Category: Places

  • Edinburgh: Fortitude Coffee Merchant

    Edinburgh: Fortitude Coffee Merchant

    Fortitude is a new specialty coffee merchant and espresso bar serving delicious brew to the people of Edinburgh. They work with London based Workshop coffee who are committed to roasting the sweetest, cleanest and freshest coffee to make the perfect cup.

    Fortitude also stocks coffee beans from some of the best small-batch roasters in the UK and are happy to help anyone choose the right beans for the right brew, as well as supply all the tools and advice to brew at home.

    They are the newest addition to the coffee scene in Edinburgh and definitely worth a visit when you’re in the city. We love their coffee, cool interior, branding and friendly atmosphere.

    www.fortitudecoffee.com

    Fortitude Coffee Merchant

    3C York Place, Edinburgh

  • TOKYOBIKES & ACE HOTEL LONDON BIKE TOURS

    TOKYOBIKES & ACE HOTEL LONDON BIKE TOURS

    On our recent trip to London, we realised that some neighbourhoods are best experienced on two wheels. From the place where we stayed in Wapping, we cycled along the canal to Broadway Market in Hackney for a quick breakfast, then passed some great coffee shops on the way to Angel, from where we cycled up to Camden Town for a quick visit to the food market there.

    One of our favourite London hotels, Ace Hotel, has teamed up with cult bike brand tokyobike and organised a guided tour around the city, highlighting the many fascinating streets of Shoreditch.

    Tours will be led by writer and brand consultant Duncan Riches, who’ll also serve as curator for future ride guides. The Shoreditch tour, on 19th April, will include a visit to Terrece Studios in Dalston to see a light-maker, jewellery-maker and painter at work; a ride down the beautiful Regent’s Canal and a visit to see Denys Lasdun modernist block of flats, Keeling House, in Bethnal Green.

    Easter Saturday Tour

    19th April, 10am-1am

    Meet at Ace Hotel London in the lobby

    www.acehotel.com/london 

  • Travel: Newcastle

    Travel: Newcastle

    Last weekend we decided to leave Edinburgh for a day and travelled south to Newcastle upon Tyne.

    We started our day with a walk around Grainger Market, one of the city’s prominent landmarks. Listed as a Grade I buidling and designed by John Dobson, the market opened its doors in 1835. Although the original use of the market for meat and vegetables have since changed considerably, there are still a number of butchers’ and fish stalls there. The market is also home to world’s smallest branch of Marks & Spencer, a market stall known as Marks and Spencer’s Original Penny Bazaar.

    After our stroll around the city centre and a visit to menswear stores End. and Union, we headed to BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, where paintings by Simon Bill and the work of Sara Barker and Ryder Architecture are currently displayed. We also paid a visit to Side Photographic Gallery where we saw All That Falls exhibition with works by Mark Power, Paul Lowe, Dana Kyndrová and Jindřich Štreit.

    After lunch at Pleased to Meet You, a gin bar located in a Victorian building on High Bridge, just off Grey Street, we visited the up and coming Ouseburn Valley. This neighbourhood is one of the most visually attractive and creatively exciting areas of the city and is home to many design studios and other creative businesses.

    We finished our day in Newcastle with a coffee at The Cycle Hub, a social enterprise that promotes and facilitates cycling. Located beside the river Tyne, we were able to enjoy some moments of sun at their terrace before heading back to Edinburgh.

  • Antonio ‘Tj’ Guzzardi by Tatanja Ross

    Antonio ‘Tj’ Guzzardi by Tatanja Ross

    As big fans of exquisite hand-lettering and vintage-inspired typography, we were instantly smitten with the photos of the Melbourne-based studio of traditional sign painter Antonio ‘Tj’ Guzzardi.

    The images were taken by Tatanja Ross for her Tête-à-tête series, which she started as part of a publication project at university and since then it took on a life of its own. The general idea of the book was to create a catalogue of creative spaces around Melbourne and give an insight into the lives of their owners through the aesthetics of their spaces.

    The name Tête-à-tête came from the idea that Tatanja was visually creating a private conversation between these people and the space they surrounded themselves by, as well as a small conversation with her as she got to meet them and photograph their areas. She visited homes and studios, with a range of participants from students to freelance artists and small working studios.

    Don’t forget to check Tj’s blog and Instagram to see some more of his amazing work and keep up to date with his projects.

  • Places: Dalston Garden

    Places: Dalston Garden

    Dalston Eastern Curve Garden was created in 2010 on the old Eastern Curve railway line which once linked Dalston Junction Station to the goods yard and the North London Line in London. The garden was born out of a regeneration project aimed at improving Dalston’s open spaces. Design for London and Hackney Council worked with architects, landscape architects and local cultural and community organisations to establish the Garden and it  is now managed by Marie Murray and Brian Cumming from one of those groups, GrowCookEat.

    The project won the Hackney Design Awards in 2010. It was described as “an excellent example of how an abandoned piece of land can be affordably transformed into an asset that enhances the locality and benefit the community. Every inch has a strong sense of community spirit”.

    Photographer Erola Arcalís kindly shared with us these photos she took of the garden and the people working in it.

    www.dalstongarden.org