LONDON

This September we rented a flat in London with our and travel partners for 7 days. The flat was on the top floor of a typical London row house on a beautiful street in Chelsea according to the photos on the website. Tuesday, September 7, we departed SFO at 9:00 pm or so and our friends departed ORD to meet up at London Heathrow. We arrived in London September 8, where we were met by our friends; there flight arrived earlier from Chicago. They were accompanied by our driver to take us to our flat. It was a dark and rainy day in London and we were a little road weary but ready to start our adventure to see what London and its environs had in store for us.

After a nice long ride in rush hour we arrived at our flat where we were met by the apartment manager with keys. Before we were escorted to the lift we were advised that not all four of us and our bags could fit in the lift at one time. The apartment manager also said that she would help us with our bags, so she took to the steps and one of us and the bags took the lift to the 3rd floor; that was the end of the line for the lift but not for us because our flat was on the 4th floor. So we huffed and puffed and drug our luggage up a flight of winding stair case to our flat.

At first glance our flat did not resemble the photos on the website it was small, bright, and clean equipped with everything we needed. We settled into our rooms and decided to freshen up, go out for s stroll, have a nice dinner and make an early night of it. We had a funny little wrinkle to our plans Milt couldn’t find the key to his luggage; we all had a good laugh and came up with a few wacky ideas about how to get the luggage open before deciding to catch the building manager to recommend a solution. Milt left the flat and returned with a man and a hack saw - - problem solved! It was the consensus of the group, or his wife, that he should not be trusted with keys for the remainder of the trip. We had a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant on Kings Road before turning in for the evening.

Because this was not our first or second trip to London we didn’t need to dedicate time to hitting all of the sights we really just wanted to explore and take in a few old favorites like the Tate Modern. One day we went to the Themes River Festival, London's largest free outdoor arts festival focused around the River Thames. On that same day we went to the Tower of London, the Tate Modern followed by dinner under the London Bridge at Zizzi. At the Tate I was most impressed with an exhibit depicting the Timeline of the History of the Modern Art Movement.

Another day was devoted to what I like to call ‘the other side of London’ exploring Brixton and East London. Brixton is a multiethnic community, with around 24 percent of Brixton's population being of African and Caribbean descent. Brixton claims to be the unofficial capital of the British African-Caribbean community. Brixton is a vibrant and colorful neighborhood. We strolled the market just to take in some of the local color, there was nothing to buy at the market you go there for the experience. The last time I was in Brixton I went to a little whole in the wall joint and had the best Jamaican meat paddy I had ever had in my life; I look for the place and it was no more - - but I will always have that memory.

After Brixton we headed for East London , my interest in East London was based on an article I read inn the New York Times, Sunday, September 5, 2010 “An Oasis Off London’s Beaten Path” http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/travel/05nextstop.html. It was off the “beaten path” alright so much so that we never found it! We asked for directions and everyone gave us different directions and we followed all of them, we tried to get there by Tube, bus and on foot. The article raved about the little shops etc in the rear and even mentioned a little bakery owned by the former pastry chef at Chez Panisse here in the bay area. We did get close, we at least found the canal referenced in the article but not on the stretch the article spoke about. Although we never made it the journey was very interesting, the reason why I love travel. We traveled through an area that was predominately Muslim; I had heard that Islam is the second largest religion in the UK and that the Muslim population is estimated at over 2 million. We finally threw in the towel and found a pub to wet our whiskers and take a load off, the Fat Cat. We didn’t have any expectations but we were pleasantly surprised, it was a really nice pub with pretty good grub.

Before I go on telling you about our day trip to Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath etc. it’s time for me to highlight a couple of outstanding dining establishments. London as you know, or the UK for that matter, for many years has not been known for its food. Years ago, when I first started visiting the UK if you wanted something good to eat you would go for Dutch Indonesian or Thai food. However, over the past 20 years or so the UK has gone through a food revolution with Prince Charles and his sustainable organic gardening and the new young chefs have changed all of that. We did not have a bad meal in London but I just want to highlight a few places St. John Bar and Restaurant, Indigo and Bidendum.

St. John Bar and Restaurant Smithfield http://www.stjohnrestaurant.co.uk/ the restaurant is around the corner from the old Smithfield Market. The focus of the menu is "nose to tail", the food mostly organic and is locally sourced. The bread is made of the premises and the wine is mostly French. One afternoon we lunched at St. John, I on Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad, one of the specialties, and the spouse on another specialty Braised Rabbit. Our friends had Hake & Skate (fish) and we all share the runner beans (green beans), a lovely bottle of Rhone and dessert. The Bone Marrow was rich but delicate and delicious spread on the house made bread, the parsley salad was a nice and bright compliment. Some say rabbit taste like chicken, this preparation taste to me more a bit like ham hocks maybe because it was cooked with bacon and mustard – it was so tasty. We finished with a slice of cheese cake for the table; the cheese cake was light as a feather with a taste of Annis – OMG! The food at St. John’s is very straight forward, complex in its flavor but not fussy. This place is not for everyone but if you are adventurous and have a wide palate I highly recommend it!

Indigo http://www.campbellgrayhotels.com/one-aldwych-london.html?lang=EN#/one-aldwych-london/Restaurants-and-Bars/indigo. The restaurant is located in One Aldwych Hotel and the Chef is Gordon Ramsey. The focus of the food is “European”, light fare locally sourced. Again, we took the Tube for our flat to Indigo, we took the Tube everywhere. We found the restaurant with relative ease; we settled down at our table and had a cocktail before dinner. My pretty and refreshing drink was called the Bow Cow made with fresh ginger (you know how much I like ginger in a drink) lemon grass, Vodka and Melon Medori (whatever that is). The Charles and I shared the Seared Diver Scallops with peas, fava beans and pea shoots to start; my entrée was a wild mushroom risotto with glazed duck leg, the duck was off the bone, the mushrooms were nicely sautéed and this dish had big flavor. This risotto was the best I have ever had, the duck leg and the mushroom added the rich wild taste to the delicate grain. The risotto was cooked to perfection, it wasn’t too thick or too loose. I have not been able to stop thinking about that risotto! My husband had braised short ribs of beef with turnip emulsion and root vegetables, I tasted it and it was great. I will definitely go back to Indigo the next time I am in London and I suggest you give it a try the next time you are in the UK, I don’t believe it will disappoint!

Bibendum – Oyster Bar http://www.bibendum.co.uk/the-building.html is located in the Michelin House, the first permanent British headquarters in 1909. Even if you don’t eat at the restaurant seeing the building and the shops inside is worth the visit; the building is a tribute to the Michelin Man. Many years ago we dined in Bibendum Restaurant but this time we had lunch at the Oyster Bar. We weren’t looking for this restaurant we stumbled upon it returning from our “dry run” to our pick up point for our day trip to Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath. It’s in Chelsea and was not far from our flat. What do you eat at an Oyster Bar - - why Oysters of course and that is what I had and a glass of Champaign. I can’t remember what oysters I chose but I know I got the smallest ones they have; I don’t care for large oysters. I like the mellow taste of oysters along with a simple Miette. I was so happy that we stumbled upon this place again, the first time was deliberate and the second a happy coincidence - - another joy of traveling and exploring, you never know what you might find!

Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath day trip started with a 15 minute walk from our flat to the Regents Hotel, our pick up point for the tour. Our pick up was scheduled for 8:15 am, we arrived early without a hitch because we made a dry run the day before and timed the walk. At about 8:30 it occurred to us that the coach as they call it, had not come to pick us up so someone suggested we call the tour company. I called the tour company and was told that the coach that was suppose to pick us up had mechanical difficulty, it was not the coach that was going to make the journey just the coach that make the rounds to the pick up destination. It was suggested that we hop a taxi to the tour company to meet up with the coach. 8:30 am in London is the same as in any major metropolitan area, it’s rush hour and taxi’s are hard to come by. After what seemed like a 30 minute wait for the taxi we made it to the tour company passing by our flat and a lot of familiar areas, actually we could have walked from our flat to the tour office just as easily. The morning of our day trip was truly a Comedy of Errors, how fitting after all we are in Shakespeare country!

We get to the tour office and were told that the coach had left and it was at another destination and that we should take a taxi to that destination and the coach would be waiting. Needless to say I am getting a little steamed by now because all of this could have bee avoided if they had only gave us a call. Instead of getting angry I tried to maintain a British stiff upper lip. So off we go escorted on foot by someone from the tour company to a taxi stand where there was a line of people in the cue a good 50 people deep. While in line we were trying to figure out what to do a man approached us and asked us if we need a ride. We decided to throw caution to the wind and take the man up on his offer, after all there were four of us and only one of him - - even though we are not fighters we knew we could take him. The illegal taxi driver got us to the coach and we joined the tour and began our journey to Salisbury; All’s Well That Ends Well!

First stop Salisbury to see the Salisbury Cathedral and the Magna Carta www.salisburycathedral.org.uk , and lunch. I have seen a lot of European Cathedrals in my life time so they don’t hold much allure for me and seeing the Magna Carta wasn’t much either. However, there was a giant statue of a young man lying on the grass that captured my attention. We lunched on fish and chips then off to Stonehenge. While on the coach driving through Salisbury we saw a lovely little square that I would have loved to visit. If I were running the tour it would have been 10 minutes in the cathedral or so, and 1 hour and 50 minutes on your own to lunch and or visit the square.

When we got off the coach in Stonehenge it felt like the temperature had dropped significantly, it was downright cold, I'm talking the Chicago Hawk! Stonehenge was what we expected mystic and very interesting. We were equipped with audio telling the story of the evolution of Stonehenge although no one really knows given its prehistoric nature. The monument evolved between 3,000 BC and 1,600 BC. It is believe that Stonehenge was a place of worship because it is aligned with the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset but no one really knows its purpose; it is an awesome wonder. In the gift shop I purchased a hat to warm up my heat and to keep any heat I had left in my body from escaping through my head.

Bath, the town and the Roman Baths were beautiful. Bath is a beautiful Georgian city with delightful crescents, terraces and architecture it remains you of a little hamlet nestled in the hills, it is a very quaint town. The Roman Baths were beautiful, here again we had audio to learn about the history. Bath felt more like Italy than like the UK that was the intention of the Romans I suppose. Our Day Trip was a wonderful Heritage Tour not to be missed!

Our days in London was filled with so many activities like strolling Portabello Market and scoring a beautiful necklace and cashmere scarf, playing around in Covert Gardens, Leiscster Square and Piccadilly and just sitting at one coffee spot or another talking with friends watching the world go by.

We sleep in our last morning in London after a long and delightful day in the English Countryside. We spent the day around Knightsbridge and lunched at The Fifth Floor Restaurant on top of Harvey Nichols. The Fifth Floor Restaurant has a spacious oval room dining room with the perfect ambience for our last meal in London. We have dined at the restaurant before and hoped that it was still good and it did not disappoint. The menus are inspired by seasonality, we chose the two course prix fix menu. I started with scallops and boned chicken wing (not anywhere near a whole wing) in a perfectly seasoned au jus followed by a glazed chicken breast with sweet peas and gnocchi; I’m talking good!

After our late lunch we decided to pick up a few items from the market at Harvey Nichols for late night dinner. We took the tube back to our flat to freshen up the off we went to a performance of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater at Sadler’s Wells. We had fantastic seats and saw three works we had never seen before; Suite Otis, Ghost, In/side and we saw the company’s signature work Revelation and I can truthfully say I have never seen a better performance of this piece of work. The audience was jubilant, excited, and appreciative and the dancers put on a show! We sat behind a large group of young girls, probably aspiring dancers, they REALLY appreciated the male dancers - - those young men had magnificent bodies, even an old girl could appreciate. This was a wonderful evening and a fitting finality to a perfect London vacation!

The next morning our friends took the tube to Heathrow to return to Chicago and we took the tube to the train station to take the train to Paris for the next leg of our trip.

Stay tuned.......