Me and Pana Lumix in London

In July, me and Pana Lumix sauntered to London to collect a Dove pampering package I won through a competition run by the West London Mum Blog. I heard about it through Britmums' compo network, so I recommend joining this group if you want to receive alerts of giveaways.

It was my closest Dove Spa branch (publictransportwise), although I had to compromise with the venue as the central London branch was booked up. The fab thing about the prize is that I was also sent a cheque covering the travel expenses, so I opted for visiting the Docklands branch. After walking around the Docklands, I visited some of my fave spots in central London and still had time to get back and do the school run! Here is a medley in no apparent order, with a few captions...

Getting ready for the Batman premiere in Leicester Square

Olympic-themed travel advice

Tiffany's at Canary Wharf - me minus croissant and beehive hairdo

I used to freelance for a magazine based in that tower

China Town - London's West End

The lovely sofa at Dove Spa. I'd love one in black

The best ice cream I have ever had - better than Marine Ice, from
La Gelateria in King Street (between Leicester Square and Covent Garden)

Docklands - squint and you'll see the Shard and Gherkin

Covent Garden - art attack!

The best pistachio ice cream ever from La Gelateria

Covent Garden - the pretty crafty market

The pub where I met a few of my exes when living in London

Country rat, city rat... A trip down memory lane

Pssst, did you hear? Marketing conference in London says "Content  is king"
So I got my crown back from Mouse Converter

Yesterday this country rat went to London for training. This course is not work related, so ignore the hamster - as usual it's doing its own thing. Scroll down for some amazing photos, courtesy of my Pana Lumix (I bought that, in case you wonder, it was not a freebie). All these photos were taken on the hoof, one chance to capture the vibe and no retakes!

Snap happy from King's Cross to Camden

King's Cross area - such a change! It used to be pretty scuzzy.
One of my friends got mugged by a drug addict at 6pm

I lived in London for over 13 years, mainly in East London (respect E17!) but worked all around the city as my media clients were scattered from East to West, from North to South... 


I arrived at King's Cross, which looked impressive, even under a leaden sky. My course is in Camden, which is a borough I know very well as I worked there for years, mostly at Emap (now erm Bauer) and Bauer (still Bauer). So I walked up and down the streets from Mornington Crescent up to Chalk Farm in my lunch hour, after work for years and years. 

See that rotunda? It's a terrace where I spent a few moments away
from dusty manuscripts (mostly XVII cent)

Back to the present, I walked from King's Cross to Camden via the British Library, where I researched my thesis while at uni and subsequently my novel on alchemy (still unfinished). This building costed the taxpayer a pretty packet but it's worth every penny.

I walked past the Francis Crick Institute (in construction). Every time I hear this name (often in Cambridge) I feel uneasy and angry because of the way Rosalind Franklin was treated. Another woman written 

out of HIStory as feminists justly say (if you are a skeptic, read an unbiased view here). So unfair, especially since she died of cancer before her contribution could be appreciated. Lesson No.1  for women scientists: lock your research away and wear the key on your body. And while I'm ranting, I'm also angry about the way Alan Turing was treated, too.

The entrance, a lovely piazza that now boasts a cafe

I love that bench, not sure about the ball - for me reading has never been a chore

The cafe, built around the King's Library,  a tower filled with precious, rare books

Up those stairs... The current access to the reading rooms

Francis Crick Institute

From thievery (aka unathorised use) to toilets:
a classy cloakroom at the British Library

The first time I saw that chair was in the 1980s, it was in natural pine, now is shabby chic

This stuff is new - wasn't there in 2006, the last year I worked in the area. Or I forget?

A nice stall, touristy but not tacky

Where does all this ironwork come from? It wasn't there... it looks old... great repros?

Girly, vintage and quirky display

This stuff wasn't there in 2006 either, it looks great, though

Still in Camden, I haven't posted a holiday pic by mistake

So atmospheric but no takers for this cafe

Vintage cavalcade, every decade in harmony

Irresistible bench, full of Eastern promise

The entrance/exit with one more iron statue

What??? Well, if you want to meet a Bauer journalist "off the record",
that's where many shop for lunch

Wasn't that grey building the home of breakfast TV and then MTV?
What happened to the eggs?

A variety of styles: from Victorian to punk

Mornington crescent calling: the ex cigar factory where Emap used to be.
Cross the road to admire the giant Egyptian cats (I hope they are still there).

More eclectic clothing choices

This building might have been there in 2006 but this area was pretty dire in the 1980s

Buildings are getting more outrageous, some of these fronts were there in
the 1980s but many were added later on

By the lock... This man has a very strange voice and plenty of
punters stop to sample his chicken

Camden lock, you can walk all the way to Regent's Park (if I remember correctly)

The previous week I even visited Primrose Hill and Mary Portas' charity shop. I found the indie bookshop still open, which is a miracle. I wonder if it's still run by the woman I invited to speak at a Women in Publishing's meeting many years ago. From the top of Primrose Hill you have a great view, including the wheel, the Shard... it's just lovely, pity I didn't have Pana Lumix with me. And if you get thirsty/pekish, do stop at Marine Ices (by Chalk Farm tube) - their ice cream still rocks.

London feels like a lifetime away...

I live in Cambridge, which is about an hour and a half away 'door to door' to central London, but have not been there for years. Early in my pregnancy I started to avoid central London - I suppose the badge Baby on Board didn't work that well on the underground and having found a client in Epping Forest, I stuck to East London (I used to live in E17 then). After the birth I only took the tube to Bond Street once, for a picnic with friends in Hyde Park and that was that!

I had a long maternity leave, never went back to my previous occupation as freelance subeditor and left London for Rugby in August 2008. Late in 2009 we moved to Cambridge. In the past years I have never been back to central London. I did pay two or three visits to East London, to view some houses and see friends but it's 10 miles away from central London and a world away!

I do enjoy living in Cambridge but sometimes I feel a pull for London and my life before I had a child - footloose and fancy free! As I still have the lion share of childcare while working from home, I haven't felt like going to London yet, perhaps waiting until my daughter is old enough to see the awesome museums I used to visit on weekends when I was living in the capital.

So when I read about this competition (http://www.inthepowderroom.com/read/style/the-super-duper-itpr-conference.html), it felt like a blast from the past.... Before living in E17 I lived for eight years near Shoreditch and regularly visited the Brick Lane market, Columbia Road market, Spitafields... It feels like a lifetime away!

So who would I most like to meet in The Hoxton Powder Room, and why? I'd love to meet Dr Who in the 'shape' of David Tennant and travel back in time (after attending the Cybermummy conference, of course). I don't regret my new life, but I feel nostalgic at times, craving for some me time and wondering if my old self is still there, lurking under the mummy clothes....