A Quiet Spot

Olympic fever is in full swing, there is no way you can be in London and not be aware of the games, even if its only because your daily journey is disrupted. Summer arrived over night and temperatures have doubled. A moment in a quiet shady spot is the perfect way to keep your sense of humour.
Bunhill Fields Cemetery in Islington, not far from the City of London is a wonderful place to sit with your newspaper or book.
Originally the land was part of the manor of Finsbury forming the moor between the City of London and the village of Hoxton. In the 15th Century is was used by the military for archery practice. Although a few bones had been buried in the fields during this period, it was during the plague of the following century that it became a major burial ground as the church cemeteries ran out of space. The grounds were never consecrated and so became popular with the non-conformists ie dissenters of the Church of England. The last burial here was in 1854 and became a public park in 1869.

Whitecross St Party

In its third year the Whitecross St party is like no other, the street becomes a giant canvas and theatre featuring the works of both established and emerging artists. This year the theme was the "rise of the non-conformists". Dancing, music and food stalls line the street. Paka and his fire horse one of the many artists that kept the crowds enthralled.

PipsDish

Friends and I had a superb lunch on the weekend at a wonderful pop-up restaurant in Islington. Cook Philip Dundas's concept of PipsDish is to offer food cooked with love. Imagine you are eating at your grandmothers and the family is all gathered around the table. No arguments and no-one stuck out in the kitchen.
He and partner Mary Doherty decided to set up PipsDish after becoming weary of the experience of expensive soulless restaurants with bad service. The restaurant is set in what was the garage where Philip used to take his car for servicing. Many of the old fittings form part of the decor of the new dining area.

The food is fresh and mostly locally grown. Fresh fish caught in Cornwall. Rare-breed pigs and beef. They have visited the fields the animals are raised in. If it is not local it will be the best from Europe like their top olive oils from Italy.
A long table laden with delicious food, superbly cooked. I can still smell the divine roast lamb stuffed with garlic and rosemary. mmmmm.

The dining experience took me back to a lovely lunch I'd had with friends in the countryside in Italy.

There is no menu no decisions to make it really is just like being at Grandma's. Booking is essential as the food is bought and cooked just for those who have made a reservation. It's also BYO.
As a pop-up the future is uncertain, the space is earmarked for a Tesco's. Don't miss out on this experience.
PipsDish.co.uk
07764 336 220

Postbox

Spotted this postbox the other day. You don't see too many like this around London.

Theme Day - Fences

The first of a new month and therefore theme day in the City Daily Photo Community (CDP). This month the theme is fences.
My take is left on the fence.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Rainbow

The clocks have gone back, extra hours sleep welcomed. Our days will be darker for a few weeks so a lovely rainbow to add some colour to your day.

The Great Drag Race

Getting ready for the great drag race. Men in dresses and lots of makeup ran 10.2 km all in aid of raising funds and public awareness of prostate cancer.




Stop Raining Please!






And they're Off!

The Clink

A really cool place to stay in London not far from St Pancras and Kings Cross stations. You can have your own cell for the night.
The Clink in a 200 year old building was once a magistrates court, with a history that includes the trial of Clash.

A Little Extra for the House

A charming decor shop in Islington.

Hands on Pizza's

Last week a group of us were invited to PizzaExpress to be taught by the maestro himself, leading chef Antonio Romani, how to make pizza.

On the whole we didn't do too bad, although perhaps some of us might not look to a career as a pizza chef.
Our creations were based on the new spring menu. Very tasty they were too!

Fancy trying some yummy pizza yourself?

To go in the draw for a £10 voucher at any PizzaExpress restaurant simply answer the following question:
How many PizzaExpress restaurants are there in London:

1. 98
2. 82
3. 119
4. 105

Leave your answer in the comments or send an email to: aglimpseoflondon@gmail.com

The winner will be announced on Thursday. Good luck.

Windowsill

Passed by this windowsill the other day. Who do you suppose lives in this house?

The Flowershop

Racing past the flower shop.

Skywatch Friday - Twighlight

Twightlight bouncing of an English townhouse.

I am still experiencing computer problems. I will catch up with everyone soon.

In the meantime checkout all the skywatchers around the world

The Nile in London

In Islington this street of town houses dating from the early 1800's are gusrded by sphinxes and obelisks with Nile written on them.

Why? Who lives here? It's still a mystery to me. However I did find some reference to the fact that so proud were the English of Nelson's victory of the Nile in 1798, that for years after Egyptian decor was very 'in'.

The streets popularity continues. Even the Blairs lived here for sometime.

The Clock Tower

Now a park surrounded by a housing estate. Originally this square was a cattle market. Built in 1855. Try and imagine it with 15,000 animals here, a slaughter house just up the road. A nice tea house and a pub on each corner with imaginative names like: the lion, the lamb, the white horse and the black bull.