West London Weekends

This weekend I took it easy and decided to explore more of my side of London Town: West London! By now I’ve embraced that I will never be a trendy, 2-cool-4-u East Londoner, especially now that my ironic 80s mom jeans don’t fit over my beer belly, so here’s to the west side!

Richmond-Upon-Thames

I finally visited the neighborhood of Richmond-upon-Thames, where the main campus of my university is (that would be Richmond, the American International University in London). I definitely chose the wrong campus because, well, Hogwarts, anyone??

Richmond is a very affluent and picturesque area, favored by many celebrities because of its proximity to central London (only 8 miles away) while maintaining the feeling of a small English village. One notable spot is Hollyhock café, which perches on a little hill above the river and is built of tree trunks and decorated in fairy lights. Afternoon tea here is absolutely magical.

Additionally, Richmond is adjacent to well-known Richmond Park, which was established as a royal hunting ground in the 17th century but is now the largest royal park in London (three times the size of Central Park). It’s home to an abundant deer population, probably the prettiest dear you’ll ever see. The park was even used as the filming location for Disney’s Into the Woods a few years ago. Richmond is absolutely gorgeous and I’m adding it to my list of London neighborhoods to move to someday.

Down the road from Richmond is the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, a 326-acre UNESCO World Heritage Site home to 400,000 species of plants. Sam and I wandered around the gardens for nearly 4 hours and still could’ve seen more. On May 5, Kew is unveiling their 5-year, multi-million pound project to restore the Temperate House, the largest Victorian greenhouse in the world. I’m so sad I missed it by a month!!

Also in Kew Gardens is Kew Palace, a manor tucked away in a corner of the gardens. The remaining “Dutch House” is only part of what once was a much larger complex, most famously home to King George III and Queen Charlotte. George III was the king who lost the American colonies, if you remember, and they moved to Kew in an attempt to cure his bouts of “madness” (now assumed to be either the blood disease Porphyria or Bipolar Disorder). Through all the palaces and museums I’ve been to, it still never stops being strange to learn about American Revolutionary history from a British perspective. King George III was, simply, Britain’s king; not a demonized villain who marked the beginnings of a whole other country’s history. He may have been “mad”, but he’s just one dude of hundreds of monarchs and thousands of years of British military history. George and the revolution are but small blips in the British history books. I really enjoyed meandering his country palace at Kew.

Anyway, back to the point: I loved Kew Gardens and would highly recommend a visit. It may not be uniquely London, but strolling through English gardens and smelling flowers on the first real, sunny day of London spring relaxed every muscle in my body and mind.

Although I haven’t explored them as much, the neighborhoods of Chiswick and Hammersmith are also definitely great areas to check out. Chiswick has a manor you can explore, as well as a very relaxed high street of shops and cafés.

Notting Hill

Notting Hill is probably the most picturesque and colorful neighborhood in London. Although I didn’t spend any time there this past weekend, I couldn’t not include it in this run-down of West London. Notting Hill is just north of Hyde Park, and is famous for its Portobello Road market, the world’s largest antiques market.

Tonight I’m going to see Wes Anderson’s new movie Isle of Dogs at Picturehouse Gate Cinema, a vintage movie theater that looks like it could be right out of a Wes Anderson movie itself! I love how Notting Hill is both trendy but quirky, never taking itself too seriously but remaining a London staple. If you only have a week to spend in London, don’t miss Notting Hill.  

Kensington & Chelsea

Now of course, I could write many other posts about my own neighborhood of Kensington & Chelsea, but I’ll talk about the new places I visited around there this weekend. How have I gone the past three months without visiting The Churchill Arms, first of all?? This is one of the most famous pubs in London, and I have spent years pinning pictures of its flower-ful facade on Pinterest. The inside is eclectic, with a thousand random objects hanging from the ceiling, and has a hidden Thai restaurant in the back — which was delicious. My other favorite pub over here is Elephant & Castle, as well as The Builder’s Arms next to my university on St. Alban’s Grove.

Yesterday, I popped into the “Frock Me” vintage fair, which comes to Kensington Town Hall every other month to sell designer vintage clothing. Listen, I had to sit down in the middle of this because I was so overwhelmed by the amount of clothing and the beauty of it all! I love fashion and I love to sew, so to be able to hold a pink 1960s Chanel skirt suit in my hands and examine the fabrics, the textures, the quality, and the craftsmanship made me want to cry and shout to people how much I love this form of art. Unfortunately, I wanted to cry instead at the price tags. I’d say the average price was around 200 pounds ($300) for a single item of clothing, and even worse (1,800 pounds) for the 1950s Givenchy gown I walked past 50 times just to stare at. In the end, I bought a 30 pound ($45) 1930s beaded top, which is still pricey, but I couldn’t walk out of that paradise with nothing, you know??

I also visited a place that houses another favorite form of art, the Design Museum. I was there to see a temporary exhibit called “Hope to Nope” on design and politics between 2008-2018. The title refers to the famous but unofficial Shepard Fairey “Hope” campaign poster for Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. The “Nope” is the parodied version circulated during the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. The exhibit displayed different types of design such as slogans, logos, banners, cartoons, videos, posters/signs, graphics, print media and social media in all areas of the political sphere from the 2008/2012 Obama campaign to the Occupy Movement, the Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter, the Women’s March, #MeToo, the 2016 election, and the Russian hacking. It was a fascinating depiction of how professional and amateur design advertently or inadvertently influences civil society. The regular museum collection also focuses on similar themes, as well as teaching on three elements of design (the designer, the maker, and the user) and it’s free. Definitely an underrated museum in London.

While there are many other restaurants and things to do in Kensington, that’s what I’ve been up to this weekend in the area. Ask me about it sometime if you want some recs or just want to go scouting for royals or celebrities. Gonna miss this little borough!