Category Archives: 2) Frequent Destinations

We visited some old favorites while visiting with an old friend from Iowa. The weather finally cleared and London’s skyline looked lovely set against blue sky and sun. The whole city seemed to come out from inside, where the grey and rain kept us cooped up. We even ate outside at Gordon’s wine bar which is famous for its dark candle-lit cavernous interior. Instead we sat at an outdoor table with a heat lamp, sipping wine and eating cheese while looking out at a green garden along the Thames.

Next stop Neal’s Yard, a tiny pocket where I used to go to a lovely bakery/tea house in the 1980s. Long gone but the cheese shop is still nearby where we bought some Stilton for the Iberia flight we’re on right now to Madrid, that won’t even give you water unless you pay for it.

On to the Lamb and Flag, a pub from the 1600s in an alley (Rose Lane) in very bustling Covent Garden. Many streets are now pedestrian only, which is pleasant and we even reached a multi-directional crossing at Charing Cross that reminded us of Tokyo’s. We were ready to cross horizontal and then cross vertical when we saw people crossing diagonally and followed suit.

Final stop, maison Bertaux, a tiny French patisserie that oozes character. We found a rickety table upstairs and had tea, coffee, a strawberry tart and a surprisingly dry chocolate mousse cake, which may explain why the server brought us a free cream tea that was better.

London seemed good but our English friends are understandably outraged and aghast at what’s happening in the states, as are we. They have vowed not to visit unless we’re in dire need. At least one friend worried about whether she’d have trouble entering because she has been critical of trump on social media. So I guess we’ll be coming back to see them.

A fascinating exhibit of art and war photography by American Lee Miller lured us to Tate Britain, which I have visited less of late than its popular offspring, the Tate Modern. I forgot how Old England charming the original building and its collection are, not only the atmospheric Turner paintings but Pre-Raphaelite gems including John William Waterhouse’s 1888 painting, “The lady of shalott” my daughter’s favorite painting. (She inherited the poster from me, which I inherited from my mom.)

We saw it on her birthday! I was also dazzled John Everett Millais’s 1850s “Ophelia” (that emerald green!) and several huge John Singer Sargent portraits.

After a decent sandwich in the busy v &a cafe, we walked out into near sunshine, which was welcome after arriving in grey drizzle. We walked behind Millbank into beautiful old brick row houses with the occasional plaque of indicating the former home of someone famous (TE Lawrence, actor John Gielgud) to deans yard and Westminster school and then Westminster abbey and parliament where I was an intern 46 years ago.

Dinner was at an Australian restaurant, Granger and Co. with two friends from our parliament days, my Londoner pal Francine and my college friend Patti, who is working in London. It was fun window shipping in Marylebone. Pro tip: visit the charity shops (Oxfam, cancer research) for some affordable finds. Otherwise the boutiques are ridiculously expensive. Also visit the charming Daunt bookshop.

Old friends

A dazzling exhibit on the couture and fashion influence of Marie Antoinette at the Victoria and Albert Museum turned out to be a perfect activity of a gloomy rainy day in London. We also enjoyed eating in one of the beautiful old tiled rooms of the cafeteria and cream tea in the members lounge with member Francine.

Breakfast with Una: pastries and egg concoction s was good at The little Hive, across from Mortlake station, a warm rustic place run by Albanians. we also had good pub grub nearby at the Hare and Hounds. And good jazz by a Francine friend at a pub in west Ealing, where I first lived in London as a student in 1980.

The weather is dark and rainy but at least not cold or torrential rain and there is occasional sun and bright green lawns and even some flowers so an improvement over frigid Chicago.

Note to self: Boston Manor tube was a much easier pickup than Hammersmith when arriving at Heathrow and pleasant cafe (#66) to wait