London, Thursday, November 16, 2023
Things change…even in England. The hell that used to be the UK Border at Heathrow has been replaced by a computerized gate: scan your US passport, smile for the camera, and you’re through. And the Heathrow Express, which now costs 27 pounds (for the 15 minutes to Paddington) has now been augmented with the Elizabeth Line, a rail line that runs east to west through central London. We jumped aboard a train and were walking through Soho toward our hotel after only 25 minutes…at a fraction of the cost of the Express.
Things continued to look up at The Londoner. Although we arrived at noon, well before check in time, they made a room available while we had a restorative cup of tea.
After a restorative siesta we popped around the corner to catch the second half of Evensong at St. Martin’s in the Fields. It was a small ensemble of students, a quartet of voices, but lovely all the same.
From there we plunged into Covent Garden, thronged with shoppers, diners, drinkers, and strollers, all in a festive mood. London has put on its full holiday regalia, including the Christmas tree at the Covent Garden piazza.
After a preliminary reconnaissance of the shop at the London Transport Museum for certain young men, we went in search of a couple of small items for Sue. We found a nice hat–we always underestimate the feeling of damp cold in London–at one of the many outdoor shops near the piazza.
We retreated to the hotel for a pre-dinner libation, highlighted by a ten year old sparkling wine from Kent. People watching is always fun at the bar: there was a black-tie event somewhere in the house, as well as a trade meeting for finance bros…and all this added to the usual mix of older and younger, dandies and hipsters, dates and wanna-be dates.
Dinner was at the lively city brasserie The Wolesley on Piccadilly. The space is spectacular, and the crowd seems always to be having a grand time.
The food is reliably good if never spectacular, but the whole experience comes together as something special. We shared a platter of fruits de mer; Sue had sea bream and I had a really wonderful choucroute.
The crowds on Picadilly had thinned out, but the Circus itself was hopping. We paused to watch the entire crowd dance, led by three young people.
We also popped into the Lego store for a couple of snaps for the younger set!