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The Magical Tour Guide

Blog
About
Music/Video
The Magical Tour Guide
English
- Français

Blog
About
Music/Video
The Magical Tour Guide
English
- Français

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Day 80 of 80 — Sir Ian McKellen

Date March 31, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 80. Just over a year ago, I went to see Sir Ian McKellen on stage, for his 80th birthday.

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Day 79 of 80 — Quiz Night

Date March 30, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 79. Of all the pub-related entertainments I’ve discovered on this side of the channel, “Quiz Night” has made the biggest impression on me.

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Day 78 of 80 — Warmth

Date March 29, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 78. London is often portrayed as a fairly cold city. Big and anonymous, full of socially awkward Brits who don’t talk to strangers for fear of being rude.

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Day 77 of 80 — Somerset House

Date March 28, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 77. London is full of secrets — that’s why I love it so. In Westminster there are quite a few hidden treasures, inner courtyards that look private but are actually open to the public.

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Day 76 of 80 — No.43, King Edward’s Road

Date March 27, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 76. As I walk home from Victoria Park I often make a detour via King Edward’s Road.

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Day 75 of 80 — Ghost Bikes

Date March 26, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 75. On street corners, in various of places in London, I spot white bike. Sometimes, a bunch of flowers lays by their side.

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Day 74 of 80 — Westminster Abbey

Date March 25, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 74. The first time I went Westminster Abbey, I didn’t like it much. Well I kind of liked it but I thought St Paul’s cathedral was more impressive.

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Day 73 of 80 — Elephants

Date March 24, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 73. In Spitafields, there is a “Herd of Hope”, a family of life-size bronze elephants scattered around the market. They used to stand together on Marble Arch roundabout but here they have more space to roam around.

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Day 72 of 80 — St John

Date March 23, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 72. As I read the menu of St John in Smithfield, I realise just how unadventurous I am. As far as the culinary world is concerned anyway: I have no curiosity for the world of offel and innards, however much some of my friends…

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Day 71 of 80 — Big Issue

Date March 22, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 71. Big Issue? Big Issue? Eddy sells the magazine on the corner of Neal Street and Long Acre. I don’t usually stop, but…

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Day 70 of 80 — Spicy Basil

Date March 21, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 70. In Kilburn in North-West London there’s a Thai restaurant with a history.

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Day 69 of 80 — Flying Trapeze

Date March 20, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 69. I’m up for a are challenge, wanna do something different. Two of my friends are in town for the weekend and to make it unforgettable we’ve booked ourselves in for an unusual activity.

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Day 68 of 80 — Everyday Life

Date March 19, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 68. In London, people live in tiny rooms. They share their kitchen with eight others. It’s cold and hard and scary at times.

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Day 67 of 80 — Phoenix

Date March 18, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 67. There are many phoenixes around London, usually pubs or clubs or restaurants… and of course, there’s the one on St Paul’s, who proudly rises from the lost “old cathedral” with the word RESURGAM. I have a particular fondness for them: a phoenix is…

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Day 66 of 80 — Panto

Date March 17, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 66. The villain: *”Oh yes it is”* The crowd: *“Oh no it isn’t”* The villain: *”OH YES IT IS”* The crowd: *“OH NO IT ISN’T”* I’ve always been fond of the UK’s quirky culture. Ever since I first discovered Monty Python at the age…

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Day 65 of 80 — Scones

Date March 16, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 65. “A spoonful of sugar, that is all it takes, it changes bread and water into tea and cakes”

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Day 64 of 80 — Cocktails

Date March 15, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 64. Walking back from Old Street with a friend, I spot an old, battered-looking door. There’s scaffolding on the building so I thought it was empty, but there seems to be some light behind that door and even, perhaps, some noise. My friend and…

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Day 63 of 80 — Skates

Date March 14, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 63. I’m skating for the first time in the Olympic Park. It feels like just like skiing. It feels fun, it feels wild.

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Day 62 of 80 — From the top

Date March 13, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 62. From the top of the bus you can see everything. You fly through the city, you are high above ground. You are the king of this town.

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Day 61 of 80 — Alley Cat

Date March 12, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 61. It’s late and dark, the pubs are closing but the Alley Cat is still open — always is. Max’s behind the bar. He has just packed up the board games that were on the tables: the Alley Cat is about to move from…

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Day 60 of 80 — Middle Temple Hall

Date March 11, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 60. I’m walking through the quiet streets of Temple, a few steps away from the City of London. I walk past the church and through the arches, next to the tall statue of the tiny Knight Templar.

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Day 59 of 80 — Serendipity

Date March 10, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 59. If I had not been staying with our dear family friends Nick & Monty near Tottenham Court Road I would not have discovered this lovely Apricot café, nor would I have become a regular of Covent Garden…

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Day 58 of 80 — Whiskey Mick

Date March 9, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 58. A busy Kentish Town pub. Good beer, good people… and good music! It’s Thursday night, you see, so in the corner, a large table is booked for Whiskey Mick & his crowd.

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Day 57 of 80 — NHS

Date March 8, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 57. As I moved to different neighbourhoods in London, I switched surgeries a few times. They were all slightly too efficient, treating patients quickly but not personally. Never got to see the same GP twice. Didn’t know the name of any nurse or doctor.

Day 56 of 80 — Ealing Blues Festival

Date March 7, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 56. The Cosimo Matassa Project comes in different sizes, from trio to sextet. Today, it’s the jumbo version: piano, bass, drums and a brass section: trumpet, trombone and tenor sax.

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Day 55 of 80 — Flying MAMLs

Date March 6, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 55. You can grab a shared bike and start to explore, or go on a cycle tour if you’d like to learn more. But whatever you do, you should never forget to keep an eye out for flying MAMLs.

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Day 54 of 80 — Hackney

Date March 5, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 54. In my neighbourhood there’s hipsters with piercings and colourful clothing who drink almond lattes in contactless-payment-only cafés.

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Day 53 of 80 — Babel Art House

Date March 4, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 53. In Stoke Newington there’s a Turkish restaurant where British people eat Belgian biscuits with their tea.

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Day 52 of 80 — Magic

Date March 3, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 52. I really discovered magic in London. It’s on London streets that I made my first magician friends, it’s in a London magic shop that I bought my first deck of cards. Since then I always carry a pack of 52 poker-size cards with…

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Day 51 of 80 — Piano

Date March 2, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 51. Just arrived from Brussels, I walk briskly through St Pancras International station: I want to get back home asap. But after a few steps only, I’m stopped by a chatty man in a party hat. He holds a bottle of bubbles and plastic…

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Day 50 of 80 — Tally-Ho!

Date March 1, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 50. “I’m glad you joined us, otherwise it’s just whiskey and moustaches” I just joined the team of Tally-Ho Cycle tours, without a doubt the most fun cycle tours in town. With a fleet of beautifully tweedy guides and bikes made in Shakespeare’s hometown,…

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Day 49 of 80 — Olympics

Date February 28, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 49. I’m visiting London for a weekend, sometime in 2012. The Olympics are in full swing, the town’s centre is constantly overcrowded. I have never seen so many people, all the time, everywhere, in every little street, on every little square. I’m making my…

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Day 48 of 80 — Sporks

Date February 27, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 48. Wembley Stadium. It’s a match day. Black trousers, white shirt, waistcoat: I’m ready. I have joined the ranks of hospitality.

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Day 47 of 80 — Hats

Date February 26, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 47. I first came to London at age 15 and will always carry these first impressions with me. Seeing a musical for the first time, chasing the squirrels, admiring the lights. Looking at the living statues of Covent Garden, standing in the reading room…

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Day 46 of 80 — Books

Date February 25, 2021

Books are my anchor. They always have been. In my room I keep a box of “key books”, first on the rescue list in case of an emergency. I chose them carefully: a couple of novels, a couple of plays and that book I’ve had since before I can remember,…

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Day 45 of 80 — Bal Folk

Date February 24, 2021

Around London in 80 days: day 45. A sunny afternoon in Hyde Park. Rendez-vous at the bandstand. The park is massive, the bandstand minuscule so it takes me a while to find. On the way I notice messy families, besotted couples, rushed office workers, acrobats on wheels, street jugglers and…

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Day 44 of 80 — Labyrinths

Date February 23, 2021

Around London in 80 days : day 44. I’ve spent the last few years conquering labyrinths. The confusing grid of small streets that makes up the City of London. The intricacies of tube stations, never as clearly mapped out as the tube itself. And of course, the strange geography of…

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Day 43 of 80 — Curry

Date February 22, 2021

Around London in 80 days : day 43. Believe it or not, when a group of Brits are asked what the UK national dish is, they all respond in unison: “Chicken Tikka Masala”!” Fish & Chips come second, or even third after Bangers & Mash.

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Day 42 of 80 — Canal boats

Date February 21, 2021

Around London in 80 days : day 42. You only need to step out of the park to be transported into another London. A quiet, almost provincial one, a London of alternative lives, cyclists and canal boats.

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Day 41 of 80 — Leicester Square

Date February 20, 2021

Around London in 80 days : day 41. Charlie Chaplin is no longer lonely. He’s been joined by a crowd and there are now many stars having fun on the Square through the day, through the night.

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Day 40 of 80 — “Sprout to be Brussels”

Date February 19, 2021

Around London in 80 days : day 40. *“I’ve been to Belgium once, it’s a strange little place.”* *“OMG, I looooooove Belgian chocolate!”

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Day 39 of 80 — Tube

Date February 18, 2021

Around London in 80 days : day 39. 6.30 am. Four tubes have come and gone already, full of hundreds of compressed commuters. They’re almost falling out every time the doors open. Upon the fifth try, I finally manage to make my way in. Boarding a London tube in the…

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Day 38 of 80 — Stand-up

Date February 17, 2021

Around London in 80 days : day 38. My heart is pounding. I go over my notes once again. I shouldn’t be so nervous, I’m used to being on stage. But this is different, there’s no filter, no instrument. Nothing between me and the crowd: just me and my words….

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Day 37 of 80 — TV

Date February 16, 2021

Around London in 80 days : day 37. 4.30 pm in Hammersmith. I join my friend in the long queue of people already standing in the cold. In a moment, the doors will open. We all have tickets, but we might not all make it to the show. The tickets…

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Day 36 of 80 — Breeze

Date February 15, 2021

Around London in 80 days : day 36. Valentine Day, 2021. The whole world is at home —so am I. As a walk through Victoria Park near my house in the East I see a lonely heart gently move with the breeze. I stop. It does too; so does time….

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Day 35 of 80 — Musical lift

Date February 14, 2021

Around London in 80 days : day 35. South of Waterloo Bridge stands the National Theatre. West of the National Theatre stands the BFI. And next to the BFI stands the Royal Festival Hall. A massive and complicated building which to this day remains a mystery for me. Concert venue,…

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Day 34 of 80 — Red Velvet

Date February 13, 2021

Around London in 80 days : day 34. Ah, Borough Market and its culinary treasures! Whether you’re looking for a fine piece of meat or for a heart-warming tartiflette to go, Borough Market is the place. Any day but Sunday, you’ll find a heaving marketplace with tastings at every other…

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Day 33 of 80 — Lock-in

Date February 12, 2021

Around London in 80 days : day 33. 1 am in South-East London. A true Irish pub lock-in. At the back, a group of men play pool and laugh loudly. I’m sat at the bar with the regulars. I’ve never been here before tonight’s gig, but they seem to have…

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Day 32 of 80 — Great Russell Street

Date February 11, 2021

Around London in 80 days : day 32. A first-floor flat, all carpet and trinkets. On Great Russell Street, no less. Around the table, two gentlemen. One is 76, the other 85.

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Day 31 of 80 — RSC

Date February 10, 2021

Around London in 80 days : day 31. A couple of years ago, I booked tickets for a Don Quixote performance at the Garrick Theatre. I had fond memories of my last evening at that theatre. But this was different. A special occasion: this was the first time I was…

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