Everything London

Beanie, Born Dec 28th 2016 With the current state of the world going on about migrants, and taking our jobs, taking back our country, banning you from here, but not from there, and all those alternative facts your mind might just be about to burst, so just for a moment, revel with me in the good, no great baby news of London! London, has a new arrival, from migrant parents! A (very cute) baby Anteater named Beanie. Born just after Christmas, Beanie, weighing just 1.2kg, has a surrogate mum in the shape of lovely fluffy yellow teddy bear.  Beanie's first time mum Inca rejected her new offspring, but the stripy baby will soon be introduced to the rest of the giant anteater family at ZSL London Zoo, where keepers hope that more experienced female Sauna will take over other mothering duties, such as carrying Beanie around and socialising her, so she can grow up part of the group. Young anteaters get around by clinging to their mother’s backs, so the newborn has...

Yes, this is still London. Pic Credit Hina Pandya 2016©️ When I had a rather hectic time at work my friend suggested I take a hike. Literally. Now, I love hiking, so it wasn't hard to say yes. But I couldn't really travel far to the hills of the Brecon Beacons in Wales or to the beautiful Ben Nevis in Scotland. I live in London, a city, buildings not greenery... or so I thought. I was wrong . Apparently the London Loop which has long been in existence is signposted and has trails you'd never know existed. Secret alcoves with nesting birds, Pic credit Hina Pandya 2016 ©️ Straight off the tube we hiked 10 miles through trails of trees, besides waterways of the Grand Union canal, down across field of cows, through corn fields- yes I said corn fields, across deep forest where we were quiet enough- and slow enough- it was uphill to see wild deer, and all in London. The instructions to find the paths can sometimes be very obscure like "find a...

You've heard the nursery rhyme, "London's burning, London's Burning.. fetch the engines, fetch the engines. Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Pour on water, pour on water" Well, it was no nursery rhyme. It was a true story... Barge on Thames w Shard in background. Pic Credit Hina Pandya 2016©️ Walking down the river on the 1st of September, I came across this barge by Blackfriars bridge and near the Temple buildings, if that walk wasn't beautiful enough, this barge appeared and shows the beautiful skyline of London in 1666, when of course the great fire of London happened. It started across the river in Bakers Lane and destroyed much of London, to be rebuilt and of course took many lives, but it also took the lives of the plague infested rats that spread disease to people like wildfire, if you'll pardon the pun. Close up of the skyline of London in 1666. Pic Credit Hina Pandya2016©️ It also created The Monument - another landmark of London also...

Sometimes when the weather changes and the nights get dark early.. you might find yourself walking along the street away from the greenery of the hilly park, in the rain in the middle of the day you might need a pick me up coffee.. ...you might need a pick-me-up piece of cake, you might even want to get away from it all and hide away under a glass roof while the rain comes down and nestle down with a good book, maybe a borrowed one, of real paper and hey then the warm, kind, French sounding barista tells you he ' just wants you to be happy' , so much he's even printed it on the cup... No it's not Alice in wonderland, it's all true!! It's called Falla and Mocaer on Parkway in Camden. Nobody of Any Importance on the table there by the sugar, go pick it up. Falla and Mocaer are two of the most vibrant friendly cafe owners you're likely to meet, always a conversation and a really interesting one; we talked about WW1, because one of the book...

Selfridges lit up windows. Its that time of year when the leaves are starting to fall and it's getting colder, Oxford Street is always my gem for a dose of lights and magic, the shops are already glowing, the trees decked with fake icicle lights, and in the dark early evenings it is very cheery. Selfridges So after a particularly long meeting this week I took a stroll to take it all in and ended up by  Selfridges. What's great is they actually really picked up on the magical theme the windows are decorated in astrological themes, and amazing facts about the earth and size of planets and the stars around the side. The front of the shop glows with a holistic circle, and inside there are many other facets to explore, including gifts and a wonder shop. The glowy circle of all things planetary They even have a clairvoyant to add to the mystery. Her name is Naz Alibagi and I couldn't help but be intrigued. She read crystals (something I'd never heard of...

There is a free exhibition "Magna Carta - through the ages" on at the moment until July where you can see three authentic copies, albeit different versions through the times, of the Magna Carta, one from Peterborough 'The black book' , one from Halesowen Abbey which is in scroll form than book, and the last called the "Hart book of Statutes" which contains a copy of Henry III Magna Carta as well as developed legislation from that time. The Peterborough version "The Black Book" Its actually correct to call it Magna Carta and not The Magna carta as it's given its name in Latin, a language which has no direct, consistent correlate of the English definite article "the". As a result, the usual academic convention is to refer to the document in English without the article as "Magna Carta" rather than " the Magna Carta'. Halesowen Magna Carta Scroll, and John next to it. (Not King) You are warmly greete...

Conscientious Objectors commemoration stone, Tavistock Sq, London (All Pic Hina Pandya Copyright res) Friday was a really busy day for me, but not so busy that I didn't spare a thought for the conscientious objectors that declined to fight in the war. In war sometimes people were conscripted, it wasn't a choice to go and fight, you were required to 'do what was right' for your country... Of course the men who declined to fight were ridiculed and looked down upon, many saw their choice as pure cowardice, and the term 'white feather' was used to describe such men in WW1 and WW2. Little white tags say the names of the objectors Some might say their refusal to go to war, to kill another person has such humanity in it, so much hope. So in the midst all of all the recent celebrations we've had of the fallen on Victory day and Liberation day it seemed fitting that I visited the 'conscientious objectors' memorial in Tavistock Square, which also...