We arrived in London yesterday, after a long yet uneventful flight. The boys handle flying so well these days, better than Davey and I! The apartment is great, practically right on Hyde Park. Lots of space and room to breathe. Weather drizzly so we caught our first black cab from home to Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, the Changing of the Guard was cancelled due to weather, nevertheless, we had a glorious stroll down the leafy Mall and Marlborough Road to St James for a traditional pub lunch. Thank goodness for the stroller as we have walked everywhere. Regent Street was next on the agenda where the five storey Hamleys Toy Store wowed the kids! Trish and I put the boys in a cab so that we could grab coffee in Burlington Gardens, Mayfair en route to galleries on Old Bond Street and Cork Street including the hallowed White Cube in Mason's Yard with a sublime installation by Robert Owen entitled 'Light & Space'. Artists of note: woodcut diptychs by Christine Baumgartner @ Alan Cristea Gallery and still life paintings by Euan Uglow @ Browse & Darby - check www.antipodalart.com for more on those shows shortly...
The next day in glorious sunshine we walked thru Hyde Park collecting conkers on the way to breakfast at Cafe Lido on the Serpentine River. Pockets bulging with conkers, Sammy the Squirrel Whisperer managed to usher in a creature much to Jack's admiration. Met up with a great old friend Sophie Fitzharding and her gorgeous daughter Daisy in the Science Museum. Walked thru Kensington to catch an open top double decker tour around city which inclded Big Ben, Tower of London, Houses of Parliament and everything in between. Great way for the boys to see the sights - snacked on our first of many lunches from the French bakery 'Paul's'. In the evening we walked thru Hyde Park down to Kings Road, Chelsea where we met up with Sof for dinner at the Kings Arms on Fulham Rd. Great night.
The next day, still effected by jet lag, Davey and I waited for morning's first light to walk thru Hyde Park to Portobello Road where they were setting up the stalls for the day's market and back via Paddington. Later today it's off to the Cotswolds...
