MAN SHOPS GLOBE: TRAVEL GUIDES
Find out the best places to EAT, SLEEP, SHOP, and SEE in all the destinations featured in MAN SHOPS GLOBE!
PLAN OUT YOUR TRAVELS:
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EAT
I actually used to live in London 20 years ago. You had to work very hard to get a good meal then, and now it seems that on every corner there is something good and interesting...and expensive!
The Thomas Cubitt
44 Elizabeth St.
Belgravia, London
You have to eat at The Thomas Cubitt. The food is traditional English - steak and kidney pie, sausage and mash - but done with the best possible ingredients and by someone who definitely understands cooking. There's a great selection of English beers and the place is full of locals and the occasional celebrity to keep it fun. Eat downstairs in the pub, not upstairs in the restaurant. The pub offers great people watching and it's also not very expensive.
The Wapping Project
Wapping Hydraulic Power Station
Wapping Wall
London
Also, The Wapping Project is an art gallery mixed with food. You eat in this old pumping station with all the machinery and some great art surrounding you. You can hang from the hooks if you like, you're right in there!
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SLEEP
Hazlitt's Hotel
6 Frith St.
Soho Square
London W1D 3JA
Hazlitt's Hotel in Soho is a former 18th century home. It has very individualized rooms, but all feels very traditionally British in unique ways. Nothing feels boring - each room is a little quirky.
Rough Luxe Hotel
1 Birkenhead Street
London WC1H 8BA
Rough Luxe is a very new, cool designer place to stay. The rooms are very small, but the design is very clever. There are a lot of distressed surfaces and artifacts of the original building that are incorporated into the design. Be sure to avoid the shared bathroom. It's very inexpensive - chic on a budget.
Blakes Hotel London
33 Roland Gardens
London SW7 3PF
And, of course, Keith profiles London's amazing Blakes Hotel and it's colorful creator, Anouska Hempel in MAN SHOPS GLOBE - UK.
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SHOP
Decorative Antiques and Textile Fair at Battersea Park
London SW11 4NJ
Cost - £8 at the door, which includes catalogue. CASH OR CHECK ONLY.
By public transport -
Train: from Victoria or Clapham Junction to Battersea Park Station
Bus: #'s 44, 137 or 344
Tube: Sloane Square and then take the courtesy shuttle car
In MAN SHOPS GLOBE - UK, Keith visits the amazing Decorative Antiques and Textile Fair in Battersea, London.
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SEE
Victoria and Albert South Kensington
Cromwell Road
London SW7 2RL
The best decorative arts museum in the world is in London - The Victoria and Albert Museum. They cover the entire history and there's nothing to touch that museum. If you're interested in textiles, you can visit one wing that has literally thousands of drawers full of every period and every tradition of textiles from around the world. the shows are always thoughtful with special attention to educating the public. They visit a subject and absolutely exhaust it. Even seasoned designers walk away with an education. I honestly never miss the Victoria & Albert when I go to London - there's always something to be learned.
(As Keith notes, the Victoria and Albert Museum is immense and has many different divisions. Be sure to check their excellent website to make sure you know which exhibitions are open and when)
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ADMIRE
There's a depth and variety of skills that are still taught in the UK that are not taught in other places. I went to a design fair in London and found people making great wallpaper and ceramics - you'd have a hard time finding design students in the US doing similar things.
Chelsea Crafts Fair (Origin - The London Craft Fair)
Yearly in October
If you can possibly time your visit to concur with the yearly Chelsea Crafts Fair, you should. Sometimes craft fairs can be more about the craft and less about the design. They are simply sold in order to show off the crat person's ability, but the idea behind it is not that interesting. At the Chelsea Craft Fair, you are always struck by the novelty of the idea. It's less about the mastery of the craft itself.
Lost and Found Design
Becky Oldfield
Studio 108
Cockpit Arts
18-22 Creekside
Deptford
London SE8 3DZ
The fantastic textile artist Keith visits in MAN SHOPS GLOBE - UK is Becky Oldfield.
