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| serious bargain hunting in Portobello Rd |
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| A genuine Christian Dior head piece(so the label said) |
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| at last a William and Kate coffee mug (official ) |
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| Where we stayed in Nottinghill |
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| Outside the Imperial War Museum Fantastic and thought provoking |
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| Shell or suppository Could be fired over 16 miles from a battle ship |
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| the famous British Spitfire |
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| A big kid cooling her feet in Princess Diana's Memorial |
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| Waddesdon Manor built by Ferdinand de Rothschild |
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| A magnificent display of Begonias |
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| the front entrance to the Manor |
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| looking down on to the magnificent gardens |
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| a tribute to William and Kate done in flowers |
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| looking back towards the Manor |
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| The Butchers Arms where we celebrated my birthday |
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| having to make a choice from the menu |
Her house is Georgian in syle which is deep, skinny and tall - with 5 floors. We had 69 steps to our bedroom so you can just imagine how we crawled up them at the end of every day after 10 hours of walking around London.
We were able to meet with my Brother on Friday for lunch. He has a new job with the Irish Bank and his office is located just off Oxford St. (Londons' main shopping st) The receptionist -(a male) - had such a good sense of humour and knew who we were before we even opened our mouths. He was Australian. Bill tells me the Irish folk he works with are great people - I don't know how he takes them seriously when they talk. As you know they do not use the letter H so when they say 'think' it comes out as 'tink' etc. I would be laughing all day.
We spent the afternoon walking up and down Oxford St and John bought new shoes and a beautiful oyster coloured silk and linen jacket. (Wonderful sales over here) He was very chuffed. We took a walk down to Saville Row where all the bespoke tailors are. No 1 Saville Row is the robe maker and tailor for the royal family - so was quite impressive. There was a funny mix of window displays - Some Jackets you would not be seen dead in. The work rooms were all below street level so you could look down and see the people at work. |One guy was making three red robes all laid with gold braid - probably for the military or queens guard. They were works of art!!
We found the ticket stall for late sales for shows later in the afternoon and were thrilled to get two fantastic seats for 'Jersey Boys' for Saturday night. We have just missed this show is several cities so were pleased to be able to go. The music was awesome - you were toe tapping the whole time and in the end standing up and dancing just like 'Mumma Mia'. The guy did a fantastic take on Franky Valli as he had quite a special sound.
It was interesting to know his life story too.
We found an Italian restaurant for a late meal and staggered home and crashed.
Woke to bright sunshine on the Saturday morning ( don't often wake up to that here), so were very excited about our day. Portobello Road is a mile of antique shops selling jewellery, clothing, furniture, silver, china, hats, shoes, furs, art, bric-a-brac, tools, and accessories of all kinds and even food down the far end. It is only open on Saturdays and is just the most liveliest open air market. Thousands of people flock here for bargains. It was 10 mins walk from Susie's house so we found a cafe for breakfast and headed down there. We spent from 9 till 3.30 there just taking it all in and of course shopping. I found a gorgeous marquesite ring that I just 'had to have' , but we did love just poking around amongst it all. It has been a bucket list thing, so we can put a bit tick beside it now.
Sunday John was very keen to visit the Imperial War Museum. The museum has had some very good reviews and recommendations. It certainly is impressive. The history, displays and explanations told such a heartfelt story (I am getting teary just writing about it now). We came out feeling as tho we had fought both world war one and two. The holocaust display was one whole floor dedicated to the stories of the capture, camps torture, and slaughter of the Jews - plus they talked about all the tanks, planes, sub-marines bombs, etc.
We were in dire need of a distraction after this so headed down to Hyde Park for a walk. The Park was absolutely alive with thousands of people - families, couples, teenage groups roller blading - was amazing to be amongst. The day was very hot - about 28 so the gorgeous trees were being well appreciated. Kensington Gardens borders Hyde Park so we found Princess Diana's fountain. It is just perfect for her - slabs of Welsh marble with fresh cool water running over a serpentine style irregular circular path. Hundred of people - including me - bathed hot tired feet, and in most cases of kids their entire bodies.
One of our jobs whilst being in London was to do some gardening for Susie, so we headed back to her house late Sunday to do this. Her garden however is about as big as our Kitchen so this was not a major. We had to trim some Wisteria back, trim some buxus and give the walls a scrub and then a good sweep of the tiny courtyard. Her property backs on to a lovely shared garden with perfect lawn and lovely trees all bordered by apartments. Lucky we did not have to tidy all that.!
Monday morning we headed down to the Silver Vaults upon the recommendation of Carol King. These have to be seen to be believed. Located underground in Chancery Lane, they started out as Vaults for the wealthy to store their riches. Nowadays they are actually retail shops all selling silver of every size, style and price range. They house the biggest collection of Silver in Europe and we did love learning about the Hall Marks and what story they tell. I was able to buy Jonnie a book for his Birthday which gives all the Makers names, Company names, dates and also shows the Lion as a symbol that the product is sterling. Jonnie was most taken with a salver that had come from a Hotel in France. It was complete with a heating system so kept food hot whilst being delivered to room service. It was absolutely gorgeous and was selling for £20,000. I am glad it was that much - we would have struggled to get it home.
This last weekend My Brother Bill and his wife Ali came to stay and we could celebrate Jonnies birthday together again. We were here last year with them and enjoyed a concert in the grounds of a mansion at Colchester. We met at Waddedson Manor - one of the few remaining houses out of 46 around the world at one stage - built by the de Rothschild family. A huge Jewish banking dynasty. This home built by Ferdinand de Rothschild is certainly a testimony to their wealth and ability to gather rare and expensive pieces of art, porcelain, china, etc from all over the world. Incredible interior decor of solid walls of marble, hand stitched tapestry curtains (exquisite) and the finest carpets every produced in the 1700's.
They have enormous stable, and a gorgeous aviary and very manicured gardens. One of the features of the manor is their seasonal garden displays.
Saturday night we had a fabulous meal at a local restaurant that has been well recommended. Priors Hardwick is a tiny village about 15 minutes away and the local pub is called ' T'he Butchers Arms'. The chef is European, and uses only local and fresh produce. The whole experience was fantastic - wonderful service - waiters with such a good sense of humour. We were allowed to sit at our table at the bar and enjoy a drink and order our meal and were taken through to the dining room when they were ready for us to start. Our desert waitress was such a funny lady - she called herself a walking menu and was able to verbally tell you about the vast selection available. She was full of fun so there was plenty of banter about choices etc.
This week has bought very hot days - 29-30 so I think summer has arrived, although they say you can never tell in England. We are having pork spare ribs tonight and using the barbecue for the first time.
Thanks for all your emails - it does sound very cold over there - Brrrrr. Much love and hugs John and Sue
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