Day 2 in London
The British Museum has a permanent collection of Mesopotamian/B.C. artifacts, Asian art and artifacts plus ever-changing exhibits, including the Rodin exhibit we recently enjoyed.
Another sunny day in London. Bob is already gone by the time I wake at 8:30am. I open the shades, enjoy the view and order some breakfast. He is not here so I can order the most unhealthy thing I want, but I really want the avocado toast with spinach and poached eggs. I add a latte and and oj. Plus a side of bacon. You get it, order from the healthy menu and add bacon. Done. While I wait for breakfast, I write. This blog thing takes time! I pore over the text and try to find the money shots (photos). It works well enough, tell me if I am wrong. Bob’s meetings are supposed to be over by 11:00am and then he and I have a date. Except he takes another meeting at 11:00am and will not be back until 1:00pm. That is fine. He is here for work. I tell him to call me when he is done and we will meet at Harrod’s for lunch. 1:00pm turns into 2:00pm. That too is fine. We will have from 2:00pm through the rest of the day.
Avocado toast with poached eggs, spinach, watercress, pea shoots and lime. Plus a side of bacon! Yummy.
London is by all means a bustling town! There are a ton of cars on what can be narrow streets, super aggressive pedestrians, even more aggressive bicycle riders and motorcyclists, people spilling out of pubs onto the sidewalk at all hours, boats and barges up and down the muddy Thames. I like the energy! And then the whole driving on the left hand side of the road thing? I would never drive a car here, and I can’t even imagine driving a standard, my head would explode!! Everything is on the wrong side!!
I finally meet Bob at Harrod’s around 2:30pm. Harrod’s is probably the most famous department store in the world, and certainly the most esteemed. Everything about it is excellent. They carry the best designers and labels in the world. Clothing, accessories, shoes, beauty products, jewelry and watches, housewares, souvenirs, gifts and more. Even ski equipment. But we are here for the food. Because the Food Hall should not be missed.
I don’t even know how to describe the Food Hall, except that there are several large adjoining halls that focus on different types of foods either to go, or to eat in-store. There ain’t no Sbarro’s. It is food of the best quality and it is all delicious. The hardest part is deciding what to have. There is coffee, tea, a patisserie, a boulangerie, sushi, Asian, charcuterie, gourmet take-out, sandwiches, a hamper section with incredible picnic baskets, fish and chips, oyster bar, caviar bar, fish purveryor, steakhouse (go to the butcher, tell him what cut you want and how big, he cuts it, hands it to the chef and they cook it for you), butcher shop to go, rotisserie chicken (which smells amazing), and then several sit-down restaurants in addition. Since it is already 3:00 and we have dinner reservations for 9:15, we decide to keep it light and head to the caviar bar. Because. Here is a litle slide show to whet your palate, please click on the right to advance. You WILL be hungry once you see this!
We sit down at the Caviar Bar and Bob has a few calls and e-mails to attend to so he puts me in charge of the ordering. Big mistake. I get us each a glass of champagne and then order a small tin of St. James Caviar with all the accoutrements, and some of the prettiest gravlax I have ever seen on the side. We eat it and it is all amazing. Bob gets the bill and gives me the stink eye. Listen, they don’t give this shit away, get over it. It is amazing!!
The perfect lunch to kick off our date at the Caviar House and Prunier, Harrod's Food Hall.
From Harrod’s we head to Buckingham Palace, as I want to see the Queen’s Gallery. There is supposed to be an exhibit of King George’s (I don’t know which one) art collection, but they are between exhibits and it is closed. Dang! The Royal Mews, however, is open. It houses the Queen’s horses and carriages, plus a few of her vehicles. A lot of stuff is already in Windsor, I think, as the Royal Wedding is tomorrow. Unless she has a separate set of horses, carriages, etc. there. I bet she does. She and I should hang out.
The Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace, where (some of) the horses are kept and trained, plus a museum of royal carriages that appear at various functions to this day. And a dusty old Jaguar.
We see maybe 6 horses, not a lot, but the carriages are amazing. So is the tack! It is pristine, all of it. Look at the bridles, saddles and leatherwork in the pictures. Amazing. There is one dusty Jaguar she rode around in 20 years ago, not thrilling. The rest was pretty cool. We then leave the palace and walk through Green Park and Buckingham Garden. There are people relaxing and I show Bob what people look like when they relax. He does not understand the relaxation concept. I know a few people like that (Kelley). Not me! I can relax. To a degree. Don’t think I could lie in a park on a blanket for more than 5 minutes, though. We keep walking.
We leave the park and pass through the Memorial Gates, a tribute to all the British colonies that fought in World War I and II. There are a lot of monuments here. The British love a good monument and/or statue. Especially of Wellington, he’s the man. And Churchill. Number one and number two, respectively. Here are a few exterior shots Buckingham Palace, the park and a few monuments for your viewing pleasure.
After the park and monument fest, we take the Tube (subway) from Hyde Park Corner to the British Museum. Time for a little more culture. We are after their permanent collection plus a Rodin sculpture exhibit. It does not disappoint. Rodin’s first commission was a set of gates for a Paris Museum. He worked feverishly on it, taking guidance from Dante’s Inferno. “The Gates of Hell”. He finished the gates but the museum never opened. The detail of these gates were so crazy that much of the inspiration for his lifetime body of work came from elements of the gates. Rodin was well-read and a deep thinker as reflected in his sculptures (he did a little painting and drawing, too). The emotion he captures in his subjects is palpable. Awe-inspiring.
A sampling of the Rodin exhibit at the British Museum. His capture of emotion is singular. Heavy influence of early Greek sculptors is evident.
By now my feet hurt and I am thirsty. And hungry. It is early, but we head to Murano in Mayfair and hope to be seated early. If not, maybe we will sit at the bar. There is no bar in Murano. But they have a table available for us. Yay. Murano was recommended by a business associate of Bob’s. It looks like a French restaurant inside but the menu has an Italian twist and most of the waitstaff speaks Italian. To each other, anyway.
The restaurant starts us with a glass of champagne and a starter of pea tartlet and parmesan churros. The churro is especially delicious and light. They then present us with a bread basket of focaccia, parmesan grissini and a side of capacolla. Plus olive oil and balsamic Yeah, definitely not French food. The service is leisurely and Bob is actually not staring at his phone. So I send him outside to get some exterior shots. And we converse. Time to order. Bob gets agnolotti in brodo with white onion puree, wild onions and parmesan and I choose a spring vegetable tortellini, with peas and broad beans. Both are homemade, light and delicious. I think I like his better. For the main course, I choose an herb-crusted saddle of lamb with crispy shoulder, morels, peas, broad beans and wild garlic. Bob gets a finely-trimmed rib eye with pommes Anna, celeriac and smoked bone marrow. We think mine is the winner here. We finish with a chocolate & pistachio delice with malted milk ice cream. It was a great meal, but La Petit Maison is the clear victor. That food was outstanding!! Here is a link to Murano's menus.
A great way to end date night at Murano, Mayfair, London.
Time to head back the hotel. Even though we started an hour early, it is 11:30 by the time we get back. Time for beddy-bye. Tomorrow we wake at 4:00am to catch an 8:00am flight to Milan. Because the Royal Wedding Day is tomorrow and we need to get a head start. Read all about it here.