We are pleased to introduce our new guest blogger to the Sixt Blog – Sue Hillman. Sue is a resident of the famous Notting Hill who has lived in London for over 30 years. Each month Sue will be reporting on the latest happenings from across the capital and we are delighted to bring you her October review…  
 
 
This is the first of my monthly blogs for Sixt rent a car where I’ll be giving you all a glimpse into life in London, the world’s most exciting city – well, I’m a Londoner and I think so! I’ll be giving you the highlights of my month and some photos of where I’ve been, so I hope you enjoy it.
Frieze Art Fair

Frieze Art Fair

In October we had fabulous weather, it was warm and sunny and great for exploring and there was so much happening. The art world descended on London and everywhere you turned there was a new show or wonderful exhibition.

I was lucky enough to get private viewing tickets for the big one, the Frieze Art Fair held in a huge marquee in Regents Park, where the stars and big buyers from all round the world poured in wanting to see and be seen.  Also much talked about were Damien Hirst’s new paintings at the Wallace Collection, all blue skulls, white lines and ashtrays! The Wallace Collection is an extraordinary house full of paintings, furniture, ceramics and an enormous amount of amour from all round the world, some really old and strange, it’s quite amazing.

It was a great month for enjoying London’s huge parks especially with the autumn colours in full force. Hyde Park is a special favourite of mine and if you love horse riding you can have a tour around the park on one of their wonderful horses, which  always looks such fun. We just walked and watched on this occasion but we had a good time watching the riders and felt very healthy afterwards.

Horses in Hyde Park

Horses in Hyde Park

Another great thing to do when the sun is out is to join the throng on Portobello Road for the Saturday market. You can find anything you’ve ever wanted there from a small piece of Victorian jewellery and Chinese statutes from the 17th Century to vintage fashion or gas masks and military uniforms. The area is full of great bars and restaurants and you can sit as we did outside the Ground Floor bar and watch the world go by for a happy hour or so.  You need to set aside a day to do the whole street and not be worried by crowds of people as it’s always packed but I love the buzz.

Sue with Dominic West

Sue with Dominic West

One of the treats of London is catching something wonderful and unexpected. I saw that Dominic West of TV series The Wire was to be interviewed on stage at the Donmar theatre so we grabbed those tickets quickly.

The Donmar is an intimate theatre space and the set was still in place from Streetcar Named Desire, so all balconies and ironwork. Dominic was interviewed for about an hour, with questions, about the forthcoming play he is starring in at the Donmar.  He was charming and friendly and I even got my picture taken with him afterwards and I’m still excited about it, so here it is!
 
I hope you enjoyed highlights of my October, see you next month.

Sue

Sue Hillman
www.itsyourlondon.co.uk
Read Sue’s blog here

Related posts:

  1. Life in London – December 2009
  2. Life in London – November 2009
  3. Life in London – June 2010
  4. Life in London – March 2010
  5. Life in London – April 2010