Frank’s Cafe & Campari Bar

The roof of a multi storey car park in Peckham is not where you’d expect to find amazing panoramic views of London, but I’d heard about this pop up bar and been dying to go all summer, and it’s closing this weekend for winter.

It seemed criminal to pass up the opportunity to check it out in this crazy Indian summer we’re experiencing so I managed to drag my friend Jo down there after work.

The website is very cryptic with little information on it, but it does have directions which lead you around the side of a cinema into a derelict car park. Climbing up grubby concrete stairwells, you wonder where on earth you’re going, but there’s a growing number of people appearing and joining us on our pilgrimage. Once you’ve had a token bag check by the bouncer that suddenly appears on one of the floors of the carpark, you emerge on to a huge, open roof.

Wow!

The views are spectacular, tinted pink by the setting sun. People would pay for this view, and here it’s completely free. You can see everything from the London Eye to the O2 (that’s the Millenium Dome to some) without anything blocking your view.

 

You mention Peckham, and one thing instantly springs to mind – Only Fools & Horses. The roof of a multi storey car park in Peckham IS where you’d expect to find Del Boy’s old yellow Reliant and this is exactly what we did find once we turned our backs on the view. I had heard that this was here and it was one of the key draws for me to visit this place!

Once we’d got to grips with the amazing setting, we turned our attention to the bar. It’s called Frank’s Cafe & Campari Bar, and its popularity is clear to see. There was a queue ten deep so we set in for the half hour wait deciding we’d better add food in to the mix as well.

Once served, light had turned to dark and the view had evolved into a twinkling skyline. We found a place to prop ourselves up and take it in, with the food appearing soon afterwards. It was tasty, fresh and healthy. Perfect!

We had a couple of rounds of drinks, a good gossip and congratulated ourselves on making a Thursday night after work a lot more interesting!

There’s also some art installed which adds extra kudos.

Check it out next summer, but sshh, don’t tell anyone!

Sporting endeavours

Yes, I’ve done it again. I’ve gone and signed myself up for a sporting endeavour meant for avid fitness freaks or serious athletes. Except I’ve done no training. Well not much anyway. [Why do I do this to myself?!]

I had been busy enjoying the ‘summer’ and writing a postgraduate assignment, so had little time to train, chucking in a few token jogs and a couple of 500m swims in the last fortnight.

The thing is, I’m not very good at un-signing myself up, I become  riddled with guilt, so I just have to do it. It’s not like there was a charity element for this one either, I just had to turn up, run a spritely half marathon and make my way home. Job done. It wasn’t very far away, one tube stop, so that was no excuse.  So that’s what I did. I turned up, and I ran. Although it certainly didn’t feel spritely in action.

I set my pace slow, felt ok and then was hit with an uphill struggle about 5 miles in [it’s ok, I thought, only 8 more miles to go]. Once I reached the downhill stretch, my knee was caving and I had to walk on and off for the last two miles. That’s what training does for you- prepares your body for the beating it’s going to get on the day. Hmm.

The run I am referring to is called Run to the Beat- London’s music half marathon. The music aspect is what originally attracted me in the first place, but I’d say I was running for about 75% of the time with no music to be heard.

Hobbling past the casualties on the side of the road, I made it to the last 500m and managed to hurl myself over the finish line, with a completion time of 2h20. I would have preferred to be closer to the two hour mark but hey, beggars can’t be choosers [if only I hadn’t had that loo stop and had run through the pain, I could have shaved 10 mins]!

Luckily, the one tube stop from home benefits came to the fore and I was home taking a soothing bath in no time. I think it helped, as besides a bit of a limp and the occasional knee click, I was fine. Will I rush to do it again? No.

I say that now anyway…but I do love receiving a medal!

Turkish delights in Istanbul

Another amazing city break, this time with my friend Clara.

We both agreed we had never been so immediately taken with a place before. Istanbul is truly a cosmopolitan delight of a city and we had a great time exploring it.

We’d booked a studio apartment and it was perfect- on the sixth floor complete with mini kitchen, en suite AND a massive deck all to ourselves!

On the first day we were both equally as tired from burning the candle at both ends prior to the trip so we gladly chilled out on the gorgeous roof terrace before going out for dinner. We discovered that we were right in the thick of it and wandered down a street full of restaurants. We hovered outside one we liked the look of and managed to wangle a table. Whilst eating our yummy meze, a guy at the table next to us asked how we got a table- apparently the restaurant or meyhane (tavern) is usually booked up two months in advance and is a favourite with the locals. A lucky pick!

We hadn’t really had time to plan any kind of itinerary so we spent the next day simply wandering about getting our bearings. We walked the length of the main shopping street, sat in a cafe trying some baklava, and discovered a very fresh fish market (they were still alive) before climbing back up the hill and going up the Galata Tower to see the spectacular views over the city. More meze followed.

Once gaining our bearings, we decided to take on the main tourist attractions. The following day we walked and walked until we found ourselves at a gorgeous tea garden overlooking the river Bosphorous. It would be rude not to stop so we paused there for some traditional tea before heading to Topkapi Palace. The palace was the official and primary residence in the city of the Ottoman Sultans from 1465-1856 and this is reflected by how hugely grand the place is.

Unfortunately the Hagia Sophia mosque was closed for the day so we headed on to the Basilica Cistern, a pretty cool underground chamber, which I have since learned was used in Bond movie ‘From Russia with Love’! We found ourselves at the top of another hill and decided to wander back down through the Grand Bazaar. Having visited Marrakech last year, we were expecting madness. It was pretty mad, but nowhere near as scary as Morocco! There are just so many stalls, it’s amazing to think that they all somehow make money! After our successful and busy day, we watched the sunset under the Galata Bridge with an ice cold beer.

As in all major cities, a river runs through Istanbul, and we spent a glorious sunny afternoon cruising the Bosphorous for a couple of hours. It was a great way to get some perspective and discover how sprawling and varied the city really is. It just made us love the place even more. Travelling with a veggie didn’t bother me at all, but I couldn’t resist grabbing a traditional kebap from a street stand. It was divine!

We then went back to the Hagia Sophia- the city’s most famous mosque and a pretty impressive building. Whilst there the haunting sound of prayer echoed over the city for the second time that day, which reminded me that I was in a far east destination.

To complete our Turkish experience, we spent the evening in a hammam- which is a traditional sauna style Turkish bath. This was definitely an experience! You were literally given a pair of briefs to wear together with a thin towel, and you entered a steam room where you waited for your bath. My lady was very thorough, giving me a good old scrub, whilst singing at the same time, which sounded great in the acoustics of the sauna. Considering it was 28 degrees outside, we felt the heat and made our exit feeling cleansed and refreshed. Back through the Grand Bazaar and onto our final dinner of the trip- more meze of course. It seems we chose another local place and we made a couple of old pals on the next table who kept us amused!

We had a couple of drinks in nearby ‘Faces’- not the famed club from TOWIE but a little bar with live entertainment. It was great seeing people in their post-work gear letting their hair down in the same way we do in London.

I think that’s why I loved it in Istanbul, we blended in as if we lived there (very rare) and clearly only scratched the surface in discovering all of the city’s cool little places. I can’t do justice to it in one post but it is bustling, diverse, intriguing and fascinating. A great city recommended to anyone. I’d love to go back next week!