Takemetolondon

Do you like adrenaline ? Take a Thanes Jet ride and see London from the river! See some pictures I took today with my group. Great fun and beautiful views .

Today it was a day when I felt I have the best job in the world. I did a panoramic tour with a lovely Hungarian group. 15 fantastic ladies. I had such a great fun with them. They were all wearing the same T-shirt saying ÖTYE. Abbreviation of Old Hens Union . Well it would be OHU in English. They gave me a badge so I am an old hen now officially :-) They will be playing basketball this weekend in Manchester this weekend. Let's cheer for them .

Don't miss this ! At 120 Fenchurch Street there's a new rooftop open to the public currently weekdays only (summer hours 10 am - 9 pm). Expected to be extended to weekends as well in the not too distant future. It's a mid-level rooftop at 15 storeys and it's that that makes it all the more special. Right up close to the Gherkin (30 St Mary Axe) and the Walkie Talkie (20 Fenchurch Street), you join the land of the towers of the City and look down on, by comparison, a lilliputian Tower Bridge. Fabulous Free Fun. Don't miss this !

A traditional Hungarian horse-herdsman, or csikos, demonstrating his steed’s training before the Royal Windsor Horse Show, which starts today in Commemoration of Queen Victoria’s 200-Year Anniversary
Hungarian Csikós, a collective of traditional mounted horse-herdsman. There are only ten of the original Csikós riders in the world, of which six will be at the show. Their horses are trained to lie down for long periods of time on the Hungarian Plains and this will be demonstrat...ed, along with the Puszta Five. Three horses in the lead are controlled by one rider who stands on a further two horses at the back. The gallop down the arena will be breath-taking.
Spokesperson for the Hungarian Csikós, Péter Szladek, commented: “Tradition is a big part of life in Hortobagy, the largest National Park in eastern Hungary, and means everything to those involved in the display, so to be able to perform at this incredible setting in Great Britain, a nation that values equestrian tradition as much as our own, means so much.”
The event is also delighted to host another first; the Csikós National Champion in horse archery. Be prepared for a real thrill, as he will demonstrate firing arrows from a cantering horse at targets held up by his assistants. This is one display not for the faint hearted.
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Let us take you to lovely Blenheim Palace with the wonderful park designed by Capability Brown! This is the place where Winston Churchill was born, and he proposed to Clementine at the Temple of Diana on the grounds of the park surrounding this stunning Baroque Palace. The land was given to John Churchill by the Queen for his success in the Spanish succession war and he entrusted John Vanbrugh to build Blenheim. His wife was Sarah Churchill who was friend of Queen Anne. Th...eir friendship was the theme of the film called The Favourite directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.
Látogasd meg a gyönyörű Blenheim Palotát és az azt körülvevő Capability Brown által tervezett Parkot ! A palotta egyik szobájában született Winston Churchill és a parkban álló Diana Templomában kérte meg Clementina kezét. A földet Anna királynő adományozta John Churchillnek a Spanyol örökösödési háborúban való sikereiért. John Vanbrughot bizta meg a barokk palota tervezésével. Felesége Sarah Churchill volt akinek Anna királynéhoz fűződő barátsága volt Yorgos Lanthimos A Kedvenc cimű filmjének témája
Palácio de Blenheim e seu parque planejado pela paisagista Capability Brown é imperdível!
O palácio é famoso por ter sido o local de nascimento e casa ancestral do antigo primeiro-ministro, Sir Winston Churchill e o local aonde Churchill pediu a mão de Clementine. Rainha Ana concedeu a terra ao primeiro Duque de Marlborough John Churchill como agradecimento pelo susseso na Guerra de Sucessão Espanhola. John Churchill contratou o arquiteto John Vanburgh para construir Blenheim no estílo barroco. A esposa, Sarah Churchill era amiga e confidente da Rainha Anna desde a infância . A amizade delas foi a fonte de inspiração do filme A Favorita dirigido por Yorgos Lanthimos.
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Classical Music fans ! Auction to support the London Philharmonic Orchestra . Plenty of goodies you can bid for, among them Jackie's fantastic Street Art tour

Tower Bridge
Built between 1886 and 1894 by Wolf Barry appointed engineer and Sir Horace Jones as architect. A traditional fixed bridge at street level could not be built because it would cut off access for sailing ships to the port facilities in the Pool of London between London Bridge and the Tower of London. The ports had moved but it still opens for tall ships.
I took this picture yesterday !!! Isn’t it wonderful ?
... The bridge's twin towers, high-level walkways and Victorian engine rooms form part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition
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MARY QUANT at the V&A
Fashion designer of Welsh origin, who was immortalised as the originator of miniskirt however her influence is so much broader than this iconic piece of clothing.
It was the 1960’s the Swinging 60’s finally economic stability was felt after the second world war and teenagers and young adults had shopping power. They wanted to dress their own way and find their identity. After the world war women role in society had changed many of us started to work.... Mary Quant designed clothes for working women. Look at the style, comfortable, stylish and sexy at the same time !
She claimed that she did not invent the miniskirt, but, rather, the girls who visited her shops did, as they wanted them shorter and shorter. She even named the garments after her favourite make of car: the Mini.
“I didn't have time to wait for women's lib,” Dame Mary Quant said famously in 1973 about the way she revolutionised fashion for women.
Her clothes are as relevant as ever.
She opened her store Bazaar in 1955 on Kings road Chelsea. While Carnaby street was the centre of tailoring for men Kings road in Chelsea became the Catwalk in London.
I can only recommend this fantastic exhibition at my favourite museum V&A
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"There is no other country in the world, besides my own, whose way of life I like so much. I love English traditions, English politeness, English architecture. I even love English cooking." Christian Dior
The ‘Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams’ exhibition has just opened at the V & A museum ! It traces Dior’s relationship with Britain and whisks you away into the French couturier’s world of elegance and beauty. Here’s a peak at some of the exhibits inside as well as a review of the exhibition by the invariably-spot-on BBC Arts editor Will Gompertz. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment- arts-47036896

One to watch ..
Bambi is often said to be the female Banksy and, like Banksy, she keeps her own identity under wraps, uses her artwork to make social and political comment and often applies stencil techniques. Here are a few pictures from a recent pop-up display in Islington (at the junction of Shillingford St and Cross St). Just around the corner (literally) is a famous pub: The King’s Head Theatre Pub. So once you’ve seen the street art, why not consider taking in a play at this cosy little venue ? More affordable than the West End theatres, pub theatres offer some great fringe performances, comedy and musical theatre .. and the King’s Head Theatre Pub in Islington is no exception. So that's another one to watch.

On this very day, 1st January, in a small room in Axe Yard, Westminster near modern-day Downing Street, a Londoner, Samuel Pepys, began his diary. The year was 1660 and he kept on making entries for 9 years and 5 months when his eyesight started to fail him.
His first entry was rather mundane. He got up, went to chapel and dined with his wife, Elizabeth, on left-over Christmas turkey. She had burned her hand when making the meal. Then he penned a few lines on the politics o...f the day. At this time the public were living in fear, fear of another English Civil War. What would the future hold ? A military dictatorship or some sort of return of the pre-civil war monarchy ?
Thanks to Samuel Pepys we got all the answers, as he experienced them, first hand: the return of a King, King Charles II and then tough times with the 1665 Great Plague followed by the Great Fire of London in 1666, a fire which destroyed no less than 13,200 houses and 87 churches (but not Samuel Pepys’ wines and favourite Parmesan cheese which, he noted in his diary, he buried safely in a pit in his garden).
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Wishing you all a Merry Christmas with this lovely picture of magical Stonehenge!
Why Stonehenge ?
On the 21st of December thousands gathered here to celebrate Winter Solstice. Today the 25th of December is the first day after the Winter Solstice when, in the Northern Hemisphere, the length of daylight can be perceptibly measured as having grown longer. This day has been a special day in many cultures. The ancient Egyptian god Isis, the Greek god Apollo and the Persian ...god Mithras are just a few deities whose birth was celebrated on the 25th of December, long before the coming of Jesus and Christianity. Midwinter has always been a time for people to come together and celebrate. We all share a spiritual heritage which reaches back to our primordial beginnings.
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Specially for Saint Nicolas celebrations today here is a card by street artist Thierry Noir. A Frenchman living in Berlin, he’s said to be the first street artist to have painted the Berlin Wall back in 1984.
He calls it a “deadly wall” that could never be beautiful though his style is bright and playful with simple forms because he had to be quick lest he be caught. The Berliners in 1984 stopped to ask who was paying him. He wasn’t paid but he was making the wall look ridiculous and demystifying it - for free. In London Thierry Noir’s work is intertwined with street life in Shoreditch and elsewhere. It is now so familiar we’d miss it if it were gone. Thank you, Dank u, Danke schön, Merci.. Thierry.

This picture was taken Friday last in my favourite London park. Green Park is the picnic park but let’s call it gas lamps park at this time of year. There are no less than 1500 of these gas lamps dotted around London. This one is on Queen Caroline’s walk and a little further along you pass Spencer House, a palatial aristocratic town house built in the mid 1700s. If you are in town on a Sunday (bar in August) that's the time to visit the interior. Spot the three statues silhouetted against that blue sky of Friday last. Flora, Ceres and Bacchus: the one on the left as you look at the photo seems a little the worse for wear. I’d like to say it’s Bacchus who’s had one too many but I suspect it's Flora, Goddess of Flowers (and in Green Park that's the one million daffodils that herald the start of the picnic season)..

This is a picture from a few months back when the newly qualified London blue badge guides got an opportunity to spend an afternoon at No 10 Downing Street. But enough about me and blue badges, how about focusing in on that Georgian fanlight above the door ? Functional (letting in the light to dark hallways) and decorative (spot all the diverse designs dotted around London). The door itself was originally oak but now it's blast-proof steel. Difficult to get past ? Well, not if you're Larry the cat, seen showing us all how to do it just the other day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_idVXgEUj QQ