London DAY 2 and 3

DAY 2

I really wanted to buy a new jacket so we went to Carnaby street to end up with just buying some tea. Went around Regent and the likes to look for shops.
The best thing about visiting a city for me are the walks. I don't need to have seen everything that you are supposed to see. I just love walking around.
We checked out some museums and also went to Tate Modern which I really love. We found out there was a Rothko exhibit but decided not to go because of time and money. (what a stupid decision!)

In the evening we checked out more of the Concrete&Glass festival and saw Lykke Li play at Cafe 1001. They were really great. I love it when bands are better live than on record after loving the record.


DAY 3

First we had to drag our bags to another hotel, thanks to the friend of the Italian. ( see previous post)
The hotel was not really my thing. Clean and everything, but too business like. It did have a nice Apple IMac in the room with free internet though.
After playing with the IMac we went to Portobello market and Camden. Camden is for a lot of people probably too crowded, but I still love the neighbourhood and all the little markets.
For dinner I found this vegetarian restaurant online which got all great reviews.
After taking several tube lines we found out it was full, and since we were starving we didn't want to wait.
Before we had run into a pub that seemed nice, so we decided to just go for it. We ate for
like 12 pounds. This included vegi burger + chips for me, burger and chips for the Italian, a jacket potato to share and two huge beers. The food was great and the scenery entertaining including a drunk middle aged lady who fell over in the middle of the pub and stayed on the carpet floor for about 10 minutes.

After that we went back to the Tate, I really wanted to see that Rothko exhibit but we didn't make it on time... damn it. (I guess we have to go back before January 2009)
To get over this disappointment, we decided to hit the hotel bar, I had what was the best Mojito I have ever tasted and The Italian enjoyed his fancy Scotch.

* pictures to follow

London Baby!

Yes yes yes.. The Belgian and The Italian are going to London. It was actually me who really wanted to go, but The Italian was convinced rather quickly. I have only been to London once, but fell in love with it. They often say you either like Paris or London and although Paris is a fine city.. I wouldn't doubt for a second and pick London any day. I just love the atmosphere of the place. Booked our traintickets... isn't it wonderful you can just take a train and a mere two hours later you are in the middle of London without have to be there 2 hours before to check in etc etc.

I'm really looking forward to visiting the Concrete & Glass Festival in East London. It's an Art&Music Festival with lots of bands (Lykke Li, Errors,...) and lots of art shows in several venues around East London. Will def report after we have been!

Today Is A Great Day For...

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the grass is making my nose itch..today is a good day for some nice catchy rocky/poppy/indie songs. Partially inspired by StuBru playing on the radio at work, these are the songs that will make today a good day, heck even a great day.

In no particular order :

The BlackBox Revelation - Gravity Blues : Belgian band. Young guys, Runner's up at Humo's Rock Rally* in 2006. They have even played in the US and will be playing in Belgium/ The Netherlands and Germany in sept/august. I also love the video for this song.

The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name : Ok, this song has been out a while, but I still love listening to this song driving in my car with the sun on my face. It makes my head bob even in the morning, and that's a rare thing.

Freaky Age - Where Do We Go Now : This is a Belgian band of guys who are only like 16 years old, but this is one catchy song. They are playing a whole bunch of dates this summer/autumn, so maybe I'll go check them out.

Air Traffic - Time Goes By : Not necessarily a band that has come up with something that's totally new, but I can't help really liking their album Fractured Life and Time Goes By is perfect for singing along in your car (or at your job, depending on your collegues) while banging your head.

A Brand : Time. I really liked their first single,Riding your Ghost in 2004, but Time shows that they have grown as a band. Great song.

If you haven't heard about some of the songs, you should definately check them out and let me know what you think!

* Humo's Rock Rally is an important contest in Belgium for rock bands who are starting out