Having had enough of London markets for the time being, we three Nuest'as opted to forego the group trip to the Marylebone Farmer's Market, Fortnum & Mason, and Liberty of London. My favorite days are those roaming around the city with Petunia and Gypsy — letting our eyes and bellies lead us into shops and around neighborhood corners . . . just like today! |
Having made our decision, we headed to Park House for a yummy breakfast of scones, fresh fruit, soft boiled egg and toast . . . and of course a cuppa tea. Rounding the corner from Park House, we walked past the doorman at Sherlock Holmes' 221B Baker Street with the queue already forming for the day and headed ourselves to the heart of Marylebone in search of an eyeglass store to fix Gypsy's and my sunglasses. Early, we popped into CoCo MoMo for cappuccinos and hot chocolate to "kill time." Mission accomplished, we next headed to the Baker Street Tube Station to make our way to the Victoria and Albert Museum to purchase tickets for the Alexander McQueen exhibit. After transferring at Edgware Road Station, our navigation skills went and disembarked a bit early. No worries . . . we were rewarded by scores of good looking London males jogging in their speedos to raise money for charity in the London Undie Run — yahoo! ! !
After seeing the joggers, it was time to refortify ourselves, and what better way then over lunch. Today's ethnic treat — Lebanese cuisine — was to be found at Maroush 2 on Beauchamp Place in Knightsbridge. We ordered Hommos Beiruty (hummus), grilled king prawns served with a spicy sauce, and Karrouj Meshwi, charcoal grilled chicken with garlic sauce. Since the service was "leisurely" there was no time for dessert . . .
A few doors down, we stopped in at Amrapali, an Jaipur jewelry store named after a renowned royal courtesan said to have lived around 500BC and also the timeless symbol of a Muse — bringing inspiration, intuition and higher vision. While much of the jewelry is very bold with colorful stones in exquisite settings, my favorite pieces — and the one that got away — is from their Tribe collection. Our next stop was kitchen shop Divertimenti on Brompton Road. It was fun to see all of the designs and cooking gadgets that I've never seen (or knew I needed), Aga ranges of all sizes and styles, and cooking classes . . . a cheese-making class was underway!
The Victoria and Albert Museum is absolutely glorious . . . One could spend days upon days there, but our mission was to see about purchasing tickets are the "sold out" Alexander McQueen exhibition . . . "Yes, you can purchase tickets. When would you like? We have openings at 10:15 tomorrow morning. Lovely, I'll run your details now. Please be here by 10 AM. Thank you." Wow . . . that was simple! With time to spare, we gave ourselves 45 minutes to explore before meeting back and taking taxi back to Park House for our British High Tea cooking class.
A few doors down, we stopped in at Amrapali, an Jaipur jewelry store named after a renowned royal courtesan said to have lived around 500BC and also the timeless symbol of a Muse — bringing inspiration, intuition and higher vision. While much of the jewelry is very bold with colorful stones in exquisite settings, my favorite pieces — and the one that got away — is from their Tribe collection. Our next stop was kitchen shop Divertimenti on Brompton Road. It was fun to see all of the designs and cooking gadgets that I've never seen (or knew I needed), Aga ranges of all sizes and styles, and cooking classes . . . a cheese-making class was underway!
The Victoria and Albert Museum is absolutely glorious . . . One could spend days upon days there, but our mission was to see about purchasing tickets are the "sold out" Alexander McQueen exhibition . . . "Yes, you can purchase tickets. When would you like? We have openings at 10:15 tomorrow morning. Lovely, I'll run your details now. Please be here by 10 AM. Thank you." Wow . . . that was simple! With time to spare, we gave ourselves 45 minutes to explore before meeting back and taking taxi back to Park House for our British High Tea cooking class.