Happy Apps for Paris and London

We now have 2 cities in the App stores – iPhone and Android - with Paris and London fully covered by our walks and general guides. A third is coming out as I write – that sounds painful but I meant that it is going to be launched in the stores in a few days. 

 Strollon definitely stands out for its quality. We had this idea for MP3 guides way ahead of the market and there are now many for various parts of the world but you only have to listen to a few of them to realise that quality really matters. Bad sounds are Bad news.

 You will see from the App store that our developers are Locatify and I strongly recommend a visit to their Apps that are Treasure Hunts 

 You can produce your own: challenge someone to find the restaurant you are meeting for lunch; or make one up for a party. Schools have written them for form outings and charities raise money with a Hunt. They are very simple to make and an excellent way to keep the friends you want to meet, and lose the friends you want to lose. Know what I mean?

 Oh, one last thing which was a reason for writing this blog. Make your own Guide. Yes, I mean it. We have devised a management system that lets you produce your own. Maybe not as good as Strollon’s but we are very happy to include it on our site if it covers somewhere special.

Do you know that Strollon has been in the top 5 on Google for our most relevant search terms since we started many years ago? This just shows how popular we are and how well we have designed the site.

Glad to have you along. Check out the App stores for these brilliant Apps:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/strollon-paris/id608381969?mt=8

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/strollon-london-your-personal/id559503515?mt=8

Bad bankers create bad buildings

Why stroll around the dreadful buildings of today? London is being wrecked by the misuse of money.
We are told that we must be grateful to the City of London for earning us so much money. In fact the City should be grateful to London for being such a lovely place to live. Why does it not put more of its riches back into London?

The City skyline

The City of London was built on the talents of merchants. Trading, lending, investing and insuring needed careful balancing of the risks and rewards but the profits purchased respectability and a sense of responsibility. If you take the Strollon walk you visit the churches these men built and the places where they met to discuss their business. You hear the stories of how they patronised the arts, the architects and the actor- dramatists.
As you walk through the City of London there are no new beautiful buildings – only towering infernos of office blocks. The museums are closing as their grants and sponsors are cut off by the City wise-men who talk about the need for economies and controls. The theatres and the operas have to charge outrageous prices that only bankers can afford and exclude the general public.
We are now in a sad situation of mutual distrust and misunderstanding by the outsiders and insiders of the City machine. They must understand exactly what benefits they get from London and give something back in return.
Unless there is more action by these City Titans, it will be even more difficult to enjoy a stroll through London without feeling it is just a museum surrounded by building sites.
Now is the time for them to listen and for us to speak.

Leonardo at the National Gallery

 The National Gallery has pulled a blinder. It has laid out an exhibition of such beauty that it will be hard to beat for a long time. Nicholas Penny, the Director of the Gallery and Luke Syson the creator of the exhibition should be praised and thanked for their work and skills.

 There are only 15 paintings by Leonardo da Vinci in the world, and here are 8 of them. There are only 50 sketches, and here are 33 of them. OK the Mona Lisa has stayed in France but this is not such a loss – I have always thought that the name is more beautiful than the face and that Leonardo has painted many better pictures. One of them is the portrait of Cecilia Gallerani who is all over the catalogue and the posters. She was Ludovico Sforza’s mistress from the age of 15 and as she turns to smile you can see how she would catch any man’s heart in her hands. She was very beautiful and just 3 metres away is her very cross rival - Ludovico’s wife. There are many theories about why Leonardo painted her with an ermine including a play on her name and as a symbol of her purity This matters very little – take a closer look at her veil and her necklace and you could be looking at a model in a magazine today. It is a stunning display of Leonardo at his most human and most personal. He recognised that beauty is timeless and that it should be celebrated in art as well as in reality. This is a goddess painted by a god.

Towards the end of the show is a newly-discovered Leonardo called Salvator Mundi that emerged in America relatively recently. It is a mystery how it got there but there is no doubt that this is the genuine article owned by an unnamed syndicate of investors – a spectacular return on a relatively small investment. Quite a find! Almost as spectacular as Nicholas Penny’s discovery of a Raphael behind the door in the passageway of a Northern castle – it raised $40 million for the lucky Dukes.

I am afraid to say that if you do not have a ticket then you can only get in by queuing 3 hours from 6 am. Is it worth it? Yes. But if you are too cold for the queue then go for our Covent Garden walk.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Carnaby Street - Soho

If you're enjoying our StrollOn guide to Soho, towards the end you'll pass through Carnaby Street. This little road in London became famous in the 60s and was very much at the centre of the changes in youth, music and fashion that shook the period. It gained prominence when designers started to open small independent boutiques along the road. Mary Quant, Marion Foale and Sally Tuffin had shops here. Around the corner, on Wardour Street, a club called the Marquee Club opened and a series of underground music venues like the Roaring Twenties appeared on the street. The bands who played at these venues were soon to be legendary: The Who, The Rolling Stones, Small Faces and more. It meant that you could wander down Carnaby Street and never know how many stars you might run into.

Today the street is no less interesting, though you might not run into a musical legend quite so easily. It's home to some excellent fashion stores like Diesel and American Apparel as well as being home to some great restaurants liks Cha Cha Moon. If you're on our Soho walk make sure you take some time to have a look around some of the shops. They're great fun and you can pick up some wonderful souvenirs in some of the smaller, independent stores.

If you want to know a bit more about Soho, check out our walking tour of the area. It's an amazing part of London full of secrets and history and we explore it all in the guide.

The Tate Modern

Following on from our posts on The Globe, I wanted to mention the brilliant Tate Modern on The Southbank. If you're on our Southbank walk you'll pass nearby. You can hardly miss the red brick building with it huge tower as it was once a power station. It was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (his grandfather designed the St Pancras Station) and was built in two stages in 1947 and 1963. The power station was decommissioned in the 80s  and opened as an art gallery in 2000 to exhibit art from 1900 onwards.

There is a wonderful constantly shifting permanent collection at the Tate Modern including works by Picasso, Rothko, Warhol and many, many others. This part of the Tate is free to visit and it's a wonderful way to spend an afternoon or two. At the same time there are regular exhibitions though these aren't free. From October 6th you can see the Gerhard Richter: Panorama exhibition which will be well worth the visit. You can find out more about current and future exhibitions here.

And, lastly, If you want a quick bite to eat, try the restaurant on the top floor of the Tate. The food is excellent and the view is unsurpassed.

London In The Sunshine

Stop all the clocks; some one call the police; the sun - THE SUN - is shining in London and it looks like it will be all weekend! We'll all be as happy as the double rainbow guy above! 

Seriously though, it's great when the weather's like this and, believe it or not, we get a decent amount of sunshine every summer. But when it arrives it is still special so make the most of it and enjoy the weather this weekend. Now is the perfect time to enjoy some fun outdoors. Walking on one of our London audio tours is a great excuse to see the city at it's best in the sunshine. Here are a couple more ideas from out blog though.

The Parks

Summer in London's parks is a real treat. Green and lush, they are wonderful retreats to walk around, meet with friends or just simply lie in the sunshine. Here are some of our posts on London's wonderful parks.

Markets

You can find some amazing bargains stumbling around markets. And in the sunshine bargain hunting is so much more fun. Here's our post on The Portobello Road market. It's our favourite in the city.

The Pub

Sometimes, there's nothing you want more than to drink a cool pint of beer and feel the sun on your face. Here's our guide to some of London's loveliest pubs.

The Globe

Shakespeare's Globe is without doubt one of my favourite parts of London. Located in Soutwark, on the Southbank, it's a few minutes walk from the Tate Modern and about 15 minutes from Waterloo.

This history of the building is fascinating. Firstly, it's not built on the site of Shakespeare's original globe but it's as close as it can be to that site. It took over a quarter of a century of fund-raising and research to see the current building open in 1997. It was the brainchild of American actor Sam Wannamaker who, unfortunately, died before the construction was completed.


The architects focused on constructing the globe using material and tools from the 16th Century - or as close as possible - so the roof is thatched and the lime plaster mix that coats the walls is made to a period recipe. Today you can enjoy the plays of Shakespeare in this wonderful setting. Each summer season the globe put on a selection of plays and you can either sit or stand to enjoy them. Standing will set you back around £5 and it will give you the most authentic experience. You can find out more about this years schedule here. You can also tour the Globe's exhibition which is packed full of information about the man who wrote such magnificent plays as well as Elizabethan theatre and modern theatre. In the winter, when the Globe itself is shut, it's a wonderful stop off.

If you're nearby to the Globe then, you might also enjoy our Southbank audio tour which will take you around the best sites in the area. You can find out a more on our website.

(Picture Nik Milner)

The City Of London

If you're visiting London for pleasure it's easy to forget about The City but it is a stunning destination packed with interesting sights and sounds. If you're in the area, for pleasure or on business, check out our walking tour of the area. It will take your around some of The City's most wonderful parts.

On your walk you can see the church All Hallows by the Tower which survived fire of London in 1666. It's stunning to look at with it's algae green spire. It is still open for ministry and you can sit quietly there if you wish.

Then there's the Lloyds of London Building (picture above). The building was designed by Richard Rogers and you'll notice that all the elevators, stairs etc are on the outside. This is supposed to create as much light indoors as possible and there are no corridors either. In other words, it's a pretty unique building. Oddly, Lloyds started in Edward Lloyd's coffee house where groups of business used to gather. They were able to insure ships and that is how it started. Today though it's an insurance market. Everything can be insured here and the Hollywood actress Betty Grable once insured her legs here.

One of my favourite parts of the city is near to Billingsgate market. Billingsgate used to be a fishmarket - you can recognize it by it's huge fish weathervane - but has now been turned into offices. Built in 1876 as London's main fishmarket, at one point it could handle 400 tons of fish a day. George Orwell, author of Nineteen Eighty-four and Animal Farm once worked there too. Nearby is Southwark with it's shops and restaurants. Have a wander around the area and, if you want to see some culture, you can visit the Globe or the Tate Modern.

Hopefully this will give you a taste of the City. It's an interesting place and we hope you enjoy spending time there. If you've want any other tours of London why not visit www.strollon.co.uk where you can find out a bit more about our walks.

Coffee, Cocktails and Books - A Round Up!

Over the last couple of weeks we've been blogging about some of our favourite places in London to drink a cocktail, meet for a coffee or find a good book. Here's a quick round up of some of the fantastic places that will supplement your Strollon Walk.

Books Stores

Whether your in Westminster, Covent Garden or West London we've got a bookshop near you.

Coffee

Love coffee? Read about our favourite coffee shops in London

Cocktails

It's the end of the week. Why not celebrate with a cocktail in the sunshine?

Cocktails in London

Who doesn't like a good cocktail? After a wonderful day walking around London there is nothing better than sitting down to a very cold, very dry martini or a clean, crisp daiquiri. So, here is a quick guide to some of our favourite cocktail bars on our StrollOn walks.

Soho

Our walk through Soho takes you past some fascinating sites but one addition is the wonderful bar at Bob Bob Ricard with it's deep plush seats, mirrored ceiling and top notch cocktails. Located on St James Street, just around the corner from Polpo, it serves delicious British and Russian food. It's owners, Bob and Richard are Russian and English respectively (Bob owns two thirds hence his name comes twice in case you were wondering). You sometimes have to book tables in advance but often you can walk in off the street. Try their excellent house champagne and some of their special nibbles.

Covent Garden

If you're close to The Royal Opera House (Chapter 18 on our Covent Garden Walk) then you're very close to the excellent Covent Garden Hotel. This is often where stars visiting London choose to stay when they are trying to be discrete and it has an excellent bar, The Brasserie Max. They do some delicious signature cocktails - try their Seven Dials martini, named after the area of Covent Garden the hotel is in: it is a delicious mix of passion fruit and elderflower with gin and orange flavoured martini. Just what the doctor ordered!

Westminster

You'll find The Cinnamon Club just behind the Houses of Parliament (chapters 1 - 8 on our walk). It's a wonderful restaurant that serves high end Indian food and is well worth visiting if you can. But there's also a wonderful bar in the basement. Unsurprisingly they try and bring an Indian twist to their drinks so check out some of their house specials like Curry Up! Curry Up! which mixes curry nectar with gin and lemon juice. It sounds weird but trust us, it's delicious.

Hopefully you've enjoyed our short guide to some of our favourite bars in London. If you're looking for more audio guides to London visit our website www.strollon.co.uk and if you've got any tips, please leave them in the comments below.

The National Gallery

Here's something I didn't know: the National Gallery in London is quite different to most European galleries because it wasn't created by the nationalization of a state or royal collection. The Musee de Louvre was established after the French revolution and was based on the royal collection of art. The Museo del Prado in Spain similarly has at it's heart the Spanish royal collection. The National Gallery though was formed after the British Government bought a small number of painting from the heirs of John Julius Angerstein. The directors continued to grow the collection but, because of it's origins, it has never been as big as some of the European collections. Today it is owned by the British people and entrance to the museum is free.

The building that houses the collection is magnificent. It's facade looks out over Trafalgar Square and was built between 1832 and 1838 by William Wilkins. If you are on our either our Westminster walk or Covent Garden walk you can pop into the museum and have a browse. It's well worth it. My favourite room houses ones of Van Gough's Sunflower paintings. It is stunning and, if you've never seen it before, you have to see it to believe it's beauty.

If you're looking for something to do after visiting the gallery do have a look at our walking tours of Westminster and Covent Garden. They're a great introduction to the area and you'll get to see some amazing sites. Have a wonderful time!

London's Bookshops

We're so lucky in London to have such a wealth of bookstores. The scene above c0mes from the movie Notting Hill which is set, very briefly, in a bookstore in West London. The Travel Bookshop, which writer Richard Curtis based the bookstore in his film on, can be found on Blenheim Crescent and though it is currently under the threat of closure, it is well worth the visit. There is a move by writers and friends of the store to keep it open so, fingers crossed, you will be able to keep visiting it. Here are a couple more stops that should be essential for booklovers.

Cecil Court

There are several bookstores that you should try and visit. If you're on the Strollon walk around Covent Garden you come very close to Cecil Court, a wonderful old street full of bookshops and print shops. It also features on our 60 Minute Stroll too. Cecil Court is home to some beautiful bookshops, such as Nigel Williams' Rare Books which, like The Travel Bookshop, appears occasionally in movies such as Miss Potter. Mozart, who lived on the street briefly in1764, and Johan Christian Bach used to meet here and discuss music. It is a wonderful place to spend some time browsing so make sure that you leave some time if you're walking around London: it is worth it.

Waterstones Piccadilly

The most famous chain of bookstores in the UK is Waterstones and their flagship store can be found at 203 - 206 Piccadilly. It is about ten minutes walk from Trafalgar Square so, if you're on either our Westminster or Covent Garden walks, you can pop right it. The magnificent building used to be a department store called Simpsons but was turned into a temple to books a few years ago. Spread over six floors, there is a wonderful selection of books to read and take home with you. A good tip is the cafe on the top floor which does excellent cocktails and has panoramic views over the city.

Do you have any other bookshops you'd like to suggest? Please do so in the comments below.

Rain...Again

What a rotten day it is today. In London England are taking on India in the final test of the cricket but this terribly weather has pretty much put pay to that. Not everyone is trapped inside though. If you've got to go out or are stuck in the rain, here's a brief roundup things you can do.

The Pub - A few weeks ago we put together this guide to some of London's pubs. If you're in Convent Garden or the City check it out for some recommendations.

The British Museum - If you're central, you could always pop into the magnificent British Museum. Here's our post on it. Or, if you are closer to Trafalgar Square how about The National Gallery. If you're on the South Bank there's the Tate Modern too. And the best thing about all three (aside for their being dry)? They're free!

Coffee Shops - When the rain is pouring and you need warming up, why not pop into a local coffee house to grab a warming cup of something. Here's our suggestions for some of the best coffee houses in London (and not a Starbucks in sight)