Our new blog - Britain by Heart

We’re starting off 2011 with a new blog and name. From now on, drumroll please, our name is Britain by Heart and you can find us on www.britainbyheart.com

Last summer we looked for a new blog name and the jury fell for Christina’s suggestion – Britain by Heart. Click here to read why the jury chose this name

After we decided on the name we started working on giving the blog a new design and features. Have a look at our new blog here

We hope you like our new blog and that you’ll keep following us there!
/Siska

Every Sunday round 8pm it’s sing along time with traditional English songs and Jennie on the piano (90 years old!)…. One of the few remaining “knees ups” in London! (Live music also most Saturdays).

Of course if you get hungry after all the singing, then there’s good value food too!

Don’t worry if you’re not in London over the weekend, you can always try “The Golden Eagle” at 59 Marylebone Lane, another pub that has live music on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Find your way to Duke of Kendal with our Britain Map.

“Happy Singing” and “Skål”

/Jackie

And so it happens that the centenary edition of the UK and Ireland Michelin Guide was announced on Tuesday – and good news, there are more stars than ever!

For 2011 there are a total of 137 Michelin starred establishments in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Yum, yum, I’m getting hungry now!

All the 12 new stars is for restaurants in England, but there are still 125 other restaurants in the whole of UK you could try out. There are a couple of new stars in the East End of London: notably Viajante, run by the acclaimed Portuguese chef Nuno Mendes, and Galvin La Chapelle in Spitalfields.

And one of my own favourites, the quirky Petersham Nurseries Café in Richmond …a perfect place for  a day trip, in a calm and relaxing environment.

The new 1* restaurants:

England, outside London
The Curlew, Bodiam, Sussex

The Pony and Trap,  Chew Magna, Somerset

Adam Simmonds at Danesfield House, Marlow, Buckinghamshire

The Black Rat, Winchester, Hampshire

Paris House, Woburn, Bedfordshire

London:

Kitchen W8

Petersham Nurseries Cafe (Richmond, see image below)

Viajante

Galvin La Chapelle

Petrus

Seven Park Place, at the St James Hotel and Club

Gauthier Soho

The two new 2* restaurants:

Helene Darroze at The Connaught, and Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, at Rock in Cornwall.

Bon Appétit!

-Helene-

They say young romance is timeless and universal…how true, should have seen me (46) dancing away in my seat along with a whole school class of 12 year olds.

Our singing wasn’t bad either! We joined in the fun with the groovy “T-Birds”, the “Pink Ladies” and the whole gang from “Rydell High” for a rock ‘n’ roll party of the year!

So all you fans who are hopelessly devoted to Grease book your tickets here (there are some good offers on at the moment!) and see you there, cause I’ll be back and might bring my 91 year old grannie along!

/Jackie

Tottenham fans, White Hart Lane

Going to a football match in Britain is something else. It is not just a football match – it is a unique experience.

I have been at White Hart Lane, the home of Tottenham Hotspur, in North East London a few times now and every time I go there I get blown away by the atmosphere. The cheers from the crowd roaring inside the stadium can be almost deafening and people are singing during the entire match. What is different with Barclays Premier League from many other football leagues is that it is not only the biggest matches between the biggest teams that attract big audiences. Almost every match is packed with people and the atmosphere can be just as intense – if not more intense – in a smaller stadium than in the major ones.

Chelsea stars Drogba and Cole

I recently visited a friend in London and went to the derby match between Tottenham and Chelsea. We started off by having lunch (classic football food: burgers and chips) close to the stadium with some other fans, discussing possible starting lineups, goal scorers and final score. The match ended 1-1 with Chelsea missing a penalty late in the game – to my great relief.

After the match we walked with the rest of the crowd (most of them still singing) to the bus stop and took a bus to Angel where my friend lives. We ended the day with a really nice dinner at a the local gastropub around the corner, called The Alma. London really is packed with great pubs!

The Alma, a great gastropub in Islington

So, even if you are not that much into football, I can definitely recommend you to go to a football match in Britain. Tickets vary in price but doesn’t necessarily have to cost more than they do in the Nordics – but the entertainment is so much better!

Read more about the league and how to see a match at our football website.
See where White Hart Lane is located on our Britain Map.
Find The Alma on our Britain Map.

Come on you Spurs!
/Carl

A couple of weeks ago, the Danish journalist Hanne Høiberg visited Daylesford Farmshop & Café in London. Here’s her review.

“- Want to try a piece of brie with truffle, we just made it?

The waiter behind the bar must be a mind reader. I was just thinking, full of a fantastic pumpkin risotto and a glass of the house wine from their vineyard in Provence, that I might want a little piece of cheese to go down with the rest of the wine. So of course I say yes and complete the meal with a perfect little piece of mature soft brie, together with some mascarpone and truffle oil – on the house.

The staff here at Daylesford Farmshop & Café in Notting Hill is without a doubt passionate about their work and want to share their passion with a Danish journalist doing a research trip. Not that I told them I wanted to write about it. In their eyes I’m just one of all the tourists coming through, who looks like they’re enjoying the food and the beautiful surroundings. And they are perfectly right.

It was a total coincidence that I wandered into this hidden pearl on cosy Westbourne Growe – a vegetable shop, bakery, butcher, cheese store and café, all in one. And everything is organic! Actually, I originally just popped in for a quick cappuccino, the best I’ve ever had in London and enjoyed the sight of the bulging cabbages, crispy carrots, homemade raspberry vodka and yellow cheddar on display in the light rooms decorated in with a Nordic design, while feeling the delightful smell of newly baked bread. After that experience, I just had to come back for breakfast.

Almost everything in both the shop and the café comes from Dayleford’s organic farm in Gloustershire. Not only the beef, chicken, fruits and vegetables are made here, but also the milk, yogurt and cheese, because Daylesford also has their own creamery. And the few ingredients that are not produced at Daylesford, are all from farms living by the same philosophy of organic foods and sustainability.

The Daylesford products have won more than 80 national and international gastronomic prizes. So if you value good fresh food in a beautiful environment, Daylesford Farmshop & Café is a must, when you are in London. “

Daylesford Farmshop & Café in Notting Hill is open Monday to Saturday 8.30am – 7pm and Sunday 10am – 4pm. Get directions in our Britain Map or visit their website www.daylesfordorganic.com for further information about their farm or other shops.

Enjoy!

/Towe

While you’re there (and if you love authentic Chinese food!)  then Chinatown is the place to be, with flavours you can’t find elsewhere!

Almost 80 restaurants fill the lively and vibrant area and one of my particular favourites is the first restaurant you come to on the corner of Gerrard Street, “Gerrard’s Corner”.

Try their crispy duck…finely sliced duck (done at the table in no time!!) put in a sort of pancake along with finely sliced cucumber, spring onion and sauce. Fold it all together and enjoy! It might sounds strange but it is something different to what we are offered at most Chinese restaurants in Sweden!

There is also an exhibition on at the moment until February 27^th at  the Victoria and Albert Museum: “Imperial Chinese Robes From The Forbidden City”, here you can see robes worn by emperors and empresses of the Qing Dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of China will be on display for the first time in Europe. Admission is only £5 and more information can be found here.

Happy Chinese New Year!
/Jackie

“I randomly opened my e-mail and I got this one e-mail from VisitBritain saying ‘CONGRATULATIONS! You have won first prize in our contest for a trip for two to Bath in England’. I was filled with happiness – thank you for this fantastic prize!

Bath reminds me of my first InterRail trip back in 1984 when I was 17 and my friend and I spent a couple of days there. I remember we stayed at a beautifully situated hostel and that we hired bikes and took a trip out in the rolling landscape. I was wondering – will I recognise the city when I get back?

It was my oldest daughter who got to go on the trip with me. A little bit funny because she is 17 years old – like I was when I first visited Bath.

We travelled in the beginning of November 2010, flying from Gothenburg City Airport to London Stansted and then taking the Stansted Express to Liverpool Street Station in London. From there we went to Paddington and travelled by train to Bath, which went really smooth! Except, my suitcase got stuck on the tube! My daughter was of course embarrassed over me but after a while we did get my suitcase loose.

When we arrived in Bath we got a map and walked to the hotel, The Royal Crescent. England showed it’s best side: the sun was shining, the beautiful autumn leaves were still hanging on the branches and it was about 15 degrees. It was just lovely!

At the hotel we were welcomed by two gentlemen who opened the door for us. Inside was a beautiful fireplace. On our way to our room, which was actually a suite, we walked through a picturesque garden with illuminated corridors. The size of the suite was almost as big as the entire second floor in our house.

Later that day I showed my daughter what a real English pub looks like. We went to a really cosy place and had dinner there. The murmur of voices stopped a bit when we entered and we were met by friendly smiles and greetings. Great food and great beer (I was the only one drinking) in a genuine environment made us ready to explore the city. We went window-shopping and noticed that the Christmas decorations were already up. A little bit tired after all the travelling we headed back to the hotel and decided that we would go shopping the next day.

After a wonderful breakfast overlooking the beautiful garden, we headed down to the city centre. First we explored the lovely surroundings by the hotel, like the beautiful Victoria Park, and continued with the River Avon and Pulteney Bridge. I realised that I did not recognise anything and that it had been a while since last time… The sun sparkled over this beautiful city when a very happy mother and daughter walked arm in arm.

The rest of the day we did a lot of shopping. My daughter found a nice tea/coffee shop where we tasted delicious teas and exciting coffee.

The following afternoon we enjoyed a fabulous three-course dinner at the hotel. The food was some of the best we have ever eaten.

The next day we visited the Roman Baths, one of the best preserved archaeological sites in Europe, founded after the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 AD. We took a guided tour in English with phone-like devices that allowed us to hear what we wanted to know more about, very smart. We highly recommend this tour to everyone travelling to Bath!

We spent the afternoon in the lovely spa section at the hotel. I took a long swim in the 46 degree warm water, tried the steam sauna and felt like my body and soul were in complete balance.

After three wonderful days, great treatment and lots of new memories we travelled home to Sweden hoping that we will soon come back to this fantastic country.

/Katarina Johansson“

Did Katarina inspire you to visit Bath? Read our travel guide to Bath and get useful information about accommodation, attractions and much more.

/Siska

London Eye in winter time

Hello dear reader. With just a couple of days left until Christmas Eve, we want to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Thank you for following us and reading our posts during the last year. We promise to be back after Christmas with more hints and tips about our favourite country – Britain.

Here is some reading material for you who are going to Britain soon:

London in January = SALE
London Christmas Shopping Guide
Winter in Manchester

And last, but not least, a Christmas card from VisitBritain to all of you!

Best regards

/Carl, Gary, Helene, Jackie, Jette, Kim, Siska, Towe and Åsa

The “unsinkable ship” Titanic set off on her maiden voyage on 10th of April 1912. She was supposed to sail from Southampton, England to New York, USA on a four day crossing, but collided with an iceberg on the 14th of April and sank with only 706 people surviving in the freezing water.

Now, almost 100 years later, the largest exhibition of Titanic artefacts are shown at the O2 in London. View over 300 artefacts from the ship, recreated first and third-class cabins, exclusive footage from the 2010 expedition to rescue artefacts from the wreck and much more.

The exhibition at the O2 is open until the 1st of May 2011. Buy tickets for the exhibition on VisitLondon’s website or go to www.titaniclondon.co.uk for further information.

Get there
Take the Jubilee line to North Greenwich and walk 200m from the underground station to the 02. For directions, find the O2 on our Britain Map. For Oyster Cards and other transport tickets, visit our online shop.

For more information about transport or other events at the O2, please visit www.theo2.co.uk.

/Towe

Here are a couple department stores you should not miss:

Sales starting December 26
Harvey Nichols
Get great discounts on designer brands, accessories, beauty, home and much more.

John Lewis
With nearly half a million products, ranging from buttons to cufflinks, beds to pillows – it’s no wonder this is a popular destination during the January sales.

Liberty
At this beautiful department store you can find everything from books to shoes by Manolo Blahnik.

House of Fraser
This is the place for the younger audience with high street names such as Miss Sixty and Warehouse. House of Fraser has great discounts during the January sales.

Debenhams
Offers British designer brands such as Jasper Conroan, Frost French and many more. Debenhams also has 153 stores across the UK and Ireland.

Selfridges
Here you’ll find everything from the world’s biggest shoe destination to household products.

Sales starting December 27
Fortnum & Mason
Renowned for their fine food, hampers, tea and wine. This is your chance to buy luxurious food on sale.

Harrods
Visit one of the world’s most famous department stores and get up to 75% discount.

Date to be confirmed
Westfield
With over 265 shops under one roof – you won’t be walking out of here empty-handed when it’s January sale.

…I can go on forever, but you get the picture – there are a lot of great bargains to be made if you’re heading to London in January! I’m already looking for tickets, are you?

Useful links:
> VisitLondon’s Shopping News
> Department stores in the UK
> London shopping guide

See you in London!

/Siska

I can’t wait to hear who will fulfil this extraordinary commission. In the meantime, we present a list of ten possible designers - all British of course – who could make Kate Middleton’s wedding dress. Read “The Dress part 1″ here. This is the second half of the list:

6. Erdem
The British fashion press would love to see an upcoming designer, who shows at London Fashion Week, get the job, and the extraordinarily talented Erdem Moralioglu would fit the bill. His romantic, often floral, confections show enormous skill, and his obsession with costume history and beautiful fabrics would produce a truly gorgeous dress. He has dressed some of the world’s most important women from Michelle Obama and Anna Wintour in the US to Sarah Brown and Samantha Cameron in the UK, and is stocked in Britain’s most prestigious fashion stores, including Harvey Nichols and Matches.

7. Stella McCartney
Educated at London fashion school powerhouse Central St Martins College of Art & Design, Stella McCartney made a great success at Parisian label Chloé, before launching her own label in 2001 with support from fashion giant Gucci Group. She is best known for making desirable clothes that women really want to wear in their everyday lives, but she does have past famous wedding form: She made Madonna’s wedding dress.

8. Amanda Wakeley
Ms Wakeley is another British designer who dressed Diana, Princess of Wales; she has also designed for Queen Rania of Jordan, as well as for Kate Winslet and Charlize Theron. Self-taught, she shows her beautiful, pared down and elegant designs on the official schedule at London Fashion Week, although she is known primarily for her eveningwear outside of fashion circles. A bias cut silk satin column is one of the silhouettes most associated with her designs, and she is becoming one of Britain’s biggest high-end wedding dress designers.

9. Philippa Lepley
If Kate decided to commission a specialist bridal couturier, then Philippa Lepley is considered a front-runner for the job, with several bookmakers making her the current favourite. Along with several other British wedding dress designers like Caroline Castigliano and Suzanne Neville, she has both the skills and experience to make a dress suitable for a state wedding. She opened her eponymous salon in London’s Fulham Road in 1990, specialising in elegant and simple dresses, using incredibly luxurious fabrics, often with hand beading and embellishments.

10. Roland Mouret
Mr Mouret makes some of the most desirable dresses in the world. With an instinctive understanding of how to flatter and fit a woman’s body, he makes every woman who wears his dresses look sublime. His client list is legendary, and although he only makes couture wedding dresses for a few favoured clients, we hear that they are breath-taking. 2011 will be his big year whatever happens, as he opens his first dedicated salon over the whole six floors of a townhouse on Mayfair’s Carlos Place.

Read more about British fashion designers here on our website.

(This list was created for VisitBritain by writer Sasha Wilkins, who blogs as LibertyLondonGirl. The thoughts of an English Fashion Editor in Manhattan on life, love, design, food & style.
www.libertylondongirl.com)

/Helene

It is in the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock in England you will find the birthplace of the modern international Olympic Games. It was here, in 1850, that Dr William Penny Brookes first founded the Wenlock Olympian Society.

Now, 160 years later Wenlock’s role has provided the inspiration behind one of the 2012 London Olympic mascots unveiled in a blaze of global publicity.

We are helping our dear friend and mascot to travel the globe and to put Much Wenlock on the map. Go to this Facebook page and help to decide where he will turn up next!

//Helene

I can’t wait to hear who will fulfil this extraordinary commission. In the meantime, we present a list of ten possible designers - all British of course – who could make Kate Middleton’s wedding dress. Here are five of them, the other five will be published here on Monday:

1. Jasper Conran
A former British Designer of the Year and one of the most commercially successful, through his diffusion ranges for department store Debenhams, Jasper Conran shows his restrained and chic womenswear on the runway at London Fashion Week, and has been making beautiful wedding dresses for nearly thirty years. He has royal wedding experience too: he made the sophisticated and elegant dress that the Queen’s niece Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones wore for her marriage to Daniel Chatto in 1994 at the Church of St Stephen Walbrook in the City of London.

2. Vivienne Westwood
Once the enfant terrible of the British fashion industry, Dame Viv has mellowed with age. Where once her models wore no knickers under micro kilts and wobbled down the catwalk in eight-inch platforms, now her ravishing evening and wedding dresses are just as likely to be worn by pillars of the establishment as they are by rock stars or avant-garde artists.

3. Daniella Helayel of Issa
Previously an under the radar label known mostly for its flattering, slinky silk-jersey dresses, London-based Issa has suddenly become one of the most talked about labels in the world, thanks to the off the rack blue silk dress chosen for her engagement announcement by Kate Middleton. Issa’s Brazilian designer Daniella Helayel is being talked about as the front-runner for the wedding dress, having made bespoke wedding dresses for special clients, but we wonder whether her relaxed, flowing, sexy style is quite formal enough for the wedding of the decade, if not the century.

4. Bruce Oldfield
A treasured darling of the fashion establishment, Mr Oldfield has been designing under his own name since 1975. Raised in a Children’s Home by the charity Dr Barnado’s, he transcended his hard childhood to become one of Diana, Princess of Wales favourite designers, responsible for some of her most iconic outfits. Mr Oldfield does not show at London Fashion Week, and works mainly at couture level from his salons on London’s Beauchamp Place, making dresses for everyone from Rihanna to Joan Collins, as well as being responsible for the wedding outfits for Jemima Khan, and for the Prime Minister’s wife Samantha Cameron.

5. Elizabeth Emmanuel
In 1981 the dress that she and her then partner David Emmanuel designed for Diane, of Princess of Wales’ marriage to Prince Charles was romantic, spectacular and over the top, with its huge puffed sleeves, twenty-five foot train and billowing skirt made from taffeta silk woven on Britain’s Lullingstone silk farm. Since then Elizabeth has been responsible for designing the iconic scarlet Virgin Atlantic uniforms, dressed many celebrities, from Drew Barrymore to Jerry Hall. In 1990 the Emmanuel’s separated, and Elizabeth has continued to design both for private clients and for commercial collaborations. She has a new line called the Art of Being, which launched in September 2010.

Read more about British fashion designers here on our website.

(This list was created for VisitBritain by writer Sasha Wilkins, who blogs as LibertyLondonGirl. The thoughts of an English Fashion Editor in Manhattan on life, love, design, food & style.
www.libertylondongirl.com)

/Helene

Christmas markets in Manchester. Image: VisitManchester

Do you want to take a weekend this winter but not sure where? Why not go to Manchester? The city’s Christmas markets are known as some of the best in the country and there is plenty of nightlife and cultural events to make a perfect winter weekend.

Christmas markets.
During December, Manchester is packed with Christmas markets all around the city.  From the specialist markets such as the Christmas Arts & Crafts market at Exchange Street or the new French market at King Street, to the traditional Christmas markets by New Cathedral Street and Exchange Square. Eat traditional winter food and drink some mulled wine while you think about what Christmas present to buy next.

Read more about the markets here

North Pole Bar
Manchester’s own winter bar is now open again! The North Pole Bar had over 100 000 visitors during its opening months of 2008 and 2009 and is now three times bigger than last year. It offers a perfect end to a busy day of Christmas shopping with cosy chesterfield sofas and vintage rugs, Asian food luxurious cocktails and live music. The North Pole Bar is situated by Manchester’s Cathedral Gardens and is open until 19 December.

Find your way to North Pole Bar with our Britain Map

A Christmas Carol
End your busy day in Manchester with a visit to the theatre. See the heart-warming Charles Dickens tale ‘A Christmas Carol’ about the grumpy old miser Ebenezer Scrooge who makes his staff work on Christmas day – until he is confronted by the Spirits of Christmas and starts to change his mind. The classic play is shown at the Library Theatre until 8 January.

Find your way to the theatre here

See more festive things to do in Manchester this Winter at VisitManchester’s website.

/Carl