Thursday, October 20, 2011

The Bloomsbury Festival

Regular readers of this blog will now that Bloomsbury is one of my favourite parts of London. So I was very pleased to read about The Bloomsbury Festival which is happening this weekend (21st - 23rd October). The festival celebrate contemporary and historical Bloomsbury, featuring readings by poets Wendy Shutler and Stephanie Gera, a session on the Philosophy of Wine Tasting, and an evening of theatre and cocktails at RADA.

It all sounds like a lot of fun and most of it is free so do check it out. You can find out all about the festival here.

Afterwards, why not try one of our walking tours? Covent Garden is just around the corner from Bloomsbury and you can explore it in about an hour. Our walking tour can be found here.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Paris Without A Reservation

One of the great pleasures of Paris is the food. It's a cliché, of course, but it's no less true for that. But if you're visiting the city to eat well, you face a dilemma. Do you book several weeks in advance or do you throw caution to the wind and chance finding a decent table at a decent restaurant at the last minute? Food writer Fiona Beckett has written this fascinating  post about surviving Paris without a reservation on her blog Food and Wine Finds showing that not only is possible but that it is fun too.  You can read Fiona's post here


If you're in Paris don't forget to check out our audio tours of the city. You can find out more information at www.strollon.co.uk

Friday, October 14, 2011

The Shoreditch Vintage Fair

If you're a bit of a fashionista then this weekend's Shoreditch Vintage Far will be right up your street. There will be stalls there with clothes for men and women and you can get your hands on some real bargains. Plus, if you want to give your house a vintage feel you can pick up some great furnishings and homewares too.

Afterwards, why not explore the nearby City of London with our StrollOn Guide?


You can find out more about the fair here.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

The Natural History Museum

Located close to South Kensington Tube, the Natural History Museum is one of London's most interactive destinations. If you've ever wondered about insects, bears, dinosaurs or butterflies, you will want to visit this magnificent museum. It's free to visitors and there are lots of must sees including skeletons of a T-rex, Brontosaurus and Triceratops and, in the mammals section, you can see a huge blue whale. If you want to know more about the museums highlights please click here

There are also several temporary exhibitions available to visitors and though there is sometimes an entrance fee these often offer you a rare chance to glimpse some of the more esoteric parts of the museum's collection. You can find out more about what's on here.

If you're inspired by the museum to take a walk around London please check out our site www.strollon.com where you can get your hands on the best audio tours of London.

Friday, October 7, 2011

The Scandanavia Show

If, like me, you found yourself addicted to The Killing (the original, that is, on BBC 4) you may be interested in The Scandinavia Show this weekend. Taking place in Earl's Court you will get to explore some of Scandinavia's best exports, including getting the opportunity to quiz the stars of The Killing (where does Lund get her jumpers from?). If that isn't your thing, you may want to visit cooking demos from Scandi chefs Signe Johansen and Trine Hannemann: the food of the north isn't all herrings and meatballs after all. You can find a full programme of events here Tickets start at £8 if you book in advance.

And, if you want to explore London afterwards do check out our site www.strollon.co.uk for some great walking tour ideas.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

10 Cases

If we were in Paris, we'd be spoilt for choice for simple wine bistros. In London it's a bit harder to find a spot to settle down in to enjoy a good glass of vino though and this is where 10 Cases have stepped in. Situated on Endel Street, near Covent Garden, 10 Cases has a very simple premise: they serve only 10 bottles of red wine and 10 bottles of white wine (there is a glass of rose and a glass of champagne available too) and they only ever buy ten cases of each bottle so when the cases run out they introduce a new wine to the menu. It's genius really because you get a great selection that doesn't swamp you. And, because you can buy by the carafe, you can try something quite different without getting stuck with a huge bill.

Though wine is the main focus here, there is also a small but very good selection of food available. There are three starters, three mains and three deserts so the choice is limited but that doesn't matter when the food is so good and, at around £15 for a main course, it's excellent value too. 

If you're on our StrollOn walk around Covent Garden, pop in for a glass of wine or a bite to eat. It'll sate your appetite and get you going again. Enjoy their wonderful selection of wine and grub and let us know what you thought below.

www.the10cases.com


Monday, October 3, 2011

Hawksmoor Guildhall

In the past we've mentioned that we're big fans of Hawksmoor, a steak restaurant with branches in Covent Garden and in Spitalfields. We're excited because they're about to open a new place in the city called Hawksmoor Guildhall. This is not to be a copy and paste job that simply replicates the dining experiences of the earlier venues and just as Seven Dials feels distinct from Spitalfields, so will Guildhall. They will be serving a very exciting tasting menu that I cannot wait to try. According to www.hot-dinners.com (original article here) their new menu will include some wonderful dishes including,
  • Beef tea
  • Tongue (cured and poached) and (ox)Tail Salad
  • Oysters with braised short rib and kimchi
  • Steak tartare - beef vs veal
  • Beef shin macaroni
  • Bone-in prime rib or double t bone, Hawksmoor sausages
  • Beef dripping chips and salad
  • Suet sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream
 Impressive stuff if you're a meat lover!

The Guildhall restaurant will be located on Basinghall Street, between Cheapside and the London Wall. It will make a great stop off on your StrollOn city walk and, after all that wonderful beef, you may need the walk!

Visit www.thehawksmoor.co.uk formore information.


A World of Audio guides, Walks and iPods


About StrollOn

Hello and welcome to StrollOn, where we produce audio guides and audio tours of London, Paris and an ever-expanding list of major european cities. We have also developed our free city overviews and "Hot spots" (individual audio commentaries for individual sights and attractions). Whichever product interests you we simply ask that you select the relevant audio guide or audio tour on our website and download the mp3 files onto your iPod or other mp3 player, thereby turning your iPod into your "GuidePod".

As you will see from the this blog, we are a new company, providing recently developed products on our website. We've set up this blog so that we can tell you all about us as you join us from our infancy. And we are actively looking for feedback, both on the website and the blog. We don't want you to help us simply to become the biggest, but we do want you to help us become the best walking audio tours company.