We are always on jaunts, explorations and adventures — and you can come with us. We've been Instagramming our favourite bits of London, the quirky and just damn pretty, so if you aren't one of the 25,000 who already are, join us @londonist_com. Here's what we've been up to in 2015:
January
We like going up things: good views, mild thrills. We started the year on the most divisive addition to London's transport network, the cable car. We can think of seven reasons to love it, although it seems not many others can.
February
Ever wondered why there's an elephant in Waterloo station? We set out to investigate, and were so chuffed with knowing the answer that we invited you lot to ask us whatever niggling London questions you had: from what London would be like without foxes to what those red pillars next to Blackfriars Bridge are.
March
Did we mention how we like going up things? We also really like secret things so you can imagine how excited we were to tour the bits of St Pancras closed off to the public — and how jealous we were of the lucky lady we met who lives in one of the few apartments overlooking the concourse.
April
Sometimes we like to mix things up: instead of going up things, we go down things. So we spent a sunny spring day down the sewers, using the classic hashtag #adventurousbutsmelly. We just hadn't got enough sewery goodness, so we went back and made a video for you all to enjoy a sample of what it's like.
May
And then there are those special occasions when you go up things in order to go down things. The Carsten Höller Decisions exhibition at the Hayward Gallery provided that opportunity, and we were grateful. We're hoping to have more opportunities to unleash our inner child soon, at a London institution unloved enough to rival the cable car. Weeeeee!
June
We got another opportunity to see London from lofty and off-limits heights at the BT Tower, which turned 50 this year. This is what it's like now; while here's a time travel to 1966. Members of the public had not one, but two rare chances to get up for themselves this summer — keep an eye on Londonist.com for the next one.
July
Summer in London means one thing: rain. But the city was not disheartened! The umbrella installation near Borough Market proved itself functional as well as attractive, and we recalled our sage advice on how not to be a brolly wally.
August
What does August say to you? Barbecues, parks, going a bright shade of lobster red? At Londonist, we got fixated on something quite different: clocks. We were so excited about the Clockmakers' Museum finding a new home that we went off on a horological spotting spree. This one in Chelsea has hands forever going backwards — see more unusual specimens here.
September
We lapped up the last of the sunshine with amiable ambles along London's canals, uncovering their secrets along the way, as well as learning a little watery history.
October
This autumn, we hosted a three-part series of talks: London is... We're sure you can think of many adjectives to finish that sentence — 'crowded', 'expensive', 'awesome' — but let's not forget 'wild'. We spotted this spiky little Londoner in Epping Forest, and found out just how wild London is. We also had a deep discussion about gentrification and a merrier one about drinking.
November
No, we're not just really, really greedy. If you haven't already seen what happens when you cross Team Londonist with over 30 boxes of Quality Street, where have you been?
December
We've spent 2015 up towers and down sewers, finding hidden clocks and canal secrets, tube station elephants and real life hedgehogs. So here's a little festive prettiness to round off the year: the Christmas decorations at the swish little Piccadilly Arcade. Make your home almost as gorgeous with our step-by-step London-centric crafty tree decorations.
