London… who’s house?
After a brief transit in Birmingham New Street station (which was more than I was happy to see of that city), we arrived in downtown sunny London. It really was quite astonishingly sunny weather for that time of year, which we took full advantage of. The first day involved trekking around the Green (Regent and Oxford), Dark Blue (Park Lane and Mayfair) and Yellow (Piccadilly) groups of the Monopoly board, culminating in a visit to Knightsbridge and Harrods in all its majestic splendour. The rib-eye steak from the foodhall rotisserie was top notch. Then I ducked out for a quick martini or two with Ish and Shabika at Mamounia, which, to put it mildly, was extortionately priced.
Sunday started with an excellent serving of scones and tea from Fortnum and Mason (an absolute must have in London) and then we hit up all the touristy sights (with perfect blue skies), including Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, St James’s Park and we focused on the Red group (Trafalgar Square, Fleet Street and The Strand) as we worked our way across to the east for a quick gander at Spitalfield’s market and an afternoon coffee and cake. Then we dropped by Ish’s pad for a few beers before heading to Lahore (which surprisingly does not refer to “a lady of the night” en francais) for some great Indian cuisine. Thanks mate!
Monday was more of the touristy stuff, most of which I’d seen before, but I have to say the Rodin exhibition at the Royal Academy was truly phenomenal and saved us a visit to the Rodin museum in Paris. Then we hit up Covent Garden, via Chinatown, Leicester Square and the Seven Dials, for some fairly extraordinary street performances. I think they take home more than me after tax (or without tax). Then we witnessed an impressive collection of what can only be described as a result of superior British plundering at the British Museum. Unfortunately, there was no law saying that the true owner’s rights were paramount to those of the finder back in those days.
Dinner that night at Locanda Locatelli, a modern Italian restaurant, was superb. He should receive some sort of trophy for his parmesan risotto with white truffle. After dinner I snuck in a quick nap before heading to Thai Square to meet Dale, Bhav and Christina, where I managed to get invited to a private party (thanks Dale). Not much drinking was done, but the highlight had to be watching Dale school pretty much everyone on the D-floor. Unfortunately the party was shut down due to a mysterious case of disappearing tap covers. Seriously, what deranged individuals steal faucets? So naturally, Dale and I consoled ourselves with 20 nuggets. Happy times!
Tuesday was pretty relaxed since most of the touristy “crap” had been done, so we just sauntered down to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, walked along the south side of the Thames and visited the always impressive Tate Modern. Luckily this time the Turbine room was actually open. That night was an early one in preparation of the impending trans-Atlantic voyage.
After a brief transit in Birmingham New Street station (which was more than I was happy to see of that city), we arrived in downtown sunny London. It really was quite astonishingly sunny weather for that time of year, which we took full advantage of. The first day involved trekking around the Green (Regent and Oxford), Dark Blue (Park Lane and Mayfair) and Yellow (Piccadilly) groups of the Monopoly board, culminating in a visit to Knightsbridge and Harrods in all its majestic splendour. The rib-eye steak from the foodhall rotisserie was top notch. Then I ducked out for a quick martini or two with Ish and Shabika at Mamounia, which, to put it mildly, was extortionately priced.
Sunday started with an excellent serving of scones and tea from Fortnum and Mason (an absolute must have in London) and then we hit up all the touristy sights (with perfect blue skies), including Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, St James’s Park and we focused on the Red group (Trafalgar Square, Fleet Street and The Strand) as we worked our way across to the east for a quick gander at Spitalfield’s market and an afternoon coffee and cake. Then we dropped by Ish’s pad for a few beers before heading to Lahore (which surprisingly does not refer to “a lady of the night” en francais) for some great Indian cuisine. Thanks mate!
Monday was more of the touristy stuff, most of which I’d seen before, but I have to say the Rodin exhibition at the Royal Academy was truly phenomenal and saved us a visit to the Rodin museum in Paris. Then we hit up Covent Garden, via Chinatown, Leicester Square and the Seven Dials, for some fairly extraordinary street performances. I think they take home more than me after tax (or without tax). Then we witnessed an impressive collection of what can only be described as a result of superior British plundering at the British Museum. Unfortunately, there was no law saying that the true owner’s rights were paramount to those of the finder back in those days.
Dinner that night at Locanda Locatelli, a modern Italian restaurant, was superb. He should receive some sort of trophy for his parmesan risotto with white truffle. After dinner I snuck in a quick nap before heading to Thai Square to meet Dale, Bhav and Christina, where I managed to get invited to a private party (thanks Dale). Not much drinking was done, but the highlight had to be watching Dale school pretty much everyone on the D-floor. Unfortunately the party was shut down due to a mysterious case of disappearing tap covers. Seriously, what deranged individuals steal faucets? So naturally, Dale and I consoled ourselves with 20 nuggets. Happy times!
Tuesday was pretty relaxed since most of the touristy “crap” had been done, so we just sauntered down to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, walked along the south side of the Thames and visited the always impressive Tate Modern. Luckily this time the Turbine room was actually open. That night was an early one in preparation of the impending trans-Atlantic voyage.
posted by Aaron McGovern at 1:28 PM
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