Life in London – July 2010

My SIXT Blog for July is just 2 weeks of the month in London as I spent the other 2 in the USA. I had a long weekend in New York then a week and a half in New Mexico, driving around a decent amount of this state – Santa Fe, Taos, Albuquerque, White Sands, Carlsbad and Roswell – so got to see loads of amazing sights.  However, my 2 weeks in London were great fun too, so read on……

Wimbledon is one of the high points of a Londoner’s year and we all become massive tennis fans for 2 weeks of the year. I was lucky enough to win 2 tickets in their annual ballot and although they were not for Centre Court, they were for the last day of the tournament on Court 1. This meant we could stroll in at 11am past all the overnight queue-ers, wander around the whole site, enjoy a leisurely coffee before settling down on Henman Hill for the men’s’ final. It’s still called Henman Hill despite an attempt to remain it Murray Mound but that doesn’t work as well. The Hill was packed (see photo) and is very steep so it is all too easy to find yourself sliding downhill into your near neighbours when you try an energetic cheer!  After the final we popped into Court 1 to enjoy our allotted seats and saw a women’s invitation match with Martina Navratilova looking good and back to form after her recent cancer scare. She is a star and was clearly having a great time, but still really wanted to win – and did.  We also saw Pat Cash in doubles (still a bit of a favourite of mine), some British boys with good potential, drank some Pimms and had a great day out. 

Wimbledon Court One

Henman Hill at Wimbledon

I had some clients visiting London with my travel company (It’s Your London) and we went to many of the key sights – Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, Houses of Parliament, Downing Street etc – we did some more unusual visit at their request. Billingsgate is a huge indoor fish market just next to Canary Wharf in London’s Docklands area. The current market is in a new building but fish have been traded in the area since the 16th century.   If you are strong enough to be up very early and get there for 6.15am you can join a guided tour of the floor where tons of all kinds of fish are traded each morning.  The guide will explain the difference in quality and freshness of the fish and shell fish in a very candid way which is really illuminating.  The tour finishes with a breakfast in the traders cafe – we had bacon sandwiches as we had seen enough fish by then!  A couple of photos show you the floor and some of the fish displays.

Billingsgate Fish Market

Billingsgate Market Traders

On the food theme, my clients also went to Camden Market which was brilliant and had plenty to see on a Wednesday lunchtime. We popped into the new ice cream parlour where they use liquid nitrogen to make their basic custard mixes into ice cream before your very eyes!  You can see from the photo the moment when the nitrogen hits the mix and it looks like a science experiment!  Whatever next….. ? Camden feels very vibrant again with a great mix of new one off fashions, vintage clothes and collectables and more food stalls than you can ever need.  Well worth a visit.

Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Production

It’s been great weather this month, with plenty of sunshine and dry days.  Our parks and gardens have been packed and there have been festivals on every weekend.  One special summer event in Hyde Park is the annual Serpentine Gallery competition to build their summer pavilion won this year by the architect Jean Nouvel. His huge red building is fabulous, standing out against the green of the park and the classic style of the gallery itself. It’s a great place for a refreshing glass of wine as you take some exercise in the park. Hyde Park will be the venue for the Olympic Triathlon and they were hosting one last weekend so we are beginning to really feel the build up with just under 2 years to go now!

The award winning Serpentine Gallery Pavilion

August will be a good month with the Notting Hill carnival as its highlight so I’ll be back soon to tell you all about that massive event.

Sue
www.itsyourlondon.co.uk

Related posts:

1. Life in London… a look back at 2010
2. Life in London – August 2010
3. Life in London – June 2010
4. Life in London – February 2010
5. Life in London – October 2010