If you find the Edinburgh festival too far away then take a look at the Camden Fringe. The festival began in 2006 with one venue and has grown annually to now cover around 17 locations. Shows generally last about an hour, run at various times through day into evening, and tickets are well priced.
This year it's running from 29th July - 25th August and there will be all kinds of performances including experimental theatre, comedy, dance, music and stuff for kids. For more information about shows and how to book tickets just visit: http://www.camdenfringe.com/index.php?id=1
If you'd like to tell the general public about your visit - whether it was great, pants or just ok - then visit Everything Theatre. This is a blog for theatre nuts and from 29th July they're running The Camden Fringe Big Audience Project v2.0. You can send them your review and see it posted on their blog site. There's also the opportunity to vote for your favourite show on their Facebook poll. Find out more at:
http://everything-theatre.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-camden-fringe-big-audience-project.html
Enjoy!!!
Wednesday, 24 July 2013
Thursday, 11 July 2013
Vive la France!
Sunday 14th July is Bastille Day when France celebrates the beginning of the French revolution.
London will be contributing to the festivities with the 6th annual Bastille Festival in Bankside. From noon through to 10pm the Borough area will be partying in style. French food and wine aplenty, activities for the kids, snail racing, face painting, bilingual story telling, artisan craft fair and much more.
For more information just visit http://www.bastillefestival.co.uk/
This also gives me a cheeky opportunity to share some photos of a recent trip to Paris to get you in the mood ...
London will be contributing to the festivities with the 6th annual Bastille Festival in Bankside. From noon through to 10pm the Borough area will be partying in style. French food and wine aplenty, activities for the kids, snail racing, face painting, bilingual story telling, artisan craft fair and much more.
For more information just visit http://www.bastillefestival.co.uk/
This also gives me a cheeky opportunity to share some photos of a recent trip to Paris to get you in the mood ...
Sunday, 7 July 2013
Wimbledon village
You'll often hear London described as a collection of villages and so the village of the moment has to be Wimbledon. This weekend sees the tennis finals and people from all over the world will be focussing on this little bit of south west London.
It seemed like the ideal time to pay a visit plus we are blessed with glorious sunshine so on Friday I made a pilgrimage to bring you some info.
I arrived by train but you can also come by tube (Wimbledon is one of the end destinations on the District lines). This station brings you out into Wimbledon town centre. The area is ok; it has the usual shops and cafes that you find in most UK High Streets but it's not worth a trip in itself apart from the two theatres. The Polka Theatre is just for children and is great fun and very charming. The New Wimbledon theatre has a steady flow of shows of all kinds and the interior is lovely.
Wimbledon village is a right turn out of the station and up the hill. This is where the money lives and the beautiful people hang out.
As it was a warm afternoon I jumped on an uphill bus and stepped out into the perfect English summer day setting. A London village as seen through the eyes of Woody Allen. As you'd imagine from the term 'village' we aren't talking a large area. The main road has a few little side streets and if you have a little wander in the back streets you'll see some amazing properties.
Some of the period architecture is stunning and if that's your thing then you could be wandering for a while. The front gardens are also beautifully manicured and dreamy.
Wimbledon Common is adjacent to Putney Heath and covers about 1,140 acres and includes a golf course, cricket pitches, 9 ponds, around 16 miles of horse riding trails and a windmill which is now a museum. It also connects with Richmond Park and Ham Common. If you feel like some time in the country but you can't get out of town then get yourself to Wimbledon. On this visit I didn't venture too far in as I always seem to get lost. Of course this is probably just me with my terrible sense of direction but don't say I didn't warn you.
There's a riding stables located near the village with riding lessons available and group rides out into the Common and Park. I was lucky with my timing and saw a group on their return home in the late afternoon sunshine.
After wandering through the village I stopped off for a refreshing glass of raspberry lemonade in Le Pain Quotidien (LPQ). I'm not usually a big fan of chain coffee shops and restaurants but I make an exception for a few such as LPQ, Aubaine and Cote - all of which can be found in the village.
Most of the shops are decorated with some form of tennis paraphernalia regardless of what they're selling. Everything from estate agents and dry cleaners to beauty salons and art galleries are displaying racquets, balls or, as in the case of one jeweller, bowls of strawberries and cream amongst the diamond rings.
All the planting displays are in full bloom and in the traditional Wimbledon tennis colours of green, purple and white. The florists are following suit and the same shades make up the much of their exuberant pavement displays.
Tennis fortnight brings mixed feelings for the locals. Traffic is crazy and restaurants can be packed. Some residents choose to depart for calmer climes, especially if they can rent out their houses for the championship. This is big business and rents are HIGH.
If you're not lucky enough to get tickets for the tennis you can still visit the All England Lawn Tennis Club museum and take a guided tour behind the scenes. (See the links below for further details).
Whether you go for the tennis, the wide open spaces or the shops and eateries it's a lovely place to spend some time.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.wpcc.org.uk/index.html (Wimbledon Common info)
http://www.wimbledon.com/index.html (Wimbledon tennis)
http://www.wvstables.com/ (riding stables)
http://www.polkatheatre.com/ (childrens theatre)
http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-wimbledon-theatre/ (New Wimbledon theatre)
It seemed like the ideal time to pay a visit plus we are blessed with glorious sunshine so on Friday I made a pilgrimage to bring you some info.
I arrived by train but you can also come by tube (Wimbledon is one of the end destinations on the District lines). This station brings you out into Wimbledon town centre. The area is ok; it has the usual shops and cafes that you find in most UK High Streets but it's not worth a trip in itself apart from the two theatres. The Polka Theatre is just for children and is great fun and very charming. The New Wimbledon theatre has a steady flow of shows of all kinds and the interior is lovely.
Wimbledon village is a right turn out of the station and up the hill. This is where the money lives and the beautiful people hang out.
As it was a warm afternoon I jumped on an uphill bus and stepped out into the perfect English summer day setting. A London village as seen through the eyes of Woody Allen. As you'd imagine from the term 'village' we aren't talking a large area. The main road has a few little side streets and if you have a little wander in the back streets you'll see some amazing properties.
Some of the period architecture is stunning and if that's your thing then you could be wandering for a while. The front gardens are also beautifully manicured and dreamy.
Wimbledon Common is adjacent to Putney Heath and covers about 1,140 acres and includes a golf course, cricket pitches, 9 ponds, around 16 miles of horse riding trails and a windmill which is now a museum. It also connects with Richmond Park and Ham Common. If you feel like some time in the country but you can't get out of town then get yourself to Wimbledon. On this visit I didn't venture too far in as I always seem to get lost. Of course this is probably just me with my terrible sense of direction but don't say I didn't warn you.
 |
| Path along Southside Common |
After wandering through the village I stopped off for a refreshing glass of raspberry lemonade in Le Pain Quotidien (LPQ). I'm not usually a big fan of chain coffee shops and restaurants but I make an exception for a few such as LPQ, Aubaine and Cote - all of which can be found in the village.
 |
| Raspberry lemonade - mmmmmmm! |
All the planting displays are in full bloom and in the traditional Wimbledon tennis colours of green, purple and white. The florists are following suit and the same shades make up the much of their exuberant pavement displays.
Tennis fortnight brings mixed feelings for the locals. Traffic is crazy and restaurants can be packed. Some residents choose to depart for calmer climes, especially if they can rent out their houses for the championship. This is big business and rents are HIGH.
If you're not lucky enough to get tickets for the tennis you can still visit the All England Lawn Tennis Club museum and take a guided tour behind the scenes. (See the links below for further details).
Whether you go for the tennis, the wide open spaces or the shops and eateries it's a lovely place to spend some time.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.wpcc.org.uk/index.html (Wimbledon Common info)
http://www.wimbledon.com/index.html (Wimbledon tennis)
http://www.wvstables.com/ (riding stables)
http://www.polkatheatre.com/ (childrens theatre)
http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-wimbledon-theatre/ (New Wimbledon theatre)
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