Walking with family: Baker Street to Leicester Square... and beyond

Sunday December 22, 2024.

It was a cold late morning as Emma, Keilyn, Erin and her friend Summer and I made our way to the station, ready to take in the Christmas atmosphere of London.

I did give the girls' a mission for the walk. 'The first person to find a dinosaur would be given £1'.

Our first stop, after exiting Baker Street station, was to find somewhere to eat lunch. The girls unanimously voted for KFC, which we found across the road on Baker Street.

Suitably filled we headed south along Baker Street, crossing Oxford Street, until we reached Grosvenor Square. The square was remarkably quiet so we left, via its southeast corner, and headed onto Carlos Place, where we saw The Connaught Christmas tree, our first true Christmas tree of the day.

Continuing along Carlos Place we entered Berkeley Square and Keilyn, who had been slightly ahead of us, came running back to us, demanding £1, as she had found a dinosaur. Sure enough, as we reached the corner of Berkeley Square the cast of a dinosaur stood on a plinth, staring into the heart of the Square. I reached into my pocket and handed over the prize.

After admiring the display at Annabel's Members Only Club, we headed along Bruton Street to New Bond Street, passing the Coach and Horses pub on the way.

New Bond Street was considerably busier than anywhere else that we had so far visited, due to the ornate displays of the various big names along the street. Boodles, Bvlgari, Cartier, Chanel, Dior, Givenchy, Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren, to name a few. 

The sky, though overcast, was still too light to get the full effect of the lights, but it still brought the feeling and atmosphere of Christmas to us.

Continuing on a light rain began to fall, so we headed into the Burlington Arcade, with its caped Beadles, exiting on Piccadilly, where the Fortnum & Mason building had its usual Advent Calendar display.

For a bit of a respite, Summer had never been on one of our walks, we headed into Waterstones bookshop, where we perused the books.

We then continued along Piccadilly to Piccadilly Circus and onto Coventry Street, where warm drinks were purchased. Before visiting the Winter Market, which had been erected in Leicester Square, Erin, Summer and I went off to see the various statues of Harry Potter, Bugs Bunny, Batman, etc.. After making a complete circuit, of the square, we met back up with Emma and Keilyn and entered the Winter Market. A few items were purchased, at inflated prices, before we headed off to grab some more snacks and warm food.

Embassy of the United States of America (1960-2018)

Home to the Diplomatic Mission of the USA, from 1960-2018.

Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, has always held an odd fascination with me. Whether it is because of the area, or the history of the square, I do not know.

However, one of the most imposing, and I would say magnificent, buildings around the square, is the old Embassy of the United States of America, with its gilded bald eagle sitting on its roof. 

June 2020

Now that the embassy has moved to Nine Elms, you can get quite close to the building and see it in all of its glory, before the developers move in.

Lumiere London, 2018

Westminster Abbey looking glorious at Lumiere London 2018.

As soon as the dates were released for this years Lumiere Festival, I knew that I would be attending. Falling across four nights, Thursday 18 - Sunday 21, we decided that the Friday would be the best night for us.

Fortunately, I was allowed to leave work slightly early, thank you to my manager for that, so that I could pick up the girls, with my wife. This afforded us the luxury of being able to leave for London, earlier than expected.

As we had all had a long week, and knowing that Erin (6) and Keilyn (4) would be tired, I had planned a route that would allow us to see some of the installations, while staying close enough to transport links, should the girls become too tired.

Gallery

Lumiere London, 2016

Leicester Square Illuminated.

Back in mid January, 2016, the Lumiere Festival came to the Unfinished City and it was something that I had to witness.

Spread across four nights there were plenty of opportunities to see all of the installations, as they were spread over four main areas: Mayfair, Piccadilly, Westminster and King's Cross.

Various artists transformed the city's streets, buildings, parks and squares into temporary art galleries, where light was the key element.

Gallery