Wide Angle Wanderings

Culture

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Helen

It’s no secret that whilst we were living in Vancouver I really missed what we in the UK refer to as culture. Since moving to London we have thoroughly immersed ourselves and it has been fantastic. We saw Stones in his Pockets at the Tricycle Theatre, I saw Billy Elliot the musical with Frances and we’ve seen comedy at the Union Chapel in Highbury and Islington (it’s actually a Chapel most of the time) and in the Royal Albert Hall where we finally got to see Tim Minchin live. Not to mention the circus at the Roundhouse and Lisa and I had an unexpectedly fascinating evening at the Tabernacle in Notting Hill where we heard a number of speakers including Alain de Botton and Jonathan Safran Foer.

We’ve also been to lots and lots of museums and galleries, the Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy was particularly fantastic, although really really busy. I also particularly enjoyed Hajj: Journey to the heart of Islam at the British Museum and beautiful old books at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

I went on a bit of a ticket buying spree when I got my first paycheck, could have bought clothes, should have bought furniture but nope I just bought lots and lots of tickets. It’s very exciting though we have at least one thing lined up every month until September!

and because I love it so very much I couldn’t resist posting this:

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London Landmarks

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Helen

One really chilly day in January when we really needed to get out of our tiny flat before we fell over yet another box we ventured to the Design Museum. The current exhibition was about Conran. It was a really interesting exhibition and it’s always fun to see things you recognise from your parents kitchen in a museum! It was also great for getting interior design inspiration, albeit perhaps rather out of our price and size range.

Coming out of the museum we were stopped in our tracks by the perfect afternoon sunlight glinting off Tower Bridge and the dome of St Paul’s. Despite the plummeting temperatures we took a brisk walk along the bank and across the river in awe of the buildings around us.

Thanks to Mike for sharing his camera when I forgot to charge my batteries. Oops.

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Columbia Road

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Helen

Columbia Road flower market is without question one of my favourite London discoveries so far. It’s a really cute little cobbled street in the East end of London that comes to life at the weekend. All the shops and cafe’s are independent and only open on Saturday and Sunday, but the best part of all is that on Sunday the whole street is taken over by the most amazing flower market, complete with cockney accented market traders.

Fresh flowers at home are one of my favourite things and this street is an easy cycle from home, all around win really.

The street is crazy busy when the market is on, which makes it really difficult to take pictures.

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iphoneography

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Helen

Since returning to the UK I have had an iphone and I have to admit I love it. It’s a real shame to say that about a piece of technology, but the combination of always having a camera on me, without the accompanying back pain of lugging about my big camera, and google maps permanently about my person is just such a winning combination. It also allows me to capture the little things in the day that catch my eye. It seems in January and February that was London architecture and food!

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Maltby Street Market

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Helen

As anyone who has ever looked at my pictures can tell I’m a bit of a fan of food and food markets. Maltby Street Market was one of the first that we explored and it was a charming little cluster of shops nestled under the arches of the railway line. What is great about this market is that the beer that is sold here is also brewed here, the coffee is roasted and lots of the baked goods are also made on site.