Most of us know Elizabeth I only as the powerful queen she became. The Virgin Queen. Gloriana. The pale, jewelled figure in the Phoenix portrait, a woman who ran England on her …
- London
In the Footsteps of Henry VIII: Palaces, the Tower and His Grave
by Bubblyby Bubbly 11 min readI expected to be charmed. Henry VIII is the king everyone knows, the one from the rhyme, the giant standing square in the famous portrait. I went round the places that carry …
- London
The Brass Rail at Selfridges: Is London’s Oldest Salt Beef Bar Worth It?
by Bubblyby Bubbly 8 min readSome nights you just want comfort food. It was a cold evening in early December, I had spent a few hours in Selfridges, and I had not booked anywhere. Selfridges in December …
I had Westminster Abbey near the top of my London list, and the Abbey had other plans. The day I went, it was closed to visitors. Catherine, the Princess of Wales, holds …
- London
The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben: London’s Gothic Riverfront
by Bubblyby Bubbly 9 min readThere is a stretch of the South Bank, somewhere between Westminster Bridge and the London Eye, where I always stop. Across the river, the Houses of Parliament line the water like a …
Some places make you stop and count the years. Standing in the Lower Ward at Windsor, below the chapel where Henry VIII lies buried, I worked out that the castle had already …
Across the street from Harrods, on the curve of Hans Crescent, there is a café that glows pink even in December. EL&N London had a garland of silver baubles around the door, …
You do not need a ticket to see the best of Buckingham Palace. The building you picture when you think of London (the long pale front, the gold-tipped railings, the balcony) is …
- London
The Churchill War Rooms: Inside the Bunker Where Britain Ran the War
by Bubblyby Bubbly 9 min readA few steps below the pavements of Whitehall, behind a plain door near Downing Street, there is a basement where Britain ran the Second World War. The Churchill War Rooms are not …
- London
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland: The Lights, the Crowd, and the Right Time to Go
by Bubblyby Bubbly 9 min readYou smell Winter Wonderland before you see it: roasted nuts, mulled wine, fried dough on the cold air. Then you come through the gate and the lights hit you, a tunnel of …
You see Stonehenge from a distance before you reach it, a grey cluster of stones alone on open grassland, and the first thing it does is stop you. I had seen it …