The Last Hurrah

We spent a glorious day together in London. Tomorrow is graduation, so this was our last hurrah.

Kirsten, Brad and I had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. Forgot to take pictures, but it’s a lovely buffet in the Brasserie. Staff is so accommodating – you know the hotel is an Irish brand as everyone is trained to be fawningly kind and to remember your name. Our stay in Cork a few years back was the same. I aactually really love it.

We are black cab crazy this trip, and Brad chatted up the driver and asked about the Chinese made taxis. Any chance for car talk.

We walked new streets in Marleybone, found a coffee shop and watched the world go by. I had to find eye drops for a friend and I am shocked by the number of pharmacies in Marleybone – like Dunkin Donuts in Boston, one on every corner.

We met up with the kids and took a London Walk tour on the swingin’ 60’s.

We started at the BBC studios, a gorgeous art deco building.

We headed to Duchess Mews where we saw the building that was in the opening of The Avengers, with John Steed and Emma Peel. One of my favorite 1960’s shows – who remembers it? I always wanted to be Emma Peel – Diana Riggs was my idol!

We talked about the porousness of classes in the 60’s and visited some neighborhoods where the very wealthy and average Joe’s began to live side by side. We also talked about how London was almost rebuilt in a modern architecture style after the Second World War. Thanks to financial scarcity, the beautiful buildings were renovated. How lucky!

Next up, the Profumo Affair and the crazy osteopath, Steven Ward, that introduced John Profumo to Christine Keeler and the downfall of the Conservative government. This is the flat where Steven Ward introduced John Profumo to Christine. Child’s play next to the Trump administration.

The window above what is the Sturm boutique is where Keith Richard’s wrote Gimme Shelter in ‘Groovy Bob’s’ flat. We saw Grovenor Park where a demonstration about the Vietnam War led by Vanessa Redgrave got out of control in front of the American Embassy, statues of Twiggy, and finally the apartment where Jimi Hendrix lived. Interesting and entertaining.

We were ready to sit down and have lunch, so Paul found us a local Pub with a bit of history.

Beers and fish and chips were had.

We all felt sated and decided to relax on the Thames with an Uber Boston ride.

A rest and a shower were in order and we met back up at the River Cafe in Hammersmith for dinner.

We had a really relaxing, long dinner with drinks and antipasti and pasta and mains and the most glorious desserts. I am not a dessert person, but the chocolate nemesis is as good as is reported along with the sorbets and pastry. We ate and laughed and toasted Paul. I won’t bore you with the food pictures, but I chatted with the chefs, gawked at the enormous open kitchen, and ate most of everything on the menu. It was a perfect night, in a peaceful spot, and it ended with Brad ogling a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT long wheel base coupe in midnight blue.

Another perfect London night in the books. As my sister says, “it’s always better in London”.