London, Wednesday, May 28, 2025
We could easily become fans of Virgin Atlantic. Yesterday evening, we had dinner and a glass of wine at the American Express lounge, and after a moment of regret at scheduling a flight so late in the night (departure was 11:30 PM), we were soon aboard our flight to London. By using a few miles, we had spent less on premium economy seats than we had on economy seats with United. And I have to say that the seats were exceptionally comfortable for me. No seat actually fits my wife, unfortunately.
We both managed to sleep a bit more than four hours, and were awakened to a decent breakfast. Heathrow remains Heathrow, and we ended up walking huge distances from the gate to border control and then to the Heathrow Express, but Border Control itself is absolutely painless with a quick passport and photo scan and you’re through.
Our hotel, the Prince Akatoki, occupies a number of townhouses in northern Mayfair.
The hotel feels very Japanese the moment you step through the door: simple and elegant with a very accommodating staff.
Our room wasn’t ready so we popped into a French cafe around the corner for a coffee and a very small bite and then walk through southern Marleybone. It was a gorgeous late spring day in London. The streets here are full of shops that manage to be quaint and expensive at the same time. Here is a ladies haberdashery.
The area has many private gardens in squares; we were able to sneak into the lovely gardens at Portman Square.
During our stroll we stumbled on a rather ornate arched entrance to a church.
You know us: can’t just walk by an interesting-looking church. And it turns out that St. James Spanish Place is interesting indeed, and especially for its history. For centuries after the reformation, Catholic worship was forbidden in England; communicants could worship only in chapels attached to embassies from Catholic lands. The Spanish embassy was located on Spanish Place, a cul-de-sac off George Street in Marylebone, and a chapel was built in 1791. Behind the unassuming entry portal is an impressive Neo-gothic church.
The walk then took us past the Wallace Collection, which we visited when we lived in Bayswater, and on to the tangle of little alleyways in southern Marylebone.
By the time we returned to the hotel, our room was ready, and we were ready for a nap! After a restorative ninety minute snooze, we took a long walk down Regent Street and into Piccadilly.
We were very disappointed to find that Hatchards, the UK’s oldest bookseller, was closed for a special event, so we were unable to watch Ariel’s novel Bad Nature fly off the shelves.
After a dip into Fortnum & Mason to restock some tea lovers of our acquaintance, we headed for our early table at Noble Rot, a restaurant recommended by our foodie nephew Peter and his wife Courtney; it has a great wine list and, it turns out, superb food.
We were tucked into the lovely window table at the upper right of this photo.
We shared the Mangalitza and Foie Gras Pate en Croute accompanied by a lovely English sparkling wine from Dorset (Lanchester Estate). We then had the sea bass for two, really one of the best fish dishes we’ve ever had. The restaurant’s wine list is extraordinary, but the best thing is the selection of wines by the glass. I had a tasting portion of a 2023 Keller Kirchspiel grand cru from Rheinhessen; it was interesting to taste this infant wine now, but its future is all ahead of it. Sue, on the other hand, had a fully mature and absolutely beautiful 2010 Saint-Joseph Blanc “Les Oliviers” by Gonon. We finished with an apricot tart accompanied by a 2010 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer “Sonnenuhr” Auslese. The staff couldn’t have been better: friendly, knowledgeable, wonderful.
When we returned to our room, we found a delightful Japanese surprise: yakutas for each of us, which took us back to our stay at a Ryokan in Takayama, Japan with our friends Connie and Vladimir B.
As our friend Tun Tun Ko used to say when asked how it was going as he led a dozen bewildered Americans through the permanent culture shock that is Burma: “so far, so good!”