london VII (rochelle canteen)

i arrived early for lunch at the canteen, as i had to catch a flight back to berlin in the afternoon. a beautiful calmness to the place, then the bustle of friends coming to share a meal as i was leaving. 

today's a happy day: i cleared the planters of my sidewalk garden of old leaves and barren branches, dried tips. the lavender surrendered to the fierce berlin frosts, the roses holding out, showing red shoots. we are ready for spring. yes, we are.

london VI (caffeine and carbs)

the light that morning!

jo has a kitchen with a window over the sink, facing the garden. i could stand there for hours, just looking out.

london V (vitamins)

this post is good for you.

london IV (cholesterol)

what can i say.

london III (protein)

i'm silly tired, i just upload these comme ça, ok?

london II (dairy)

at borough market, we treated ourselves to some perfect jura (the swiss version of a comté) at mons cheesemongers, and were mighty impressed by the selection on offer. highly recommended!

more about them here.

london I

a weekend in london. two highlights: borough market, and shoreditch. more to come.

how are you all? my life is more off- than online these days, but in a good way. hope you'll bear with me. and happy weekend!

(top photo taken by jo, bff!)

st. john hotel

before i went to the airport, i treated myself. it was a little late in the morning, so all the regular guests of the st. john hotel had already taken breakfast, and it was very quiet. i ordered the chestnut pancakes with poached quince, pears, and plums. and how absolutely wonderful they were. i've tried to recreate the pancakes, to no avail (i shall keep trying), but the quince i poached yesterday are quite magical.

p.s.: i just realise this must sound as if i stayed at the st. john - that's wishful thinking for you! i would have to find some money under my floorboards to do that, though. in fact, i always visit london to visit a dear friend, so it was breakfast at st. john, and a little bit of dreaming.

house on the hill

how beautiful it is to stand on a hill, looking over the big city.

i just realised that i haven't said thank you for all your suggestions regarding winter food, i loved reading your ideas!

london (part one)

earlier this month, there was a very short visit to london - i wish i had had more time, to meet more friends, to see more, to visit places. things being as they are, i enjoyed seeing a few very close friends, and caught the richter show at the tate just before it closed. no picture-taking in the exhibition itself, but a few behind-the-scene-shots nevertheless. it was a precious day.

more london

walking around soho.

i'd really like one on those brooks saddles for my bike one day. oh, and that facade is by future systems - i really liked the reflections. some more info on that project here (as an aside, i was surprised how fiercely negative some of the comments on that site were, so far i had always thought designers and architects to be rather civilised people. well, i think they are, in fact. but how come there are so many people out there taking the time to trash other people's creative work on the internet? doesn't sound like constructive criticism to me.)

so, london. this time, i only had an afternoon and evening in town, the next morning we went to the countryside. it was what i needed, i was so tired when i went. you should have seen the shadows under my eyes. next time though, i really want to have more time to meet people and see more shows.

one of my favourite places

every time i am in london, i have to go to the photographers' gallery. it's one of my favourite places. the gallery has now moved to a small sidestreet off oxford street. to be quite honest, i liked the old space near covent garden better. that being said, i was quite impressed by their range of analogue cameras and films stocked at the bookshop. holgas, lomos and polaroid cameras as well as digital harinezumis, you find them all.

the shows i've seen there cover a wide range of contemporary photography. some of them i liked, some of them i found so-so. the ones i liked best were probably shows on annelies strba and rinko kawauchi. by the way, the other day i read a really interesting interview with kawauchi - you might want to take a look too: here. she mostly shoots with a rolleiflex, really beautiful light in her works.

scenes from a weekend

picked up two rolls from the lab today. and as always - some surprises, some good and some bad. good was seeing the tones of my first slide film. love it. it's so special.

then again, there's still so much to learn. there were rather a few pictures that were terribly overexposed (i guess it has to show somewhere that the lightmeter is not working, and in some light conditions my internal lightmeter seems to be way off). also, i've made an appointment to have my eyes checked. seriously. there are just too many pictures slightly out of focus.

anyhooo. i love the tones of the shots taken at the nordic bakery, where i've wanted to go for a long time. the interior, the coffee and their cakes are just wonderful, and meeting nice people there makes the whole thing even better.

a good start to a great weekend. more to come.

london, here i come

well, isn't that guy in a jolly mood, given the end is at hand?

me too, cause i'm going to london town the weekend after next! it's one of the places i miss terribly when not going at least once a year, better, twice or three times. this time, k will not be able to come with me, but the next london trip shall be with him - and i've got to do some in situ research for that, right?

anyhoo, i'm really looking forward to dropping into the photographers' gallery - i haven't even seen their new venue in soho! - and, if possible, check out the shows and the little birch grove at tate modern. oh, and try beigel bake on brick lane or other great food places. thing is, i will have to squeeze all this around the weekend, since the weekend proper j and i and the cats will go to the countryside - walks, and pub and open fire. can't wait!

so after rambling on for ages, as i do, here's my question: imagine your perfect 24 hours in london - what would that day include?

p.s.: these photos are from an old travel guide i had sitting on my shelf. see that ford next to the double-decker bus? my dad had one of those in cream white, back in the seventies. i wouldn't mind one. - oh, and my london trip will have to include hopping onto an old bus if there are still any. they are dying out, which is so sad.