Today I went on a jolly in my own beautiful and dirty city of London. I love exploring like a tourist every so often, and I am lucky that my city is big enough that I ALWAYS find new treasure. Today's exploration began at Warren Street tube for no real reason other than I decided to get off the tube then on a whim. Today my eye was drawn to architecture for the most part, shall we get started?
One building, four purposes....
I headed down a side road for this gem...
Then I stumbled upon the London Temperance Hospital, which is a derelict hospital, purported to be haunted and pretty cool, though my photos do not do it justice, I just really wish I could have persuaded the security guard to let me in for a walk around, he was having none of it, really NONE OF IT.
The London Temperance Hospital (later renamed The National Temperance Hospital), opened in 1873 with a board of twelve abstainers. At that time alcohol was prescribed as medicine and frequently consumed by patients, doctors and nurses. It went on to open a children's wing and during World War Two became a '1A Casualty Station'. The hospital as a building closed in the 1980's when it was used as a nursing school. Some of the archives were found in the basement and are available to read here, and you can see a few more photos here.
Continuing northwards, I saw some cool blocks of flats...
And then, I came across this oddity/gem. I researched it a little bit when I got home, and it is the old Carreras cigarette factory, built in 1926. Though most of the detailing is lost now, it was a great example of early twentieth century Egyptian revival architecture. It was also one of the first buildings to install air conditioning.
A sweet window sill that I spotted...
This epic-ness was atop a boarded up house in Camden.
So, I got hungry and thirsty and ate a whole days worth of calories in one sitting displayed below. Ha!
I got myself some green when I hopped into Regent's Park and walked barefoot in the grass because it makes me feel good. They have really pretty formal gardens too here...
Then I sat on a bench and this cool dude came up to me....
I headed out of the park and down Baker Street, on to Oxford Street, indulged in a little retail therapy, sorry, what?! Yes, still unable to control that urge, there would have been shoes too had a sales assistant not been so scarce that I had a moment to pause and think. Then into Berkeley Square where I happened upon this glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly. It lights up at night too! It's there until December, if you fancy a peek.
My legs were tiring, so I decided to call it a day and got the bus home. I had a beautiful day as a tourist in my own city. I am a south-of-the-river girl, so getting a little north in my life was pretty cool. Not that I will ever change 'sides' but still, London is amazing wherever you are on the compass.
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