Tag: gordon’s wine bar

Friends in low/high places

Amy O1 Comment

We stayed this time at the Andaz London, a very nice hotel on Liverpool street that briefly came into our price point during this trip. On only one other occasion while visiting London was breakfast included in the price of the room, but the Andaz’s breakfast had such interesting and extensive options I feel like I want to pay more attention to this feature when selecting hotels in the future. Although it’s fun finding new places to eat for each meal, it was very relaxing to start the day in our own restaurant and fun to try the many different options they offered. For example, salad. Charcuterie. Also the usual stuff–toast, croissants, waffles, eggs, smoothies, fruit, yogurt.

I’ve often felt that my favorite, most meaningful activities in London have been the cheapest and this trip also had those cheap–and free–moments. Although it’s been our rule not to go to a theatre production on the night we arrive in London, lately it’s more like a guideline. As soon as we booked our flights we checked in on what was playing at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre since the outdoor theatre is only in use during seasons in which temperate weather can be expected. In the course of the football season that’s usually only possible early on. There was only one performance that would work for us, the one on the Friday night we arrived in London, which turned out to be a late arrival after significant flight delays.

The reason for the rule not to attend theatre is simple: we are usually seriously jet-lagged and can’t keep our eyes open after the lights come down. I felt we’d be able to stay alert and enjoy this play for two reasons. First, The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy, albeit one I knew very little about (with apologies to instructors of the two semesters of Shakespeare I took in college). Second, we bought tickets as groundings, the peasants that traditionally stood in front of the stage during a play in Shakespeare’s time (in contrast to the wealthy, who sat in seats above the groundlings). I felt that we’d be forced to stay awake while standing, but if we became too tired to continue we could always depart at intermission. Tickets for groundlings are about $10 each so the sunk costs are reasonable enough to walk away from.

My husband, who clearly paid more attention in his Shakespeare’s classes, recalled that this play had been written by Shakespeare over just a few days at the insistence of Queen Elizabeth. As a result, possibly not his best work. One of few plays set in what would have been Shakespeare’s current day, it’s the story of a man who seeks to seduce the wives of two gentlemen. The wives compare notes and conspire to seek revenge against him. It’s kind of a weird play, but mostly light and enjoyable. Shakespeare often played to the groundlings in his plays and this is expertly done at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Groundlings find themselves in the play and it makes the experience both authentic and a lot of fun. We’ve been to a few plays at the theatre and they are always excellent and well-acted. This one was no exception. We were tired but made it through the performance and felt that we got tremendous entertainment value for a very reasonable price. I never intend to sit in a seat at the Globe.

Our second peasant experience of the weekend was trekking over to the Palladium Theatre and seeing Rachel Zegler sing “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” from the balcony during the matinee performance of Evita. She literally sings to a gathered crowd below the theatre balcony while, for paying customers inside the theatre, they stream live video of her doing this. When we arrived about an hour before the scene would occur there were already thousands gathered on Argyll Street. While we were waiting, the silly thing that kept coming to my mind was the old, comical sketch about Father Guido Sarducci’s Five Minute University, where he advocates for a college experience where he’ll teach you in five minutes only the things you’ll remember five years after you graduate. I know the outline of what happens in Evita, but literally the only song I’ve ever heard of in a musical of dozens of songs is “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.” To be able to spend $0 hearing Rachel Zegler sing this song beautifully in 5 minutes in this amazing setting instead of watching the whole musical for $600+ is pretty great. I wasn’t prepared for how moving it would be. The video I linked above is not my video or from the day we were present, but it gives you an idea of the experience. I really wanted to be in the moment (and I was).

Although my favorite things to do in London are almost always the cheapest things, we were in London, so we also did some fancy things. Had a perfect glass of wine in historic Gordon’s Wine Bar on a day so beautiful the ubiquitous line outside was for the garden instead of the wine cave. (We waited for the garden.) Had a delicious Sunday Roast at a pub chain we hadn’t tried before, Blacklock.

We also attended the BBC Proms 2025 piano performance of Bach’s “The Art of Fugue” played by Andras Schiff at the Royal Albert Hall. Many years ago we toured this facility and I had always hoped we’d be able to attend a performance there. It gave me chills to be part of a crowd walking blocks together toward the concert hall to hear music and then, afterward to be walking away together, everyone chatting about the performance. We were seated in a stall to the left of the piano, selected so that we could see Andras Schiff’s hands while he performed. Unfortunately, the positioning of the piano only allowed us to see his back. Best laid plans…. There was a “groundling” equivalent available for the concert, but I was happy not to be standing during this performance. A lady in the first row of the “groundlings” actually seemed to lose consciousness and collapse. For a passed-out person she was quite well-behaved. She seemed to ultimately get back on her feet, the pianist seemingly never knowing that it had happened and continuing on. The acoustics in the hall were great and the music was beautiful. Schiff has claimed that he’s waited 70 years to be ready to play this piece, likened to Mount Everest. I’m a lazy person, but I don’t mind watching someone else scale Mount Everest.

On Sunday before Roast, we visited the Barbican’s “Feel the Sound” immersive exhibit. The exhibit was focused on how we experience sound, not just with our ears but with our whole bodies, and how sound can be created, including with pulses inside our bodies. Super interesting and interactive exhibit.

Each time we go to London I wonder how we’ll continue to find interesting and fun things to do and experience.

It’s a baseless worry. While Arsenal can sometimes be disappointing, London never is.

Merry, miserable Christmas trees

Amy O1 Comment

Ridiculously, after returning to Chicago for a few days in which we purchased a Christmas tree and put lights on our house and I worked during normal U.S. working hours, my husband and I returned to London for the weekend.

Both of the aforementioned Christmas activities in Chicago involved challenges. We had a lot of burned out lightbulbs on our Christmas tree last year so I threw quite a few strings out. Naturally, I forgot about that so when I went to put lights on our tree this year, the usual selection was not available. I pulled some options from a different box and put them up, only to discover they were flashing lights. We lived with that for a few days until we concluded we felt stressed after turning on our Christmas tree. I ended up removing my first attempt and completing the effort again with newly-purchased options.

The lights for the house also had burned-out sections and my husband spent time–both before and after our trip–trying to find replacement bulbs, seeking suitable replacement light strings, rejecting such replacements, seeking others, and compromising until the exterior of the house was finally decorated to his–probably compromised–satisfaction.

Although our trip to London was brief, it was fully devoted to relaxation and enjoyment. We walked around town, enjoyed the beautiful lights and decorations, visited a pop-up skating rink at Somerset House, and visited a winter festival featuring (for us) choirs performing under a Christmas Tree in Trafalgar Square.

We enjoyed our new hotel neighborhood near the Temple tube stop. Walking from the Tube stop to the hotel, the area felt like no place we had ever stayed in London even though it was relatively close to other areas we’ve stayed in. Every time we were walking around I was hit with the sensation of novelty which would morph into familiarity and back into novelty. Our hotel was the Apex Temple Court, which had a lovely lobby and pretty, spacious, and practical rooms. The hotel was serving mulled wine and tiny mince pies near the reception desk. Mulled wine = fabulous. Mince pie = not my thing. Mince pie was ubiquitous in London. But so was mulled wine.

Our main entertainment, other than the Arsenal match, was a Tour via the London Transport Museum of Jubilee line platforms at Charing Cross Underground station that have been closed to the public for 25+ years. It still has working tracks that can be used for storing trains during slow transit periods, that then can be whisked into service during rush hours. The other use for this part of the station is filming movies and TV shows that have scenes in Tube stations. It was used in Skyfall, The Bourne Ultimatum, and even Paddington. They showed us clips from the movies during our tour. We got to go into construction tunnels and even in a ventilation shaft above train platforms currently in use. Interesting way to experience history and a part of the train system you rarely see.

With regard to relaxation, we visited the historic Gordon’s Wine Bar, one of our favorite places to hang out and have a glass of wine in an outdoor garden under a very functional heating unit. We also visited a ridiculous number of pubs considering we were in town only for a long weekend. I love the pubs in London under normal conditions but during the holiday season they are beacons of warmth and cheer. They are decked to the hilt with lights and candles and garland, have special, fun menus and drinks, and are full of cheerful Londoners in Santa hats and Christmas sweaters and holiday tights. We visited Old Bank of England, Williamson’s Tavern, The Admiralty, and Ye Olde Watling. Old Bank of England is one of the grandest pubs I’ve visited, which I would have said about The Admiralty if the prior day I had not been in Old Bank of England. Williamson’s and Ye Olde Watling were cozy and friendly. My husband declared the Blade of Beef & Ale pie served in Old Bank of England to be the best beef pie in all of London. I think my favorite meal was just a delicious hamburger from The Admiralty. And the Hedgerow Berry Mess was also yummy.

It was all so very lovely, I was surprised upon returning back to Chicago to see an opinion piece in the Washington Post entitled Britain’s merry, miserable Christmas trees. I know this is behind a paywall so let me give you a synopsis. The author, Mark Lasswell, describes a national pastime in Britain of “lashing out at the comically forlorn approximations of holiday trees on public display.” The leading photo is of a tree in Trafalgar Square. A member of Parliament is quoted in the article as saying this tree resembles “a wonky corn on the cob.” It did look a little sad in the photo.

Photo credit: Kristin Wigglesworth/AP as shown in The Washington Post 12/17/2024

Then I realized I had been standing near that very tree only three days ago. How did I not notice it looked like that? What I remembered: everything was so pretty. So festive.

I dug through the photos on my phone to see if that really was the tree in Trafalgar Square. I did not have a photo, but I had a video of a choir performing right next to the tree shown in the Washington Post. It never struck me in the moment as a “comically forlorn approximation” of a holiday tree. But, yes, it’s not the most glorious. The fact checkers for The Washington Post had done their jobs admirably.

I can only guess that the persons decorating the tree at Trafalgar Square said, “Everything else looks so amazing, no one will even notice this tree. Let’s get this over with and make better use our time with mulled wine at The Admiralty.”