It's the early morning of Day 2 here in London. After snagging a nice night's sleep and an amazing digital wake up call from my room here at the Citizen M, I'm up, sipping my coffee in the lobby and ready to write.
Let's Fly
The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse was our swanky, yet relaxing starting point for #BlogTourLDN.
As I posted to my tumblr, I started my journey in JFK Airport in New York. Specifically in the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at JFK. The flight for Jennifer, Raina and I was delayed by about two hours due to terrible weather in NY. None of us really minded of course as we relaxed in a beautiful room with excellent food and drinks. The flight, though full of good conversation was blessedly uneventful.
Settling In - The Citizen M Hotel
After a lovely drive through London, we arrived at the Citizen M, which will be our home away from home for the course of BlogTour. There are lots of things to love about the hotel, the curated art, the design based on a central outdoor courtyard, the cheeky details, but what I love most is the intentional creation of experience. The rooms here feel luxurious, but they are also a departure from more traditional hotel room design. Usually, hotel rooms want to mimic an apartment. The Citizen M creates a feeling that your room is indeed a sanctuary meant for your most private activities, but at the same time encourages you to get to the public spaces of the hotel to eat drink and work. I love the combination. It's something of a microcosm of the modern, walkable community lifestyle at the leading edge of urban planning and social thinking.
Oh and by the way, the hotel is just gorgeous.
Getting To Know You...
Having settled in, it was time to meet the rest of the BlogTour team. We assembled at first a conference room where Max Frasier deputy director of the London Design Festival gave us a talk about some sites we might want to visit and a little bit about the history of the event. This yearly event is having it's tenth go in 2012. It's essentially a city-wide embrace of design. While the focus is generally placed on visual design, the festival is trying to broaden that definition with amazing installations including a live data stream beamed to multi-sided prism at the V&A Museum and an enormous sound installation in the middle of Trafalgar Square.
Yours truly with some of the rest of the BlogTour team huddled around the conference table, goodie bags at the ready.
h/t @decorartsnow for the photo via Instagram
Then...Off to Dinner!
Sunset on the Thames
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
My inner theater geek squealed.
Having been oriented it was time to go to dinner. Tim and Veronika kept using the word "whisked" and they weren't kidding. Not quite sure where we were headed we followed our fearless leaders to the ferry landing and shot up the Thames River. The boat ride was nothing less that gorgeous at sunset. The BlogTour group gabbing away on the boat getting to know one another as we skipped like a stone up the river.
I love historical buildings and sites, so London is a dream come true. What I didn't expect was such a rich history at our dinner spot. Complete with scandals, fires, and breathtaking river the view The Gun was a wonderfully cozy spot to have dinner with the BlogTour Team. Jet lagged, but high spirited we chatted over candle light and dinner.
Team BlogTour prior to our run up the Thames River
h/t @jsinteriordesign via Instagram
It's a stigma among those who don't blog and engage in social media that bloggers are anti-social people who live behind their keyboards. Nothing could be further from the truth. As a group, you can't find a more engaging, chatty and funny bunch of creatives than the BlogTour team. I can't wait to stroll the design shows of London with the team.
As WiFi access allows I'll be sharing in real time via twitter and tumblr. Otherwise, look for a full Day 2 recap tomorrow. Be sure to follow the hashtag #blogtourLDN on twitter for more from the rest of the BlogTour team and head to the Modenus BlogTour page for links to all of our posts.