Shopping, cupcakes and celeb-spotting - it's all in a day's wander around That London....
9am - since we're staying right in the heart of the West End I'm channelling Vivien Leigh, so we head to Tutton's (Russell Street, Covent Garden) for breakfast. The opulent decor and white shirted waiters put me in mind of lively pre-show dinners in the fifties, theatre luvvies bellowing loudly across the bar while the ladies sipped Martinis. I hear they do a perfect cream tea, but hunger overtook nostalgia at that point and I opted for a bacon sandwich instead.
10am - I have a 'one museum per trip' deal with the Husband, and his choice for this particular jaunt is the Household Cavalry Museum (Horse Guards, Whitehall). I don't mind this one, as it's fairly small, and you get to see tourists try to make the Guards talk/smile/laugh, without success of course. Most of them look about 18, which only serves to make me feel really old. Downing Street is just up the street so we take a wander up to see if we can spot the PM (I have no idea why, as, apart from Cher Lloyd, the PM is probably the last person I'd ever want to bump into).
12pm - St James's Park is probably my favourite park in London - it's the oldest in the city, and is surrounded by three palaces. It's also full of extremely friendly squirrels. This time, due to the cold weather (-1c today), the squirrels are feeling bold and don't hesitate in scampering over to see what treats we have (none). One cheeky fella starts to climb up the husband's leg, mistaking it for a tree trunk. Easily done.
1pm - After wandering past Buck Palace, we head down to Harrods (Brompton Road, Knightsbridge) in the hope of spotting some famous faces. Unfortunately, the only people we spot are Tony Robinson (from Time Team), and then, in the beauty hall, Petra Ecclestone (from the society pages in Hello!, and not much else, frankly). Slightly disappointed, but, hey ho.
2pm - I start to get the shopping-withdrawal-shakes, so we scoot up past Hyde Park to Oxford Street. The Royal Horse Guards parade passes us on the way, which is a great photo op. I've always thought
Oxford Street is overrated as a shopping destination - it's pretty much Newcastle's Northumberland Street, supersized - so we head back down towards Covent Garden. Down one of the cobbled side streets, I find Handbag Heaven, aka Kate Spade's pop-up London boutique (Langley Court, Covent Garden). There is so much I love in this shop it actually makes me feel nauseous. Kate's 'Eat Cake for Breakfast' tote makes me want to...eat cake. And not just for breakfast. I begrudgingly leave empty handed and we wander over to Patisserie Valerie (15 Bedford Street, Covent Garden) and pick up some yummy Valentine's cupcakes and whoopie pies.
Oxford Street is overrated as a shopping destination - it's pretty much Newcastle's Northumberland Street, supersized - so we head back down towards Covent Garden. Down one of the cobbled side streets, I find Handbag Heaven, aka Kate Spade's pop-up London boutique (Langley Court, Covent Garden). There is so much I love in this shop it actually makes me feel nauseous. Kate's 'Eat Cake for Breakfast' tote makes me want to...eat cake. And not just for breakfast. I begrudgingly leave empty handed and we wander over to Patisserie Valerie (15 Bedford Street, Covent Garden) and pick up some yummy Valentine's cupcakes and whoopie pies. 4pm - My feet are feeling the 6 hours of pounding London's streets now so it's back to the hotel for a power nap before going out tonight. Plus the husband wants to watch The Chase on tv. Our room is small, but clean, with an odd space-ship style bathroom, and the hotel has all been refurbished recently. It's hardly luxury, but you can't beat the location and with rooms from £29 it's a definite bargain (Travelodge Covent Garden, Drury Lane).
6pm - Show tickets at the ready, we're in the mood for a burger so pop into Maxwell's (James Street, Covent Garden), a lively, friendly bar and grill with a decent menu and plenty of cocktails. Once I've scoffed all the beef I can handle we take the five minute walk to High Holborn, and the Shaftsbury Theatre.
730pm - if someone ventured inside my head and pulled out all the music and dodgy eighties movies I love and bundled them all up into a West End musical, it'd pretty much be Rock of Ages. The show tells the story of Sherrie, a small town girl, and Drew, a small town boy (yes, he's from South Detroit) who move to LA to follow their rock dreams. Justin Lee Collins plays the Bar Owner and Shayne Ward gets his kit off (mostly) as lead rock singer Stacee Jaxx. To be honest, any excuse to sing along in public to 'We Built this City' by Starship is a winner with me, so I loved this show - the only thing that would have made this eighties-fest any better would have been if Andrew McCarthy had appeared on stage playing air guitar in his raybans.
11pm - we've had a long day, so it's back to the hotel for us. I fall asleep dreaming of squirrels with mullets headbanging to The Final Countdown. It's been another brilliant visit to That London, I'm already planning the next one (and working on the Husband for the Kate Spade bag).
x
PS - the next day we travelled home, and had a surreal train encounter with Jason Donovan. This entry's gone on long enough, so I'll leave that for the next instalment. Let's just say there's another one to add to the childhood-hero-who-turns-out-to-be-a-big-fat-disappointment-list.
Tarah!
