TourisTuomo

Tuomo thought he'd come by to check out London the other weekend, before starting again with uni.

A sure tourist weekend it was walking around experiencing London in its' usual weather - a mix of sun and rain.

We actually got to see a lot in just a couple of days:

1. The Queen's Palace, Buckingham Palace.

The place I tended to call my future home, when I was little.

How cool would it be to longboard down that road from B'Palace to Trafalgar Square? If it were empty for just 5min some lovely day...i wish.

2. Big Ben, which in my opinion is not that big. Nice architecture, though. Oh how I love these kinds of old buildings much more compared to new class aquariums.

Big hopes at Big Ben.

Sovereign's entrance.

3. Have you ever walked Abbey Road from one end to the other? Well, I have. It is long.

Have you ever taken pictures of someone walking on a zebra crossing? Well, I have. At two. One that is just like any crossing and one that is the crossing. Beatles.

On the way from the picture practice crossing (yes, we must have looked like idiots taking hundreds of pictures a normal crossing we thought would be the Beatles one - laugh away!) to the the crossing, we saw this interesting hero.

Finally at the studios! This looked more like the place we were looking for...

The zebra crossing.

4. Tubes. I taught Mr. Tuomo Bond how to use the tubes!

5. We visited Liverpool Street. Banks and glass buildings. Business business.

6. In the evening we went to Brick Lane to meet up with Vicky and Vince. There was the Brick Lane festival but I was tired and we weren't really in the party mood. Had a tasty Reese's milkshake at an American styled diner. So far away from healthy...

7. We were supposed to call it an early night, but when we met up with Jaleh, we ended up going for a drink at the most random but cool pub ever! Called Troy's on a side street from Oxford street. Rock!

...and what then? Well, just got a few drinks from a 24h liquor store and went on Trafalgar Square, from where we continued to my place. It was...Happy Birthday, Tuomo!

The next day we walked all the way to town. There was some cycling competition going on. Some people looking real serious but others riding...CITY BIKES? Whaat thee?

8. St. Paul's Cathedral. 

9. Who would have guessed we'd end up bumping into the London Fashion Week stuff?

And...who would have guessed I'd get Tuomo in that area so easily?

I didn't even need to beg - he was up for it from the very beginning.

We did see quite a bit of exciting outfits - but other than that, nothing interesting was going on when we toured around the area. Except for free ice-cream outside the gates.

10. True UK phonebooth pictures.

11. Trafalgar Square & National Gallery

Really nice weekend. A lot of walking, a lot of sightseeing.

xoxo

Linda

Have to say that the upcoming weather looks pretty awesome!

and my boss just said they've promised October to be a month of heat heat heat.

Anyone in London wanting to join me and Jaleh longboarding in Hyde Park tomorrow?

Proud, Camden

Day at the office

Followed by a tasty taste of the tasty Indian tasty kitchen. Tasty.

Indian food, especially all coconut based dishes, have a super like from me.

 Life in London has been a disaster for me food wise. Eating out just happens. Unavoidable.

My budget wasn't made for this. A change has to be made. Especially when I see all my tasty organic vegetables mold in the fridge. Not good!

After work we met up with co-workers and went to a showcase in Camden, to a venue called Proud. 

Musicweek.com describes:

"Breakout's monthly showcase for new and breaking acts staged by Music Week in conjunction with All Night Long Promotions, throws a spotlight on newly-signed acts - those creating a buzz in A&R circles. Breakout gives the music industry and the public a first glance of up-and-coming talent."

 Read more here.

The line-up consisted of various kind of music style representatives.

The Silver Seas

Rachel Sermanni

Mercedes (didn't find website) from Warner/Chappell 

The Sparrow & The Workshop

And last but not least, the woman who was absolutely amazing to take pictures of:

Alex Winston

As you may see, I might have got a bit carried away and gone too far with snapping continuously. I still have some nice pictures unpublished but I think this was already quite a load of beauty for ya'll!

That was my experience of Music Week's Breakout, September 2011.

Handy place to meet and greet with music business colleagues, as well as enjoy live music and an orange juice.

xo

Linda

Thames festival

Now that I'm done with posting about the far past, lets come a bit closer in time to the weekend of the Thames Festival

The festival took place during Saturday and Sunday 10.-11.9.

Saturday I left unattended but on Sunday I walked all the way from home to the Temple station via a sightseeing friendly detour.

Is it just me or do others also think London Bridge is much lamer than Tower Bridge? In my opinion London Bridge should be so much more amazing, cooler, bigger, special and prettier! After all, it does have so many songs named after/dedicated to/about it. Are there songs about the more beautiful bridge, Tower Bridge?

Recognize?

When I got to the Temple, Jaleh was waiting there with her friends. Giving me the London Eye. Ha ha ha!

But what did we actually go for?

On Sunday the festival ended with a carnival and huge firework show. All really impressive!

The carnival was long and lasted for ages! People were dancing and shakin' like crazy in the smallest clothes as I was standing stiff like a true Finn and shaking of coldness. And I was yet clothed! A few really impressive decorations passed by, as well as cutest little kids dancing what not from salsa to hiphop.

The fireworks were gorgeous. Maybe now I don't have to go to see the New Years fireworks because this event surely made me feel like it already were NYE.

And I have to say that photographing the fireworks was even more than watching them. Have to say, though pictured by myself, that the picture above is just crazy-cool! The colors, details, leaf bordering...magical. One of my favorite shots so far. How do you like it?

The Thames Festival would have been full of all kinds of events and all kinds of cultures attending and creating it, but my debut time was fairly poor. If you happen to be around in London next time it's on, do go have a look at what there is to offer. As I took the Apostles ride to the city I passed various interesting stalls and acts.

Now time for bed, so I'll be all energetic in the morning as we go buy Jaleh something exciting from Camden!

xo

Linda

PS. As updating+creating a Facebook blog account seems to be a blogger trend - I just created a one for L2L. Soo, please do click 'Like' on this page if you fancy! Cheers! xxx
(https://www.facebook.com/livetolinda)