Category Archives: London

Steampunk kaleidoscopes

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On my recent wander around London I came across Piccadilly Market. I don’t normally go to this part of London, so I decided to have a look around. There were lots of unique things to look at and buy, from hand crafted pop up cards and precious gems to pocket watches and stamps. What really captured my attention though were the steampunk kaleidoscopes. I’ve always loved kaleidoscopes, the lovely colours and the endless patterns that emerge from so simple an idea using mirrors, reflections and beads.

Steampunk kaleidoscopes

Steampunk kaleidoscopes

As I loved them so much I couldn’t walk away without buying one. I decided on a keyring version as I felt it was a more sensible size, plus I could have a peek whenever I felt like.

Steampunk kaleidoscopes keyring

And just to give you an idea here’s some (blurry, sorry) shots of what I can see through the tiny eye hole.

Kaleidoscope pattern

Kaleidoscope pattern

The kaleidoscopes keyring is a nice addition to my set of keys and I’m glad I came across it so unexpectedly.

The BFG dream jars

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One of my favourite authors as a child, like many others’, was Roald Dahl. He was a great story teller with a wild imagination and told of gory and funny tales which really won him over with young people. One of his best known stories The BFG was released as a film in cinemas recently, and to coincide with this and his 100th birthday, London celebrated by placing 50 dream jars containing various celebrity dreams on trails to be discovered and enjoyed. The jars will then be auctioned off and the money raised given to charity. In the past London has scattered bears, elephants, eggs, buses and more in a similar fashion.

As this was something that was close to heart and home my sister and I decided to go looking for some. We started at Marble Arch and ended up at Embankment, we walked for about 6 hours and discovered so many other parts of London that we just don’t get round to seeing.

My favourite was the one by Steven Spielberg, because who doesn’t love a tall tower of endless ice cream, cakes and sweets! Other ones that I really liked was Sophie Dahl’s dream by the sea and Dame Helen Mirren’s giant oak tree.

Steven Spielberg

Here are the rest that we found (click on image to see full picture).

I would have loved to have been able to find more (such as Quentin Blake’s or Steven Hawking’s) but we ran out of time and energy. We really enjoyed the day out and the creative dream jars, taking us along paths that we would never usually follow. I hope they raise lots of money for charity and I can’t wait to see what the next objects scattered across London will be.

Trolls

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Trolls

As a child I loved trolls, they were these weird looking miniature things with long, soft, brightly coloured hair. This year it seems that all things from the nineties have come back in fashion, from crop tops and spirograph to yes, these trolls. These slightly updated versions were spotted in central London and brought back fond memories. I think I need to get some now.

Hungry birds

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Cherry tree and thrushes

I was happily relaxing one afternoon when suddenly I heard a loud chirping and trilling, so I jumped up to investigate. I followed the noise to the kitchen and looking out into the garden I saw dozens of birds flying in and out of the neighbour’s big cherry tree. The birds (If you look closely you can see a dozen or so which I think are thrushes), were swooping down pecking off big, red, ripe cherries. I raced upstairs to have a better look and capture the moment. It was amazing to see so many birds in one place and I was surprised by just how much noise they could create in their excitement. I hope they enjoyed their delicious lunch!

London Olympic Anniversary Games 2016

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The London Olympics in 2012 was fantastic, I didn’t get any tickets for events but I was lucky enough to go to the Opening Ceremony rehearsal which was held 2 days prior to the official opening ceremony of the Games and was a chance for organisers and performers to do a complete rehearsal in costumes and do full light shows and music. It was absolutely brilliant and definitely one the best events I have ever been to. As the Olympics have come around again this year, London held an Anniversary Games where top athletes were able to compete and a give you a taste for what they would have to offer before they head off to Rio, Brazil. I was able to get tickets for this and was really looking forward to it.

I was lucky to get great seats near the start and finish points of races as well as near the high jumpers, javelin throwers and long jumpers. We were also lucky enough to see sporting superstars Jessica Ennis and Usain Bolt among others, and they were fantastic.

Seeing exciting races combined with good weather created an electric atmosphere and I had a great evening which I thoroughly enjoyed with good friends.

London Muslim Lifestyle Show 2016

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This weekend my sister and I went to the London Muslim Lifestyle show in West London, which was an event bringing together different products and services that are available for Muslims. I wasn’t too sure what to expect but I was looking forward to finding out.

There was a wide variety of things on offer; from different kind of foods, to jewellery and books.

My favourite things were the beautiful pieces of Arabic art, the stunning bottles of attar/perfume and tasty food on offer. I learnt lots of new things and was genuinely impressed by all innovative ideas that were presented from new phone apps to products that filled gaps in the market.

It was tempting to buy everything I liked, which was too much, but I managed to hold back and stick mainly to window shopping and tasters, treating myself to a few lovely things.

As you can tell I got a bit carried away with my photos, but there was just so much to see. As well as stalls there were fashion shows, singers and workshops that you could attend. My sister and I also had a lot of fun having our photos taken in photo booths wearing silly props. I thought it was an interesting event and meeting a diverse range of smiley people people, both Muslim and non created a great atmosphere.

Neal’s Yard

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Neal’s Yard is a bit of a hidden spot in the center of London, it’s colourful buildings lead you to a quiet square where you can have a nice meal and a refreshing drink. On the day my sister and I visited it was lovely and sunny, making the colours really pop and the Yard inviting and relaxing.

Neal's Yard

Monopoly on the Square

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My sister and I headed into London today to Trafalgar Square to see the giant Monopoly board that’s based on the game we used to play as kids. It’s been installed there for the weekend and is part of the London Games Festival that’s being held over the Easter break.

The Monopoly board wasn’t big as we imagined and there weren’t as many game pieces as we’d hoped but it was still a fun idea, and with the weather so warm and sunny we were happy to be out, even if we didn’t get a chance to play a round.

I think we had most fun though climbing up to where the famous bronze lions sit that guard Nelson’s Column. We haven’t done this since we were kids and no one cried this time!

Lumiere London – Part 2

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The Lumiere event that my sister and I went along to recently was spaced out over various areas across London. Part 1 covered the innovative light artworks in Mayfair and Regent Street, and this post will cover the remaining areas.

After our walk through Regents Street we headed towards Trafalgar Square. I love Trafalgar Square anyway so with this light festival I was looking forward to see what was on show. In front of the National Gallery the words ‘Central Point’ were illuminated (these are normally found on top of a building on Oxford Street) and the iconic fountains were filled with light and plastic bottles. My favourite in this area were the neon dogs, which were so colourful and fun.

After seeing the dogs we hurried on to the next area on the map, Leicester Square. On approaching we could see an array of wonderful bright colours and could see that the whole area had been transformed into a garden of light. There were enormous lit flowers and colourful trees and I think this was my sister and my favourite spot on the map. My photos don’t show just how much the colours popped but it was a a really pretty sight.

Our last stop on the map was at Kings Cross, here the installations were a bit easier to find and closer together. There were some really innovative ideas; some light sticks to draw on the ground, a fun light show projected onto a large building and rainbow tunnel made up of coloured bottles. A little extra thing we spotted were candy floss on light sticks, which we thought was such a simple but effective idea.

All in all my sister and I had a great but exhausting evening, we walked around London on a cold night for approximately 4 hours and manged to see all but a handful of what was on show. We thought it was a great event and one that certainly lived up to the promise of showing us the city in a new light. I think we both agree that we would definitely go along to this event again if it was held next Winter. For more photos you can check out my sisters post of the evening here.

Lumiere London 2015 – Part 1

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Last week my sister and I went along to Lumiere London, an event being held over 4 days showcasing 30 light art installations across Central London. This is the first time such an event was held and as it was free and practically on our doorstep we decided it was too good to miss. Armed with our cameras and special maps pointing out where each artwork was placed, we got going, ready for lots of walking and snapping.

The first area we walked through was Mayfair. Here there were a couple of pieces I liked, my favourite being the phonebox converted into a fishtank – which I thought was so innovative and clever. Unfortunately it was really busy and difficult to get a good picture, but below is my best one to give you an idea.

Next we moved on to Regent Street, where as soon as you approached the area you could see a large, strange, colourfully dreamy object almost floating in the sky

London

It was an interesting piece and the various changing colours and textures kept our attention for as long as we could see it.

Other lightworks around Regent Street that we saw included a stickman show, a lovely trumpeting elephant and a pretty, colourful, luminous dress. I also enjoyed watching the flying ‘fish’ which were set against the backdrop of tall white buildings and the dark night sky.

As we worked our way through the London street we took in the colourful, pretty lights, the buzzing atmosphere and the upbeat music, and although it was a really cold night we were glad to be there.

I still have more photos of the remaining 2 areas; Trafalgar Square and Kings Cross, both of which also held some lovely innovative pieces which I will post soon.