london posts
by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) (2 days ago)
May 19th, 2013 at 4:00PM: A famous skate park on the South Bank of London may be turned into yet another stretch of retail sameness. Underneath the Southbank Centre, which is home to several performing arts centers, is a covered area that looks like a cross between a cellar and an overly graffittied parking lot. It's been a meeting ground for skateboarders for 40 years. Every day you can see them doing tricks on the ...
by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) (6 days ago)
May 15th, 2013 at 1:00PM:
The Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace, London, is putting on a fashion show, although the fashions are more than 400 years out of date.
"In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion" examines the luxurious clothing and jewelry worn by British monarchs and members of their court. It focuses on the two dynasties of the 16th and 17th centuries with everything from ornamental armor for a ...
by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) (14 days ago)
May 7th, 2013 at 12:00PM: For some reason, people sometimes mistake me for a terrorist. Once I got interrogated by an air marshal for merely looking out a window, and the following year in London I totally freaked out several people on a bus.
The second incident was, I suppose, partially my fault. I boarded a city bus with a large suitcase, which I put on the luggage rack. Since the rack was right next to the door, I ...
by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) (19 days ago)
May 2nd, 2013 at 9:00AM:
The Courtauld Gallery in London has opened a new exhibition of two of the smallest Bibles you'll ever see.
"Dess Alten Testaments Mittler" and "Dess Neuen Testaments Mittler" are tiny illustrated Bibles produced by two sisters from Augsburg, Germany, in the late 17th century. It was a time of increased private devotion, when people looked for more from religion than the rituals in the church. ...
by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) (25 days ago)
Apr 26th, 2013 at 2:00PM: Before there was the museum, there was the cabinet of curiosities. Starting in the 16th century as Europe expanded its horizons during the Age of Exploration, the rich and powerful began to collect curios and display them. Their collections were eclectic – everything from strange weapons from distant islands to beautiful coral formations.
The objects were all put together in no particular ...
by Libby Zay (RSS feed) (25 days ago)
Apr 25th, 2013 at 4:30PM: Coroners have confirmed the body of a man found dead in the suburbs of London was almost certainly a stowaway hiding inside the landing gear of a British Airways flight from Angola.
The Guardian is reporting José Matada was either dead or nearly dead due to hypothermia and lack of oxygen when he fell out of a plane as it opened its undercarriage for descent into London Heathrow Airport ...
by Reena Ganga (RSS feed) (27 days ago)
Apr 24th, 2013 at 11:00AM:
I've always loved a good art gallery but I know not everyone feels the same way. I get it. Looking at still life oil-on-canvases isn't for everyone. But the good news is that some of the coolest art in the world isn't locked away in stuffy art galleries or museums – there are plenty of creative paintings and murals on the sides of buildings, along fences and across public walls.
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by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) (28 days ago)
Apr 23rd, 2013 at 4:00PM: Love books? You'll want to be in London this June when seven book fairs will all take place over a nine-day period.
Billed as the world's largest book fair in a press release by the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, it runs June 8-16 and features not only rare books and first editions but also maps, photographs and ephemera.
London has several annual and monthly fairs, but ...
by Adam Hodge (RSS feed) (1 month ago)
Apr 17th, 2013 at 4:00PM:
Traveling to seven continents in seven days is grueling enough. Throw in a daily match against a former professional squash player and that makes for some pretty exhausting travel.
Two former pro squash players, Peter Nicol and Tim Garner, are in the midst of a week-long, 40,000-mile world tour in an effort to get squash into the 2020 summer Olympics. Their whirlwind competition ends in New ...
by Reena Ganga (RSS feed) (1 month ago)
Apr 16th, 2013 at 1:00PM:
Long-distance train travel is making a comeback with Eurostar announcing plans to expand its services. The high-speed train, which primarily serves London, Brussels and Paris, has its sights set on new destinations across the European continent.
Eurostar says its entire system is undergoing an overhaul – from the booking process, to the routes, to the trains themselves. The company's ...
by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) (1 month ago)
Apr 16th, 2013 at 9:00AM:
England is famous for its castles. Giant fortresses such as Bamburgh Castle and Lincoln Castle attract thousands of visitors a year, but people tend to overlook the many smaller, lesser-known castles close to London. These are often as interesting as their more famous cousins and make for enjoyable day trips from London. Here are five of the best.
Hadleigh Castle
Near the town of Hadleigh ...
by Reena Ganga (RSS feed) (1 month ago)
Apr 11th, 2013 at 2:00PM:
Few people can fly half way around the world just to see an art exhibition, and now, thanks to a new documentary series they don't have to. One company is set to bring culture to the masses by broadcasting major art exhibitions at movie theaters around the globe.
Much like a real trip to a museum, the documentaries walk you through a current or recent exhibit, pausing at important works ...
by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) (1 month ago)
Apr 10th, 2013 at 3:30PM:
David Bowie is a pop star. David Bowie is a designer. David Bowie is an actor. David Bowie is a painter.
David Bowie is a lot of things, which is why it's appropriate that his retrospective at London's Victoria & Albert Museum is titled "David Bowie Is."
The museum gained unprecedented access to the David Bowie archive to select five decades of mementos like this striped bodysuit ...
by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) (1 month ago)
Apr 10th, 2013 at 10:00AM:
London is one of the most popular destinations in Europe, offering loads of nightlife, dining and cultural options. It offers plenty of day trips too, the favorites being to Stonehenge and Oxford.
If you want to see England without the tourists, there are plenty of smaller towns an easy day trip from London. One of them is Hertford, where I used to live. If the name sounds familiar, that's ...
by Meg Nesterov (RSS feed) (1 month ago)
Apr 10th, 2013 at 9:00AM: Last week, the world lost one of the all-time great film critics, when Roger Ebert passed away at age 70. He was mostly known for his love of movies and long career reviewing them at the Chicago Sun-Times, as well as his witty and wide-reaching Twitter feed. Roger was first and foremost a journalist, and he applied his curiosity and ease of language to many things, including travel.
If you ...
by Meg Nesterov (RSS feed) (1 month ago)
Mar 28th, 2013 at 2:00PM: If you are traveling in a big city and want restaurant recommendations, it can be overwhelming to turn to online review sites like Trip Advisor or Yelp that list hundreds of places, many of which are irrelevant to your tastes and preferences. A new website launches today, giving you personalized guides of where to eat and drink, focused on spots you'll like. Eight Spots gives you just that: a list ...
by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) (1 month ago)
Mar 28th, 2013 at 9:00AM:
Today the British Museum in London opens what is sure to be the hit exhibition of the year.
"Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum" examines the daily life of the Roman world, as it was preserved in two cities buried under volcanic ash from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Through fine art and mundane objects, we get to see what life was like for ordinary Romans.
Romans like ...
by Pam Mandel (RSS feed) (2 months ago)
Mar 22nd, 2013 at 9:00AM:
George Bradshaw was responsible for the development of a series of railway timetables that were an icon of British Victorian travel – they're mentioned by Sherlock Holmes, Phileas Fogg and there was a 1876 music hall song called "Bradshaw's Guide."
I reached my destination, and was going to alight
When she placed her hand upon my arm, and said with much affright
'Oh Dear Sir, ...
by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) (2 months ago)
Mar 20th, 2013 at 4:00PM:
When walking in London, keep an eye out for the Blue Plaques. These historic markers will tell you where famous people once lived, and occasionally make for strange combinations.
One blue plaque at 23 Brook Street in the exclusive Mayfair neighborhood tells how Jimi Hendrix lived there from 1968-1969. Next door at number 25 is another Blue Plaque, this time for Classical composer George ...
by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) (2 months ago)
Mar 15th, 2013 at 11:00AM: "Bring out your dead!"
If you lived in London in 1348-50, you'd hear that call a lot. All of Europe was swept with the Black Death, a virulent plague that killed an estimated one-third of the population. London, like other congested urban areas, got hit hard.
Now archaeologists working in London have uncovered a mass grave of Black Death victims, a Crossrail press release reports. Digging ...
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