Azure blue skies, shocking pink ribbons and a thousand purple balloons provided the colouful backdrop for Vinopolis’ 10th birthday celebrations today.
TV wine expert Oz Clarke was the velvety-voiced star turn. He treated the crowd to reminiscences about being Dom Jolleyed in SE1 and succumbing to the allure of the Green Fairy during a Vinopoils absinthe tasting. He also joked that Vinopolis really wanted his Big Wine Adventure chum James May to appear instead of him!
Oz, Rupert Ellwood (MD of Vinopolis) and the Mayor of Southwark cut the celebratory pink ribbon, the nets opened and the purple balloons gently spilled over the London skyline, each carrying a pair of complimentary Vinopolis Grapevine tickets. Catch one if you can as it’s a really good tour. There’s also a mystery prize for whoever finds the balloon that travels the furthest from Vinopolis!
Check the Vinopolis website for more special birthday events.
This article has no comments. Why not add yours?
The Robot Zoo at The Horniman Museum is a fun way to discover how animals and insects work.
All the robot animals are huge and they move using hydraulics, make noises and the big chameleon even changes colour.
The exhibition has lots of things you can play with – you can camouflage yourself, race squid and see how long you can hang like a bat. If you like to look silly, you can strap a shell on your back, get down on your hands and knees and have a tortoise race!
The Robot Zoo is brilliant for kids and for those of us who dream about creating a scary army of giant mechanical monsters from the rubbish in the shed.
There’s a small charge for the exhibition, but the rest of the museum is free, so after you’ve learned how bees see, head up to the Nature Base room and meet real bees. There’s also a new aquarium at The Horniman Museum. We saw seahorses, toads, a celebrity (an actor who used to be in The Bill. Not in a tank, just visiting) and tropical fish.
Read more about The Robot Zoo
London is sunny and warm and we’re enjoying a heatwave this week.
What do you like to do in London when the weather heats up? Ice creams in the park? Catching a breeze on the river? Tell us your top tips for summer in London!
Dance under the stars!
Being that I dance like a turkey with stomach ache, I find solace in the obscurity of a dark dancefloor. But London’s more confident clubbers are shedding their skins and hitting the great outdoors. Yes, superclubs such as Egg and Ministry of Sound are celebrating the summer with huge sun terraces where night owls can sip mojitos, jig among tropical plants and generally imagine they’re in Ibiza (well, there is a credit crunch, you know). I just hope airline pilots don’t mistake those glow sticks for landing lights…
Broadwalk bonanza!
The Drifters once sang about having some fun under the boardwalk (ask your mum and dad). Well, it turns out you can have just as much fun at The Broadwalk! That particular corner of Regent’s Park plays host to two brilliant outdoor dance gatherings over the summer - Broadwalk Ballroom and Tango Al Fresco. The drill is simple: learn the moves, absorb the finesse of the guest demonstrators (more often than not former Strictly Come Dancing stars), then pretend you’re from the cast of Dirty Dancing. Corny ‘Nobody puts Baby in the corner’ lines optional.
Fantastic Four!
With such dinosaurs as Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and Crosby, Stills & Nash on the bill, Glastonbury 2009 could be renamed Jurassic Park 4. Promising to be slightly less arthritic (and certainly closer) is August Bank Holiday’s South West Four dance extravaganza on Clapham Common. With the likes of Sasha, John Digweed, David Guetta and Eric Prydz (yes, the one with the pervy aerobics video) on the bill, you’ll be swaying in time with the trees.
A different class!
What could be more aspirational for a wannabe dancer than taking classes across the road from the Royal Albert Hall? That’s the prospect on offer at Summer of Dance Outdoors - a group that meets every Wednesday evening (6.30pm) next to the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park. Expect jazzy funk with some Caribbean modern – and to get beeped by plenty of passing motorists!
Become a flasher!
You’ve seen the T-Mobile TV ad. You know, the one where hundreds of commuters at Liverpool Street station, without warning and exactly the same time, make like they have ants in their pants. These synchronised acts of tomfoolery are called flashmobs have become mainstream and are open to anyone with a sense of fun (and possibly too much time on their hands). They can involve anything from standing completely still to performing a victory dance at Wimbledon to encourage the British tennis players (a miracle dance might be more appropriate).
Do you know of other outdoor strutting arenas?
This article has no comments. Why not add yours?
No tickets for Wimbledon and don’t fancy getting up at some ridiculous hour to queue for the early morning tickets released each day?
You could try queuing for resale tickets - basically tickets officially re-sold during the day from people leaving early. Queuing is all part of the Wimbledon experience and if luck is on your side and the weather is fabulous, can be just as much fun. I joined the queue yesterday at 2pm. If you join the queue before then, don’t expect it to move much as no one will leave earlier with play starting at midday.
Yes, we were in the queue for 4 hours, but there was lots to entertain. From helpful stewards to Ambre Solaire girls spraying sun tan lotion and Robinson’s ambassadors handing out soft drinks in cups. It’s a fun and entertaining experience – and the queue moves quickly between 3-4 as all the corporate guys on freebies leave the grounds!
Moving through Wimbledon Park, a temporary Wimbledon exhibition helps the time go quickly – and when the queue stops you can relax on the grass. Your queue card means you don’t lose your place and you can just re-join the line later. Don’t worry if you get confused by the queue protocol, just consult A Guide to Queuing for the Championships handbook.
Thirsty? Eager vendors walk up and down selling ‘ice water’ and if you’re stuck behind barriers, they’ll even bring it to you. Hungry? You’ll find burger stands and ice-cream vans on the way. Need the loo? Yep, you go past those too, and we were impressed by how nice they were.
When we finally did get in just past 6pm (bargain – tickets go down to £14 after 5pm), we managed to watch some mens and ladies doubles matches, catch Murray’s match point on Murray’s Mount and get onto Centre Court. Ok – so the tennis had finished and the place was empty, but we still got there!
All in all, a fabulous day out.
Statement issued by hospital:
‘The legendary King of Pop, Michael Jackson, passed away on Thursday, June 25, 2009, at 2:26 pm (Los Angeles time). It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest in his home. However, the cause of his death is unknown until results of the autopsy are known.
His personal physician, who was with him at the time, attempted to resuscitate Jackson, as did paramedics who transported him to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre. Upon arriving at the hospital at approximately 1:14 pm, a team of doctors, including emergency physicians and cardiologists, attempted to resuscitate him for a period of more than one hour but were unsuccessful.’
All of us at Visit London are very sad to hear this news and send our deepest sympathy to Michael’s family at this time.
I have been a life-long Michael Jackson fan (we’re about the same age and I immediately fell in love with the kid with the amazing voice and dance moves in 1969) and was looking forward to his performances at the O2. I hope that the controversy which has surrounded his life in recent years will not be remembered. Rather, we remember his genius as a popular entertainer and his appeal to so many people. I am sat in the office opposite a very bright 16 year old student here on work experience. Both of us are equally touched by Michael Jackson’s brilliant music.
I’m now going to put Michael Jackson music on for the rest of the day. And do some work of course!
Floral frocks, feathers and fun were out in force for last night’s vintage-themed tea party, held in Covent Garden on the Piazza. A warm summer evening was the ideal backdrop for this event.
Visitors to the picket-fenced enclosure sat at delicate doily-covered tables for tea (or prosecco cocktails, served fetchingly in vintage teacups) and cake. The whole setup evoked the charm of a bygone era with retro-styled waitresses, old-fashioned crockery, traditional Victoria Sponge and a selection of delicious cupcakes, provided by Vintage Patisserie.
There was even a gypsy fortune teller who inspected my prosecco dregs and predicted I’d have a series of small windfalls in the coming months. As the the sun sank to the strains of 1920s music, I pondered my rosy future while other party-goers stood up for a brief tea dance.
This was Covent Garden’s first vintage “Tea Party on the Piazza” but I certainly hope it won’t be the last. Tea, cake, prosecco and dress-ups? How very civilised.
What’s your favourite spot in London to step back in time?
There’s an attractive looking ice cream van parked outside the Royal College of Art (RCA) in Kensington Gore this week. But if you venture inside you won’t find the usual 99s and ice lollies.
Instead you’ll be greeted by RCA students Cat Kramer and Zoe Papadopoulou, dressed in retro ice cream seller’s outfits, who will introduce you to ice cream-scented clouds and smoke-filled ice cream cones.
It’s all part of The Cloud Project, which aims to increase public engagement with new technologies such as geoengineering and nanotechnology.
Cat says, “There’s a lot of emerging technologies that people don’t really know about. We want to bring this discussion to a wider audience.”
Cat goes on to talk about how diet food is made tastier, the pros and cons of genetically modified food, and the techniques scientists are using to try and control our climate.
Ice cream lovers won’t be disappointed. You’ll be able to get real ice cream, along with an explanation about the manufacturing process and the creation of nano (very small) ice cream crystals.
There’s a group of experts lined up to give talks at the ice cream van, including Dr Steffi Friedrichs, Director of Nanotechnology at the Industries Association (1 Jul, 1.30pm) and Dr Rachel Edward Stewart, molecular gastronomy expert (date to be confirmed).
The Cloud Project is part of Show RCA, the Royal College of Art’s annual graduate show, which runs until 5 July.
For me – and I’m sure the vast majority of the audience at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue last night – Nina Bawden’s Carrie’s War is a forgotten childhood story filed in the back of the memory. A bit like Oliver Twist or The Hobbit.
Set in 1939 the story revolves around 12 year old Carrie and her younger brother Nick, who are evacuated out of London during the Second World War to a Welsh mining town. Stories of a young slave boy’s scull, a miserable miserly bible bashing shopkeeper, a mysterious wealthy dying widow, a white witch and a cavernous old house built on an ancient Druid site await them.
Carrie and her brother are clever, innocent, funny Enid Blyton type characters, who know the difference between right and wrong and in the case of young Nick think with their stomachs first. Whereas Mr Evans, brilliantly played by Sion Tudor Owen, whose false- teeth sucking daft rants for me at least, stole the show and his sister played by Kacey Ainsworth (remember her in EastEnders?) the down trodden mousey Lou feel more Dickens. It’s a pretty talented and starry cast led by Prunella Scales who plays the ailing, sad but slightly sinister Mrs Gotobed.
Gentle but fast paced, Carrie’s War worked the cast hard as the production demands them to act and sing wonderful Welsh hymns. It’s action packed too – humour, betrayal, Carrie’s journey from child to teenager – all contained by a brilliant set that features two houses, both with two levels divided by a pocket of war-torn Welsh countryside. The stage was a clever, constant reminder of the war and the play’s two locations.
One for grownups and kids, Carrie’s War is a brilliant yarn, immaculately staged and performed. Playing to a packed house, everyone in the audience loved Carrie’s War. If you see the play, let us know what you think.
This article has no comments. Why not add yours?
RSS Feed
Loading ...
Francais
Español
Italiano
Deutsch
Nederlands
日本
中文版
русский
