After what has been a long and enjoyable day its time to get out of central London and eat. I am big fan of Indian food and almost every time I am in London I indulge, this time is no different. So far for me East London has been the best although strictly speaking I have eaten at Bangladeshi places around Whitechapel. Today I am heading out to East Ham for a Biryani at Hyderabadi Spice which has been highly recommended. Its a fair old distance on the tube, which feels even longer as its rush hour, as its the last stop in zone 3. First time I have been to East Ham and by the amount of Indian people, Indian shops/businesses and Indian restaurants I am confident this is the place to eat Indian Food. I arrive and order a chicken biryani with a starter of cut mirchi. The chicken is on the bone and tender, the flavor is unlike anything I have had before, a far cry from what the normal high street curry houses up and down the country serve. Highly recommended and will definitely be coming back to eat in the area.
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Or in reality the end of my day. This is something else I want to include in the blog. As I may have mentioned before I don't actually live in London, so after I feel my day is done its time for me to relax, review my day, have a coffee, a couple beers and a meal before heading back to my hotel or back to Bristol where I Live. I go for a coffee and get out my A to Z and plan the next part of my journey which will be the next time I am in London. And its here that I see another flaw and also a mistake. As I have found with both the light blue and the pink properties, visiting each property in the order they appear on the monopoly board doesn't make sense logistically and my mistake is my lack of planning. I am actually sat in a cafe on The Strand overlooking Trafalgar Square, two of the red properties, with Pall Mall the other side. so maybe it would be an idea to visit properties that are next to each other as opposed to doing them by colour sets.
Northumberland Avenue is just around the corner and takes you back down to the Victoria Embankment better known as the Embankment. Not much to see here to be honest, lots of places to eat for all budgets. Two places catch my eye for different reasons. The first was 50 Kalo Di Ciro Salvo Pizzeria which has a very bold claim to being the best pizza in Europe! Now I can't comment as I didn't eat there but I am sure many Italians would say otherwise. The second place was Kerridge's Bar & Grill owned by Michelin starred and celebrity chef Tom Kerridge and is in the Corinthia Hotel. I just walked to the end of the road, cross over and walk back up. Couple of pubs, couple of tour buses, but due to bad weather there were no takers. After what has been a long day with a lot of walking I decide not to head over to Pall Mall which would be the pink properties completed, instead i go for a coffee and review my notes.
I walk up the steps and out on to Westminster Bridge, and there on the left on the other side of the river Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Impressive but there was major refurbishment going on and Big Ben was covered up. So into Parliament Square and the first thing I notice is that its a lot smaller than on the TV, camera angles make all the difference. As far as I can remember this is the first time I have been here. Lots of grand buildings, statues and police. Not much that I can say about Parliament Square so I will leave it here with a couple of photos, not my best I must add, but you get a little idea. After leaving Bloomsbury Square I decide to continue my journey via The Southbank. the most direct route will take me over Waterloo Bridge, one of the many bridges that cross the River Thames. As I approach the bridge I pass Somerset House, a place I had never heard of but I thought was worthy of a photo. It has had many uses over the years but nowadays hosts exhibitions, art and media related things. In winter it has an ice rink. It is open to the public and has featured in many films over the last 50 years https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/247 I continue over Waterloo Bridge, stopping to take a photo looking to the left of the bridge which has a great view, just a pity it wasn't a sunny day. Once over the bridge I go down the steps onto the Southbank and head right towards where the action is. After what seems a long walk I fancy a pint and pop into Jimmy's Popup and order a pretty decent pint of pale ale which considering the area was reasonably priced. Just opposite is the British Film Institute which I highly recommend to fans of film industry. It is a shrine to film history and shows films throughout the day, mostly of the classic variety. There is a cafe and an excellent gift shop. One of the reasons I went in was to shelter from the rain but was glad that I did. Will definitely pay another visit. After almost an hour there I head out and walk towards Westminster Bridge, passing a food stall market, the London Eye and several themed tourist attractions including Shreks Adventure, The London Dungeon, Sea Life Aquarium.
Something that came to mind as I began the Pink properties was to do an introduction to them or a forward, something that will become a feature on each set of properties before I begin each journey, just as my 'completed' and conclusions have. The idea is to map out the journey before I begin, my reasons for it and some thoughts. Something that i forgot to do, so he we go.
So after the first two sets of properties were completed, the Browns and the Light Blues, I felt I was now hitting the 'real' London, the London we all know about, the parts the tourists all go to, the parts many Londoners and non Londoners dislike. And to some extent these were the parts I was least looking forward to, especially after the previous two sets, which in reality are 'real' London for Londoners and I had really enjoyed visiting and will definitely be going back to. So the route I decided to take from Euston Road was along the A4200, over Waterloo Bridge, along the South Bank, over Westminster Bridge, via Parliment Square, and then it would be Whitehall, Northumberland Avenue and Pall Mall. Reasons being I want to make the journeys between each property as interesting as possible, getting to really know and see London and as much as possible on foot, even though most of my journeys have been anything but direct. With regards to the South Bank, I enjoy walking along the Thames, which is something else I would like to incorporate into the blog. So from Russell Square I continue along Southampton row for again no more than ten minutes until I come to Bloomsbury Square. Originally it was called Southampton Square and like most of the squares nearby is part of the Bedford Estate. The square was scene of an infamous duel between Scottish economist and financier John Law and Edward 'Beau' Wilson in which Law was victorious . The writer Isaac Disraeli lived here as did his son Benjamin who later went on to become prime minister. The British Museum is close by and the nearest tube station is Holborn. For me the square was nothing special to be honest with three squares in half an hour I was a bit 'squared out' at this point, so after taking a few notes and a walk through I continued my journey.
I leave Tavistock Square and continue along Woburn Place to Russell Square which again takes no more than 10 minutes. Russell Square is named after the Earls and Dukes of Bedford whose surname was Russell. There is a statue of Francis Russell 5th Duke of Bedford who is responsible for much of the development of central Bloomsbury, which is the medical and academic quarter of London. The square appears in various novels, notably Thackeray's Vanity Fair, Virginia Woolf's Night And Day, John Dickson Carr's The Hollow Man and Alan Hollinghurst's The Swimming Pool Library. It was also the location of Channel 4's Black Books. Personally the Square was nothing special, there is family run cafe that has been there since 1981.
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AuthorLouis Mogg. Archives
March 2020
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