AboutLondon Laura – April 2024 Newsletter
I’ll try not to speak too soon but I think Spring is finally here. So, it’s a great time to get out and enjoy London and all it has to offer.
Did you try any of my recommendations from last month? I saw Hello Brain! at the Francis Crick Institute. It’s not a big exhibition but it’s free and right opposite St Pancras station so easy to fit into a day in town. I liked the knitted neurons but I’ll admit, much of the science went over my head. (No pun intended.)
I also got to the last day of the David Bowie photography exhibition at Fitzrovia Chapel. It’s a small but stunning venue and the photos encouraged me to go and enjoy the space.
Bagels
Call them bagels or beigels, I love them. A few months ago, a kind neighbour gave me a bag of plain ones from Beigel Bake Brick Lane Bakery (the white one at 159 Brick Lane) and I’ve been comparing other London bakeries to see which is the best.
Happening Bagel Bakery in Finsbury Park is great but their plain bagels are double the price. Their cream cheese is impressive though so I’ll still return often.
A Jewish friend told me I had to go to Grodzinski in Stamford Hill so I went there recently. The focus here isn’t on filled bagels so while the plain ones were good, I wasn’t that excited about the filling options. But there are lots of other baked goods so you’ll still come away happy.
I’m waiting for Beigel Shop (the yellow one) at 155 Brick Lane to reopen as it’s been shut for electrical work for the past six weeks.
Do you have any other bagel bakery recommendations?
How Much?!
I have a lot of London books and have kept a selection of travel guidebooks over the years. I thought it would be interesting to see how much admission prices have gone up at some of the main London attractions.
Let me show you what I found out and how much it used to cost to visit some of the main places we know and love.
What’s Happening This Month?
The Queen’s House has had a recent rehang so it gives an excellent excuse for a day in Greenwich. Another free option is to see The Last Caravaggio at the National Gallery from 18 April.
The Coronet Theatre in Notting Hill has a Taiwan Festival from 12 to 27 April. This will be London’s first-ever major celebration of contemporary arts and culture from Taiwan. Or head to Tate Modern for the final weeks of Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirrored Rooms.
Beyond the Bassline at The British Library sounds good. (Again, not meant to be a pun.) It’s the first major exhibition to document the 500-year musical journey of African and Caribbean people in Britain and was inspired by the British Library’s sound archive.
You’ll want to go back to Tate Modern towards the end of the month for Expressionists: Kandinsky, Münter and the Blue Rider from 25 April. It focuses on an international circle of friends who came together to transform modern art.
Things I still want to see include The Future is Money at the Bank of England Museum, Flaming June at the Royal Academy and The Glass Heart at Two Temple Place. And we’ve only got until 6 April to see Wide-Angle View at RIBA.
I got through the whole newsletter without mentioning Easter which brings a two-week school holiday so lots of free family activities at all attractions. I wish you lots of happy chocolate munching this month.