The National Portrait Gallery has a collection of 150 portraits from Vanity Fair, many of these of from Vanity Fair's early history but there is a whole range of photographs from 1913-2008.

I love photography and I absolutely cannot wait to see this collection. The collection is on display from 14 Feb - 26 May 2008. Admission price for adults is £10 and if you are not a member of the museum, I would recommend booking a time in advance as it does seem to sell out, especially at the weekends.

If you've already visited the collection, please feel free to let me know your thoughts.

National Portrait Gallery
St. Martin's Place
London WC2H OHE

Photo Credit: National Portrait Gallery

This weekend we set off on foot and did a little exploring of Holland Park. We started at Notting Hill Gate tube and then headed up the hill on Hillsleigh Road. We stopped off at the Windsor Castle Pub, sat down in their fabulous garden seating area and started to enjoy a glass on Pimm's when it began pouring down with rain. Trapped by the rain we had no choice but to have a few more drinks and wait until the rain left off.



Once it stopped raining we headed down Campden Hill and into Holland Park. For as many times as I've been to Holland Park, I've never actually been in the park until yesterday.

Much of it is much more wild and natural than I expected. It is Holland Park after all so I guess I was expecting it to be full of manicured flower beds. Parts of the park are very manicured such as the area around The Orangery Gallery and The Belvedere, which looks like a great restaurant so I am going to add it to my list of places to dine.

One of the highlights in the park for me was the Kyoto Garden with its beautiful waterful and the extremely fat koi fish that can be seen swimming around the pond.



As we exited in the park, I immediately noticed all the beautiful houses on Ilchester Place, which an highly sought after residential street. Picture a row of neo-Georgian 3 storey brick homes with perfectly manicured front gardens. If we had an unlimited budget, I think this is where I would live.



We then walked up High Street Kensington and decided to go to Whole Foods because I think I am about the last person to finally check it out. Definitely an impressive store with a great selection of goods. I loved the dispenser for rice, polenta, museli, etc but on a Saturday, this store was a little crowded for my personal taste, but I will come back for those hard to find items in some of my recipes.

Today was an absolutely beautiful day in London. I met my husband in Canary Wharf after work and we headed over to Greenwich.



I love Greenwich but I've only been to Greenwich twice. The first time was to vist the Old Royal Observatory and to stand on the Prime Meridian, the line from which the world's longitude was measured and the second was to visit the Queen's House because it was one of the venues that we considered when we were planning our wedding.




The view from the top of Greenwich Park. That's Canary Wharf in the background. We wanted to go to Greenwich to eat at a new restaurant called the Rivington Grill, which got a really good write up in Time Out.

The Rivington offers modern British cuisine, which is really excellent but it was hard for us to be too impressed because it was about an hour and 20 minutes from the time we placed our order to when our main course arrived.

At the end of the evening, we rode the DLR back into the city. I sat at the front of the train, which is something I highly recommend. I love the view and it's kind of cool to have the 'driver' who is actually more of a train attendant sitting right next to you. There were a few drunk people who were 'daring' and 'double daring' the attendant to honk the horn, which was actually quite amusing.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasant of visiting the Shell Wildlife Photography exhibit at the National History Museum in South Kensington.

We visited the museum on a busy, rainy Saturday afternoon, which was a little bit of a mistake because the museum was absolutely packed but once we were inside the exhibit, it was much less crowded and much more peaceful.

The photographs are absolutely stunning and it's even more impressive that the photographers are so incredibly young. If you have a few spare hours, this exhibit is worth the trip and you should hurry because it finishes at the end of the month.

National History Museum
Cromwell Road
London SW7 5BD

Photo Credit: National History Museum

If you love fashion photography, you should definitely check out the Face of Fashion exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery.




The exhibit features the work of five well known and highly respected photographers and highlights the relationship between fashion and celebrity.

The Face of Fashion exhibit runs from 15 Feb - 28 May 2007 and advanced booking is recommended.

As part of our holiday celebrations at work, my co-workers and I had a trip to London Eye and then spent part of the afternoon ice skating at Somerset House before carrying on to the company party that evening.

This was my first trip on the London Eye and it really was spectacular. The views are absolutely incredible and when you look out over the city everything seems so close to each other and suddenly all the streets make sense. There are so many streets that twist and turn and then just stop for no apparent reason and it can be really confusing to navigate the city on foot.

Big Ben actually feels small from up here.
























Somerset Ice Skating Rink is beautiful, but it is a small crowded rink filled with lots of people who have never been on skates before. There are only so many times a person can go round and round in circles before they get dizzy.

Where can you find portraits of Simon Cowell, the Bronte sisters and William Shakespeare all under one roof? The answer: National Portrait Gallery. This fabulous museum houses over 1,000 portraits of individuals who have been influential in shaping British history and culture from the Middle Ages to the present day.

To view the portraits in a chronological order, the museum recommends that you begin viewing the collection on the second floor and finish with the contemporaries on the ground floor.

I usually start on the ground floor and spend the majority of my time there during my visit. Many of the portraits on the ground floor are black and white photographs of people like Richard Branson, Princess Diana and Robbie Williams. It’s very powerful to look at the large collection of photographs that are all beautifully matted and framed on one wall.

I especially love the mini-biographies that accompany many of the portraits. Did you know that Simon Cowell began his career working in the mail room of EMI Publishing??

Also, the museum is a great size. It’s not small, but it’s not overwhelming huge either so if you only have an hour, you know that you’ll be able to see a number of fantastic portraits and you’ll leave feeling refreshed and inspired. Oh and best of all, the museum is free!

National Portrait Gallery
St. Martin’s Place
London WC2H 0HE
www.npg.org.uk

Photo credit: National Portrait Gallery

London has so many great attractions. If you can't see everything, make sure you can at least check off the items on this list.

15. Tate Modern
Quite simply, the Tate Modern is the Great Granddaddy of International Contemporary Art.

Bankside (Blackfriars Tube)
London SE1 9TG
020 7401 5120
www.tate.org.uk
Admission: Free!

14. Big Ben & The House of Parliament
Dare I say, the most photographed clock in the world. Enough said.

Parliament Square (Westminster Tube)
London SW1A 0AA
020 7219 3107
www.parliament.uk

13. Westminster Abbey
Just a short walk from Big Ben, you can visit one of the world’s most visited churches and final resting place for many of England’s royals.

Victoria Street (Westminster Tube)
London SW1P 1QW
020 7798 9055
www.westministercathedral.org.uk
Admission: £8

12. Trafalgar Square
Check out the square’s great sculptures and foundations. If you have time, tour the nearby collections of either the National Gallery or the National Portrait Gallery

Closet Tube: Charing Cross

11. Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace is the former home of Princess Diana. The highlight of the tour for me was the collection of dresses that Princess Diana wore. There’s a great picture of Princess Diana dances with John Travolta and the dress that she wore that night is on display.

While you’re in the area, also check out Hyde Park, which is the largest of all of London’s Royal Parks.

Kensington Palace (High Street Kensington Tube)
London W8 4PX
020 7937 9562
www.hrp.org.uk
Admission: £11

10. British Museum
London has so many great museums, but outside of the Tate Modern, if you only have time to visit one museum, I would recommend visiting the British Museum. It’s the oldest and arguably the best.

If you have additional time, the National History Museum, Science Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum, which are all based in South Kensington, are also excellent choices.

British Museum (Russell Square or Tottenham Court Tube)
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DG
020 7323 8723
www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
Admission: Free!

9. Buckingham Palace
Go at least to say you saw where the Queen lives! The State rooms are open in August and September from 9:30am-5:30pm daily.

London SW1A 1AA (St. James or Victoria Tube)
www.royal.gov.uk/royalcollection.org.uk
Admission to the Palace: £13.50

8. St. Paul’s Cathedral
Climb the stairs to the top to get a bird’s eye view of the City

Ludgate Hill (St. Paul’s Tube)
London EC4M 8AD
020 7236 4128
www.stpauls.co.uk
Admission: £8

7. Harrods
Yes, the famous department store. What can I say, I am a girl and I love shoes! Harrods is a must.

87-135 Brompton Road (Knightsbridge Tube)
SW1X 7XL
020 7730 1234
www.harrods.com

6. Walk Along Oxford Street (Oxford Street Tube)
Check out all the High Street Stores like Top Shop, H&M, Karen Millen, Oasis, Zara and department stores like John Lewis and Selfridges. The High end Designers on Bond Street are also not far away.

5. Fortnam & Mason
Be sure not to miss this one of a kind food hall.

181 Picadilly (Green Park or Piccadilly Circus Tube)
St. James
W1A 1ER
020 7734 8040
www.fortnumandmason.co.uk

4. Treat Yourself to High Tea
The English love their tea and there are a number of great place to experience a formal tea setting. Personally, I love the Ritz, but Fortnum & Mason and the Claridge’s Hotel are also great choices.


3. Regent’s Park
This is an incredibly beautiful park that is meticulously maintained.

Regents Park (Baker’s Street or Regent’s Park Tube)
London NW1

2. The Markets
London has so many great markets! It would be a shame to visit and not see at least one of them. Borough Market near London Bridge is a great weekend market with great selections of gourmet and organic food. Portobello Road in Notting Hill has a large of antiques as well as the collections of some up and coming designers. Camden Market has everything from clothes and household goods to food and electronics.

1. Tower Bridge and Tower of London
Tower Bridge is very medieval looking, but it’s only just over 100 years old. Tower of London, which once served as both a fortress and a prison, is now also home to the Crown Jewels

Tower Hill (Tower Hill Tube
London EC3N 4AB
www.hrp.org.uk
Admisson: £14.50