Surprisingly London was frigid compared to The Great White North but the free
museums and art galleries (courtesy of Tony Blair's Labour Government) are warm. We hit Tate Britain, Tate Modern, The National Portrait Gallery, The British Museum, Dickens House and the Wallace Collection.
The pubs, though not free, are also warm. I loved The Lamb and The Queen's Larder.And food.... A walk through the Borough Market was a lot of fun. I was tempted to buy bags of produce, cheeses, ciders, etc. but managed to make do with some mulled wine and a bacon, tomato and rocket butty.
We had tapas at Cigala, a fabulous Spanish restaurant. Although the collection at The Wallace is unde
rwhelming the courtyard restaurant is an absolute jewel.
We met some friends at the magnificently restored St. Pancras Station for a drink at the beautiful bar.
We saw Master Class. My first reaction when my friend Barry recommended it to me was "Tyne Daly, are you serious?" but it was excellent and I owe Ms Daly an apology. Her performance as Maria Callas was one of the best I've seen.
rwhelming the courtyard restaurant is an absolute jewel.We met some friends at the magnificently restored St. Pancras Station for a drink at the beautiful bar.
We saw Master Class. My first reaction when my friend Barry recommended it to me was "Tyne Daly, are you serious?" but it was excellent and I owe Ms Daly an apology. Her performance as Maria Callas was one of the best I've seen.
On our last night in London we wanted to eat somewhere close to our hotel because my feet were aching so badly that putting one before the other had become a real challenge. Carluccio's is a chain and so I was skeptical but the 4 course special Valentines menu looked interesting so that's where we ended up and it was very good. I will definitely try to recreate the beetroot tortellini with butter sauce and the rolled lamb with Italian cabbage and black olives at home.
I don't know if I'm imagining it but everything seemed less pricey than when I was there two years ago. I had to restrain myself from shopping but Mr. Nag insisted on buying me a jade pendant, a bunch of Neal's Yard products and some Jo Malone cologne (my favorite).
I'm already looking forward to doing the trip again next year. Come with me.
I'm already looking forward to doing the trip again next year. Come with me.
Glad you are back--missed you! Went to the Jo Malone site. Which is the one you like?
ReplyDeleteLibby
Pomegranate noir is my favourite but I like most of the others as well. Harold liked the rose fragrance.
ReplyDelete"...the collection at The Wallace is underwhelming..."
ReplyDeleteNot a Boucher fan? I will be doing a post on his work some day... But perhaps you were exhausted by visiting those other museums. I know that I can hardly handle one gallery at a time and you hit half a dozen!
I like the Delauney menu: upscale hot dogs have pride of place.
Boucher, although very pretty, is a little too pink and fleshy for my liking. Armour likewise holds no appeal for me. I'm sure that the collection has an avid audience but it's just not my thing. Tate Britain is my favorite of the London museums.
ReplyDeleteI liked the Victoria and Albert best.
ReplyDeleteLibby
I loved the V&A last time I was in London and was sorry to miss it this time. It's so eclectic. Next time I'll forego Tate Modern unless there's a show there that I don't want to miss. I hadn't been to Tate Britain in many years and it was really a pleasant surprise. We just missed the Picasso show but we've seen most of the paintings at the Picasso Museum in Paris. I would have liked to have seen the Hockney show but we ran out of days and I understand it was very crowded.
ReplyDelete