On Tour: Day Trip to London

angiemoonthemod's avatar 14/08/2023 4 Comments

I’ve been absent from the blog and it’s for a good reason. I moved to England and my husband and I bought a house! It’s been a dream of mine since I was 15 years old to live in England and it’s finally come true. Enter the “Shangri-La” era. The lyrics hit different now.

These plans have been in the works for a while, but I kept quiet about it publicly for a while because I didn’t want to jinx anything and you all know how some people are jealous and bitter. So I’ve been spending most of the last month buying stuff for the house and decorating. It’s a lot of work! Especially because my husband and I don’t have family who live in the UK. My parents are in America and his parents are in Ireland, so we’re pretty much on our own with a lot of this. But we’ve gotten the living room pretty much finished (just need to buy a small table, bookcase, and finally put up the curtains) and now we’re putting together the bedroom. The living room is just how I dreamed of it: peacock green walls and Victorian furniture!

I haven’t had much time to work on much else or take a break, but last weekend I took a day trip to London to meet up with one of my friends, Eliza – who you can follow on instagram: @little.glow.girl. She is a big fan of The Who (and classic rock in general, of course) and always takes great vintage outfit and makeup photos.

Eliza and I wanted to take photos and she found out on TikTok about this really opulent hotel that is perfect for taking 60s does medieval/fantasy style photos in called The St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, which is just outside of Kings Cross/St Pancras Station, very easy to find. Can’t miss it! As you can expect from the gorgeous architecture, the hotel was built in 1873 and originally called The Midland Grand Hotel and was state of the art with its hydraulic lifts and revolving doors and luxurious with a grand staircase and gold leaf walls and a fireplace in every bedroom – cosy! In the 1930s, the hotel shut down and the building was used as offices for British Rail until the 80s, when it failed fire safety regulations. Sometime in the 60s, there were plans to knock it down, but thanks to a campaign by Jane Fawcett of the Victorian Society, the historic building was saved and got Grade I listed status. Thank goodness! Knowing the architecture of the 60s its replacement would have probably been something ugly and brutalist – soulless. 

You might recognise the stairway that Eliza and I took pictures at as the one in the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” music video. Nostalgic!

Here’s my video walking around that stairway:

So we went in our 60s does medieval finest and took some photos. I’m so happy with how the photos Eliza took of me came out. Check them out!

It was a very rainy day unfortunately, but that’s typical England. While the rest of the world has been experiencing heat waves, it’s been very mild, which honestly, I’m okay with because my house doesn’t have air conditioning and I’d rather be a little too cold than too hot because at least I can put on a jumper or a blanket. If it’s too hot, I don’t know what to do! So what better thing to do than go to a museum on a rainy day? I remember hearing in the news that there was a Paul McCartney photography exhibit on in the National Portrait Gallery and so Eliza and I went to that. Because we’re both under 30, we got in for only £5 each, instead of the normal £22-24.50 it would cost. I think that for a fiver it was a steal, but I wouldn’t say it was worth the full cost, which would be on par with general admission to a museum, which would have multiple exhibits. Still, it was beautifully designed and put together. The exhibit is of photos of the Beatles early on in their career from 1963-1964 with the journey taking us from Liverpool to London to Paris to New York, DC, and Miami. We all know that Linda McCartney was a photographer, but Paul McCartney has some photography chops too. There is a photography book out too, called 1964: Eyes of the Storm. I didn’t get it because it’s £60.

Here are some photos from that exhibit:

After that, we got some lunch at one of my favourite vegan places, Club Mexicana, which is in Kingly Court, just off of Carnaby Street. As always the food is great. This was my first time dining in – the other times I went, I had takeaway – and I loved how the food was presented. Even though guac is extra, it’s worth it to me because I like the texture of burrito bowls better when there’s guacamole. I ordered the vegan fried chicken burrito since vegan chicken substitutes are my favourite and my favourite meat before going vegetarian was chicken.

After that, we walked around Carnaby Street. It seems like every time I’m in London, I end up going to Carnaby Street, even though as we all know, it’s nothing like it was in the 60s. It’s all corporate and full of generic mall stores and big brands, rather than hip boutiques with groovy clothes in the 60s. For decades, just off of Carnaby Street there was a couple remnants of Mod culture, two shops: The Face and Sherry’s – both the same family-owned business. I remember the last time I was in the area, those shops were there, but I think sometime this year or late last year, The Face and Sherry’s moved because of increasing rents. Thankfully, they found new storefronts just a few blocks away on D’Arblay Street and Poland Street, respectively. The workers there told me that there were people who thought they were gone for good, but some of the Carnaby Street shops like Fred Perry and Doc Martens have their business cards there in case anyone is looking for them. The shop assistants were all very friendly and I especially love their suits, which they also make in women’s sizes with accompanying skirts and they have on-site tailoring. One day I’ll get that shiny purple one! 

Anyway, as always I had a great time in London and can’t wait to come back! I always end up finding my way back to London and I will say this until the end of time: it’s my favourite city in the world.

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CategoriesThe Diversity of Classic Rock on Tour
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