Once more an opportunity presented itself and Lisa and Christos were able to get over to London for five days of fun and, for Lisa, some work.
We arrived during the late afternoon on Saturday with both of us a little worn out (little sleep on the flight over) and thus not up for too much. So we wandered around Mayfair a bit and along Bond Street where the Holiday shoppers were out in full force.
We dropped into the lovely Halcyon Gallery on New Bond Street where we enjoyed the exquisite works of Dashi Namdakov.
Dashi works in metal and stone with pieces ranging from small to larger than life. Lisa's favourite was "The Bride", a small bejeweled golden statue, which can be viewed here:
http://halcyongallery.cld.bz/Dashi-Namdakov#142 while Christos quite liked the larger pieces such as the bronze Dragon seen here:
http://halcyongallery.cld.bz/Dashi-Namdakov#88.
Of course with gold and gold equities beat up right now, neither of us are in the market for such luxury items! Dinner was at "The Only Running Footman" which is our preferred pub for food while in London (our preferred pub for Guinness and Chips is the "Audley" but "The Only Running Footman" has a better kitchen). Lisa had a wonderful venison pie while Christos thoroughly enjoyed the bouillabaise. We made it back to the hotel at a reasonable hour and sunk into bed letting the weariness and jetlag drain out of us.
The next day (Sunday) we rose late and relaxed with breakfast until noon. Then it was time for a lovely walk to Camden Town and a visit to Camden Market (second time for Christos and first time for Lisa).
We stopped by 221B Baker Street (being fans of the original Sherlock Holmes as well as the new adaptations of "Sherlock" and "Elementary") before getting to Camden Town in the mid-afternoon where Christos bought reggae records and some other odds and ends while Lisa mostly just soaked up the atmosphere.
We had a late lunch of really, really good burgers before heading back for the walk back to the Connaught, with the obligatory stops for Guinness on the way fully embraced.
We made a slight miscalculation as the late lunch led to a lack of peckishness on our part and thus no desire for dinner until later in the evening ... by the time we finally wanted dinner it was 9PM and we could not find a pub or restaurant with an open kitchen close to the hotel (everything closes early on Sundays).
So we dined on the lovely cheese and fruit plate that the hotel had provided!
Monday saw a trip to the National Gallery to enjoy several Caravaggios as well as paintings by others as well as a walk through Regents Park and a visit to Christos' favourite provisioner; Fortnum and Mason.
The walk in the park was quite fun. In addition to the lovely birds and the fine weather (twelve degrees while it was quite cold back in Canada, or so we are told) we encountered an older gentleman feeding the squirrels who offered up some peanuts to us for the same activity. The squirrels in London have no fear; they will climb rut up you to get a peanut!
Lisa had dinner with clients on Monday so Christos grabbed a lovely pasta con vongole (for a mere 20 pounds or 38 CDN dollars) at a local Italian place.
Tuesday was a full work day for Lisa so Christos spent the day wandering around town popping in at places like the Wallace House and Apsley House (closed for renovations; Christos has yet to actually get into the Apsley House) and walking in St. James park.
We met up after work at the Audley for a few pints of Guinness and accompanying chips. Next to our table a well heeled gentleman was asleep but sitting upright with his mobile in hand. It rang a couple of times, failing to wake the gentleman, Finally one of his friends found him and woke him ... and he then proceeded to latch on to Lisa and I for the next several hours!
We downed several pints with our new friend, Brian, before the three of us went off in search of sustenance. Brian got us into a packed upscale restaurant called Novikov (Asian seafood place, Russian inspired we think) where we devoured the duck, dumplings and sushi put before us.
We dodged Brian on the way out as before dinner he had suggested we go clubbing with him after and given Lisa's early start the next morning this was not an option! So after a fine dinner, we stumbled back to the hotel for a solid night's sleep.
Wednesday was a work day for Lisa with departure in the mid-afternoon so it was a truncated day for Christos to enjoy London. Christos went for a walk and popped in at the offices of "Minerva" magazine, which he subscribes to, and they piled him high with free back-issues! The only other visit was a quick visit back into Fortnum and Mason's for Christos to get rid of the last of his English cash. By 5PM we were airborne on our way back to Toronto ....
Finally one last thought .... MMMMMMM GUINNESS!!!!
Once more Lisa's hard working ways have the added benefit of a quick break from Toronto and work for Christos! A mining conference she attends is held every other year in beautiful Barcelona; one almost thinks the venue drives the conference!
After "Champage Charlie's" we continued to wander through old Barcelona, hitting the Ramblas as well as a faerie garden bar we have visited before and quaffing a couple pints of Guinness. We bought some street art on the Ramblas and a dress for Lisa during our wanderings before we hopped on a pedicab for the 10 euro ride back to the hotel. The only bad news was Lisa had a spill departing the pedicab and managed to scrape her chin and hands as she faceplanted.
