After satiation in the shopping realm, I set out for my favorite place in London, the War Rooms under Whitehall. Since it was decent weather for January in London, I decided to take a circuitous route by walking down St. James's toward the Palace and then on to Buckingham Palace, around the bend to the Guard's Chapel, and then following the line of sight to Big Ben, landing finally at this most authentic museum of World War II, the actual rooms where Churchill conducted his war-time government. It is so realistic that one can almost see cigarettes burning in the ashtrays throughout the various offices. It looks as though everyone left it just as it was the minute the war was over. If you are at all interested in this period of history, it is definitely worth the trip.
After a full day of walking about London, I headed back to the Ritz for a rest. Dinner plans that night would take us to the Brasserie Roux, Albert Roux's second establishment in London after his other famous Le Gavroche already made its mark. The Brasserie is the restaurant of the newly restored Sofitel St. James's Hotel a short walk from St. James's Park. Quite modern and capacious, there is a distinct feeling that you are in an old bank building. The food was excellent and well presented, although not particularly crowded for a "hot" new restaurant. We had been given the suggestion (and invitation) to go after dinner to Monte's, a "where it's at" nightclub where, by membership or invitation only, you can dine, drink, dance, and watch as the evening unfolds. Not bad, but I had the sense that we were intruding on a private party. Jet lag had caught up with us, so after one drink, we walked back to the Ritz. We had been in London for 24 hours, but it surely seemed longer than that after the full day I had.
Saturday was destined for culture, a museum and theatre: one a known quantity, the other not so. Jan had asked the concierge for theatre tickets for six of us, and on short notice he pulled through. The museum was superb: the Tate Britain, full of familiar paintings I had not ever seen in person, but knew so well. We trailed behind a guided tour and picked up some fascinating information about their collection. On second thought, we should have taken the full tour, but time did not allow. Since we would be there for the lunch hour, we had called ahead for a reservation at the Museum's dining room, a comfortable and quite excellent culinary experience. Yes, Dover Sole again, on the bone this time. A grand day out indeed.
Jeff & Jan Gordon
