Coming Soon! Londonphilia Souvenirs!

When you walk down Oxford Street you see store after store of cheap and not so cheap tourist tat. Every store sells the same stuff. And it's not made in the UK.
Or you can buy some expensive...though lovely, Cath Kidston London themed merchandise.
I think that some people, not just tourists but other Londoners, want something in between...some cute London themed souvenirs at a reasonable price point...introducing Londonphilia Souvenirs!
And they will be made in London!
There will be three ranges:
Fictional London - Inspired by some of the famous fictional characters from literature, film and television...Doctor Who, Sherlock, Harry Potter, Mary Poppins...etc.
Transport of London - Buses, Trains, Automobiles, and Taxis.
Pearly Kings - Inspired by the cheeky charitable Cockneys of East London.

Don't Panic! A Geek's Guide to London!

I'm probably the most excited about this private tour! I am a geek and I am a Londonphile, so combining the two of these into one tour only makes sense.

London is chock full of geeky things...from Sherlock Holmes to Doctor Who, from Shaun of the Dead to 28 Days Later, from An American Werewolf in London to the Highgate Vampire, from Harry Potter to The Rivers of London, from Clockwork Orange to Misfits.
Some of the locations we can visit are...

• Several Doctor Who locations including Earl's Court, the London Eye & London Bridge.
• Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter.
• The house in the TV show Spaced.
• Trafalgar Square - the location of several films & TV shows including Doctor Who and Day of the Trifids.
• The house from Hellraiser.
• Piccadilly Circus -  film location for bo
• The actual location of 221b from the TV show Sherlock.
• th 28 Days Later and An American Werewolf in London.
• The river side locations for Clockwork Orange & Misfits.
  
  

Most of these things are in and around central London but some of these sights are a little out of the way...so this is an all day tour. The minimum length will be 6 hours.

Because of this, we will obviously be stopping for refreshments, this may or may not include a pub or two, it's up to you.


Here's some places we can stop off at along the way:
The Four Quarters - London's only arcade bar. Craft beer, arcade games & fun times, what could be better!

The Grapes - The pub owned by Sir Ian McKellen, aka: Gandalf, Magento, etc.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese - One of the oldest pubs in London. Dickens drank here.

Ye Olde Mitre - Another historic pub...if you can find it. It's almost like it's on a real life trap street.

Ping - Ping Pong bar in Earl's Court

We can even plan to do the tour on a day that Geeks Inc. have one of their quizzes!

The price for this tour is £150 per person. I can customise this tour to fit your fandom or we can do a mixed bag of geekdom.

Contact me at: djalicat@gmail.com

Literary Footprints

The lovely people at Footprints of London are doing their annual Literary Festival from October 8th till the 25th. Over forty literary themed walking tours covering authors like; Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Geroge Orwell, Virginia Woolf, Samuel Pepys...and many more interesting topics.
Last night I went to the launch night at the Hoop & Grapes in Farringdon. Dr. Matthew Green the author of London: A Travel Guide Through Time gave an eductional and entertaining talk. His book is about what you would see, hear and experience if you travelled back in time, like a time traveller, to different periods of London...the time of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth, Medieval city life, the plague, the coffee houses, the reign of Queen Victoria and during the Blitz.
Dr. Green talked about London during Shakespeare's time...gruesome bear and bull baiting pits, the theatres and the tabacco house...which out numbered the pubs. It was a fun talk that got the room, filled mostly with other tour guides talking about which time period they would travel to, if they could.
There's so many intersting walks happening over the next two weeks, I can't decide which one to go on! I might have to get the season pass!

 http://footprintsoflondon.com/other-events/literaryfestival/

Londonfilmia - London in film

London is one of the most filmed cities in the world. Every genre of film has been set and or filmed in
London. It has been the back drop for James Bond films, Disney films, Alfred Hitchcock films, Charles Dickens adaptations, Sherlock Holmes films...the list goes on and on. Each week I will be writing about one of those films. Some of these movies will be very well known; "Shakepeare in Love", "Love, Actually", "An American Werewolf in London", "101 Dalmations (animated and live action)...etc. Others will be less well known..."Creep", "Peeping Tom", "Absolute Beginners", "This Year's Love"...etc.