June 2017

B089 – the new cocktail bar on Bethnal Green Road.

June 30, 2017June 30, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

right lets start by saying im no cocktail expert or even really a cocktail drinker, i like a beer, but when I saw the new cocktail bar on Bethnal Green Road the Coupette, i thought I should give it a review. before it was a cocktail bar this place was a proper east end pub, full of locals that had been drinking there since beer was invited, the pub even had a sign out side that read “No Travellers allow in this pub”, but added great character and a down to earth feel. it was just something that set Bethnal Green apart from its neighbour SHOREDITCH a now expensive trendy extension of Liverpool Street.

well Charrlotte and myself went into this trendy new bar Coupette and give it a try and see if it was something to rave about, it wasnt our cup of tea. I dont like to slag someone off or put down something that the owner has put a lot of work into but it just feels like shoreditch is taking over this weird and wonderful street of bethnal green. where the homeless issue is quite literally a big problem, the road is also filled with cheap £1 shops and a cash converter, it has a community sprite which is rare for a zone 2 part of london, but its what set Bethnal Green apart, and an expensive cocktail bar really isn’t doing anything apart from dispersing a community and popular local business which seemed to survive the Shoreditch effect till now.

Anyway enough of the ranting heres our views of the bar.

Look:

Josh – 7/10 – the bar has an old feel but has used new furniture, which doesnt fit the vibe, they also sit you down like your going to eat, but then you don’t. I did like the menu’s they were really cool, but again the lighting didn’t help, it was that funny yellow tint.

Charlotte – 6/10 – its like they have spent a lot of time on the front of the bar and then ran out of money as they got to the back, it lacks an atmosphere and seems very portentous, which bethnal green definitely is not.

Coupette: 2 cocktails – £20.25 including service charge (£9 each)

And again we arent anyone who could give you an educated assessment on the cocktails (mine was good, it had chocolate in it) we are just two people who love bethnal green road and enjoy a drink, and dont want to see all the great local people of this area have to leave. We started talking to some other people in a bar down the road after charlotte noticed they where in the coupette, they were locals and said they felt underdress in the cocktail bar, “it was full of suits, which is not what bethnal green is about” . to finish it just feels like another rich vs poor battle was one by an ex-Savoy Cocktail maker and a local pub was lost.

Heres some pictures of the bar.

B089-1-2 — – it was earlish and still a new Establishment, so you cant expect it to be rammed

B089-1-4 — -the actual bar was pretty cool –

B088 – Back in sunny London

June 29, 2017June 28, 2017 joshfspear5 Comments

theres no better wake up call and to be reminded that your back in london than english rain, its the “I dont need a jacket today” attitude that catches you out the most and the sudden down pour that seems to last a few hours but long enough for you to be sat at your desk with wet jeans for the whole day! but I suppose I cant complain because I saw a guy standing in the que for the sainsburys check out with a metro news paper still balanced on his head to protect him for the sudden down pours that happen inside Sainsburys every now and again, it doesnt sound that funny as I write this, but if you were there…

Any way heres my snaps from today. I’m trying a few new things out, to see what works, what does work, changing the format, adding a watermark trying to work on finding a nice typography that I can use consistently and mainly the style of my photos, what I focus on when i’m in London and what I focus on when Im in new countries. so please let me know what you like and what you think is absolutely crap.

B088-1-2 — – this is kind of a smart / cheap way of advertising –

B088-1-3 — – its like the old people are walking towards the light –

B088-1-4 — – I found palm trees in tower hamlets, its almost like being on holiday –

B087 – WE HAD BREAKFAST AT A GAS STATION

June 28, 2017June 28, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

Nothing absolutely nothing beats breakfast on the side of the motorway in mainland Europe. the One euro espresso that comes in that weird brown plastic cup is probably the best coffee you can get your hands on, that with a ham and cheese baguette is the best meal you can have, breakfast, lunch or dinner it really doesn’t matter. I recommend it to any!

Thats exactly what amy and me did the other day, we said screw it to the croissant, fruit and coffee machine, we grabbed a spicey salami & cheese baguette at the local auto grill and a coffee to wake us up, not only did they warm it up for us but they also gave us cutlery, well a spoon to stir sugar into an espresso, but cutlery is still cutlery. they even sold big versions of junk food, from 5 litre bottles of popcorn to massive tubes of pringles. its was almost dreamy.

B087-1 — – Never drive past one of these without stopping –

B087-1-3 — – I know it doesn’t look a lot but this place is does the best food –

B087-1-4 — – these packs of pringles aren’t messing around –

B086 – the phone pulls through when you need it!

June 27, 2017June 27, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

One thing I thought was a good idea is if I saved up all the photos I took on my iPhone from Italy. This camera gets used as a quick go to, if it’s in my hands and I happen to see something I like or if all my other cameras are in my bag. Then the photo takes the snap, no playing with settings just swipe up and press the button. Done.

A few months back though I wasn’t a fan of phone stills they always seemed a bit flat and couldn’t really hold up against a camera but since I’ve been using it as an easy to go point and shoot camera, it’s definitely impressing me and something that’s pulled through when I’ve needed that quick snap.

Any way enough of the rambling I’ll let the photos do the talking.

– I just like the colour in this photo –

B085 – the hip little town of Raito

June 26, 2017June 26, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

Im finding it hard to described the town Raito, it is a properly individual town where locals sit at the bus stop the whole day watching the world go buy, Old ladies invite you into their home to buy a “bus ticket” and wild dogs hang out on the street like teenagers no joke! this was the place we where staying, its high up in the mountains above the Amalfi Coastal road, the only transport is a bus that comes every 1/2 hours and doesnt really have a destination it just kind of drives roughly to the town and will roughly drop you off. this mixed with a couple of 5 star hotels which are full of tourist, expensive wines (we werent staying there we were in an Airbnb) and every other day the town played hosts to big Italian weddings! definitely gives Raito a weird feel, and kind of organised chaos, but you gotta love it.

I wanted to take pictures at night of this hip little town and show you just what is it like, so heres some snaps.

B085-1-2 — – this is the whole of raito from the road up to it –

B085-1-4 — – from the high street looking down on salerno, there were fireworks going off for some sort of celebration –

B085-1-6 — – the high street in raito, full of small shops selling tabacco, ham / cheese and coffee –

B084 – nothing beats a beach day!

June 25, 2017 joshfspear4 Comments

We both woke up pretty early today and was nackered but instead of going back to bed we decided to head to a beach, eat ice cream and swim, we found this small beach in this cove no idea what it was called. the Amalfi coast is weird, there are thousands of small beaches dotted along the coastal road and you really have to look out to find out. any way about 100 meters away from this beach we found was this kind of secret beach which you could only get to if you swam across, we wanted to take the go pro and get a picture but we forgot to charge it so had no way of getting a photo!

Anyway after swimming over there and then chilling in the water it was time for amy todo some serious work on her tan and for me well I just had to try and find and shade I could and do my best not to burn. which didn’t work, I fell asleep in the sun and now look like a really ripe tomato.

anyway heres some snaps from our day.

B084-1-2 — – that 80’s punk rocker style –

B084-1-3 — – nothing beats seeing a dog on a canoe –

B083 – we have driven on one of the worlds most dangerous roads!

June 24, 2017June 24, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

This place is amazing, but its also pretty chaotic! One of the craziest things is driving south along the amalfi coast, its full of crazy moped drivers and to match that is the 100ft cliff edge literally inches away! But we have had a smasher of a week, yesterday we went and saw pompei, which is massive but properly jammed packed with tourists! After this we headed down to Amalfi for some food and a swim. that place is full of bright colour walls and cool little restaurants down small alleyways, its definitely worth a trip but dont come by road that the boat!

todays our last day and I owe amy a day sunbathing, we’ve been out the door each day at 8, either travelling somewhere, climbing a volcano or swimming. So today we work on amy’s tan!

B083-1-12 — – just a small bit of the amalfi coast roads –

B083-1-14 — – so much Italian in one photo –

B082 – bumped into some old chums

June 23, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

So yesterday we went on a little trip to Capri, where we bumped into some old friends the CALNANS, big up to guys! We didn’t get any photos but cese la vie!

Anyway Capri was amazing and we basically walked around the whole day see the sights and stuff. After we headed back to Salerno and caught the beginning of the beach football. The amalfi coast is living up to Ta reputation!

– the high street in Capri ain’t a normal one –

– we snuck into a 5 star hotel for the view –

B081 – the only English in this town

June 22, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

We are staying in a place called Raito which is basically just full out old Italians that just shout words at you and then invite you into their house to buy a bus ticket.

Yesterday we went on the hunt for some pizza, and found a cool little restaurant the only thing is no one speaks a word of English so ordering food, drink or asking where the toilet is can be tough. But I gotta say this place is completely bonkers in a good way.

At the moment we are sat at a bus stop waiting for something to turn up not sure if it’s going to be a bus or horse and carriage trying to make it to Capri to have a look around … but as they say in French cest la vie!!

– literally not an English person in sight –

B080 – we climbed a volcano

June 21, 2017 joshfspearLeave a comment

Yesterday was a day of exercise and eating. We started off at like 7 and climb up mount Vesuvius, we literally forgot to take money and that place you need cash for everything from parking to going to the toilet. With only a small bottle of sparkling water (Amy hates sparkling water) we climbed in 30 degree heat.

After this we headed down to serrento for some pizza and the beach. That place is unreal, the pizza is unreal and the beach was kind of a pontoon kinda thing with sun loungers and umbrellas for people like me who don’t want to mess with the sun and get burnt.

Here’s a few snaps from our day yesterday.