During World War II, spitfire war planes were produced in Solihull. Afterwards, Rover was able to take over the factory where they started producing the Defender in 1948, a utility vehicle which only slightly changed in appearance over time and is being built here since. It’s THE expedition vehicle and the first car countless people in remote areas of Africa, South America and Asia have [Weiterlesen]
We start the day with a breakfast with Caroline, Peter and Jack at the nearby garden centre. They have a café with a great food offer, a large Christmas section, fishes and small pets. After breakfast, we say goodbye to them and head off in direction of Birmhingham. On our journey north, we stop at Bicester Village, an outdoor outlet mall with all kind of [Weiterlesen]
We pick up Caroline and head back to London. Yes, again. We’ve got tickets for the Wahaca Day of the Dead festival. We arrive at a former shopping mall at Tobacco Dock where the festival takes place. Here, we’re a bit disappointed by the lack of atmosphere and the very few places to eat. There’s only a Wahaca diner and a DF Mexico diner and [Weiterlesen]
Today, Gabi has got some surprises planned for me. First, we head to north-east London to ‘God’s own junkyard’. It’s a showroom of an old family company that produces neon signs and other advertising with lights. These are mere examples of what they can do, the seller explains to us. A lot is produced according to the customers’ specifications. Their neon art is often used [Weiterlesen]
The Shard is Europe’s tallest building. We’ve booked a space on their viewing platforms (one indoors and one outdoors). We hope for a great view of the Guy Fawkes Day fireworks and spot a lot of smaller, private fireworks going off here and there as well as a huge bonfire. It’s reminding us a lot of our own national holiday on 1st of August. But [Weiterlesen]
Cemetary are always interesting and worth visiting. This one in particular. Highgate Cemetery is one of the eight first ‘real’ cemeteries built in a ring around London. Until then, bodies were buried within churchyards that ran out of space badly or also at home which caused diseases. The graves here are not being suspended like they are in Switzerland but stay here until eternity. The [Weiterlesen]
Today, we sleep in a little. Then, we drive to Forbidden Planet. We visit this SciFi, fantasy and comic store each time we’re in London. Star Wars is a big thing here as well. For lunch, we share a burrito at DF Mexico, a new mexican restaurant by Tomasina, the founder of Waha and very involved in the festival we’re going on Saturday. Yummy! And [Weiterlesen]
This morning, we’re doing some shopping again. After Oxford Street, we’re after Regent Street down to Piccadilly Circus. We come across a lot of nice things but only buy a t-shirt in the end. For lunch, we’re sharing a classic Italian Pizza at Pizza Pilgrim. In the afternoon, we drive to the Tower Bridge. You may now climb the bridge’s towers and walk along the [Weiterlesen]
Today, we’re up for some serious shopping. We begin at the west end of Oxford Street and make our way east. Until we get stuck at Selfridges. Their Christmas shop takes up almost the entire fourth floor. But we like to browse through the other floors as well. There’s so much to see! On the lower ground for example, there’s a goat mascot for an [Weiterlesen]
We get up late. It’s warm and sunny outside so we head for the nearby station (an incredible building, first photo) to get breakfast. I have a rasperry jam filled donut (look at all the filling, Swiss bakers take note!). From here, we drive to Covent Garden where we decide to finally visit the London Transport Museum. It’s been on our list for long. We [Weiterlesen]
