Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Hyde Park

In the heart of London is located this beautiful park, which, just as Central Park in New York, is known by pretty much everyone. Even though it's cold now and winter is almost here, it's always nice to be able to wander around a nice park with a warm coat on (or not, I mean, if you'd rather go naked I'm not the one to judge...), and Hyde Park is quite big, so there's lots of corners for you to spend some time alone if you want.


Most people stay near the Marble Arch entrance of the park (as you can see in the image below), since it's close to the main touristic areas (Piccadilly, etc.), so if you want to be away from the crowd I'd recommend you walk a bit further into the park so you can sit in more isolated places.


Hyde Park is divided in two by the Serpentine Lake, and on the other side (if you're coming from Marble Arch) you'll find the little Serpentine Gallery, where they host modern art exhibitions (although I've been there twice and haven't found anything I liked, but then again, we all like different things so go see for yourselves). Close to the gallery are the Kensington Gardens, one of the royal parks of London.


All in all, this is a quite nice park that is really worth a visit, especially since it is right in the center of London. Another park that is not too far away from the center of the city is Regent's Park - I didn't take pictures of it when I went there but I also recommend it. And since I'm recommending stuff, you should listen to Selfish Whales, a great band from Bloomington, IN that plays songs as beautiful as this one.


Tuesday, November 1, 2011

The Diner


In Curtain Road, in the Shoreditch area, is located the Diner, an American restaurant (or, well, diner) specialized in (obviously) burgers, pancakes, and more. In these photos I'll show you the one on Shoreditch, but there are more across the city (Camden, Soho, Islington...). 

Basically, it is a diner located on a very interesting area of London, and the restaurant itself is very cozy, especially if you seat in a booth next to the windows. There are vegetarian options aside from the regular hamburgers, and the price is alright, as you can see:


I also have to admit that I've never had a burger there so I can't really talk about its quality, but I did have some pancakes as per a friend's suggestion and they were very good. If you order the "high stack" you won't need to eat in months, seriously... or I mean, until dinner. Also, the waiters are very nice. My friend ordered some pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup, but since I don't really like those ingredients, I asked for some chocolate and got some Nutella! Amazing.



So yeah, I really recommend this place. And it's much nicer to go have a burger here (on in Byron, a small chain of burger restaurants that have one in Angel, and it is delicious; you can also go to Haché, in Camden - it is also very good) than in McDonald's. I'm tellin' ya.