London, England

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London, England Destination Unknown
The Laggard
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 41 °F
This was my usual place on our Tours by Foot tour of Soho. I was always a block or maybe half a block behind everyone else. Sinead was moving so quickly that this was my only option for taking pictures. There was someone else who was taking pictures and lagging behind also. Sometimes they were ahead of me, sometimes behind but, oddly, staying away from me and never talking at all. I said hello to them and they just turned away. Maybe they didn't speak English or they were shy. I don't know why they were like that but I thought it was strange.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
The Sprit of Soho
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 41 °F
The Spirit of Soho mural was created by the Soho community and completed in 1991. It shows Soho life and is dedicated to the people of Soho. The mural depicts St Anne presiding over local notables; her skirt and petticoats show the map of Soho, craftsmen and London landmarks. Framed underneath are the portraits of Soho's many famous figures. Dogs and hares are interspersed which represent a time when Soho was a Royal hunting ground.
This mural was restored in 2006 by Shaftesbury PLC and The Soho Society and the clock was re-activated by The Lord Mayor of Westminster on October 19, 2006. When the clock strikes on the hour be sure not to miss actress and opera singer Theresa Cornelys winking at Casanova, Casanova then blows a series of kisses to Cornelys and Karl Marx will take a sip of Coca Cola.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Who Are All These People?
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 41 °F
Here's a look at the entire mural, showing the side panels. I would have liked to see this during the day time so I could make out who each of the figures is supposed to be. I can recognize a few of them but the majority of those faces are a mystery to me. I'm guessing that a lot of them are famous figures from British history, although I spotted Groucho Marx in the center part of the mural.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
John Snow
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 41 °F
Here's another place in Soho that Sinead pointed out as we passed by but didn't stop at. This place looked great and I've really been wanting to eat at an authentic British pub. Having it named for the commander of the Night's Watch is a real bonus! Actually, we were told that this place was called John Snow years before the Game of Thrones series even existed. I wonder where the name came from? It must be an interesting story. I would have liked to hear it.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Outdoor Dining
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 41 °F
This is the sort of thing I expected, and hoped, to see in Soho. Instead, I only saw it in passing as we walked to the different places that our guide, Sinead, wanted to show us. Shooting on the run was a challenge and it was hard to get good shots, especially at night. I really needed the tripod to do Soho right! Rather than see areas like this, Sinead took us to see a building where the Beatles played a free concert on the roof sometime back in the late 1960's and told us a long rambling story about how a neighbor had the audacity to call the police and complain about the noise, getting all the Beatles arrested. I guess some people are big fans, and would appreciate that sort of thing but it didn't impress me very much. I'm just not really a Beatles fan, I guess. At least not a big one.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Garlic & Shots
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 41 °F
I couldn't even imagine eating at a place where the only food that's served is garlic. This has got to be one of the most original restaurant/bars that I've ever encountered. We didn't go in, or even look at the menu because Sinead was moving everyone down the street so quickly. She pointed this place out to us but that was all. I'm guessing she's just showing us where everything is and then thinks that we'll come back later, on our own, if we really want to visit anything here. This is a difficult idea to follow though because everyone in the tour group is unfamiliar with London and, because of that, will have a very hard time being able to find any of these places again, especially at night. I've seen a lot of places that I'd like a closer look at but we've been going around so many different streets very quickly and I wouldn't have any idea how to find any of the places that we saw tonight again. While this tour started off great, we're rapidly losing our enthusiasm for it.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Let’s Call It a Night
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 41 °F
By now the tour was winding down and we were all ready to go our separate ways. I don't know how everyone else felt, but we weren't exactly thrilled with this Tours by Foot experience. Sinead ran us up and down the streets so quickly you would think that we were being chased. Rather then happy and satisfied, we felt exhausted and so hungry.
We have another Tours by Foot adventure scheduled for tomorrow, Harry Potter's London. I'm hoping that this tour is an improvement over what we had tonight. As long as it proceeds at a more leisurely pace, we'll be happy.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Goodnight, Sinead!
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ 🌙 52 °F
That's our Tours by Foot group, getting ready to split up and go our own ways. I was happy to see that nobody got cheap and didn't pay Sinead. Even though her tour could have been better, she did try and I think she deserved something for her efforts. Kathy and I gave her £20, which we thought was a fair amount for the two of us. Some of the tour was very good and, if nothing else, we got a good workout as we had to nearly run to keep up with her. As for me, this was my usual spot in the tour, a bit behind everyone else. So, while I may have missed some of Sinead's narrative, I was about to get more, and better composed photos. That's an acceptable trade-off to me.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Poppie’s
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ 🌙 52 °F
After the tour, we decided to have dinner at Poppie's, a fish and chips spot recommend by Sinead. Actually, recommended is not a strong enough word. She spent much of the tour going on about how amazing this place is, making it sound as if eating here is going to change your life, or something.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Fish and Chips
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 41 °F
We found Poppie’s to be good but after Sinead’s build up, it was kind of a let down. We learned now that we need to form our own opinions about places and not to let others influence our decisions. They usually don't agree with what we think anyway. One touch that I did really like is that your ketchup is in a tiny glass jar rather then the usual packets. That's the sort of thing that makes a big difference in standing out from the rest.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Retro Restaurant
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 41 °F
Poppie’s doesn’t look quite what I had imagined a fish and chips restaurant to look like. Somehow, I had expected more of a nautical theme. I kind of like this retro look though. I feel like I’ve stepped back in the 1970’s!Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
A Great Dinner
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 41 °F
We’re leaving Poppie’s feeling happy and with full bellies. This was a really great dinner. I’d like to try a few other fish and chips shops before we leave for home. I think that I’ll be eating fish and chips as much as possible while we’re in London.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
M&M's World
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 41 °F
After dinner at Poppie's, we decided to stop by the M&M's Store in Leicester Square. We've been walking past this place several times already and it looks like a fun store to visit.
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London, England Destination Unknown
Hop on the Bus!
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 41 °F
As soon as you enter M&M's World this iconic red London bus is right in front of you. It's obviously not a real bus because it's a bit too small but it's a great replica. It really gives this store a great British vibe and immediately let's you know that you're in London.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
So Much More Than Chocolate
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 41 °F
It's a very nice place, bigger than the one in Manhattan but I think the Manhattan one has much more stuff. Here, there's too much empty space. It gives me the impression that this store might be just recently opened.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Tastefully Decorated
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 41 °F
This is a beautiful store and everything is so colorful! I'm glad that we stopped by! M&M's World in London is decorated much more nicely than the store in New York. Everything feels so crowded and cramped over there. I like that this store is a lot less busy, giving us space to walk around without constantly having people bumping into us.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Abbey Road Tribute
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ 🌧 39 °F
There were a lot of the big M&M figures throughout the store, more than the ones in the Manhattan store, in fact. This display is a homage to the Beatles crossing Abbey Road. The Fab Four never looked so tasty!Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Not Much to Buy
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ 🌧 39 °F
I really wanted to get something from the London M&M's store, like maybe a magnet or a key chain, to go with my key chain from the Manhattan store but, after looking through the entire multi-level store, I couldn't find anything that I really wanted. That's not really good for a store. I can find so many things I'd like to get in the one back home but nothing here. They really need to have more stock at this location. There's so much empty space in this store. I wish they'd take advantage of it.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Where is Everybody?
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ 🌧 39 °F
I'm glad that the store was so empty while we were here. It gave me plenty of opportunities to get photos without people walking in and out of the frame and I could take my time while composing shots. With everything so big and colorful, there was so many photos opps here! I wonder what time I'd need to visit the M&M's World in New York to have the store be this empty?Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Empty
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ 🌧 39 °F
Here's a look at all three floors of M&M's World at the same time. Not only is there hardly anyone in the store shopping, there doesn't appear to be very much merchandise to shop for. The main thing that I'm seeing in this store is empty space. Are they really selling enough goods to cover their rent and still make a profit? I'm not so sure.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Christmas is Coming
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ 🌧 39 °F
It's nice to see the Christmas decorations slowly going up in London. I always love seeing, and photographing, Christmas in New York so seeing how Christmas is celebrated in another country is very interesting to me. I don't know how much of the decorations will be up before we leave but I hope it's a lot.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Big Blue
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ 🌧 39 °F
One of the things that I really like at this M&M's World is how many of the big figures are standing throughout the store. There are a few in the New York store but nowhere near as many as this place has!Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Taste the Rainbow
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ 🌧 39 °F
This rainbow of lights almost completely surrounds the windows of the M&M's Store. These lights really give the store a colorful and exciting look. To make it even better, the colors slowly change, giving the illusion of a wave of colors constantly circling the store.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Inside Looking Out
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ 🌧 39 °F
Here's another look at the rainbow lights that are surrounding the M&M's Store. Being further back, it's easier to get some sense of scale of these lights. They are quite big and fill up a sizeable portion of the windows.Read more
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London, England Destination Unknown
Crossing Tower Bridge
November 8, 2016 in England ⋅ 🌧 39 °F
Nearly all of the figures in M&M's World were themed to reflect the country that they are in. I think that this is a great idea to help visitors remember their trip and make each location special. Here, we see Blue driving across London's Tower Bridge. The car he's driving is, of course, an Aston Martin. This is a luxury British sports car and it's the same car that James Bond had. Blue is definitely cool enough to pull off being James Bond!Read more
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