Arcadia London

While studying abroad in London at Arcadia University, I took a travel and feature writing course. We wrote three pieces to be placed in the London Travel Guide for future students.

where to find your perfect instagram in london

As you scroll through Instagram, there are millions of photos of Big Ben and Tower Bridge. But why post photos of those when you can find something more off-the beaten path?

Instagram has quickly taken over the social media scene with over 300 million users. There are over 75 million photos posted a day on the app and yours can easily get lost in the shuffle. To make your followers even more insta-jealous of your study abroad travels, try these locations. The places are not only photo worthy but also hold historic and cultural meaning that even Londoners can attest to. So grab your iPhone and Oyster Card and get out there.

Victoria & Albert Cafe – Silverware clatters against plates, the murmur of hundreds of conversations float around you, and the overhead chandeliers cast a soft glow. The Victorian-era walls of the Morris, Gamble and Poynter rooms, originally decorated around 1857, create the world’s oldest museum restaurant. The columns in the middle of the rooms are ornate and the ceiling features hand-painted tiles with glorious woodwork. The food is an added bonus, with hot and cold options as well as various pastry and tea delights. You purchase your food before finding a table and for your best photo options, sit at a booth on the side of the main room. Victoria and Albert Café is located in the back of the museum. (www.vam.ac.uk/visit#cafe, 0300 061 2380). Entry is free. Open daily from 10am- 5:15pm, Fridays from 10am-9:30pm.

Greenwich Park – The quiet of Greenwich Park in the morning is engulfing, amazing you that you’re only a 45-minute train ride from London’s center. It is relatively empty, aside from the odd dog walker or couple practicing their waltz at the bandstand. The park is 180 acres and by walking through its entirety you get a sense of tranquility, putting you at piece with the world around you. It is the most historic of the Royal Parks as it dates back to 1427, when Henry V’s brother inherited it. The park was the birthplace of Henry VIII and in 1661 the Royal Observatory was commissioned on the site. The Royal Observatory lies at the top of Greenwich Hill, with hoards of school children and tourists pushing past to get their photo with the Prime Meridian. But avoid them and head for the lookout point to take your idyllic photo of the greenery ending in the National Maritime Museum, its classical architecture a bright, white offset to its surroundings.Greenwich Park (www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/greenwich-park, 0300 061 2380 ). Entry is free. Open every day from 6am-9:30pm. Best Instagram Filter: Gingham

Leadenhall Market – Past the flood of men in suits at Bank is Leadenhall Market. Being there is like being transported back to the set of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Glass ceilings provide vibrant sunlight while burgundy painted wooden columns hold gargoyles. The market began in 1411, was rebuilt after the Great Fire in 1666, and in 1881 it received its current architectural fame. Today the market host’s stores and restaurants that fill-up quickly during the lunch hour. As you stand in the middle of the market looking up at the ceiling multiple tour groups walk in to quickly snap photos. But your best photo comes from standing at the end of the market and shooting back into the center. Leadenhall Market (www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/thingstodo/leadenhallmarket/Pages/default.aspx). Entry is free. Open all day every day. Best Instagram Filter: Amaro.

Daunt Books – Just off Marleybone High Street Daunt is daunting indeed; but in a good way. Books are stacked almost to the ceiling and the travel section is something you could only dream about. The Edwardian bookshop opened over 25 years ago with its long oak galleries, intimate surroundings, and the smell of books. Green lights hang from a sunroof and green walls are studded with etched glass windows. Plan at least an hour for the perfect perusal time and be warned you will probably end up purchasing one of their Daunt book bags. The Instagram lies in the reading room, standing at the top of the stairs, shooting into the room. Daunt Books (www.dauntbooks.co.uk, 02072242295). Entry is free. Open Monday-Saturday from 9am-7:30pm, and Sundays/Bank Holidays from 11am-6pm. Best Instagram Filter: Valencia

Queen Mary’s Gardens – After you leave Daunt Books, head outside to Regent’s Park, which features Queen Mary’s Gardens. Perfect during the first two weeks of June and after a recent rain, the roses glisten with water droplets and the vivid colors will fill your camera roll with hundreds of options. The petals that have fallen off cover the floor of the gardens and the smell of fresh roses emanates from every corner. The area was opened in 1932 and holds London’s largest collection of roses with about 12,000 varieties planted. The hardest thing will be controlling yourself from taking photos of each kind. Queen Mary’s Gardens (www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/the-regents-park/things-to-see-and-do/gardens-andlandscapes/queen-marys-gardens, 0300 061 2300). Entry is free. Open everyday from 5am-9:30pm. Best Instagram Filter: Reyes.

Bywater Street – There is always someone posing with the colorful homes on Bywater Street, be that a fashion blogger or an old couple with a Nikon zoom lens.The street is on a cul-de-sac and is eerily quiet despite its closeness to Sloane Square’s shopping district. Bywater, located in Chelsea, is often confused with Notting Hill on social media platforms. It features a row of adorable, brightly colorful houses that make one of the most aesthetically pleasing Instagram photos you will ever take. As an added bonus, if you are a mystery novel buff, you will recognize No. 9 Bywater as George Smiley’s (John le Carre’s MI6 intelligence officer) house. Bywater Street is located at Chelsea, London SW3 4XD. Entry is free. Open all day every day. Best Instagram Filter: Clarendon.

Green Park – Birds chirp, the wind whistles through the trees, and you can faintly pick up the sound of children laughing in the distance. Green Park located next to Buckingham Palace is the perfect place to escape from the hustle and bustle of tourist-centric London. Sit on a bench, pack a picnic and let the calm serenity soothe your mind. The park was first listed in historical records in 1554, as a meadowland used for hunting. But today’s park landscape looks much more like when the park was opened for the public in 1826. There are no buildings, just wide-open green spaces. Your instagramable place lies behind the Canada Gate, a line of hulking trees that create the perfect green canopy, make sure to go in the late afternoon when the lighting is best. Green Park (www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/green-park, 0300 061 2350). Entry is free. Open all day every day. Best Instagram Filter: Slumber.

unseen tours: london

When walking past The Coal Hole pub, my tour guide, Viv, looks lovingly at the tables outside and says “I used to get money from Dumbledore.” It turns out Richard Harris was a frequent visitor of The Coal Hole while he was staying in a £6,000 a week suite at The Savoy hotel. “I didn’t know he was a famous actor, to me he was just somebody who was nice to me when I was on the streets,” she says.

Thus began a rather interesting two-hour walking tour covering her time being homeless as well as some history of London’s Covent Garden area sprinkled throughout, beginning at Temple Tube Station and ending at the Covent Garden Market.

We met at the Temple Tube Station on a cold, grey, dreary Thursday morning. She was drssed in tall black Doc Martin’s, bright blue tights, a white skirt with a dizzying floral pattern, a houndstooth jacket and a yellow see-through scarf. The tour begins in Temple Park where Viv spent her last days homeless. The area is named Temple due to its connection with the House of the Knights Templar, which was built on the site of an old monastery that stood in the area. Viv used to sleep on one of the eight benches in the park. Her former bench is painted forest green and is surrounded by shady trees but not hidden from the elements. I close my eyes and try and imagine what it must be like to sleep here, with the rain splattering on to your face and torso. Viv moved into the park after meeting her partner Mad Chaos, who she has been with for seventeen years, when she says this she cannot help but smile.

She moves on until I am standing with her under Waterloo Bridge where she used to sleep, “In my own little house that I built for myself out of wooden pallets, very posh wooden pallets, [she] got them from the back of The Savoy,” she says. The wind is whipping off the Thames and I am shivering. I feel like it is important to say this tour occurred in early June, so I cannot even put myself in Viv’s shoes in January or February when it would be below freezing temperatures under the bridge. However, she could not stop talking about how happy she was at that time in her life.

At the next stop she talked about her shelter in the former Shell Oil Building. She described a scene in which a woman was lit on fire by drunken passersby. Viv casually mentioned that she and a few of her friends saved the woman by explaining that this is the way of the streets. You help one another out instead of fighting against each other.

As the two-hour tour progresses through the many cobblestoned streets of Covent Garden, I realized that when you travel you want to only see the good things. But sometimes it’s inspiring to take a step back and examine the underbelly of a world famous city and that is where Unseen Tours comes in. Travel should leave you wondering about the world around you, and with a lively character like Viv, your tour leaves you thinking about the greater meaning of where home really is.

Unseen Tours (sockmobevents.org.uk, phone number) offers tours of London from £12 per person.

slices as big as your head: homeslice pizza london review

When your waiter steps out of the kitchen walks determinedly to your table with slices of pizza slightly larger than your head you might want to freak out. How can one person eat two of those slices? Why did you do this to yourself? But by the time the check comes around you will be wiping the pizza sauce off your face with a smile after demolishing every single bite.

Just slightly off Neil’s Yard, Home Slice is a hipster haven. Subway tiles coat the walls, waiters wear blue chambray aprons whilst dancing to Bollywood music under industrial lights and rough-hewn wooden communal tables are spread out around the small restaurant with old milk bottles housing cold tap water. The bulbous wood-fired pizza oven sits off to the side with someone constantly manning it and the smell of oregano fills the air.

Home Slice gives off a young feel and fills up by 12:30pm on your average weekday. The staff who are all in their 20s, are friendly and very eager to explain to first timers the menu, which is simple, featuring only ten pizza options. You can get up to three slices for four pounds each in margarita, salami or mushroom. The whole pizzas (£20) are 20 inches of rather unique flavors like aborigine, cauliflower, cheese spinach and harissa.

I opted for a slice of margarita and a slice of salami. The margarita is a shade of bright red, studded with basil leaves and features multiple bubbles along the crust. Its flavor is tangy and pleasant from the moment you take a mouthful. One bite into the crust and I was in love, it crunches perfectly and tastes a little like naan.

If you add the spicy, olive oil, pepper blend sauce to your plate and dip the crust you will sky rocket from enjoying the pizza to wanting to visit Home Slice multiple times a week. But be forewarned, it is better to fold the pizza in half longways in order to eat it than trying to hold it the old-fashioned way.

The salami slice is covered in arugula with cheese shavings sprinkled throughout and huge slices of salami covering it from top to bottom. The cheese shavings are sharp and pungent while the arugula adds a bold flavor to the entire pizza. The slice is chewy and extremely rich; I couldn’t finish the whole piece and had to drink copious amounts of water after, which the waiters provided soundlessly, but I did not mind one bit.

A friend had the Caprese pizza, which had slices of fresh, creamy mozzarella and juicy tomatoes that created a pleasant earthy flavor. She loved it and ate almost three entire slices by herself. When I asked around the table how everyone else’s tasted, I was either met with sounds of chewing or a chorus of approvals, even some admissions of love.

Your overall experience at Home Slice will be a good one, to the point you will probably be dancing along to the Bollywood music yourself as you shuffle out of the alley slightly overstuffed and a little thirsty, but in the best way possible.

Homeslice has locations in Covent Garden (which was where the review took place), Fitzrovia and Shoreditch. See their website (http://www.homeslicepizza.co.uk) for hours and more information.