Albertopolis!

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Londonphilia Spotifiy Playlist: "D"

Here's my Spotifiy playlist of songs about London starting with the letter "D"...from Madness to Dizzee Rascal.

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.

GoFundMe! Help Me Become A Certified Guide!

I have applied to the Camden Tour Guide Association's tour guiding course. I have started a GoFundMe page to help raise the money for the course fees, £850.
Anyone who donates to my cause will get a free tour!

https://www.gofundme.com/camdentourguide

Londonphilia Playlist: The Letter 'C'

Here's all the songs about London on Spotify that begin with the letter 'C'.

The Legendary Castle Pubs of Camden

Starting in June, until September, I will be doing a pub crawl around the legendary castle pubs of Camden...the Dublin Castle, the Edinboro Castle and the Pembroke Castle...also included in the tour is the Hawley Arms which is near where the Caenarvon Castle was located near Regent's Canal.

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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

Private Tours

I offer several private tour itineraries to choose from.
If the tours are three hours or longer, we will stop for food and refreshments along the way.

£75 for a 4 hour tour

The Tate Britain to the Tate Modern.
This tour consists of a leisurely stroll along the Thames River starting at the historic Tate Britain & finishing at the spectacular Tate Modern. Along the way we will view the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, we will then cross over the river to walk along the Southbank and see the London Eye. We finish off at the breathtaking Tate Modern. If desired we can continue a long the river to Borough Market and London Bridge.

£75 for a 4 hour tour

This tour celebrates the music history of Soho and Camden Town. Starting at the world famous Denmark Street, we make our way through the streets & alley ways of Soho. We will see the locations of the recording studios used by David Bowie, Queen, Elton John etc. We finish off at the location of the famous Ziggy Stardust album cover before heading up to Camden Town. In Camden we will go to the pubs where Britpop started and Amy Winehouse hung out. We will also see world famous music venues like the Roundhouse & the Electric Ballroom.

£75 for a 4 hour tour

You don't need a time machine to see things from another time period in London. This tour spans the centuries...from 1000 to the 1800s. See the oldest museum, the oldest church, the oldest dwelling. We'll also see the monument to the Great Fire of London and a monument to local heroes. We finish off at the oldest market in London.
Along the way we can stop off at several historic pubs including Ye Olde Mitre, Cittie of Yorke, the Princess Louise, The Viaduct Tavern (a haunted pub!) and The George Inn.


If none of these tours interest you I can plan a private customised tour just for you.
Private customised tours are available on upon request, a minimum of two weeks in advance.
We can  communicate through email and also have a Skype/Facetime chat to go over what your interests are so I can plan the tour.
The price for private customised tours is £20 per person per hour.
The tour can be anywhere from three (minimum) to nine (maximum) hours.

Please contact me at: djalicat@gmail.com

Kentish Town Lock Open Days

This weekend on the Camden and Kentish Town borders the Kentish Town Lock was drained so they can replace the doors...which you can see in the pictures below.
The Canal and River Trust took this oportunity to let the public come and see the lock and canal form a different perspective.


There was a good crowd when I got there on Sunday around 2:30. Lots of families, London locals and tourists from all over the world.

The volunteers were very friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful.




It was an interesting experience standing on the bottom of the lock looking up at the walls and the new doors.

The Canal and River Trust does good work and you can support them by clicking on the link below.
canalrivertrust.org.uk

Legendary Londoner: David Bowie

David Bowie was born in Brixton and grew up in Bromley. He found himself in the alleys of Soho. He found his mentors, bandmates, rivals, partners in crime in London. Has been and always will be an inspiration and an influence on everything around us. He changed music and fashion obviously...but he also changed nightlife...The Blitz started off as a Bowie tribute night, it was one of the first club nights to happen on a week day. Without Bowie and the Blitz there would've been no Trash, a club night that I worked at, which would finish every night with Rock n Roll Suicide.

Besides Londonphilia Tours, I also do tours under the name Rock n Roll Camden Walking Tour...through that I have been doing a Bowie themed tour of Soho, Sound & Vision: David Bowie's Soho, since 2014 when the V&A was doing their Bowie exhibition. I will now be doing it the first Sunday of each month starting on February 7th. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to a cancer charity.

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Starting in February!

 

I can't wait to start doing Londonphilia tours in February! 

I've got so many tour ideas that I hope people will come on and enjoy!

Tours in 2016!

I'm so excited about 2016! I've come up with loads of really fun and entertaining tours! Here's just a small preview of some of the tours I have planned for next year! The tours will be starting in February!

Doctor Who's London: The Doctor spends a lot of time in London, though the show is actually filmed in Wales. This tour takes you on a trip around some of the the London locations from the TV show. We might even see a TARDIS or two!
Date to be determined

The Camden Railway Pub Crawl: There are several lovely and historic pubs along the railway going through Camden. This pub crawl takes you through history from a Victorian Gin House to a local Camden Town Brewery.
Date to be determined, but will probably be on a bank holiday weekend.

The Famous Castle Pubs of Camden: In Victorian times Camden built four (or five depending on who you talk to) castle pubs...only three of them still exsist as pubs.
Date to be determined, but will probably be on a bank holiday weekend.

 The Crazy Cat Lady Tour of London (gentlemen also welcome): On Valentine's Day, I will be giving a tour of cats of London! From Dick Whittington's cat to Nelson the pub cat.
Date: Feb 14th, 2016 at 5pm.

Hair of the Dog: A dog friendly pub crawl
Dogs like walking tours too!
Dates to be determined, if the first one goes well I will be doing multiple ones.

Keep checking back on the website to see when the tours will be taking place!

Photos from around Borough Market

Southwark Cathedral

Southwark Cathedral

The Thames River

The Golden Hind

Lee Brothers Potato Mer

London A-Z: B is for Borough Market

When I'm not doing walking tours, I work for a bakery, Bread Ahead. Bread Ahead's main bakery is in Borough Market next to London Bridge station. I've lived in London for fifteen years and until I started working at Bread Ahead I never really went there...I know, crazy! But it is south of the river and I'm a die hard north London girl. Borough Market has been around London Bridge, in some form, for almost 1,000 years!
Borough Market has dozens of stalls selling artisan foods like cheese, bread and meat. There are also fruit and veg stalls. There's a street food market next to Southwark Cathedral. I could go on and on about the amazing variety of stalls underneath the railways arches...but you really have to go there and see for yourself.
There are a range of pubs around the market, some of them hundreds of years old, where you can have a pintor two after a day shopping in the market.
I recommend:
Bread Ahead -for sour dough bread and donuts
Turnips - for fruit and veg
Fish! - for fish n chips

Pubs:
Boot & Flogger
Gladstone Arms
The Royal Oak

Related articles

• The Best Views in London as Old Meets New
• The beautiful stations of rail's golden age
• Bompas and Parr to serve up museum of food to follow Willy Wonka-style creations

Reading List

Over the next couple months, I will be doing a lot of reading for the tours I'm planning to do next year.
Hopefully, I can get through most, if not all of them! I'd like to try & read one a week.
Nairn's London by Ian Nairn
The London Compendium by Ed Glinert 
London Calling by Barry Miles
Capital Crimes by Max Decharne 
Underword London by Catherine Arnold
City of Sin by Catherine Arnold

Londonphilia Tours update...

Over six months ago I decided to try and expand my walking tour business, Rock n Roll Camden Walking Tours, into Londonphilia and do other tours, not music related, around London. The last couple months have been a bit stressful for me, I left one job where I was unhappy for another one where I am happy. Getting your footing in a new job can take some time, and with the coming holiday season, I work in retail, I will be very busy at my 'proper' job.
I also realised that I need more time to research and write the tours I'd like to do. I am going to be doing Londonphilia tours but I won't be doing any tours until 2016. I will continue to blog about London and my favorite things about London!

Londonmusica: Pulp - Bar Italia

Even though Pulp are from Sheffield, a lot of their songs, especially on Different Class, are about London. This song is about a little all hours cafe on Frith Street in Soho, where all the 'broken people go'. It's where all the indie kids would go after a night out in Soho for a last coffee before the night bus home...or to someone else's home.
Of course, my Britpop loving friends and I had to go there for a late night coffee when we first came over to London on vacation...which was ironic for me because I don't drink coffee.
Bar Italia has been owned by the Polledri family since 1949.
Bar Italia was awarded the 2010 London Lifestyle Award for London Coffee Shop of the Year.

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 - Attack The Block

This isn't just one of my favorite films set in London, it's one of my favorite films of the last five years! I love this movie so much. It's a well made low budget 'cult' film about an area of London not really portrayed in film and about a group of boys who start out as thugs and end up being heroes. Its funny and scary which is really hard to pull off.
Attack The Block is a Sc-Fi/Horror movie set on a south London estate...after a gang of local boys mug their neighbor something falls from the sky and they kill it. Turns out that something was an alien and now the other aliens are coming after the gang...so they try and protect the block.
It's produced by the same people who did Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and directed by Joe Cornish from the Adam & Joe Show. Oh and one of it's young stars is Joe Boyega, who is starring in the new Star Wars movie 'The Force Awakens'!
The American distributors were concerned about the London slang used in the film. Some websites have 'translated' some of the slang used in the film...which is ridiculous...I'm pretty sure most people understand what 'bruv' means. But whenever it's on TV, my friends and I just end up posting 'allow it' and 'believe' on Facebook to each other.
After watching this movie, you too will be chanting 'MOSES! MOSES! MOSES!'

London A to Z: My favorite things in London in Alphabetical order

A is for Angel
I used to work in Angel, or The Angel, or Angel Islington (even though there's no other area of London called Angel). I worked at Borders bookstore for 18 months before it went bankrupt and closed on Christmas Eve. So, I've spent a lot of time in the area. There are a lot of good bars and pubs around Angel:

The Lexington - American style food, beer and whiskey. A pub quiz every Monday, but make sure you go when my friends aren't playing cuz they win...a lot. Gigs and club nights upstairs.

The Mucky Pub - A cozy little pub on a back street. Great jukebox. Weekly pub quizzes and DJs. A pool table out the back. Great selection of real ale.

The King's Head - Theatre pub on Upper Street. It has a small theatre up stairs that puts on plays. There's live music downstairs sometimes. Great place for one last drink is you're out and about in Angel.

Slim Jim's - American style bar with a great selection of cocktails, music and bras hanging from the
ceiling. Right next to the King's Head.

There's also an amzing amout of restaurants in Angel, basically from Angel station all the way along Upper Street to Highbury/Islington station there are restaurants of every type; from greasy cafes to fancy French bistros.