Eat at Zeret Kitchen

A decent little restaurant on little square set back from Camberwell Road, Zeret Kitchen specialises in traditional Ethiopian cuisine, served well and with a smile. Though your author doesn't know a lot about Ethiopian food, of the few such restaurants he has experienced this has been the best.


Happily, for those who find deciding difficult, a Zeret Surprise is on offer, combining various Ethiopian dishes with traditional spongy bread, and if the mood takes you and Ethiopian Coffee Service is available.


For more, see http://zeretkitchen.com/

Seek out Bernardo O'Higgins

Richmond-on-Thames isn't somewhere you would associate with a Chilean freedom fighter, but then again Bernardo O'Higgins wasn't a particularly ordinary man. Part of the Irish aristocratic O'Higgins family, he was born in the Chilean city of Chillán, and came to London to study in his teens, living in Richmond at 2 The Vineyard, where he is still remembered by a blue plaque.


The son of Ambrosio O'Higgins, an Irish-born Spanish officer who went on to become governor of Chile and viceroy of Peru, Bernardo was a key figure in the fight against the Spanish Government, and after Chile became independent, he became the country's first Head of State in 1818. A statue of Bernardo stands in O'Higgins Square, on the Surrey side of Richmond Bridge.

For more on the man, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernardo_O'Higgins

Attend the London Mela

Today, out in West London's Gunnersbury Park, the London Mela returns for its 10th anniversary to celebrate music and culture, with a particular focus on the Indian sub continent.


Across nine zones, visitors to the free event can expect music from Jaz Dhami and live band, all female Chinese drumming group Red Poppies, BBC Asian Network DJ, and new talent in the UK from BBC Introducing and DJ Bobby Friction.

For more, see http://www.londonmela.org

_{^Picture © John Pannell used under a Creative Commons license^}

Find Chen Guanming's rickshaw

He made headlines a week or two ago for his cycling trip from Beijing to London for the Olympics, but your author was surprised to stumble across his rickshaw when wandering through Chinatown last Friday, for Chen Guanming has Olympic fever and claims to have traveled more than 30,000 miles to be in London for the Olympics.


His story is an inspiring one, and journeying through 16 countries, and negotiating floods, war zones, mountains and intense cold in order to be at a sports tournament is an Olympian feat in itself.

For more, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18980693

Tour the World in London

Your author is always bleating on about how there is in London all that life can afford, and the whole world is in London, but this week it is literally true. Whilst you wouldn't know it wandering around the City, in other parts of town the nations of the World are showing off their wares.


Inevitably many of the national hospitality houses, set up to entertain athletes and VIPs, are not open to us proles, but a few decent forward-looking countries are allowing us in, so step forward Jamaica's Jamaica House, Switzerland's House of Switzerland, Africa's Africa House and a few others for your forward-thinking and positive attitudes.

For more on all the national hospitality centres, many of which are sadly closed to ordinary bods like your author, see http://www.visitlondon.com/london2012/national-hospitality-houses-for-london-2012/

_{^Picture © ReeSaunders used under a Creative Commons license^}

Celebrate Bastille Day

Today is Bastille Day, the national day of France, and a free treat for Francophiles is scheduled to take place in Bankside. The 5th year in a series of 'official' such celebrations, we are told, will offer eating, drinking, dancing and singing.


Based around Borough Market and Park Street, the event offers specific French traders at the market, a traditional 14th July Waiters’ Race, pétanque, baby-foot and other things. It will either be good, or a cheese-maker-sponsored disappointment.

For more, see www.bastillefestival.co.uk

_{^Picture © Amanda Vincent-Rous used under Creative Commons^}

Visit the Irish Cultural Centre

The Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith was established in 1995 to celebrate London's Irish community and showcase the music, literature, art and culture of Ireland.


Saved from closure earlier this year, the centre continues to provide education and the arts to allcomers, operating an 'Open Door' policy to ensure that Irish arts, culture and education accessible to everyone.

For more, see http://www.irishculturalcentre.co.uk/

Attend the Hammersmith Irish Book Fair

The Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith is holding its annual Book Fair today, with hundreds of Irish and non-Irish books brought together by new and second-hand book dealers, and a lineup of various authors, performing and speaking about their work and the work of others.


The event takes place today from 10am - 3.30pm, and is followed by a one-man show by Irish actor and writer Frank Grimes titled "the he and the she of it..." A portrait of James Joyce. Entry to the fair is free, but tickets to the show cost £10.

For more, see http://irishculturalcentre.co.uk/?q=content/annual-book-fair

_{^Picture © SoniaT 360 used under Creative Commons^}

Attend the St Patrick's Day Parade and Festival

It's that time of year again, when everyone remembers their Irish heritage, and Diageo relaxes, happy that it will once again be a profitable year. Cynicism aside, it's a great opportunity to celebrate the importance of Irish people to modern London, and the cultural contribution they have made, to help make the city the diverse and interesting place it is today.


Today's St Patrick's Day parade is set to draw over 100,000 people, for a lively celebration with floats, marching bands and groups representing the Irish Counties, processing through Central London, and a programme of music and events in Trafalgar Square from noon.

For more, see http://www.london.gov.uk/stpatricks

_{^Picture © AlmazUK used under Creative Commons^}

Celebrate Chinese New Year in Trafalgar Square

Though Chinese New Year fell on Monday, when we began the Year of the Dragon, the annual celebrations in Trafalgar Square do not take place until today.


We are told to expect the annual parade through Chinatown, as well as 100 performers in Trafalgar Square and an exciting fireworks finale just before 6pm. Sounds smashing.

For more, see http://www.visitlondon.com/events/detail/4733685-chinese-new-year-in-london

Eat at Dahlak Eritrean Restaurant

You could easily miss a place like Dahlak Eritrean Restaurant, at 256-258 Brixton Rd, and pass on by, and your author would have done exactly that if it hadn't been for a friend's birthday a few weeks ago.


A favourite amongst the London's Eritrean community, the restaurant is also a bar and music club, and even on a Saturday night it was fairly quiet until around 10pm, when diners still awaited their Eritrean coffee ceremony and popcorn. By the time this had finished, the bar and live music were busy inside but shutters outside were firmly pulled down so only the bouncers were visible.

The food was excellent, and your author enjoyed that spongey bread and whilst he was chastised by friends when he compared it to Ethiopian food, Time Out tells us there isn't too much of a rivalry between the two countries at Dahlak.

For more information, see http://www.timeout.com/london/features/1804/London_Lives-The_Eritean_cab_driver.html

Find the Four Per Cent Industrial Dwellings arch

Found just off Brick Lane is the Four Per Cent Industrial Dwellings arch, a remnant of a housing development of 1885, spearheaded by Anglo-Jewish philanthropists, which attempted to shape the East End.


In an area filled with slum housing, the aim was to provide decent accommodation for local people, based on a net return of a relatively low 4 per cent. Members of the great Jewish banking dynasty led the campaign, which founded a company still in existence today.

Though the original buildings on Wentworth Street, E1, no longer remain, the arch can be found there, and other examples of Four Per Cent Industrial Dwellings Company building projects can be found around London.

For more, see http://www.jewisheastend.com/fourpercentdwellings.html

_{^Picture © trailerfullofpix with permission^}

Visit the American International Church

Your author is a heathen, but there is something nice about how almost every cultural community in London seems to have its own church, and our American cousins are no different. The American International Church is based at Whitefield Memorial Church on Tottenham Court Road.


With a congregation made up of Americans, Brits and people from more than 20 countries around the world, it is a truly international institution, with music, community organisations, quizzes and even a soup kitchen for the homeless and marginally homeless.

For more information, see http://www.amchurch.co.uk/

*Note September 2013 - name changed at request of their marketing agency, redPepper Marketing Ltd: "...as a reflection of the diversity within the congregation and community surrounding its Tottenham Court Road location, in London"

See the Capel Bedyddwyr Cymreig

Your author likes to collect the churches of different cultural communities in London, and one interesting example which appeared on a recent walk around Fitzrovia is the Capel Bedyddwyr Cymreig, a Welsh chapel on Eastcastle Street, W1.


The chapel is the main London Welsh Baptist Chapel, and was built in 1889, a time of great movement to London by just about everyone, including those from Wales. As London became home to the largest Welsh community outside Wales itself, churches like this one were built to serve that community.

The chapel is now Grade II listed and is noted for its classical facade and corinthian colonnade portico screening front, which sounds impressive.

For more, see http://www.urban75.org/london/capel-bedyddwyr.html

Visit the 9/11 Memorial Garden

Though it will probably be the venue for official memorial ceremonies today, the 9/11 Memorial Garden in Grosvenor Square, close to the American Embassy, seems a fitting place to feature on an important anniversary.


Officially opened on 11th September 2003, the garden features a central plaque dedicated to British victims of the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Virginia. The garden features an oak pergola and a pavilion, with the words "Grief is the price we pay for love", which were used by the Queen at a New York remembrance service a week after the attacks.

The garden also features white Bianca Roses which are, we are told, a significant flower for British families of those who died on September 11th. Though a new memorial has recently been unveiled in Battersea Park, this is still a very important location for the families of those who died.

For more, see http://london.usembassy.gov/grsvnrsq/911mem.html

_{^Picture © www.CGPGrey.com used under Creative Commons^}

Attend the London Mela

The London Mela takes place this afternoon, in Gunnersbury Park on the Hounslow/ Ealing borders. The Mela has been running since 2003 and attracts tens of thousands each year.


Visitors can, we are told, explore eight areas embracing different types of music and performance from the subcontinent, as well as food and visual arts, and even a funfair.

For more information, see http://www.londonmela.org/

_{^Picture © S Pakhrin used under Creative Commons^}

Drink at South London Pacific

Your author constantly bores friends talking about how "there is in London, all that life can afford", and this even boils down to questionable theme pubs, like the South Pacific themed bar just around the corner from Oval tube station.


It's quite a fun bar, but one has to ask how and why the owners came up with their plan to 'bring a slice of tiki paradise' to SE11. Whatever the reasoning behind it, it continues to operate, fairly successfully and is certainly worth a visit at some point. Your author enjoyed his last trip there, but thinks it might have been a few years ago now...

For more, see http://www.southlondonpacific.com/

Drink at Bar Polski

An odd little bar in the winding alleyways behind Holborn Station, Bar Polski is a reasonable spot for a quick drink in passing. Your author was coaxed in by a friend who recently told him that they did vodka that was 'actually nice', and the convincing barman was very persuasive in his selling of something that 'tasted like apple crumble'.


Inside, the bar is quite plain, with metal chairs and very few features except one wall full of pictures of cockerels. The clientelle was a heady mix of group-drinkers, those on early-in-the-relationship dates and groups. There was food, but it didn't look particularly special.

Timeout says they have fifty vodkas and fancyapint give them three out of five. That seems about right. For more, click here.

Attend TurkishFest

The annual Turkish Festival began yesterday on Potters Fields, between Tower Bridge and the GLA Building, and continues today until 6pm.


We are told that there will be entertainment, a Turkish bazaar, an art fair, and Turkish food, drink and spices. The weather looks pretty good as well.

For more, see http://www.pottersfields.co.uk/event.html?event_id=53

_{^Picture © Andrew Crump used under Creative Commons^}

Visit Golders Green Jewish Cemetery

Founded in 1895, the Jewish Cemetery, on Hoop Lane in Golders Green is divided into different areas, with Orthodox Sephardic Jews buried in the Eastern section, with the feet of the dead facing Jerusalem, and the upright headstones of Reform Jews in the Western section.


Famous people interned in the Cemetery include early twentieth century barrister and biographer Philip Guedalla, pianist, conductor and composer Sir Frederic Cowen, and cellist Jacqueline du Pré.

For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golders_Green_Jewish_Cemetery

_{^Picture © bluerasberry used under Creative Commons^}