We begin our journey in London–one of my favorite cities in the world. When I come here, I feel like I’m breathing history and traditionplus, you never know when you’ll catch a glimpse of royalty. I mean, just the fact that they have royalty takes the city up a notch in my estimation.
The people are just cool – fashion savvy like New Yorkers, but with Euro flare (check out some of the looks Kristabel pulls off on I Want You to Know to see what I’m talking about.)
And then there’s the culture; in my book, only Washington DC compares to the amazing museums in this city. I could spend weeks in the British and National museum, and, from now until August, gawking at the Alexander McQueen exhibit in Victoria and Albert.
For this trip I stayed at 45 Park Lane (Dorchester Collection); it’s the modern daughter to the fabled traditional motherthe Dorchesterthat’s just across the street. I can’t say enough about the remarkable staff. Even when one of my shipments from Chic by Choice went a bit sideways, Simon, the concierge was on the phone tracking it down from DHL and getting it delivered.
Aside from the fuss of finding my clothing, we tried to take it easy on this trip. I’ve seen so much of London, so many times, so we skipped the Chevy Chase European Vacation agenda and just did our own thing – meandering through Mayfair, hitting the spa at the Dorchester and finally getting to see Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre. I never did get to see it in NYC.
If there is one thing I’m sad I skipped, it’s Covent Gardens, which is a usual must for me, but I DID find an amazing new Truffle Restaurant, Tartufi & Friends, after getting massively lost in Harrod’s. It’s in the basement by the wine cellar, if you want to find it yourself.
On that note, I must ask–is it just me, or has the food in London improved 10 fold in the last 10 years? I can’t seem to go wrong in this town when it comes to a meal. Has the astronomically high rent closed down the mediocre restaurants and let the crème de la crème rise to the top? In addition to truffles, we hit my anywhere-on-the-planet favorite, Nobu, snuck in a stop at Yauatcha for some Chinese fusion and hit up a late night pizza place in Piccadilly.
The four days in London just blew by, faster than usual cause I struggled for the first time with some nasty jet lag. But the weather was great and I enjoyed being less of a tourist and more of a wandering temporary local. Now, on to our cruise!