Walk of Fame in London

Yeah, okay, so we stole the idea from the Hollywood Walk of Fame with their fancy stars along the sidewalk. Before you ask, no, we don’t have stars in the sidewalks for our walk of fame. And before you ask the next question, no we don’t have our stars put their hands and feet in wet cement outside of a Chinese Theatre. By the way who has room for 2,600 celebrity stars in their neighborhood. Those Americans are always doing things way over the top.

Okay, so back to our London Walk of Fame.

While we won’t be dealing with quite the hubbub of wandering through Hollywood, we will be traversing through a lovely neighborhood just west of South Kensington. It’s quite an easy stroll without the distraction of too many big-ticket items where knots of people might block our path. We will be passing through different points of interest and soaking up the general atmosphere of a London neighborhood with the weather’s cooperation of course. One may never know if the weather is going to cooperate or not in London, but I’m sure you already know that.

 

South Kensington

While lurking about in the vicinity of South Kensington Station, I would recommend making your way west along Brompton Road. Stay the course on Brompton Road as it will eventually become Old Brompton Road adorned with all sorts of lovely shops and restaurants. Feel free to stop at any one of them after all this walk could take us a while. I quite enjoy Bumpkin, which is an excellent choice for one of London’s obsessions: brunch. It doesn’t make much sense why there is such a hubbub about a meal that occurs anytime between lunch and breakfast and merges the two offerings of food, but it does. Here, at Bumpkin, you can’t go wrong with their brunch menu. Just beyond Bumpkin is a Ferrari dealership where you can leer at the slick looking sports car, neither one of us can likely afford. If you can afford it, please give me a ring so I can ride in an automobile that likely costs more than my house.

If you’re interested in a pub breakfast or lunch, you have two excellent selections that just so happen to be right across the street from one another. Depending on your tastes of the day, you can do no wrong at either establishment. The Duke of Clarence is considered a bit higher grade than its counterpart the Drayton Arms. That’s not to say that the Drayton Arms is anything to look down your nose at. They have a great variety of classic pub grub and truly wonderful English breakfast. Just around the corner at the same intersection, you’ll be delighted to find a few variations of ethnic cuisine including Indian and Vietnamese.

Beatrix Potter and Lady Diana

So where are the blasted celebrities on this walk of fame? Hold your horses now and don’t let your knickers get into a bunch. We’re coming to that. I just figured you’d like to have a full stomach before addressing the famed locales of some of London’s celebrity fair.

Staying on Old Brompton, there will be a long brick wall on your left sporting a find blue plaque. You’ve just found your first celebrity as this is the location of the former house of one Beatrix Potter. You might have heard of her. She only wrote the bloody Peter Rabbit books. Yeah, that Peter Rabbit. A primary school exists on the site now but you can still look about the neighborhood to get a look at one of the more affluent neighborhoods known as The Boltons.

If you continue toward the intersection with Earls Court Road, there will be a building on the left. Care to guess who might have lived here? No, it wasn’t David Beckham. And for crying out loud no, it wasn’t Mr. Bean. You’re a terrible guesser. This was where Lady Diana lived when she was courting Prince Charles. No too shabby, right? Once you take a right onto Earls Court Road, you’ll find yourself amid a lovely collection of cafes and pubs as well as Earls Court Tube Station if you’ve had enough walking for one day.

 

Nurse Alex

However, if you’re a film buff you might want to keep going. If you walk beyond Earls Court Road and take a left on the next street, you’ll be approaching one of cinemas most memorable scenes. At least for horror movie buffs. At 64 Colherne Road, the famous metamorphosis scene occurs in the cult-classic An American Werewolf in London right at Nurse Alex’s home. Another scene was shot just a block west at Brompton Cemetery in Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr.

The Troubadour

Directly across from the cemetery you’ll notice Earls Court Convention Center which is used to house major events such as the London Book Fair, the Great British Beer Festival, as well as one of Britain’s most prestigious music awards show, the BRIT Awards.

Another locale to not miss is along Old Brompton Road between Colherne Road and the cemetery you’ll notice a lovely little coffee shop/restaurant known as the Troubadour. It opened in the 1950s and play host to a number of rather famous artists. Who, you ask? Well, none other than Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, and Paul Simon. In fact, it was the venue for Bob Dylan’s first performance in London. It’s pretty impressive, right?

So, after seeing so many locales in such a short walk, are you looking to take a break? I know I am. Well, if we stay on Old Brompton which will eventually turn into Lillie Road and then turn left on Fulham Road, I know the perfect place to take a break. That’s right. The Fulham Broadway Cinema. There are plenty of restaurants nearby too to grab a bite before the movie starts. After we’re done with dinner and the movie, we can just hop on the Tube at the Fulham Broadway station. Let’s eat!