Ten exhibitions/events, Six posh meals, Four plays/concert, Three hotels, One Fodors GTG, and A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Got back Thursday evening after six and a half days in London - sort of tradition now to spend my birthday there. Because this coming week is nutso busy I probably won't get to work on my trip Report and photos for several days.

But a quick rundown / intro

Exhibitions/shows:
• Christmas market / Illuminations at the Chelsea Hospital . Nice but not blow your socks off or anything. Not as extensive as say Kew. It is early days - I believe this was the first year of the light trail and 2nd year for the Village - so they will make improvements. But is was a lovely way to walk off some of the jet lag on arrival.

• Marie Antoinette at the V&A. Really terrific - enjoyed it more than I expected

• Costume Couture - 60 years of Cosprop at the textile museum in Southwark. Not enormous but what a neat show! Costumes from several Merchant Ivory films, plus many BBC/ITV series (Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Peaky Blinders, etc etc etc. Unfortunately, it did NOT include Colin Firth's wet shirt

• Theatre Picasso at Tate Modern. Enjoyed it but not the best Picasso exhibit I've seen over the years.

• Denis Severs House. GO!!! it was wonderful.

• Radical Harmony: Helene Kröller-Müller's Neo-Impressionists at the National Gallery. Really REALLY wonderful

• Early morning members' tour at the NPG.

• Cecil Beaton's Fashionable World at the National Portrait Gallery. One of the best shows I've seen at the NPG

• Wayne Thiebaud - American Still Life at the Courtauld. Home town boy so I had to attend (I own a very small painting of a slice of cake that I 'won' at a local art auction in 2019) Two of the loaned works were loaned from my local Crocker Art Gallery and UC Davis just across the river. It was a small exhibition as these things go - just three rooms but it was really well done.

• Truner & Constable; Rivals and Originals at Tate Britain. Massive show - not just their paintings/drawings but letters, diaries, palettes, and other items they owned, and some of the best descriptive/explanatory information I've seen in any exhibition.

That's all for now - The restaurants/meals, hotels etc will have to wait. Headed out to an early Christmas party and running late.

Looking forward to more!

Hi Janisj, agree about the Chelsea Hospital illuminations. Was OK, pleasant festive walk but the Christmas market area is a bit messy. That market is accessible without ticket.
We also loved Radical Harmony at the National Gallery, and I saw the wonderful Cecil Beaton in October. Yesterday evening was the member´s Christmas at V&A with lots of Marie Antoinette themed workshops and talks. Even a dance lesson in the Rafael Room - maybe come a bit later next year to include that!

Oh good, I love hearing about your trips, especially the wonderful food you eat.
I'd love to see the Turner/Constable exhibition. Turner painted lots of scenes local to me up here in North Yorkshire, including the river Ure and bridge just down the road from my house.

Seeing that post, now I know why people say visit London during the eve of Christmas.

Nice!

I'd love to hear about the plays.

always nice to be able to catch up and celebrate your birthday in London Janis - thanks for telling me that Marie Antoinette was worth it- so agree, much more to it than some fancy shoes and dresses!! looking forward to reading the rest of your report as always!

happy birthday Janis-a great celebration

Thanks everyone. Sorry for the delay . . . I'll get to this tomorrow evening at the latest (like I said this is a CRAY CRAY week)

But in my initial "Ten exhibitions/events, Six posh meals, Four plays/concert, Three hotels, One Fodors GTG, and A Partridge in a Pear Tree " - I totally forgot "and a close encounter with a (real) princess! "

To whet the appetites the main meals included HIDE, Petrus, The Portrait, Applebee's (no, not your mother's suburban chain -- a really wonderful seafood/fish restaurant adjacent to Borough Market - sort of Bentley's-esque), the original Ivy West Street - and cocktails all over including the Savoy American Bar and Swan's Bar at Maison Assouline. Which Princess shall remain a mystery til I get to the actual TR . . .

Following along, thank you. I envy your ability to make these regular quick fire trips to beautiful London! Belated birthday wishes!

Exciting bday trip ahead of you, enjoy, and many Happy Birthday wishes.

Its become an annual 'thing'. Birthday in London, Art, Theatre and some yummy meals. Planning started in late September. No real date requirements - just as long as I was not arriving nor departing London on my actual birthday on Dec 2. A few days before / a few days after was not really an issue. I had assumed flying ON Thanksgiving Day would be cheaper with the Wed before and Sunday after being such frantic travel days. But no -- surprisingly flying on the Wed before thanksgiving was about $500 less. So the plan was fly out of Sacramento on Nov 26 and fly home on Dec 3 or 4. After checking for plays/concerts/exhibitions over that timeframe - there were so many options I picked the 4th to give me an extra full day in London. Then I started looking at routings. SMF > LAX > LHR or SMF > DFW > LHR are my usual choices but with all the AA terminal construction/upheaval at LAX (a mess!), DFW it would be. Digging deeper - just a little less convenient SMF > DFW > MIA > LHR adding only about 90 minutes total travel time (due to quite a bit a shorter connection at DFW) saved another just over $500. Saving $1000 just on the airfare - deal $1000 will definitely pay for a lot of funs stuff in London!

Of course - after booking it AA changed the schedule so instead fo 90 mins at DFW it was cut down to 45 minutes. I decided not to sweat it - since I had no major plans for arrival day if the worst happened and I missed the DFW > MIA connection they would either put me up at DFW and I'd fly out on the 27th - or they'd re-route me through Philly or CLT or NYC or somewhere.

Then I started searching hotels. This probably sounds nutty but I don't at mind changing hotels once or twice on even a short trip like this. Three or four nights in a more modest/economical place frees up major $$$/£££ for a splurge 2 or 3 nights up market. Then staying at LHR the night before flying home is both convenient and can save hundreds. Plus I do travel light so packing up and moving isn't really a big deal. Two properties in London are on my bucket list -- Claridge's and the Ritz. The Ritz was SKY high, but Claridge's - booked through the AA hotel portal was expensive but not stratospheric. I definitely wanted to book the hotel through AA because it would give me enough extra points/miles to qualify for Platinum Pro. So I get on the site and work through all the hoops to book Claridge's for Dec 1 and 2nd. The site was really acting up and I had to reload and refresh several times. In the 20-ish minutes it took me to finish -- . . . the last room was GONE 😩 (except for a special suite that was waaaaaaay above my pay grade) What to do/. Fall back and punt. Since the Ritz and Claridge's were out I'd still go posh but save about $1000 and stay at the (very nice) St James's Hotel and Club just around the corner from the Ritz and the Wolseley. I've stayed there once before and like the location, the rooms are lovely, service great, its listed as a 5 star but really isn't in the same class as the grand dames. No massive public spaces and such. A nice but low key bar, etc.

So two nights settled. The first 4 nights I thought about a flat but that might complicate things leaving my bag on 'moving day'. So I split the difference and booked Citadines South Kensington up Gloucester Road from Cromwell Rd/the tube station. (I've stayed in maybe 4 other Citadines in London and Paris and this was the nicest yet). Then for the last night out at LHR I booked the Holiday Inn Express Terminal 4. It might seem strange to stay at T-4 when flying out of T-3. But the logistics are really easier than any of the hotels along the Bath Road. No taxis or buses or the HOPPA. The HIE is co-located with the more expensive Crown Plaza and has a covered walkway into the terminal where the Tube and Elizabeth Line are both a short free ride to Terminal 3. (The easiest would be the Hilton Garden Inn right at Terminal 2 - but I swear Hilton thinks its the Savoy or something - they charge almost as much for it as THE London Hilton on Park Lane. Plus it is almost always booked up.)

Next: Nov 26-27 Flights (and fights ! ), Citadines, and Chelsea Winter Village and Light Trail.

So interesting to see your choices in London. Thanks for all the details.
Haven’t been there in a while but it’s definitely on my repeat list and you have given me some good places to visit.

janisj, I’m so envious of how you make these short hops across the pond, and manage to cram in so many interesting activities in that short time. I haven’t been to London since pre Covid and your TRs are my way of vicariously being there. Thanks, hope you had a fantastic birthday!

I really hoped to get more done on this tonight - but I seem to have either sprained or torn a ligament in my thumb. I'm typing OK-ish but If I just move my thumb 'wrong' a little it hurts like heck. I think I'll tape it up and take it easy tonight and see if it feels better in the morning.

Thumb still hurts like hell but if I don't get to this darned TR soon I'll forget what I did But typing one handed is a slog!

So here we go. Dec 26/27 Flights, fights, travel glitches

Things didn't start out well, I went to bed a bit early on the 25th - the driver was to pick me up at 08:30 and I still needed to do some last minute packing in the morning. Why is this important - cuz I turned off my phone about 9:30 PM before hitting the sack. And at 10-ish the driver sent a text that his car broke down and he wouldn't be able to pick me up. I get up in the morning and finish the packing, feed the cats and fish pond, make my bed, have a cup of tea and THEN turn on my phone about 7:30. EEK!! -- no parking is available at SMF, uber is down, and the local taxi company has no drivers available (probably because uber is on the fritz). I am (almost) in a panic and preparing to wake my tenants next door to see if they could take me over -- when the taxi dispatcher phoned that they had a last minute cancellation and if I could be ready in 5 minutes they could do it. Yay! The cost went up from $40 for the driver to $110 for the taxi but at that point I would have paid anything.

SMF > DFW on time, uneventful and a decent meal. I had a short connection and had to change terminals at DFW to get to the MIA flight but I know the airport very well and the sky train is efficient. I depart the train at the first terminal stop (low gate numbers) and look at the display and see the flight has moved to the very far end (high gate numbers). Second EEK! of the day (not the last ). The new gate is about 30 gates away and they are already boarding. I go down the elevator and the only other passengers are a wheelchair attendant and his TWO elderly charges. He tells me to rush because he thinks they are already boarding the standbys. He toodles off with his wheelchairs and I start my trek to the other end of the terminal (fast-ish but I ain't running). About 2 mins later Wheelchair Guy shows back up - w/ both chairs but sans passengers - and tells me to jump on, he throws my rollaboard underneath and literally runs the full length of the Terminal and deposits me at the gate. In the end, the run wasn't entirely necessary -- they were only boarding group 7 and the poor slugs in groups 8- 9 were still hanging around. And being up front there was still room in the overhead above my seat.

Side comment -- last month I'd seen some wild youtube videos about arrests and crazy s#it at various airports -- DFW and MIA featuring predominantly. I'd never seen any real fights or arrests at any airport . . . and on this trip it happened at BOTH airports. At DFW after scanning the boarding pass I start to the door to the jetbridge and behind a pony wall there is an attractive mid-30's couple screaming at each other at the top of their lungs. The guy was seated on a bench with 2 cops and an AA employee standing there - he wasn't in cuffs. But yelling something like "Melissa -- I wouldn't do that! WHY are you doing this to me?!" over and over. His wife/girlfriend is standing in from of me screaming back at him. Lots of cussing on both sides. A gate agent is trying to calm her down and I sneak around and head to my window seat in row B. A few minutes later she boards and sits directly in front of me. The seat next to her was already occupied so not sure where her partner would have been seated. No sign of him -- lots of discussion at the door between 2 flight attendants, one of the pilots and a gate agent, and then a very burly AA employee comes on and asks her to step off. She does but a couple of minutes later she's back in her seat with big headphones on. And off she flew to MIA . . . without her companion.

Then in MIA as I was walking from the Admirals Club to the gate there were 4 police officers literally dragging a young woman who's in handcuffs - she was yelling at everyone they passed to 'Get this on video. They are abusing me! I demand my Miranda rights'. I heard one of the female cops say "all you had to do was comply and you'd be home by now. Now its Federal"

My goodness gracious -- I can think of nowhere it makes less sense to cause a scene than at an airport. What with TSA, Border Patrol, Airline security, local police and Feds - and everyone has your ID. Must be some screws loose for sure!!

Back to TR -- the MIA > LHR flight was smooth and the food was really good. It was late -- a totally full flight and apparently one seat was broken. Instead of offloading the passenger (I know I would have bee unhappy if that happened to me) they called engineer to fix it. That took almost 90 minutes and by the time we were ready to go part of the crew had timed out. So we waited another 30 or so minutes. Luckily its an AA hub so there were crew on site.

After all that we only landed about 45 minutes late, immigration literally took seconds and I was in the Arrivals Lounge about 10 minutes after the plane doors opened. it was 1:15 and it closes at 2PM but all I wanted was a quick cup of tea. Topped up my Oyster Card and jumped on the Piccadilly line to Gloucester Rd. Its a 5 or 6 minute walk straight up Gloucester Rd to the Citadines South Kensington. As I mentioned it is the nicest Citadines I've personally stayed. Party because the staff was really great. I had a medium sized studio with couch, occasional chair, small desk, etc plus an entrance hall, a fully equipped kitchen and a very nice though small-ish bathroom with tub / shower over.

I unpacked, had some tea, walked around the corner to Partridges (one of the most expensive groceries/delis in London) and picked up basics -- bread, yoghurt, some fruit, cheese, paté (that's essential ) a small bottle of wine and chocolate digestives ( a MUST )

Then I headed over to Chelsea Hospital for my 6 PM booking at the Chelsea Light Trail and Christmas market. I gave a short critique up thread -- I was fine and a good choice for getting some fresh air on arrival day. But it was a modest light trail compared to others I've visited. One problem is its in the grounds (the same area as part of the Chelsea Flower Show) and some of the route is over muddy / graveled paths. They's tried by laying those plastic paths in the worst parts but it made the walking uneven and I can imagine a real slog for anyone with mobility problems. I'm sure they will make improvements by next year -- this was the inaugural of the light trail part. The Christmas village was modest but they did have some lovely booths -- and some decent food options. I was dying to try the lobster rolls - but right in from of the lobster roll booth there was a guy entertaining a group - mostly kids - with a sing along of the Twelve Days or Christmas over and OVER and OVER again and I give him credit for gumption but none for talent it was pretty excruciating (hopefully he'll learn a new song by next year). I'd get my lobster roll fix the next evening at The American Bar (at 4X the cost)

I made my way back to Citadines and had a late-osh dinner just around the corner at Coco Momo -- had a glass of prosecco, olives to nibble on and a very nice beetroot riisotto and nice chat with the couple at the next table. They live in the neighborhood and asked me for all sorts of suggestions/advice for visiting California and Oregon.

Waddled back to the hotel and turned in.

Next: Dec 28 An hour in the cold in my bathrobe, Marie Antoinette, encounter with a Princess of the Realm, The American Bar, and Paddington the Musical

Too late to edit/fix the typos - there are probably more (I blame the bum thumb)

• His wife/girlfriend is standing in from front of me screaming . . .

• Party Partly because the staff was really great.

• They's They've tried by laying those plastic paths in . . .

• I It was fine and a good choice for getting some fresh air

• but right in from front of the lobster roll booth . . .

• had a late-osh ish dinner . . .

we'll forgive you the December typo lol . enjoying the trip

I'm going to ignore all future typos - unless they result in unfortunate/inappropriate 'stuff'. Meant to mention my dinner at Coco Momo (Prosecco, Olives, Risotto) totaled £32 + service -- and I took most of the olives back to the flat to add to the cheese and paté.for another evening.

Dec 28 An hour in the cold in my bathrobe, Marie Antoinette, encounter with a Princess of the Realm, The American Bar, and Paddington the Musical

Woke up about 0600, made a cup of tea and nestled back in bed to catch up on e-mails and texts and decide about getting up. 6:30 I decide to bite the bullet and actually get up and shower - in no hurry though because I have nothing planned until the V&A opens at 10AM. Go in the bathroom and check out the shower 'idiosyncrasies' (I swear every shower in the UK works differently) - Anyway its aboy a quarter to 7 and I start the water and . . . tahe exact moment the fire alarm goes off. Praying its a drill/test I wait a few minutes but it keeps going and going and going. So I throw on a robe, garbe my shoes and purse and head out. I'm on the 3rd floor (4th to us Yanks) and of course one can't use the lifts in a fire so down the stairs with all the others. The minute I hit the lobby it dawns on me that IF this is a real fire . . .I'd neglected to get my passport out of the safe. Staff was in the lobby directing everyone outside and down the street away from the bldg. It was funny- everything was pretty well organized but three middle eastern looking young women guests were crying and yelling and ran behind the front desk speaking mostly in (perhaps) Arabic but with some broken English and pick up the reception desk phone and are instructing each other to call 911 in a real panic. Heck - there were fire truck already driving up - and besides, 911 doesn't do it in the UK . . . in case anyone reading this has an emergency the number is 999.

It was cold outside but at least it wasn't raining. Chatted with a mother / daughter who were just having all sorts of bad luck. Their flight from Austin was delayed/cancelled so the lost the first day/night of their trip thus missing the closing night of Hamlet at the National, and two days later they were in an accident between a bus and cyclist and they missed an exhibition (but the gallery took pity on them and let them visit outside their ticket time).

It turned out someone had started a fire in a kitchen on the 6th floor. After about an hour they announced the all clear except for anyone in one section of floor 6. A few people were in a real state because the fire interrupted packing and check out.

Well that well and truly woke up so I finished getting ready, had another cup of tea and walked up to the V&A. Had a light breakfast in the Members Room -- fruit, a croissant, tea and a mimosa.

Then went to the Marie Antoinette exhibition which definitely exceeded my expectations. It was wonderful. She definitely suffers from 'bad press' thanks to the revolution. So many of her possessions and clothing were destroyed or stollen so most of the gowns were owned by royal families and aristocracy in other countries but quite a few of her personal things do survive. Some jewels, a piano, perfume bottles, fans etc. A lot of the exhibit focused on her influence on culture, clothing and art throughout Europe. The (real) guillotine was a bit shocking - I think it was a loan from Mme Tussaud's .and is thought to be the actual blade that beheaded the queen.

From there I did a little Christmas shopping in the wonderful V&A gift shop and returned to the Members room for lunch -- Carrot ginger soup and a mushroom risotto. Not sure what the bill was -- I have the receipt somewhere -- but it wasn't a lot.

Then I walked up to Harrods - which was an absolute zoo!. But I was only headed to one place - the Halcyon Days shop on the lower ground floor so I could avoid all the mobs in the food halls and the whole of the ground floor. They had two enamel boxes that interested me and I took a few minutes to decide while other customers came and went. Once I'd made the final decision and was working with the staff on the VAT deduction/shipping details they asked if I had a Harrods card (not a credit card but the 'membership/points' card). I said I'd had one years and years ago but I was sure it was no longer valid. It would have gotten me free postage or points or something but I said never mind - not to worry. I'd have no idea what phone number I'd used to sign up. It was then that a young woman standing behind me asked if they could use her Harrods card to get me the perks . . . I turned around and it was Princess Eugenie (!) and her older son - she had the 4 year old with her but not the little one. I mumbled something like 'Oh - thanks so much but I'm fine' and both sales staff said they didn't think that would work. She asked them to hold a music box for them and they'd be back after lunch, and left. I asked them if she really was who I thought she was and yes she was - she and her husband have been in several times over the last year or so.

I have tickets to Paddington the Musical at the Savoy theatre and planned on hitting the American Bar before the show. But it was too early to head east and I was starting to drag just a little so I jumped in a cab back to the hotel - put my feet up for a while, made some iced tea and freshened up and changed shoes and set back out. Took the Tube to Westminster and walked the rest of the way. Could have gone to Embankment but I hate that walk up the hill from the station - or - I could have gone to Covent Garden but on a Friday evening that tube station would have been a mob scene. plus it was a nice evening and its only about a 15 minute walk. Normally one can book a table at the American Bar but they suspend that during the 'Festive Season' which I guess stars in November?? There was a chance I couldn't get in but I guess 5:30 was early enough that they weren't full. I wasn't very hungry but wanted something more than the olives and savory crackers. So I ordered champagne, the four cutest yummiest little lobster rolls, and four dark chocolate and passion fruit frozen bonbons - . . . £108 inc service! (but at least the olives and cracker were free) LOL It was the Champagne that was expensive - the food totaled about £45 or £50-ish

Then I walked the one minute over to the theatre. Paddington the Musical -- what can I say - it was deleriously fun. The plot is silly and the 'Cruella Deville-ish' villainess was so over the top to be ridiculous - but the staging was wonderful, and the rest of the cast was top class with great voices (I have to dig out my program to get everyone's names). But the highlight is Paddington himself(s). The way they do it is amazing and it still makes me smile. There is an actor that is on stage a couple of times mostly just walking hand in hand with Paddington -- he is Paddington's voice and is mostly off stage. He does all the vocals. Paddington is about half the height of the adult actors but he is not a puppet or a child actor. She is a little person who spends the entire play in a Paddington costume with the voice and Paddington's mouth movements perfectly synced. Paddington just looks 100% real and from her stage movement it truly looks like a small bear walking/dancing around like any old body. It is only at the final encore that she comes out in 'civies' with her long flowing hair and holding hands with her voice double who towers over her. While there were some children in the audience, it was probably 80+% adults. The tickets definitely aren't cheap and it amazed me how many families were spending £150 and more for their 6 and 7 year olds to sit in the stalls!

Leaving the theatre I knew the chance of finding a cab would be slim to none so I started walking up The Strand, got as far as Charing Cross/Embankment and it was such a nice night I kept walking. Yesterday I'd tweaked my knee coming out of the Tube station - I could walk just fine but stairs, especially 'up' stairs were a slog so I wasn't thrilled about the idea of the tube home. I figured I walk west, maybe along Piccadilly, and get far enough away from the theatres that I could catch a taxi. Before I knew it I was to green Park and no cabs had yet materialized . . . jump on the tube or keep walking? Kept walking. It was really quite warm -- maybe 50-ish° and not at all windy. I did start seeing a few taxis but I ended up walking all the way from the Savoy to the Citadines. I think it is just over 3 miles and it took a little over an hour - I walked in the door right at 11:30. Decaf tea, chocolate digestives, and a great night's sleep.

Next: Sat. Dec 29. Southbank all day long - CosProp, Borough Market, Applebee's, Tate Modern/Picasso, Noel Coward @ the Menier Chocolate Factory.

Sounds like an amazing birthday tradition! Quick rundown already makes it feel like a whirlwind, can’t wait to see the full trip report and photos when you get a chance. London really suits a birthday celebration like that.