BEST HAIRCUT EVER!

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August 18, 2019



OK. Our hotel is just down the street from Victoria Station, which is our Underground “hub”. We’ve been here for a few days and have been passing this really interesting men’s grooming salon. My hair looks like CRAP. It’s been six weeks since my last cut, which is 2 weeks overdue. I. HATE the way it looks. H.A.T.E. the way it looks! I was going back and forth – should I go? What if it sucks? What if they ruin my hair? What should I do? Which is worse, the current sucky cut, or the unknown? SUCKY is WAY worse! I’m going in!

The salon is called Adam. The stylist is from Turkey, and his English, while good, is not great. Uh. OH. What did I get myself into? I didn’t even ask how much this was going to cost! I shall trust my instinct and the stylist. I want a new look. I want it short and let’s go.

OK….first weird thing…bend forward to wash the hair. Face is soaked. He dries me off, then hands me a lovely towel to dry my face. So far, so good. He starts cutting. Nice scissor cuts. Good sign. Then the razor (um…I prefer scissors, but I’m going to let him do his job) – then a straight razor. HUH? He took the straight razor (one of those kinds of razors sharpened on a leather strop); with the comb running through my hair, he places the straight razor atop the comb and cuts and stray hairs. GENIUS.

So far. So good. Takes the straight razor and goes all around the margins of my hairline cleaning everything up. Cleans up the back. Trims the sideburns. Electric razor, trims the nose hair, clips the eyebrows then….in typical Turkish fashion….burns the hair on both ears. YES! SO COOL. He took an alcohol dauber, lit it and poof. Didn’t hurt or burn at all….but that nasty ear hair is GONE!

After this, hot towel on my face. Moisturizer. Rinse. Dry. Gel. Cologne. NEW HAIR! I look and feel like a new person. I am blown away by the cut and service. Almost forgot – Turkish coffee and Turkish Delight (candy) were provided. All this for 32.00 pounds. I thought this was the deal of the month!!!

Get back to the hotel. Even Christopher is impressed. I really, REALLY like the “new do”!

Alright. Time to get going.

The day started with rain. By the time I got back from the salon, it wasn’t raining any longer. Perfect walking weather! We walked over to the Palace. Then to St. James’ and Clarence House – walked through Green Park, then down to Picadilly Arcade. Cashmere sweaters on sale (uhoh) – Christopher found a REALLY cool sweater on sale. Looks great on him too. I bought nothing.

We then walked over to Fortnum & Mason – had a look around. They have a $32,000 dollar bottle of Scotch! SERIOUSLY?! A bit much, no? Went to a place called Paul and split a ham and cheese sandwich. Just what we needed.

Walked over to Green Park Tube station and headed off to the V&A. We want to see the Mary Quant exhibit, and I want to see the Dior again. Off we go. The quant exhibit is good – VERY GOOD. But NOTHING compared to the Dior.

OK. Off to Kensington High Street. YIKES! So many people. NEXT. Had to get outta there.

An observation. No matter what street – London is crowded. The streets are crowded. People walking every which way. No matter your direction, it feels like YOU are the Salmon going upstream. It makes no difference which side of the street you’re on. It makes no difference which neighborhood you happen to walk…no matter where – YOU are the salmon.

OK. Back to the hotel and time to pack for our trip to Amsterdam. We hate packing – but at least we have everything with us and don’t have to make and big decisions!!

Packed.

Dinner. Too tired. Downstairs. Cocktails and nibbles. Just perfect.

Upstairs. BED. Done. We had a great time in London, but we barely stopped. Didn’t get a chance to connect with Cousin Chris, but we did get a chance to chat on the phone. Time to call it a night.

Tomorrow in Amsterdam

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