I had my 29th birthday a couple of weeks back, and do you celebrate that the appropiate way? In London with your favorite photographer and travel companion (I'm speaking of Jonathan, if anyone should be in doubt), finally watching Hamilton (Go watch it!) and participating in Secret Cinema Presents Blade Runner (Go watch it!). We had an amazing AirBnB apartment in Camden Town right next to Regent's Canal (Go book it!) two days with sunshine and two days with rain. As planned, we visited Highgate Cemetery (Go visit it!, and not surprisingly we also went to the zoo. We always go to the zoo!
Our two main entertainments forbid photography, so most of our photos were taken when we were just strolling around. Hamilton was still amazing, obviously, and we totally recommend to watch it when being in London (or New York). Here is a video of the whole Westend cast performing at the Olivier Awards 2018.
This is how we looked for this Secret Cinema experience. Our characters were scavengers, the lowest class in the Blade Runner universe. Can't really say more because of the whole secrecy thing, but I absolutely loved it. I still get high on the feeling when I look back now, and I totally want to continue our Blade Runner themed photoshoot we had in February.
Two quick snapshots from after the Secret Cinema experience. These are some photos of a photographer that was hired to take some pictures of the event:
But now to the part of our trip, where we actually took photos (and not only with the phone)!
The first two days were lovely in terms of weather, and we able to take some photos of the pretty side of London.
Our apartment was in the building on the right side of the Pirate Castle - so we really were right beside the canal!
We got very fascinated with the staircases of the old underground stations. Everything is so raw, the colors are pretty retro, and they just go on and on and on into the ground (nothing for people with claustrophobia).
Highgate Cemetery
I had already visited Highgate Cemetery in October 2016 and it blew my mind. The history of the cemetery in combination with the mood of nature slowly getting control over so many gravesites and mausolea really made my imagination go wild.
Of course Jonathan had to see this place, too! Unfortunately, it was rather cold and rainy when we visited, though.
Best plant ever!
We were quite impressed with the zoo's equipment for photos that visitors could pay for to get taken. I mean - green screens, professional dslr cameras under the ceiling and studio strobes!
We were also pretty impressed with the walk-in lemur enclosure of the zoo. By cheer luck, we experienced their feeding which meant that they would run around among the visitors and get really close. They didn't seem bothered by the hoomans at all.
And because you cannot go to London without playing with long exposure, we have some photos with motion blur for you, too:
The old building of St. Pancras station -
and the new look af St. Pancras station.
Did you know King's Cross station has hawks that they use to scare the pidgeons away? We met one of them. We were delighted, it pretty much ignored us.
Here is a map over the places we've been. Except from Camden Town and King's Cross, we stayed clear from all the typical sightseeing places: