London Town

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Geo: 51.5002, -0.126236

Thursday morning we left The Jersey Arms about 9-30 and headed for Heathrow. Using the Sat Nav it was easy to find the Hire Car return station and were then transferred to Heathrow by shuttle bus. Bought a Day pass there and caught the Underground to Gloucester Road station. It was only a short walk to the Radisson Blu Edwardian Vanderbilt Hotel which was our base for the next two days. We left our luggage as our room was not ready and as it was by then 12-30 found a small café to have some lunch.

Then it was into Piccadilly Circus and a tour of the bookshops. We started at Waterstone's on Regent Street which is huge. Found a couple of interesting titles there. After nearly an hour we walked through Leicester Square where major rebuilding is going on. Gone was our favourite lunch spot, All Bar One and one whole side of the square is under construction. Down Charing Cross Road we strolled to Foyle's. This had been under renovation works when we were here two years ago and now it is a great new store with 5 floors of books. We spent a half hour there and came out with another dozen books. Glad we will be on the ship rather than having to worry about weight on planes.

By this time we were both flagging a little. Walked past the rebuilding site of Tottenham Court Road Station and up Oxford Street. When we got to Oxford Circus we caught the Tube and returned to the hotel for a rest. Chilled out there enjoying watching Antiques Roadtrip and Flog It on TV. At 6pm we went down to the bar to use the 15 pounds of free drinks that the Travel Agent had arranged, while waiting to meet Claire Burke for dinner. Claire used to be Manager at The Rising Sun but has been in the UK for 6 months. She is working in London at The Lord Clyde Hotel in Islington as General Manger. It was lovely to see her and catch up on her news. She confessed to being a little homesick so was glad to hear all about Adelaide and especially what was now happening at the Riser.

We stayed at the pub for dinner. The restaurant there, the Scoff and Banter I had read about in a Qantas Magazine. It is a new and recommended place to eat. Food was excellent and we spent a very pleasant night.

On Friday morning we had breakfast at the hotel then rested. We set out about 11 am. We had no particular agenda but decided to go to Knightsbridge for a look at Harrod's. In there we went to the Harrod's Gift Shop after checking out the Food Halls which are always fascinating. They had a large Christmas section set up and I bought a Yeoman Bear ornament for the Christmas Tree adding to my collection of baubles bought from all over the world. Fletcher spotted Rugby World Cup Polo Shirts but they were a tad expensive there. However, he now decided he would really like one. So after a short visit we caught the tube back to Piccadilly to visit Lillywhite's , the huge Sports Store right on the Circus. There we found some half price T shirts and Fletch bought an Australian one for 8 pounds. But they did not have the nice polo shirts.

We walked up Piccadilly to Hatchard's book store next to Fortnum and Mason's. This is a beautiful old bookstore with a large collection of titles and again we made a purchase or two. Wandering further along Piccadilly we found Caffe Concerto and decided to stop there for lunch. This is a "chain" restaurant but is elegant with a music theme and chandeliers etc. Had a delicious meal there, Fletcher settling for the mixed seafood grill while I enjoyed the lobster and crab ravioli. I would certainly go there again.

We then headed in the Oxford St direction as we remembered seeing a Rugby World Cup store there yesterday. This took us up some of the smaller streets in the area. As this is Mayfair we went past some of the larger jewellery stores such as Tiffany's and Cartier and the tailor shops on Saville Rowe. Had a loo stop in a pub there and finally made it past Carnaby Street to Oxford Circus. Walked down the street and found the shop where Fletcher bought two really nice polo shirts. All the English shirts were out on sale!!! Unfortunately the memorabilia connected to the teams who had made the finals was still full price. Then it was back to our hotel to change for the evening.

I had booked tickets on line to see The Importance of Being Earnest at the Vaudeville Theatre on The Strand. This starred David Suchet playing Lady Bracknell. We caught the Underground to Covent Garden and then walked down, getting a little off course on the way. Had a pre-dinner drink and ordered a white wine for the first interval. Our tickets were right in the second back row of the Grand Circle so we were a long way up. The performance, though, was rather disappointing. The actors' spoke far too quickly losing some of Wilde's best lines and Suchet, although he was very polished, was good without being outstanding. We had not had time for dinner so stopped at a Bella Italia for pasta, which was all pasta with very little sauce and a Montepulciano red which was very poor. Not the best end to the night!

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