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14 april

What a difference a year makes! On the anniversary of the day Kevin first visited Sweden a year ago, we flew to London to celebrate James’s birthday, see Alice and visit some former co-workers and friends. James would be celebrating his birthday at a club in London on the coming Saturday night so we decided to stay at a hotel in Covent Garden rather than stay with friends in South-West London.

 

We arrived at Gatwick around 20.00 and took the Gatwick Express into Central London and, after a taxi from Victoria to the hotel, rushed out to find the nearest Italian restaurant. We had just enough time to revisit Gordon’s wine bar, a place Kevin took C, Anne and Per to last autumn when they visited us. Unfortunately, they started closing as we sat down with our glasses. We finished them and walked back to the hotel. Walking through Covent Garden by night was quite a magical feeling (at least for a Swede).

 

 

15 april

Got up just after noon and walked to St Paul’s Cathedral to find somewhere to eat. Kevin took us through parks and streets famous for their London lawyers – Gray’s Inn, The Old Bailey and The Temple. We found a brasserie just next to St Paul’s Cathedral where we sat outside and had a fantastic lunch, with London buses driving by and crowds of people walking down the street. We enjoyed the sun, the wine, the liveliness, and of course each other’s company.

 

 

After a quick stop at the cathedral, neither of us wanted to pay 300 kronor to view a church so instead we walked down to the river, The Millenium Bridge, and then chose to follow the river on the north side towards Blackfriar’s Bridge. We had a great view of The London Eye, The Oxo Tower, and Big Ben around the bend in the river. Back at the hotel we changed, walked to Waterloo and took a train to Claygate, first to meet up with James (so we saw him on  his birthday) and one of his friends, then to see Alice perform in a show, and finally to see some friends/former band members in a pub across the road. It was a lot of people to see in a short time, but we had a great time!

 

 

16 april

We went to Waterloo to meet up with Alice to spend the day with her. We started with a quick lunch at All bar one, then went to The National Film Museum (C somewhat reluctantly due to the big sci fi factory in the place), took some good pictures and had quite a few good laughs. Afterwards we sat down for a couple of drinks near the National Theatre on the South Bank, before taking Alice back to Waterloo Station.

 

 

We went back to the hotel and changed for the evening, then walked through a quite warm and very crowded Leicester Square to get to Haymarket and Tiger Tiger, where James had reserved an area for his 21st party. Dancing, drinking, laughing and getting wet from knocked over glasses and bottles. Cecilia found the service at the toilets very interesting – a person handing paper towels to you after you had washed your hands, offering different things like hair spray and perfume for a pound! After dancing a bit more and enjoying the company of James and his friends, we left for a quickie in Piccadilly Circus (in English, that means a quick drink – inte något annat) at a pub Cecilia had visited during her very first time in London. We had a drink (yes, a drink) and chatted until closing time. Then we went back to the hotel for a quickie.

 

17 april

The only day entirely without plans. We walked towards St Paul’s, found a cozy square just next to it and sat down for lunch – a proper English Sunday roast. Unfortunately, the bells started going and went on for about 40 minutes, less nice for the meal and our ears. After a good main course and a dessert, we headed towards the river and took a walk along some of the streets where the Marathon was going on. Instead of joining in we sat down on a boat on the river to watch them with a drink in our hands. Unfortunately, the deck was a bit unstable and C’s wine glass fell off the table as someone walked by! The Catholic priest there drinking and smoking with his young boyfriend meant C could not swear too loudly about it!

 

 

After having enjoyed the view and the sun, we kept wandering and ended up outside The Savoy Hotel. K told C he had walked past it a thousand times but never been inside the home of the world famous Savoy cocktail guide (the Bible to every cocktail bar in the world) so we thought now was a great time to put that right. Good job we had dressed reasonably well as it’s a very sophisticated place, the preserve of the rich and the royal. The hotel has a wonderful 1920’s atmosphere and we were shown to the Beaufort Bar where we picked out two amazing drinks that were served with the style only possible at one of the best places in the world. It was nearing dinner time so we had to make a difficult choice – another drink or leave for dinner. So: “same again, please waitress”.  The American bar, next to the hotel’s museum, is the oldest cocktail lounge in England – but it caters for Americans so, of course,  it looks nice on the surface but it’s much less sophisticated! Having spent our dinner money on drinks we walked into Chinatown and picked up some noodles that we ate back at the hotel room watching TV. What a day!

 

 

18 april

Kevin picked up Alice at Waterloo, and met up with Cecilia at Covent Garden for a nice lunch with Pimm’s and clown entertainment (not Kev, a street entertainer). We then went for a short (but effective) shopping streak which included a new bag for Alice, before taking a taxi to The Speaker (a pub near the Houses of Parliament, named after a senior parliamentary role) where we met up with some of Kevin’s former co-workers. It was great to see them and we had a lot of fun! And K learned nothing that made him regret leaving when he did! Afterwards we took Alice to Leicester Square to go to the cinema – Cecilia tried the typically English thing (banned in Sweden) to have a drink while watching the movie. Seriously, there is nowhere in England where you can’t get a hold of a drink if you want one or where drinks aren’t involved somehow in the event! The movie, a modern re-telling of Beauty and the Beast that Alice had wanted to see, was okay (but it won’t win any Oscars). Afterwards we walked in the mild evening air back to the hotel where we sneaked Alice in so she could spend the night with us.

 

 

19 april

Our last day so we had to pack and leave our bags at Victoria Station before  enjoying the rest of the day. With that out of the way we realised the sun was shining and we had to make the most of it. We planned a quick lunch but then changed our minds and walked the short distance to the Roussillon (an Anglo-French restaurant where Kev held his leaving meal last October) and had a great meal instead. Alice and Kev both had duck (and should have felt guilty) because after lunch we walked to Battersea Park where we watched the ducks. Alice and Cecilia convinced Kev to go out on the boating lake and he agreed as long as they peddled the boat! We had a fantastic half an hour or so on the lake. The weather was amazing, the nature was astonishing and we had a lot of fun together. After that came a sudden reality check – we were still in the park and had only about three hours before our plane left. We hurried to Victoria, said goodbye to Alice and jumped on the Gatwick Express which, unlike most things in England, seems to operate to its timetable. It had been a short day for us in England but it had been a really enjoyable way to finish our stay. It made sure we would look forward to our next visit!