckis from the year 1994? Tom Hanks brilliantly played the US-citizen with a low IQ of just 75 telling the story of his life. Unfortunately, nobody knows that this story is based on the book by Winston Groom – but that is a different story. During the Vietnam war, Forrest Gump meets a guy called Benjamin Buford Blue (with the nickname Bubba) and he gives him the promise to become a shrimp fisher after the war. Of course, he keeps his promise and opens up the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Two years after the movie somebody decided to open up a restaurant with the same name styled in Forrest Gump style.

October 2, 2019October 15, 2019

Ugly dumpling

It is pretty much impossible to leave Soho hungry – with so many fantastic small restaurants gathered in this area of London, England. A very good place to taste delicious Chinese dumplings is the Ugly dumpling in Newburgh street. It looks like the smallest restaurant ever with just a small amount of tables crammed into a tiny corner restaurant. But don’t worry if it seems to be full; there is also another tiny area one floor down. Waiting is worth the time, they’ve good some very fine dumpling versions on their menu.

October 2, 2019October 15, 2019

The Blind Phoenix

It is a hidden bar which you won’t find unless you explicitly search for it. The Blind Phoenix is a speakeasy for witches and wizards hidden in the underground of Dalston, London. When you arrive there look out for an inconspicuous black door. I already wanted to give up and leave as a house-elf pointed me towards the hidden entrance. There you’ll have to enter the secret code on an old-school telephone and afterwards the door opens and you’ll see the long stairway into the cellar.