Outsider visits UK-the cars,food, the changes (pics )
Discussion
Although I spent two years of my life in London it was a long time ago and I only get there about once a year. This time I decided to take it easy and enjoy the place. I went to Brooklands which I posted separately ( http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=121... )
Even in a year since my last visit, there are subtle changes. The underground now has a lot of video advertising and I had the creepy feeling of Daniel Craig watching me on every corner,the relentless march of global brands continues as it has in every major city, sadly. Hugo Boss, the Gap, Starbucks, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany and so on are everywhere.There are more gelato places, and streets like the King's road bear little resemblance to when I had my first-ever glass of wine at the Chelsea Kitchen, now long gone.
That being said London remains one of the most interesting cities on earth, with an unbeatable art scene and some great restaurants. This being PH I might as well start with a few of the cars I noticed:
Well,Ferraris are not rare, ad two of them were being driven by people wearing cuff links, interestingly, and there was one spectacular car in the HR Owen window
The Lord Mayors of Westminster and Chelsea get considerably better transport than our lot our here in Canada:
A few older cars still show up:
I lusted after this tidy offroader though:
The worst window sticker ever
Grandchild on Board. aargh...........
Restaurants were generally excellent:
Apart from the usual Pret stuff, ate in two excellent Szechuan reaturants, searing hot and reasonably priced, plus two of the more expensive spots:
The Ledbury was outstanding and the best meal I had anywhere in the world in 2012
Tough area nearby..someone had trashed this car with an axe
I broke my own rule of never eating in a restaurant in a hotel and went to the new Heston Blumenthal place, Dinner. Beautiful place, perfect service, friendly staff, perfectly cooked food, and.......well........a bit dull, to be honest. Also on the pricey side.
The Anchor & Hope Gastropub was outstanding, (no reservations) and very reasonable
Bargain meal , thanks to a PH reco was Pierre Victoire in Oxford with a three course meal for about eleven quid.
Best place for breakfast was More, near London Bridge and the Shard
Some things like the Baker Street tube are blessedly unchanged:
While Chelsea seems to be overtaken by young married with kids and some strange cars
I am impressed with the lockups for the toddler scooters outside an expensive kindergarten. Must be tough to clamp
I usually drop by Trafalgar Square to see what is on the fourth plinth..here are current and some previous:
Permanent:
Temporary:
As always, London has an amazing art scene. The new Saatchi gallery in Chelsea is a work of art by itself Every corner is perfect:
The National portrait gallery had a superb exhibit of portraits of the Queen
The famous Lucien Freud painting is tiny:
The Bronze exhibit in the Royal Academy is by far the finest ever mounted and the art exhibit of the year globally:
There is a very strange exhibit of Chinese art in the Hayward:
A quick side trip to Oxford suggested that it had barely changed in the decades since I was last there:
Inner Harry Potter moment
My favourite Pub sign of the trip:
Returning to London, strolling around St James, I passed on buying a $100 million yacht from one of the brokerage houses, but realized that London must be the only place on earth that still had hatters,nearby a booking office for space travel. How utterly excellent a place it is.
Even in a year since my last visit, there are subtle changes. The underground now has a lot of video advertising and I had the creepy feeling of Daniel Craig watching me on every corner,the relentless march of global brands continues as it has in every major city, sadly. Hugo Boss, the Gap, Starbucks, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany and so on are everywhere.There are more gelato places, and streets like the King's road bear little resemblance to when I had my first-ever glass of wine at the Chelsea Kitchen, now long gone.
That being said London remains one of the most interesting cities on earth, with an unbeatable art scene and some great restaurants. This being PH I might as well start with a few of the cars I noticed:
Well,Ferraris are not rare, ad two of them were being driven by people wearing cuff links, interestingly, and there was one spectacular car in the HR Owen window
The Lord Mayors of Westminster and Chelsea get considerably better transport than our lot our here in Canada:
A few older cars still show up:
I lusted after this tidy offroader though:
The worst window sticker ever
Grandchild on Board. aargh...........
Restaurants were generally excellent:
Apart from the usual Pret stuff, ate in two excellent Szechuan reaturants, searing hot and reasonably priced, plus two of the more expensive spots:
The Ledbury was outstanding and the best meal I had anywhere in the world in 2012
Tough area nearby..someone had trashed this car with an axe
I broke my own rule of never eating in a restaurant in a hotel and went to the new Heston Blumenthal place, Dinner. Beautiful place, perfect service, friendly staff, perfectly cooked food, and.......well........a bit dull, to be honest. Also on the pricey side.
The Anchor & Hope Gastropub was outstanding, (no reservations) and very reasonable
Bargain meal , thanks to a PH reco was Pierre Victoire in Oxford with a three course meal for about eleven quid.
Best place for breakfast was More, near London Bridge and the Shard
Some things like the Baker Street tube are blessedly unchanged:
While Chelsea seems to be overtaken by young married with kids and some strange cars
I am impressed with the lockups for the toddler scooters outside an expensive kindergarten. Must be tough to clamp
I usually drop by Trafalgar Square to see what is on the fourth plinth..here are current and some previous:
Permanent:
Temporary:
As always, London has an amazing art scene. The new Saatchi gallery in Chelsea is a work of art by itself Every corner is perfect:
The National portrait gallery had a superb exhibit of portraits of the Queen
The famous Lucien Freud painting is tiny:
The Bronze exhibit in the Royal Academy is by far the finest ever mounted and the art exhibit of the year globally:
There is a very strange exhibit of Chinese art in the Hayward:
A quick side trip to Oxford suggested that it had barely changed in the decades since I was last there:
Inner Harry Potter moment
My favourite Pub sign of the trip:
Returning to London, strolling around St James, I passed on buying a $100 million yacht from one of the brokerage houses, but realized that London must be the only place on earth that still had hatters,nearby a booking office for space travel. How utterly excellent a place it is.
Edited by RDMcG on Thursday 25th October 14:33
Edited by RDMcG on Thursday 25th October 14:39
GBB said:
Great post. I might actually go and visit an Art Gallery as a result of it.
Didn't know about the Jordan RR, though looking again the KP11HOT plate might give the game away.
I wonder if KP10HOT is available. I could stick it on a pink Micra and drive it about (cue "Jordan gone to pot" headlines)
People do seem to go to extraordinary lengths to get plates. Here, you simply pay $200 and have have any 8 character letter/number plate you want if its not taken and not offensive. I have a number of them. I quite liked this..wonder where he/she works????.......Didn't know about the Jordan RR, though looking again the KP11HOT plate might give the game away.
I wonder if KP10HOT is available. I could stick it on a pink Micra and drive it about (cue "Jordan gone to pot" headlines)
blueg33 said:
Great Post OP
If you are still in London, try eating at The Bleeding Heart Bistro near Faringdon tube
Back in Canada now, but will note for next time - many thanks. I am preparing my Cayenne and trailer for the long winter haul to Arizona down Route 66, starting next Friday....If you are still in London, try eating at The Bleeding Heart Bistro near Faringdon tube
whirligig said:
Nice to see an uplifting post of the UK - so often we are so busy focusing on the negatives that we forgot to appreciate the (many) positive aspects.
I think the one overall negative for me is the growth of the surveillance society...cameras,,gatsos, ANPR and a million other things that I used to associate with Orwell. It seems so different to the UK of my youth. Still, its a great place indeed.prand said:
What I was thinking too, that happens to me every day! 
Must have been my hockey sticks, bottle of Molson beer in the pocket, and Maple leaf pin in the lapel of my Parka. Nobody hates Canadians. Actually nobody even notices Canadians
. On a more serious note, obviously there are lots of problems in the UK, (llke just about everywhere else apart from. say. Switzerland), so its easy to get into the mode of thinking that nothing is right either.A lot is right.
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