According to the fabulous waiter / maitre D guy at The Orange where we had dinner, this is the coldest weekend London has had yet this season. Really? I hadn’t noticed. In case you’re worried that being cold ruined a good day, it didn’t. It’s just the over-riding theme of this commentary. I’m starting to think that Brits are allergic to heating.
It’s probably not a good omen when the attendants in the breakfast room of the B&B are wearing heavy sweaters and shivering. After a cold breakfast, we suited up and headed off into the sunshine toward Buckingham Palace. There was nobody there. It was incredible. I’ve never seen the place so empty. After that, we found 10 Downing Street and Big Ben and walked along the Thames. Found the Millenium Bridge and the Globe Theatre. And good grief was it cold.
The last time I was at the Tower of London, I was 11. The memory I have of the place where we lined up for ages didn’t match what we saw today. It’s been a couple of years – I guess they’ve renovated. The tour was great. For an hour, we were told tales of famous prisoners by a very entertaining Yeoman Warder. There’s a skating rink in the moat too. We saw the Crown jewels too (Andrew’s best thing of the day). But it was so incredibly cold. Quite frankly I’m impressed I was able to walk away at the end because I couldn’t feel my feet below the ankles.
Peter wins today’s fabulous husband prize for his executive decision to take a cab from the Tower to Covent Garden instead of tubing or bussing. Quick. Ever so slightly warmer than being outside. THEN he found the pub we’d eaten at when we were here in April, The Round House at 1 Garrick , home to a great ploughmans and the somewhat elusive chip butty. Yes, my children had French fry sandwiches (on buttered white bread) for lunch. With more fries on the side. Yup – nutrition on a plate and Elizabeth’s best thing of the day.
Going to the movies in England is different than at home. You pre-select your seats. We were running short on time for our 4pm date with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, so we grabbed another quick cab ride, got to the theatre on Kings Road, and picked up our tickets. Ever watched a movie in a refrigerator? No? I wouldn’t recommend it. And I quote “the heating isn’t working in the theatre, so if it’s too cold for you, we’ll give you a voucher so you can come back tomorrow”. ARE YOU FLIPPING KIDDING? Apparently not. On a brighter note, the concession stand was a bar as in “would you like a martini or a glass of wine with your movie” bar. Very civilized. The movie was good. I found it easier to follow that the last one and yes family, I will read the last book so you don’t have to keep the ending a secret anymore. Andrew tells me Part 2 will be out in time for us to see it at home, summer 2011. I’m thinking – great – more cold with overactive air conditioning.
For dinner we wanted a Sunday roast, and we found a lovely one at The Orange on Pimlico Road. Pretty restaurant. Great food. Good service. The walk along Pimlico, past the Saachi gallery, and Sloan Square was really pretty with all the shops, streets, and squares decorated for Christmas.
So, here we are back at the dodgey b&b. Peter is snoring again (this time he didn’t sleep through any of HP – he just missed the previews. Something about darkened spaces?) I’m still cold, but I can feel my feet and for those of you thinking that the Ice Queen is always cold, this was way beyond chilly. Tomorrow, we’ll go to Kings Cross station in search of platform 9 ¾, (we weren’t going to Lisa, but then figured why not) have a scone with clotted cream (but probably not at Selfridges Krista), buy books, and prowl around Covent Garden before heading back to Stansted and our Ryanair home. The snow forecast for today didn’t materialize, but it may tomorrow just in time to delay the flight home. Oh, and the tubes will be on strike. Never a dull moment.
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