London Reinvents Itself

Happy Easter as the streets behind Regent Street start to bloom again - and look, no blacktop.
And of course the city of Amsterdam is also celebrating its renewal with Queen's Day, the Inauguration, and the re-opening of the Rijksmuseum.

Sculptural furniture and sculpture of a giraffe by Joseph Paxton at Liberty Regent Street

A Building of Delight in Conduit Street

Some Light Relief from all this Banking Stuff

Moschino in Conduit Street

The Thirties-style Building of French's Theatre Bookshop

A Part of the Apollo Victoria

The building is obscured by scaffolding and too near the Victoria Station works across the road to get a long view – but what restoration potential this building has.

Paint: Did I Show You This?

Road Traffic: How It Spoils Our View of the Built Environment

One of My 'From the Bus' Shots

Beatles memorabilia, crossed with Bridget Riley, crossed with a zebra

. . . only in London

Russell Square Tube

A Grade II listed Leslie Green original.

A Sign of Spring?

yes . . . but also a sign of road soot on residential roads with schools nearby.

More from Notting Hill

. . . where pretty well everyone seems to be a designer of some kind.

Wonky Soho Gable in Brewer Street - oops, Beak Street

. . . to start the week. Photographed mid afternoon so there's a lot of shadow. The ground floor is actually painted orange - in tooth-tingling contrast to the pink top. Here's the link to the street's history.

Building Site Chic

More Retailing Wonders . . .

. . . this time from the Golborne Road Notting Hill. Just imagine if the small but beautiful retail buildings of Oxford Street were transformed into niche designer shops. And with the odd Belgian chocolate shop along the way for mochas.

This Makes me Smile

Even for a non-handbag-loving person, this is a nice - and very Notting Hill - way of displaying a bag.

Pedestrian area off the Portobello Road: well done, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

The Built Environment . . .

from nature's point of view, with man designing the access.

More Gorgeous Gables from Great Portland Street

Let's just not mention the shop front.