A floating pub with gigs, drinks and spectacular city views – Tamesis Dock

With impressive views of the city (London Eye and Houses of Parliament), this unique pub and restaurant is actually a converted Dutch barge. Moored on Albert Embankment between Vauxhall and Lambeth Bridge, guests can sip their drinks on the spacious outdoor terrace (weather permitting) or cosy themselves inside the dark, slanted and character-filled barge interior.

The vibe here is very relaxed, the service is very friendly and the drink prices are quite reasonable.

Tamesis Dock also hosts events, including some great live bands. If you sign up to their Facebook page, you can stay in the know about what’s coming up.

Tamesis

Albert Embankment

London, SE1

www.tamesisdock.co.uk

Grocery shopper’s paradise for a “whole” lotta money – Whole Foods Market Kensington

Just thinking about the bread at Whole Foods makes me salivate. This bread is no ordinary bread – it is so yummy that I will not even bat an eyelash over trekking across two tube lines to get my hands on some. The fruit and nut bread is divine. The milk chocolate hazelnut bread scrumptiously naughty. Plus they give free samples while they slice! This is why I decided to venture all the way to Kensington High Street to buy one bread roll for my dinner. Yet somehow I managed to spend £24.55 and 80 minutes in the store. I should’ve known better. Whole Foods is a foodie delight. Here you can find unique grocery items that will make your dining experience an extra special one. The food here is organic and free of artificial ingredients. Along with my roll, I found teriyaki sauce, sweet potato udon noodles, fresh goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, dried mango, espresso chocolate and more. Whole Foods Kensington also hosts weekly events including Thirsty Thursdays, where you can pair 5 wine samples with 5 food tastings for only a fiver. Despite my weakness in the food department, I am proud to announce that I managed to resist buying anything from their extensive organic beauty department.

Whole Foods Market Kensington
The Barkers Building,
 London W8 5SE
www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Deep Sea Exhibit at the Natural History Museum – Bizarre creatures from the deep (with a face only a mother could love)

Procrastination is something I do best. This is why I have left visiting ‘The Deep Sea’ exhibit to the very last minute, as viewing weird and wonderful bottled specimens is right up my science nerd alley. This exhibit is only on until September 5th, which is a shame because the fascinating specimens and interesting facts really should be a permanent part of the museum. Here are a few titbits of deep sea knowledge I picked up at this exhibition.

Fact 1:

The deepest part of the ocean is the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, which reaches a depth of 11,000 meters and is deep enough to submerge Mount Everest.

Fact 2: 

In the Twilight Zone (not the Rod Serling series, but the part of the sea that ranges between 200-1,000 meters deep) many of the marine animals have lights on their underside. This “counterillumination” is a method of camouflage. Light produced on the underside of bioluminescing animals helps them disappear from predators below. And because the top part of the animal is not lit, they are camouflaged from the prey above, as its dark silhouette appears against a black background.

Fact 3 (the one I will keep with me forever and probably share with people after a few drinks at the pub):

The warty anglerfish (quite possibly the ugliest fish to exist - hence why it was used in all the promotional material for this event) is a deep sea fish where the male is smaller than the female. The male fish uses his enlarged nostrils to sniff out a doomed female, where he then attaches himself to her and becomes parasitic, depending on her entirely for food and transport. Sounds like a few men I’ve known...

The Deep Sea Exhibit at the Natural History Museum (May 28 - Sept 5, 2010)
Cromwell Rd., London SW7 5BD
www.nhm.ac.uk