February 2020 Archives

From Millennium Bridge to Barbican are giant gold words arranged in a trail. The words form a quote from author Virginia Woolf from her book "Jacob's Room", and it is about London: "What are you going to meet if you turn this corner?". The commission is titled "Around the Corner" and is brought to the area by Culture Mile. The giant words are constructed with a 1920s typeface to mimic the publication date of the book (1922). There are twelve words and punctuation to discover with a map on each word showing the location of the next. The artwork was created by Karsten Huneck and Bernd Truempler from KHBT.

I enjoyed locating the words on the trail and saw others doing the same.

Half the way through the trail are also a group of gold fairies sitting on swings.

"Around the Corner" is in place until the end of April, and the trail can be walked in 15 minutes between Millennium Bridge and Barbican.

Street artist calligrapher Said Dokins has painted in London a few times and painted a mural called "Alive" a few years ago on the same wall: Street Art by Said Dokins & Oliver Switch. Dokins is from Mexico, and he uses calligraphy to create his artwork with a society and destruction theme. The wall on Hanbury Street is the location of his most recent London work, and it appeared in 2019.

The mural is titled "Poisioned Seed" and has a poem:

"How should I go?
Will I leave nothing after me on Earth?
How should my heart act?
Are we in vain come to live,
to sprout on the ground?
Lets leave at least flowers
Lets leave at least song"

For more posts about Said Dokins, see:

Street Art by Said Dokins & Oliver Switch

A pizza restaurant on Brick Lane (near Star Yard) has become then mural for new Fanakapan street art. A couple years ago, Fanakapan painted the same walls here with a giant astronaut (you can see it from the link at the bottom of this post). This year, a pizza shop occupies the restaurant. According to the artist on his Instagram page, the artwork was inspired by the creator of PacMan, Toru Iwatani, who was inspired by seeing a pizza with a slice removed.

Like many of his other artwork, it is stylised as if it were a foil balloon floating above. In this case, the balloon covers the corner of the building.

Fanakapan also created another mural recently in collaboration with Brazilian-based street artist Cranio, featuring his little blue men.

Below are a few older pieces from Fanakapan that I don't think I ever posted or posted in another post.

Below are two that were heavily tagged over in a short amount of time, before I could capture a good photograph. So, I took them from the artist's Instagram. They're a little more rushed than the other work.

More street art by Fanakapan is located here:

Fanakapan Star Yard MagnaDonuts Mural
"Follow the Leader" by Fanakapan
Peace for Manchester
Fanakapan Paints Shoreditch Clowns
Chrome Balloon Dog in Star Yard
Fanakapan Paints "Power Tools" on Village Underground Wall
Fanakapan Paints "Drunk Glass Elephants"
Fanakapan, Horror Crew, & Jerry Rugg
Louis Masai and Fanakapan: "Freedom?"
New Chrome Street Art Mask by Fanakapan
Balloon Animal Street Art
Cranio & Fanakapan
Fanakapan and Horror Crew
Camden Street Art Self-Guided Trail
Halloween Street Art (2018 and 2019)

Happy Pancake Day! This year, I enjoyed a pancake at Covent Garden from Pancs, a small cafe serving up light bites and pancakes in the lower ground of Covent Garden market. Today, the cafe had a special menu item, an Oreo pancake. This pancake was made using chocolate batter, chocolate syrup, buttercream, and crumbled Oreo cookies. It was delicious, filling, and very sweet.

The added advantage of Pancs is that it is on the side of the lower floor where live music is played throughout the day at Covent Garden market. I listened to an opera singer, who stopped her shift half the way through my visit and who was replaced with a group of violinists. The singer and the subsequent violinists were all very talented.

Just look at those layers!

Pancs is open for breakfast each day. The service was a little slow, particularly getting a seat and waiting for acknowlegement. Other reviewers have found them to be rude, but I didn't have a bad experience other than the service and acknowledgement being slow. The pancake was good, but it was so filling that I could not finish it. They're probably best for sharing with a cooked breakfast beforehand.

Tomorrow is Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday), and this day has come around quickly this year. This year, I am working across the road from Covent Garden, so I popped in to "Crème de la Crêpe", located in the lower floor of Covent Garden market, for a crêpe. A crêpe is similar to a pancake, but it is the French variety that is less fluffy than the American counterpart, which uses more flour and less egg. The French crêpe can be served sweet or savoury, which is the main difference between the two; American pancakes are always a sweet dish even though can be enjoyed with a rasher or two of bacon. "Crème de la Crêpe" serves a large selection of both sweet and savoury crêpes; they also sell salads and smoothies.

I opted for a sweet crêpe, called "Lady Loves" which was dark chocolate, strawberry and cream. The strawberry and chocolate were wrapped inside the crêpe, so it's not exactly Instagramable, but it tasted really good. I was worried that it would be too filling, but it was actually just right and left plenty of room for a light lunch beforehand. 

"Crème de la Crêpe" started in St. Andrews in 2004 and came to London, setting up in Borough Market, in 2007. They then opened up at Covent Garden night market before opening a cafe at Covent Garden.

In the UK, Shrove Tuesday is celebrated by eating pancakes and called "Pancake Day"; in the US and other countries, "Mardi Gras" is celebrated and more of a carnival atmosphere. The day marks the day before Ash Wednesday, which is meant to be fourty days of fasting before Easter. The day usually takes place in February but can take place in early March.

A dessert ice cream shop on the edge of Chinatown in London is serving up unicorn and mermaid ice cream cones and fish waffle cones. Taiyakiya is located on the edge of Chinatown near Charing Cross Road and has been selling the decorative and Instagram-able ice cream creations in vanilla, chocolate, matcha, and rose flavours. The rose flavour is my favourite and tastes delicate.

Taiyakiya opened near the end of spring last year. Not long after it opened, I went to try the unicorn ice cream cone with the rose ice cream, plenty of sprinkles, and a marshmallow-y unicorn horn and ears. I was highly impressed with the soft serve rose-flavoured ice cream, and the cone creation was cute. The little cafe (there are only waiting seats) was very popular and busy, but the staff were friendly and apologetic for the delay.

I also bought a Nutella-filled Taiyaki, which is a sweet dessert. Taiyaki is translated to "carp", and these waffle "carp" with fillings are popular sweet treats. The traditional filling is red bean, which tastes a little to me like fig, but these and other similar products contain fillings such as vanilla custard, matcha, and nutella or chocolate for western tastes.

My last visit to Taiyakiya was last week, and I opted to have the carp waffle cone. (The last time, the carp waffle cone was sold out and unavailable.) The mermaid cone came with a fish tail and shell, made out of a marshmallow sweet texture. Visitors can also choose their own toppings from a selection, and I choose the mermaid sprinkles, which is what I had had last time.

Taiyakiya is located at Newport Court, the little alleyway running off Charing Cross Road into Chinatown to the square. They are open from 12:00 to 10:00pm on Sunday through Thursday and stay open until 11:00pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

The Temple of Mithras in London lay forgotten until 1954 when escavations took place during the rebuilding after World War II. It was not known what the Roman structure was until the last day of escavations when a statue's head depicting Mithras emerged. The street level during Roman times, when the temple was constructed, is now located seven meters below the current street level. The temple lies underneath the new Bloomberg building in the City of London, near Bank and Cannon Street stations and where one of London's lost rivers, Walbrook, flows under ground. The new Bloomberg building began construction in 2010 and was completed 

In 2010, I worked on Dowgate Hill and walked past the Bloomberg building site (it was just derelict land with scaffolding around it then) every day. I watched the site evolve until it opened in 2017, along with a new tube entrance opposite the 'Starbucks Church" near St. Stephen Walbrook church. Signs posted for "Temple to Mithras" were located at the station and on street level, so I've always wondered what the ruins look like when I worked nearby. While the ground was being escavated for the new Bloomberg London office, many more artefacts from Roman London were found, including additional parts of walls and other buildings.

The Bloomberg SPACE (the name given to this little area dedicated to the temple museum) contains interactive London Jukebox, modern art but not related to the temple. It also contains a wall of artefacts discovered in the past decade during the escavations for the new headquarters. Each of the items has been dated with a description that can be read about. There are several other items that are not on the wall, and they are still cleaning other items.

The items ranged from tools to beauty products and items, brooches, pins, buckles, keys, glass bottles, vases, storage vessels, oil lamps, a shrine, tiles, mosaic, shoes, wood, and pottery. The items survived due to being water-logged from the Walbrook that flowed here. One of the most curious items was the tablet detailing London's first recorded transaction - a promise of payment from one person to another. These tablets (see the image top right) were filled with black wax and scratched on. Sometimes, the writer pressed hard, so the message could be read on the wood underneath. Over 400 fragments of tablets were discovered here, and this is the oldest writing it Britain to be discovered.

An art exhibition is located on the ground floor with the mentioned artefacts and an art installation featuring music about London, mapping London through songs with a 1950's style jukebox that plays all of the songs in the list - everything from the Kinks "Waterloo Sunset" to Lily Allen's "LDN" and "London Calling" by the Clash.

Going down the stairs to the lower level brought three interactive objects from the temple to learn more about the cult, a seating area, and audio about the temple and cult being played overhead. Unfortunately, a couple of very noisy groups meant that I could not hear the audio. Every twenty minutes, the temple room, located a floor below, is opened for the light and audio show bringing the temple to life. The ground level in Roman times is 23 feet (7 meters) below the current ground level. On the stairs on the way down, a line represented a point in history where the ground level was for that age. Apparently, dirt and rubble builds up over time to raise the ground. 

The Temple of Mithras was built in 3rd century AD, 200 years after London was established by the Romans. Not much is known about the cult of Mithras, but Mithras was a sort of god that slayed a bull. This slaying of the bull seems to have played an important role in the cult as it is depicted often and was possibly used in some ceremonies. Other imagery that features often is the zodiac. The cult perhaps discusses some creation theory. It is also noted that a list of patrons were discovered, but all of these have been male. It seems that females were not permitted, or perhaps were not interested in this cult. Many of the followers of the cult also appear to have been soldiers or slaves.

After the structure was discovered in the early 1950s, the temple was taken apart and removed to a site close by. It was reconstructed at the current location underneath Bloomberg's office to roughly where it was originally built; it was not moved to the exact place because additional walls and ruins were discovered and left as they were; they were too fragile to be moved or re-sited. 

The temple would have been dark; it did not appear to have any windows and lamps and torches would have been used for lighting. 

London's Temple of Mithras is free to visit, but reservations must be made in advance. Please see the website here to make a booking: www.londonmithraeum.com

I'd also suggest a visit to the Museum of London to see the discovered head of Mithras statue and other artefacts from the original escavations and Roman London in general.

Cecil Court is a rich-in-history Victorian pedestrianised street between Leicester Square and Covent Garden. It has been used in films as a filming location and contains a range of quirky shops: antique shops, second hand and rare books, prints, art, coins, war medals, collectables, maps, jewellry, and much more. Keep reading to discover why the street got the name "Bookseller's Row" and "Flicker Alley" and to see a connection with Mozart.

The street was probably named after Robert Cecil, first Earl of Salisbury. A few pubs and other streets have a similar connection to this man, who worked with Queen Elizabeth I. In the early 1700s, the street suffered a fire due to a problematic tennant who owned a brothel and alcohol store on the road. In the mid-1700s, an eight-year-old Mozart travelled to London with his family and took up temporary residence here on Cecil Court. His family sold tickets to concerts from their home here, and this is where the family met with musical specialists and twice performed for George III. It is also the location where Mozart wrote his first symphony. A historical plaque on the history of Mozart was unveiled near the former residence in 2011.

At the end of the 1800s until 1915, the road was nick-named "Flicker Alley" due to its film connections. Cecil Hepworth and James Williamson set up film companies here and it was home to over 40 international and national film companies. Films could be rented or bought, and confectionary could also be purchased on this road. This was where film began in the UK a decade before the first cinema opened its doors. This is possibly the most important street in the world relating to the history of film. In 2012, the historical plaque commemorating the history of "Flicker Alley" was unveiled.

The street is still owned by the Cecil family, and it is part of the Jubilee Walkway route, a walking trail that was launched during the year of the Queen's silver jubilee in 1977. It was constructed as a tourist trail to cover as many historical areas in London, and it is over 15 miles in length.

In the 1930s, Cecil Court obtained the name "Bookseller's Row" because of the number of book shops and printing that was done here. There was another "Bookseller's Row" prior to this time, and it was located near the present day end of the Strand not far from Somerset House. It was demolished in 1900 to widen the Strand.

Cecil Court is a little off the beaten track in London, but it's worth a visit to see the range of interesting shops and to get an idea of what London would have been like in the past.

A simple cheese pizza with extra cheese is my favourite type of pizza. That is why a collaboration pizza between Pizza Pilgrims and The Cheese Bar was a meal that I could not miss. Luckily, I work within a ten-minute walk of a Pizza Pilgrims, where the cheesey pizza could be purchased and enjoyed during my lunch break. I have previously visited Pizza Pilgrims and enjoyed their traditional sourdough Italian-style pizza (see post here: A Saturday Lunch at Pizza Pilgrims), but I remember wishing that it had a little more cheese. 

Pizza Pilgrims have perfected the sourdough bread from studying Italian pizza baking and visiting the home of the pizza, Naples. They have been a favourite pizza restaurant of mine. The Cheese Bar started as a food truck selling grilled cheese sandwiches and have had a restaurant in Camden Town for a few years now too, which I visited a couple of years ago (see post here: Lunch at The Cheese Bar, Camden). 

Available for a limited time, The Cheese Bar and Piza Pilgrims have created a fondu pizza, dubbed "The Fonduta" with five types of cheese. The cheese is a mixture of British and Italian cheeses and includes mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, Cornish Gouda, and Kingham. It is then topped with a lashing of white wine and cooked to melt with prosciutto, cornichons (little pickles) and a balsamic pickled onion. (Note that I dislike pickles and pickled onion, so I opted to have these removed.)

I visited the Covent Garden branch of Pizza Pilgrims. "The Fonduta" pizza can be enjoyed at all branches of Pizza Pilgrims except Westfield and Swingers until the first of March.

The pizza is delicious, so if you enjoy cheese, you are going to love it. However, as it is cheese and bread, the pizza is very filling and should be enjoyed by two people. I could not finish it, and I entered the restaurant hungry after not having any breakfast. Half of the pizza would have been more than enough for me. You have been warned. As good as it is, take a friend or get a box to take home. 

Cookies: my biggest weakness. I can pass up on cake or pie, but I struggle when it comes to passing up on cookies. There's just something about them that is so tasty and addictive. And this year, there seems to be a few new London shops dedicated solely to the cookie. This isn't going to end well for me. Today, I wanted to mention a new shop to buy cookies from. The shop is located in Soho and has only been open since the end of September. Meet Créme.

Créme is New York-inspired cookie and ice cream shop located in Soho and was founded by Jeremy Coste whose family run a French bakery. Coste was trained in a classic French patisserie and worked under a Michelin-starred chef in Paris. Créme offers a French twist on the American classic cookie, and they also serve soft serve ice cream. Cookies and ice cream make for a delicious mix.

There are four flavours of cookie to choose from: milk chocolate chip, double chocolate, white chocolate miso, and banana and dark chocolate. The cookies are thick and soft on the inside, and they are all baked fresh on site in small batches. I was lucky enough to get a milk chocolate one straight from the oven. 

Be warned that Créme gets very busy. I visited it on a Wednesday just before 4:00 in the afternoon, and it already had a small queue. While I waited to give and receive my order, the queue got larger. The cookies can run out, so visitors may have to wait for up to twenty minutes to get their choice of cookie. The chocolate and banana and classic chocolate chip seemed to be the most popular choices.

See how gooey it is inside? It's not under-baked. It was just gooey, fresh, and delicious. Apparently, oatmeal is used in order to get the cookies to be a little lumpy but still moist. 

Hot chocolate and hot drinks are also served, and I thought that the s'mores hot chocolate would be a great and thick hot chocolate. It was not. I was actually very disappointed with the hot chocolate as it tasted like water with a hint of chocolate powder. It was not good at all, so it's one item to avoid. Even the toasted marshmallows did not save it from tasting yuck.

Despite the disappointing hot chocolate, I do recommend the cookies. If you're keen to try, head on over to 4 D'Arblay Street, London W1F 8DJ. They're open from 10:00am to 9:00pm daily, but check their website just in case: http://http://creme.london

Every now and then, I find myself at Waterloo or South Bank and decide to take a diversion to the Leake Street tunnel under Waterloo station where the street art and grafitti changes daily. Until fairly recently, one of my company's offices was located on South Bank by the Thames, and the nearest tube for me was the Jubilee Line, which exits not far from Leake Street. It's an area of London that I had not explored too much until then, though I rarely went to the office here. I captured some art work from some of those visits, so here you go.

The favourite piece is by Olivier Roubieu, and the artist paints a lot here. His speciality subject is realistic portraiture. You can read more about his work here: Olivier Roubieu Paints on Pedley Street. The above and below piece are painted on the ceiling.

Street artist 8Bit created the mosaic, a common medium and subject for the artist whose work has been spotted across London.

Sky High (5kyh1gh) creates a lot of grafitti style tags with colourful birds. More about the artist can be read here: Street Art: 5kyh1gh Kingfisher.

It appears that Cardboard Skeleton has been here too, and his work was amongst the first street art that I recognised in east London. More about the artist Cardboard Skeleton can be read here: Donk and Cardboard Skeleton Pitifield Street Collaboration

Olivier Roubieu seems to paint a lot in Leake Street.

There is also a piece dedicated to the late street artist Robbo.

And Enzo (Meeting of Styles 2018), famous for the witty illustrations.

I also captured a view of the majority of the Leake Street tunnel, shown below. The tunnel's artwork is changed often and is always a busy place. The tunnel extends a little further and around a corner in the open. It is continuously an area of creativity with some people offering workshops in street art and others experimenting with styles.

There's always something to see in Leake Street tunnel, but the work changes so often that many pieces (especially the great ones) are painted over very quickly. This is a place to go to visit on the day to see what has changed and to see if there are any gems. Weekends are probably a good time to visit.

This year, Valentine's Day in London seemed like a low key event with companies only taking advantage of it in the final few days. I was able to take a few snapshots around London in my quest to find Valentine's Day decorations. This is how Valentine's Day was celebrated in London this year:

First up, I had to get one of the giant cookie cakes from Blondie's Bakery, located in Selfridges food hall. Blondie's were personalising their cookies for customers with a special Valentine's Day message. It is a perfect gift.

Maddox Gallery near Oxford Circus have been quick to show off their seasonal decor. Their Valentine's Day decor was to cover the building in pink and red roses with a neon |I think you love me" sign. This was popular with tourists.

The Ivy in Soho had a "I love Soho" (or "I heart Soho") spelled out in front of the shop, all made with colourful pink, red, white and purple flowers.

Additionally, their Market Grill restaurant in Covent Garden was decorated with red flowers.

A good place to see Valentine's Day treats are any of the cupcake or bakery shops, such as Hummingbird Bakery in Soho. I didn't get over to it, but the popular Peggy Porschens also has a range of Valentine's Day goodies as does Fait Maison.

Also, ice cream macaron shop Yolkin always relishes in creating creative seasonal macarons and ice cream. The heart macaron below was chocolate brownie.

I also discovered some items being set up at the end of the day on Thursday for the weekend, so it looks like it may be a Valentine's Day three-day weekend in London. One of those was a tree with hearts with Dominique Ansel branding. The bakery is due to open a Covent Garden branch soon. 

I recently went to Penhaligon's perfume shop in Covent Garden in order to complete the scent profiling session that I received in the last window of my Penhaligon's advent calendar from last year: Penhaligon's Advent Calendar - Spoilers. I was curious to try some of their other scents, and as I am now working in central London, I thought that my lunch break was the perfect time to try the profiling experience. I visited the perfume shop in Covent Garden, on Wellington Street, for the experience. This is a great shop with plenty of space, unlike their small shop in the piazza of Covent Garden. Penhaligon's was founded in the 1860s by William Henry Penhaligon, a Cornish barber who became a perfume expert and barber for Queen Victoria. The first Penhaligon's shop was opened in 1874 on Jermyn Street, and the first fragrance was Hammam Bouquet, developed in 1874 and inspired by the nearby Turkish baths.

I was offered a cup of tea whilst I waited for the shop assistant to finish serving the other customer, and this helped me to relax and look around the shop and settle in. I loved the cute Penhaligon's-branded teacup and saucer!

I was asked what the perfume was for and what I usually wear, and I explained that I was looking for something for work since I spend a lot of my time at work (as most of us do), so I wanted a scent that was classy and had longevity. Currently, my professional scent of choice is "Red Door" by Elizabeth Arden, which may be a little bit dated but is always a scent that works well on me and one that gets me compliments as well as has that longevity that I appreciate. I also love the whimsical "Flight of Fancy" by Anna Sui and the rose-scented Chloé perfume, which is my favourite casual scent, which I have also worn for work during the summer months. (I also love the DKNY apple-note scents, but the longevity on those puts me off since they do not last long on me at all.) Based on the notes of the rose-scented perfume and "Red Door", the shop assistant was able to determine a range of notes that I enjoy. I'm actually pretty easy when it comes to perfume, and longevity and a classic scent is the most important. 

The obvious choice was the Duchess Rose, which is a very nice scent, but I already like the Chloè scent. I was also looking for something different, so we tried several more. Empress is a good one, and I love the hand lotion of this scent. My least favourite was Yasmin, and I asked to try Bluebell, and I really disliked this scent. Most of the others were good. I narrowed the list down to the Portraits series (their bottles with totem animals) "The Duke" and a few other scents that I asked to try because the bottle caught my eye.

"The Duke" has rose and gin tones, which was really unique. It's not too masculine and not too feminine. I also asked to try "English Fern" because I saw the bright green ribbon on the trolly and could not resist. Green is my favourite colour, so this perfume just called to me. 

"English Fern" is a minty scent with bergamot and jasmine; it's a fresh scent and is different to any other scent that I have tried. I knew I must have it. The scent was actually created in 1910, so it's an old scent with an earthy fragrance. Clover, lavender, moss, and geranium are some of the notes. It is a unisex scent and highly versatile and fresh.

I also tried the scent, characterised by the navy blue ribbon, "Esprit du Roi". Unfortunately, this scent is being discontinued, but it was the scent that I found most similar to my current professional perfume of choice, "Red Door". The scent has a lot of notes, including citrus, bergamot, mint, cardamon, clove, ylang ylang, cedar, sandalwood, white musk, and more. "Esprit du Roi" was created in 1983.

The last one that I tried was "Savoy Steam", a perfume created in 2017 with inspiration by the first Penhaligon's scent, "Hammam Bouquet". It uses rose, geranium, incense, rosemary, and pink pepper for the notes. It is an easy-to-wear scent that has the longevity in wear that I was looking for and is different to anything else that I own.

So, overall, I came home with a few nice new fragrances, and these will keep me going for awhile too while I phase out some of my older scents that just don't have the longevity that I enjoy.

National Trust property Kingston Lacy, located in Dorset, is a place to visit in order to see some of the first signs of spring. Last year, I visited Kingston Lacy for the first time and explored the house and gardens; I returned later in the year to see the winter and Christmas decorations. The prime time to see snowdrops is now, in the middle part of February. They signal the first change of the season from winter to spring. I enjoyed sunny but cold weather for my visit, and the snowdrops were out in full bloom.

There are several places to see the snowdrops in Kingston Lacy, and my favourite place to see them here was the Victorian Fernery, which is located just to the back of the house. There are over 35 different varieties in the Fernery. There were different colours of flowers here and different types of snowdrop. The first snowdrops were planted by owner Henrietta Bankes, who planted them in the early 1900s. Currently, over 40 different species of snowdrops are planted at Kingston Lacy.

The word for snowflower is Galanthus, which translates from Greek to "milk" and "flower". There are several different species of snowdrop, and Kingston Lacy has a few of them. It is thought that they were brought by Romans to Britain.

The snowdrops offer one of the first sources of nectar for bees in January-March. The substrance Galanthamine is produced by the plant, and it can be used to improve sleep and treat Alzheimer's. A new species of snowdrop was discovered in 2012, and it is very rare and only grows in a few locations in Russia and Georgia, and one of the habitats was destroyed during the Olympic Games preparations.

In addition to snowdrops, I also discovered a few daffodils in early bloom as well as a cluster of bloomed primrose, and crocus.

On the trail, I discovered a large pig digging for food.

The National Trust property was particularly busy when I visited, and the snowdrops seem to attract many fans. Visitors can expect to see the snowdrops until the end of February, but the best time to visit is the middle of February. The property charges an entrance fee (or National Trust membership), and it is open from 10:00am to 4:00pm, but it is best to check the National Trust website in case of any changes.

After the walk around the property, I enjoyed hot chocolate and a scone.

More posts about Kingston Lacy, the National Trust property in Dorset are included below:

Winter Light Trail at National Trust's Kingston Lacy House (Dorset, England) 
Christmas at National Trust's Kingston Lacy House (Dorset, England)
An Afternoon at Kingston Lacy (Dorset, England)

Wahlburgers is a restaurant burger chain owned by chef Paul Wahlberg and his two brothers, actor Mark Wahlberg and former singer of 1980s boy band "New Kids on the Block" Donnie Wahlberg. A television series was produced about this chain of restaurants in the states in 2014, but the London branch only opened its doors in May of 2019. The London branch is located at Covent Garden, and I stopped in for lunch.

For starters, I had the fried halloumi cheese, which is unique to the London menu. (I once tried to find halloumi in the states and could not find any.) This was served with an orange and cranberry-flavoured dip.

I tried the Thanksgiving Turkey Burger with fries. The burger was made of ground turkey, stuffing, butternut squash, and the orange and cranberry dip. I did not care much for the fries, and the turkey burger was about average and worked when all of the ingredients were combined in a mouthful as otherwise it was too bland.

The "Jenn's Chicken Sandwich" (not named after me!) was my favourite. The chicken breast was marinated, and the burger selection can be customised with a range of free toppings (cheese/onions/jalepenos) or from a list of charged toppings. The onion rings (actually, they were battered onion straws) were tasty as well.

For dessert, I tried the cookie dough. This came with strawberry ice cream, sauce, and whipped cream. This dish was a complete miss for me as the cookie dough was too tough and very bland. Without the ice cream on top, it would have been completely inedible. I actually left most of it as it was not worth the calories at all. 

What's my verdict? First of all, London has several restaurants where its residents and visitors can grab a burger, and London has some excellent burger restaurants. So, competition it pretty tough. Second of all, the food ranged from being inedible to average. The chicken burger was okay, but I've had much better at the burger chains mentioned a moment ago. The onion rings straws were good, but other places in London do good ones and good sides as well. For the price, Walburgers is on the expensive side. Also, it's been going for several months, and there does not seem to be much footfall. I know that this February seems to be particularly quiet in London, but I would guess that this place is struggling a bit. Those that I did see paying interest were primarily visitors or first-time-visitors of people like myself who are working in the area. 

Last Friday afternoon post-lunch, I visited Lower Marsh Market near Waterloo Station. Lower Marsh Market is one of the oldest London markets, and it specialises in independent street food from around the world. The market has vendors who create street food that is difficult to find in other London markets, and the range is diverse, so this is the place to go if you wish to try something new. 

In addition to the market stalls, smaller independent shops, cafes, and restaurants are located on Lower Marsh Street, and one of the entrances to the popular grafitti tunnel Leake Street is located on Lower Marsh Street.

Lower Marsh is one of London's old streets, which was originally lined with cottages. The street was originally called Lambeth Marsh. South Bank was known for its entertainment and circuses, and the market was an expansive one in this part of London, which was adjoined with the pubs and shops along the street. After the second World War, the market shrunk. The train and construction of the bridge also meant that the market fell out of favour but has contained a gathering of street food stalls with a larger offering of stalls on Saturdays.

One of the curiousities was a group of several bird houses arranged in the shape of an arrow. Each bird house had its own pigeon roosted on top.

I've been to Lower Marsh Street Market when it has been much busier than this January visit, but it is a colourful place to visit and to spend some time trying new food. The late spring or summer Friday lunch times are popular when the weather starts to get nice (I visited last year), and Saturdays is a big day for the market and also has stalls selling crafts.

I've walked past bakery Konditor near Waterloo station a few times over the past several months. I've previously purchased their little cakes and treats from their shops in the City of London in 2010 (when they were branded as Konditor & Cook) and only just realised that I'd never actually included a post about them or showed off the delicious-looking treats. Their shop at the corner of Cornwall Street and Roupell Street near the Jubilee underground entrance at Waterloo Station is a larger shop with a cafe and bakery on site.

Konditor was started by Gerhard Jenne of Germany who was inspired by his mothers cooking, especially the apple cakes. He trained as a pastry chef or baker (a 'konditor' in the German language), and specialised in baking cakes. He has created cakes for the Rolling Stones and Tina Turner. 

In 1993, the first bakery/cafe of the Konditor & Cook brand was opened here at Cornwall Road. Now, there are several other chains across London. Recently, the bakery rebranded to simply "Konditor", leaving behind "Cook", the savoury items in its menu and focused solely on the bakery and cakes.

As I was in this area of London recently, I decided to pop in and noted how busy the shop was during my visit. I decided to try the hot chocolate to see how it compared to other hot chocolates in London. Their hot chocolate is made with melted Belgian chocolates. The hot chocolate was tasty and sweet; it's not a thick hot chocolate but tasted like chocolate and did not taste milky, so it was a win for me. It wasn't my favourite hot chocolate in London because I prefer the thicker, but it was tasty.

I also purchased a brownie; the brownies are worth a try. There are several flavours to choose from, and they have a slightly gooey and chewy texture that is important to the consistency of a good brownie. I also liked the look of the blueberry cake pictured above, but I did not try any. Perhaps I will next time I am in the area.

Today's date is unique because it reads the same forward as it does backward (and in different formats): 2020-02-02, 02-02-2020, 02-02-2020. The last time that this happened was over 900 years ago (11/11/1111). The day is popular for wedding dates to give the couple and easy-to-remember date of marriage. It's also Groundhog Day and Super Bowl day in America, and those happy to see the back of summer will be happy to learn that we should have an early spring this year. I hope so.

Some palidromes of words include: level, radar, mom.

The next palidrome date is 12-12-2121. Happy Palidrome Day!

When my friends from the states visited last summer, we had breakfast at Balan's Soho Society at their branch on Old Compton Street in Soho. It was a fleeting visit mid-week, and the street was very quiet compared to how it usually is. I had the French toast, which came with bananas and strawberries, and my friend had a savoury dish.

Mid-week is actually a great time to visit places because most people are at work and it is quieter. We had a nice catch-up over breakfast and got a window seat where we could watch the people passing by, including a really weird man who started to talk to our neighbouring table through the window and started gyrating. As he was acting very strange, I asked them if they know him, and they did not; he was a stranger to them. This is one of the things about London: there is often something unusual happening; at least it was comical.

This was my second visit to the Old Compon Street branch. I wasn't as impressed on this visit as I have been in the past with the French toast. The chain has gotten more popular since my first visit a few years ago, so perhaps them getting more popular has caused some problems in quality.