Back in London - days 11-13

The quick three-day preview FYI:

Day 11 - Buckingham Palace, Green Park, shopping;

Day 12 - Harrod's, pedicure, dinner at the Algarve;

Day 13 - Dali Universe @ County Hall, London Aquarium, big night in.

Day 11: Monday 11/02/2008. We carried the Parisian weather with us. Sunny and 13. How fabulous! I started the day with changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, which took far too long. I could not believe the off-season crowds! Judging by the accents around me, I would say that this is the time of year when the locals come out to enjoy the tourist attractions.

I have to say, I felt a bit let down. I am glad I did it - to be able to say I did - but it really was not anything special. After an hour of standing, several photos, very sore feet and the persistent feeling that I was about to faint, I headed across the road to Green Park and the Princess Diana Memorial Walk. I was more interested in finding a park bench than doing the walk, which stretches across four parks, however I was excited to stumble across it.

It was in Green Park that I met up with Tom H (who will be known to Landgate readers) for lunch and shopping. It was great to catch up with a friendly face! We stopped by the Ritz on the way to the tube to find out about their high tea, which I was superkeen to try. We realised very quickly that we were not suitably attired and I could only eat half of what was on the menu. For £37, I decided to give it a miss. I'll still look into the Berkely, though. They have boot and handbag shaped cookies.

So we headed into town, which leads me to my next tip, courtesy of Tom.

Hannah's London Tip #11: Ignore Tip #8. Buy an Oyster card (that you can top up) for train travel. It magically works out the cheapest journey for you, depending on the # of uses, times of day, destinations. Better than a Day Travelcard.

The first thing we did was shop for shoes [the bones in my feet have shifted due to my lack of sensible shoes, I am sure], and I bought some flat boots from Dune within minutes of reaching Oxford St. Reduced from £65 to £45. Yay me! We had a yummy lunch at Bella Italia on Argyll St, then onto more shops.

After less than a day, Tom managed to pass on a longstanding addiction to me. No, not cigarettes. It's Thornton's toffee. I love the choc-coated vanilla fudge...

I also enjoyed my first-ever Starbucks coffee (hazelnut hot chocolate) and it was brilliant! Then it was time to find Tom's friend's birthday celebrations, using Shane's A-Z.

My evening was relaxing and home-cooked. A perfect finish to a lovely day.

Day 12: Tuesday 12/02/2008. I slept in until about 10:30 - my first sleep-in while I've been away - and watched bad TV as I ate a breakfast of Thornton's choc-coated vanilla fudge and Sainsbury's salt & vinegar twists (another recent addiction), all the while vowing to eat a healthy lunch.

It feels like every second show on London's free-to-air TV is Antiques Roadshow, The Very Best of Antiques Roadshow or Antiques Roadshow: a Retrospective. They really cling onto their old stuff here.

Everything about the day was delayed - from getting up, to buying a train ticket (the ticket office closed as soon as it was my turn to buy a ticket), to catching the train (delays on several lines, including the Jubilee). I just had to accept that nothing would be rushed today.

By the time I made it into Harrod's, I was starving. I tried to make a bee-line for the food hall, however I could not help but be sidetracked by pretty things. The cosmetics counters were impeccable, Harrod's Arcade was delightful, and the soft accessories were luxurious. I made mental notes of everything I needed and moved on to the food. [BTW, it was here that I discovered the £12 that the Heathrow shop wanted for a Harrod's green bag wasn't actually that steep - they are £14.95 at Harrod's!]

The fruit & vegetables, prepared meals and fresh pastries and sweets looked amazing. I found some very nice looking artichokes and decided that I had to cook some for Hayley & Shane before I head home.

It was upsetting to find a fantastic fromagerie. Ordinarily, such a find would have been a boon, with all the delicate soft cheeses and robust blues calling to me by name; instead, they were transformed into temptations to be avoided in my current condition. Despondent, I wandered into Harrod's Cafe Espresso.

The first thing that made me smile was the bag hooks under clean tabletops. My cappuccino was also fabulous (and so I should have been, for £3.80!). I was heartened by the fact that this and many other places around London are using exclusively fairtrade coffee. I read an interesting article in BA's in-flight business magazine about the economics and low additional cost (to industry) of supporting fairtrade coffee, yet there is generally a high cost passed onto the consumer. Very interesting.

I looked around as I awaited my melanzane di parmigiana [yes, again] and I tingled with a Christmas sensation, the promise of a gift unopened. I could have kicked myself for contemplating not going to Harrod's whilst in London.

I quickly corrected my 'merci beaucoup' into a 'thank you' as my meal arrived. Naturally, it was fabulous. I passed on my compliments to the kitchen via my waitress and found out that a bona fide Italian chef prepared my meal, which explained the simple, authentic flavours. Full of cheese and fully satisfied, I sipped on peppermint tea as I finished writing out my postcards. It was 3:30pm when I left the cafe, and I happily handed over the £23 (incl tip) for such a pleasing meal.

I realise, as I read through my travel notes, that my trip thus far has been marked by simple yet pleasurable gastronomic experiences. I haven't been able to drink alcohol or take any risks, yet I have really enjoyed my holiday - particularly because of the food. Even the basic £2.95 nachos at Debenhams were just right for the time.

I left the cafe with a resolve to book a tableau pour un at Gordon Ramsay's Maze restaurant before I leave, a meal sure to cost me between £40 and £60. I love my food. Up to that point, I was under budget [good project management!]. All that was about to change: I stumbled upon Harrod's jewellery section.

One Tiffany & Co necklace later, I was no longer looking at a Gordon Ramsay culinary experience. It's funny how one's priorities can turn on a dime like that. [I can hear you shaking your head. It's a congratulations present from me to me. And it will last a lifetime, unlike a meal. Truly.]

Hannah's London Tip #12: ATMs, or magical money walls, are called 'cashpoints' over here. I have managed to confuse more than one salesperson by asking for directions to the nearest ATM...

After sauntering around some more in Harrod's, wearing in my new necklace, I stopped, looked at my mobile phone (my watch didn't go with the outfit) and realised it was 5:28pm. I had a pedicure booked for 6pm. In Earlsfield. An hour away.

Rushing home with shopping bags in peak hour was not fun (three Jubilee line trains were too packed for additional passengers before I managed to squeeze on), but I made it to Glowz [yes, that does say much about the salon] for my pedicure. It was just what my feet needed - and have me just enough time to get home and change jackets in time for dinner with Kristian & Jasmina.

I have known Kristian since primary school, though we hadn't seen each other for years; Jasmina [I so hope my spelling is right!] is his lovely wife. We had ~17 years to catch up on and a lovely meal at the Algarve (Portuguese resturant in Wandsworth; I think there was one other occupied table...), but the piri-piri chicken couldn't compare to Nando's! Now I can order food in four languages and say thank you in six. I'm so proud of me :) [Thanks again, Kris and Jas.]

The weirdest thing happened at the end of the night: the Indian taxi driver accused me of having an American accent.

Day 13: Wednesday 13/02/2008. I started out at County Hall's Dali Universe, where I managed to catch three art exhibitions (Dali, Picasso, Azam) for the bargain basement price of £12.

With over 500 masterpieces, the Dali retrospective was impressive and extensive. I was surprised to discover the extent to which religion, mythology and metaphor influenced Dali's philosphy and work. It was for me a sensual, empowering display; his brand of surrealism involves an incredible artistry and attention to detail. He also collaborated with some big names in furniture and film (eg. Alfred Hitchcock for Spellbound).

I appreciated Dali's strong self-belief and view of how ideas can be formed and used. I was inspired by some of his philosophy, which I guess makes him a true artist ["An artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others"], and disturbed by other aspects. He had a definite sadistic streak through his work that more often than not applied to sex.

In terms of the other two artists: the Picasso exhibition was smaller, understated and intriguing [I didn't know he created ceramics or designed tapestries!]; Azam's iridescent spaghetti did nothing for me, hence I didn't spend too long on the artist-in-residence's display. It was interesting to compare Dali and Picasso's representations of the female form side by side. Dali tended to preserve the roundness of natural curves and pervert them in such a way that you could tell what they had come from, while Picasso was more abstract, angular and disconnected. I don't know enough about art to know what that says about either or both of them.

Lunch at the London Aquarium's Cafe A was yummy and too pricy for what it was: £6.25 for a cheese & salad sandwich and chocolate donut. I really paid for the view - overlooking foot traffic travelling alongside the Thames.

As a tourist destination, the London Aquarium is abysmal - and, at £13.25, a waste of precious pounds. Well, maybe not such a waste, as I did contribute to preservation of our oceans with my ticket purchase.

I hurriedly sought out Zone 9 as soon as I entered, thinking I had made it just in time for shark feeding time, only to discover I was a day late/early. Very disappointing. Then I saw how small the sharks were and realised the feeding show would not have been too vigorous. I followed through with the obligatory tour but I remained unimpressed. The Aquarium seems to have been set up for schoolkids and Londoners who haven't really been anywhere. I forget how spoiled we are for aquatic life in Perth.

I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around London, trying not to spend more money [I did discover a photo development place and transferred my photos from memory card to DVD - finally! But now they're too big to attach to my blog!].

While Shane was out for the evening, Hayley and I had a junky night in - Thai, chocolate, a tub of Ben & Jerry's icrecream each, back-to-back Scrubs and Friends episodes. It was great, and we both woke up with food hangovers :p

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Today. Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you have something special planned. I am spending a lazy day at the apartment because it is 8-degrees and threatening rain and it is so cosy in here :)