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HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
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JULY 2012
107
LONDON
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THREE PERFECT DAYS
with Stilton croutons, followed by pan-fried cod
with buttered new potatoes and baby carrots,
which puts a bit of steel in the old sea legs.
Outside, you procure a Brazilian churro and a
“Mind theGap” tea towel at the bustling
Greenwich
Market
, then pay a visit to the
Royal Observatory
,
a glorious shambles of 17th-century domes and
cupolas, wheremen in codpieces once charted the
heavens. In the cobbledMeridian Line Courtyard,
you do what everyone who comes here does:
straddle the line separating the Western and
Eastern hemispheres.
Mind blown, you descend the stairs at the
observatory’s domed entrance to the Greenwich
foot tunnel, which passes under the river and
delivers you to the Isle of Dogs, where you wave
down a taxi and head a few miles north, to the
East End. The tide of bohemianism, and subse-
quent gentrification, is sweeping eastward across
London, and this neighborhood, long a destina-
tion for newly arrived immigrants, is in something
of a sweet spot. You start at Shoreditch and wind
through its narrow lanes linedwith cafés, restau-
rants, galleries and independent shops until you
hit Brick Lane, where the scent of countless curry
houses hangs in the air.
You turn le into an alley alongside a former
brewery, and come upon
Café 1001
. Coffee secured,
youhead farther in and discover
Rough
Trade East
,
the record shop of the
eponymous rock label; it has, as
you’d expect, a superlative punk
collection. While you’re there, a
Londoner insists you check out
The Hope & Anchor, a pub in the
Angel district that once
served as the heart of
the London rock scene.
It’s a plan.
But not before an
early dinner. Obviously,
givenwhere you are, din-
ner will be Bangladeshi.
MEET THE
NEIGHBORS
What’s next for Olympic Park
This month will see the debut
of East London’s Olympic Park,
which features, among other
things, eco-friendly arenas
and a crazily looping $30
million, 394-foot-tall
sculpture by Anish
Kapoor titled
Orbit
. But even
more interesting are the plans
for the park after the 2012
Olympic Games (when it will
be renamed Queen Elizabeth
Olympic Park). Five new
neighborhoods will be built here,
containing some 11,000 homes
and London’s largest public
park, as well as the $16 million
British Olympic Museum, set to
open in 2014. As for
Orbit
, it’s
expected to stand—especially
if London Mayor Boris Johnson
has anything to do with it.
“It would have boggled the
minds of the Romans,” he says,
with more than a glint of pride.
“It would have boggled
Gustave Eiffel.”
HOUSE BLEND
The smoky, spicy
Special Masala at Aladin, a storied
curry house on Brick Lane