Since its opening by Queen Victoria on 29 March 1871 the Royal Albert Hall has played host to a multitude of different event s It has been estimated that the venue has been used for over 150,000 different events from Royal Gala performances to rock concerts. Some of the huge names in rock to perform the Royal Albert include The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Abba and Led Zeppelin and even some of the newer names like Muse, The Killers and Them Crooked Vultures.
The Royal Albert Hall is in Knightsbridge and only a short stroll from many of the other local attractions like Kensington Gardens and Harrods Department Store.
Although hard to depict in our photograph which we took at night the craftsmanship of the hall is magnificent. There are amazing mosaics frieze depicting The Triumph of Arts and Sciences around the rim of the hall. There are some 16 scenes. Many visitors are also interested in seeing the stones laid by Her Majesty Queen Victoria both as a foundation stone and at the opening of the hall, where she was too emotional to speak and left the opening remarks to her son Prince Edward the Prince of Wales. Interestingly the acoustics were pretty bad in the hall at opening and they didn’t get addressed properly for nearly 100 years in 1969.
Heathrow airport is one of the world’s busiest and with its five different terminals it can be a nightmare to navigate with sometimes huge distances to travel between flights and to the carpark.
Well they have come up with a futuristic and novel way to help move people around, with the trial introduction of a pod system which should move travellers easily and swiftly around the complex. Read the rest of this entry »
Visitors to London are in for a real treat with the first ever opening of the Queen’s State Banquet Room at Buckingham Palce. The magnificent room can seat 170 guests in the most amazing splendor and specticale. The room is so special only 77 banquets have been held while Queen Elizabeth II has reigned, they are only held in honour of very special guests including special heads of state. The room is open to the public for a small fee from July 29th to September 29th this year and it is a once in a life time chance to see the lavishness and the precision of this room and events held there. The silver ware and porcelean, the art work and the workmanship is just amazing. You never know you might even get to get an invite for scones and tea with the Queen.
30 St Mary Axe in London is better known as the Gherkin, one of the city’s most controversial buildings. The 180 metre high tower is the second tallest building in the city of London and was designed by Lord Norman Foster and Ken Shuttleworth and constructed between 2001 and 2004. The building is a technological wonder with some pretty smart designs built in including using about half the energy of a similar size tower. The building uses natural ventilation and extensive use of double glazing which also helps heat the building in winter. The building is primarily office space but the 40th floor has a restaurant with some of London’s most spectacular views. The futuristic design of the building has caused some ho har in the often conservative London town, even good old Prince Charles has had a bit of whinge about the building and some of other futuristic plans for the city, instead preferring London to turn back to the dark ages. The Prince does have a point but as most visitors to London would agree this tower has been carefully planed and the designers and architects with much talent have been able to complement the skyline and surroundings with this building, and in a lot of ways it helps highlight the beautiful churches and historic structures nearby with the contrast. Read the rest of this entry »
Most people take the double decker bus, a taxi or even a river cruise to see London, but now there is a new way aboard the London Duck. The London Duck is a former military vehicle which not only cruises the streets of London it also takes to the water. This amazing amphibious vehicle was used in the World War Two D-Day landings and has been transformed into one of the city’s most fun and informative city tours. The 75 minute tour takes visitors past many of the city’s best sights on the street, then drives into the mighty Thames and shows people a completely different aspect of the city from the water. Ther commentary is another attraction- some very interesting attempts at stand up comedy, you won’t know whether to cringe or laugh, know what I mean governor? you get the drift. Make sure you book in advance because this is a very popular tour and one you wouldn’t want to miss on a visit to London.
The Brixton Market in Brixton, South London is home to Europe’s biggest African and Caribbean market. Open from 10 am to sunset six days a week, being closed on Sunday the market is a multicultural celebration of food, music, art, clothing and bargains everywhere. The market is made up of several smaller markets and a few arcades, including the Electric Avenue, which was the first street market to be lit with electricity, you might remember the Eddie Grant reggae song in the 80’s called Electric Avenue, this is about the market. The market has some of London’s freshest and best produce with plenty of ethnic specialties including Halal meats, tropical vegetables and fruits and even Caribbean bakeries. The markets date back to the 1870’s but the Afro influences have developed after the second world war when thousands of immigrants came to London with the labor shortages. Make sure to bring plenty of change for bargains and plenty of time to browse you won’t be going home empty handed. Read the rest of this entry »
Westminster Abbey or as it is really know the Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster is London’s most important churches. With a history dating back to 616 the abbey was built during the 1500’s with construction commissioned by Henry III in 1245. The church has become an important coronation and burial site for many English monarchs over the years. The abbey is today recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is still used as one of London’s most important churches. The beautiful gothic western towers as seen on our photograph were built between 1722 and 1745 and were constructed out of Portland stone which is the same limestone used on Buckingham Palace and St Paul’s Cathedral it is mined from the Isle of Portland in Dorset. Inside the Abbey is some of England’s most beautiful treasures, artworks, sculptures and magnificent tile work and stained glass windows make this abbey astonishing. Over a million people visit the Abbey each year and thousands come each day to worship, details on guided tours and opening times can be found on the official website.
We think shipping containers are pretty cool, after they spend their lives moving products around the world they can be recycled into other products either by being squished up into a new metal item or being used as is for the very popular shipping container storage shed. Well here is another use for the humble shipping container, a hotel. Traveloge in London is constructing a hotel made out of shipping containers, the containers are fitted out in China and then lifted in to position to form a multi story hotel in Uxbridge, West London. It may be ugly but its recycled and construction has been fast and cheap, its also possible to move the hotel when the need arises making the concept a good idea for short term events also. Check out the video above and let us know if you would stay in a shipping container hotel. Read the rest of this entry »
While we enjoyed the video above of this group of people setting up their dinner party in a London Tube Train, it’s probably not recommended and perhaps frowned upon by the transit police. If you have ever been on London’s subway you will remember how cramped these trains are compared to other trains around the world. Many of London’s subways were built in the late 1800s and looking back it would have been better if they were built a wee bit bigger, the trains are shaped to maximize the little space they do have and are well known for being overcrowded and uncomfortable. Read the rest of this entry »
On the banks of the River Thames The Tower of London is one of London’s most popular tourist attractions. The history of the tower dates back to 1078 and has had dozens of rebuilds and extensions and just as many uses. For most of it’s life it has been a fortress but has also been a prison and home of torture and execution. The fortress has also been an armory, a mint, somewhere to house public records, even an observatory and a zoo. Today it is the home of the Crown Jewels which have been kept in the tower since they were stolen from Westminster Abbey in 1303. The burly Beefeaters guard the tower along with ravens which have been kept at the tower for over 100 years. Legend says that if the ravens ever leave the tower the British Monarchy will fall- Good Old Lizzie better hope they don’t find a better place to live.
