Life in London – April 2010

Darth Vader takes part in the Marathon

My Sixt Blog for April celebrates the amazing achievement of the 30,000 ‘fun’ and elite runners in the London Marathon, a couple of good tours,  a sound installation, a great big ash cloud and of course several restaurants!

The London Marathon is a massive event with over 30,000 runners pounding the 26 and a bit miles through the streets of London to finish just by Buckingham Palace but with no chance to enjoy the sights. I was volunteering for Water Aid on the day which is a great cause fighting for clean water and sanitation for all and nearly lost my voice cheering everyone on.  The amazing sights of people battling through in huge and difficult costumes made me wonder how they did it so I took loads of photos to show you their achievement. The man with the artificial legs got a huge cheer and was due to finish in a very good time.

More London Marathon

More runners

The ash cloud resulted in a really strange atmosphere of quiet and calm with empty skies but there was huge frustration for all travellers. I was lucky as my clients from USA flew in the day the ban was lifted and we had a great couple of sunny days sightseeing.  Londoners got excited and took photos of the clear blue plane-less skies and posted them online and the folk who live in the incredibly noisy flight path had a holiday in their own homes!

The Duck Tour

I spent an unusual morning on a ‘Duck Tour‘, a trip around central London and along the Thames (and I mean ‘along’) in an amphibious vehicle built in 1942 for the D Day landings! It’s big, heavy and well looked after, equally happy on land or in water. The swap from land to river took place just outside the M16 building where we changed driver to pilot and chugged down the river really very low in the water!  Our jolly guide gave us tips of information and encouraged us to shout ‘quack quack’ at passers-by!  Here are a couple of photos to show you what we looked like.

I took to a bike for a rare outing on 2 wheels with Nathan from Cycle Tours London. He very kindly cut down his usual 6 hour tour to a couple of hours around central London and he guided me through cycle paths, river fronts and normal traffic with great skill. It was great to see familiar sights in a completely different way and it was easy as he arranges bike and helmet hire.  One photo to prove my prowess – well, stationary in Hyde Park!

Biking around London

Comedy is big in London so we went to see a show put on by the Amused Moose comedy clutho’ it was hosted by Moonlighting night club so we had a small stage and seating temporarily set up in the corner of a big club of lights and mirrors! Still, it was a good show with the MC Mark Dolan being particularly funny and bringing huge energy to the whole evening.  Couldn’t resist taking a photo of their logo before the show began.

We’ve been trying out some Michelin starred restaurants and one even featured in the top 50 restaurants of the world, albeit at number 49 but that’s still pretty good I’d say. Hibiscus (newly 2 starred and number 49) serves wonderful French food in an unassuming spot off Bond Street which looks nothing much from the outside but is very good inside with lovely staff, efficient and friendly, the Holy Grail for any restaurant. Also newly 2 starred is another French place, The Ledbury in Notting Hill which is a little more formal but still great food and frequented by the local French community. Our third Michelin visit ‘only’ had the one star and was Quilon, an Indian restaurant attached to the Taj hotel and served a great mini tasting menu. 

The Moose Comedy Club

In case you think it costs a fortune, all three visits were on special set menu offers of around  £25 for 2 courses so it is possible to eat out well and not break the bank.

May is going to be another busy month and hopefully some lovely warm and sunny times are heading our way to tell you about.

Sue
www.itsyourlondon.co.uk

Related posts:

1. Life in London… a look back at 2010
2. Life in London – May 2010
3. Life in London – March 2010
4. Life in London – June 2010
5. Life in London – July 2010