Royal Academy of Arts
For our last day in London we visited the Royal Academy of Arts for the Renzo Piano exhibition. I’ll be honest – I didn’t know who he is, but Hannah is an architect and big fan, so she convinced us to go. The exhibition was super interesting and I didn’t realize how many of his buildings I’ve already seen, like the Centre Pompidou, The Shard, and New York Times Building.
Hawksmoor on Air Street
Koen and I can’t be in London on a Sunday without eating a roast. So we were happy when Chris and Hannah agreed to go to the Hawksmoor for their delicious Sunday Roast!
From their site:
Traditionally, large joints of meat were roasted on a spit over an open fire. To achieve a similar flavour we start ours on real charcoal and finish them in the oven. Served with beef dripping roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, carrots, greens, roasted shallots & garlic and lashings of bone marrow & onion gravy.
Kanada-Ya
One of my favorite things about big, international cities like London is that you can find great food from almost any nationality. High on our list during this trip was ramen, so I researched some of the best restaurants and discovered Kanada-Ya. Originally found in Yukuhashi ont he southern island of Kyushu in Japan in 2009, a location was opened in London in 2014. For their famous tonkotsu, pork bones are simmered for 18 hours to create a delicious broth with homemade noodles that are made on site. Worth the 45 minute wait!
Arriving at the V&A for the Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt Exhibit
Koen and I always seem to be visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum for a fashion exhibit, but this time we went for something a bit different – Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt, a major exhibition that explores the design and culture of contemporary videogames. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I really loved it! So interesting to delve deeper into the creative process!
To quote the site:
This exhibition provides a unique insight into the design process behind a selection of groundbreaking contemporary videogames. Design work including concept art and prototypes featured alongside large-scale immersive installations and interactives.
Rabbit
I love visiting Chelsea whenever I’m in London – so many great restaurants as well as my favorite museum, the Victoria & Albert. This trip we made reservations at Rabbit. From their website:
“Our ever changing menu champion’s local and wild British seasonal produce. We use all things wild, foraged, and locally grown, including sustainable livestock from the Gladwin’s own family farm in West Sussex. Plus we have a range of English Wines from our own vineyard.
Dishes are presented as “small plates” designed for sharing or to enjoy individually. Our team will guide you through the menu to help you make a balanced selection of dishes.”
The food was really delicious and I loved that we were able to share all of the plates. Standouts were the smoked butter and the partridge nuggets.
Granary Square ready for Christmas
I love visiting London and this time we planned a weekend trip with our friends Chris and Hannah! From Brussels to London, it’s only a 2 hour train ride – fast and easy!
St. Pancras Train Station is in Kings Cross, so my trips always begin here. I love visiting Granary Square and walking along the Regent’s Canal. Normally we always visit Dishoom or The Lighterman for lunch, but we decided to try somewhere new and more traditionally British – Piebury Corner for meat pies and scotch eggs.
The National Gallery
One of the great things about London is that the museums are free to the public (althought you do have to pay to enter any special exhibitions). We had a few hours to kill before our train, so we headed to The National Gallery, “the story of European art, masterpiece by masterpiece”.
As I mentioned in the Dishoom and Ghymkhana posts, this trip to London is all about Indian food! A few months ago I was at a lunch with an Indian family living in London and I asked for her list of best Indian restaurants. She gave me a list of 10 and I couldn’t wait for my next trip to London! Second to check off the list – Indian Accent!
Our home for the weekend
I love that every time we’re in London we stay in a different neighborhood – this time in Richmond! Richmond is all the way west, almost in Surrey and borders the River Thames. Most famous in the district is Kew Gardens and Palace, but unfortunately we didn’t have time this visit to go (definitely on the list for next time!). Our friends live here and recommended if we have time to go for a walk along the river. So beautiful and peaceful – hard to believe we were still in London!
Fashioned from Nature at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Koen and I love visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum. The permanent collection is free to explore and there are always very interesting exhibits throughout the year that you can pay to explore. To be honest, we originally went to the V&A to visit Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up, but it was sold out for three straight weeks! Fashioned by from Nature seemed interesting to me because I studied textiles and work in fashion. Luckily Koen was interested as well, so we decided to buy tickets for this exhibit instead. l.ucky us! If you’re in London any time between now and January 27th, 2019, I recommend you check it out!
An American in Antwerp 