After our flight delay we had two full days left in London, and we spent virtually all of it with family.
Saturday, Sept 21
We took it easy Saturday morning, making plans to check out a few different art exhibits in the afternoon before dinner in Soho. Our afternoon started with a walk through Battersea Park down to the Thames, then over to explore the repurposed Battersea power station. So much brick!
It was a warm day, so we decided to find an outdoor table at Battersea Brewing, and got lucky within a few minutes. Leandra got the dry stout, Battersea black abyss, while I got the sour, Battersea blackberry fields forever. Surprisingly, the soft pretzel was a reasonable value (compared to US prices anyway).
From there we took the tube to Somerset House to check out The Sun, My Heart by Marjan van Aubel Studio, a light exhibition that was very soothing.
Next was the Pavilions of Wonder exhibit which included Barbies throughout the years and some opportunities to pose in the nice afternoon light on buildings.
We had some time before dinner with Leandra’s aunt, so we decided to walk across town to Andrew Edmunds restaurant in Soho. It was a nice Saturday evening so the streets were bustling, with China town especially busy. Just before the restaurant we ducked into a local art gallery and sought out three invader street art pieces.
For dinner we split a Rioja rosado, paired with monkfish for Leandra and gnocchi for me (unexpected triangle shapes, and baked/pan fried, but great flavor with blue cheese and sweet potato). Leandra really liked the peppers that came with her dish and was glad the kalamata olive puree wasn’t too overwhelming.
Several nearby bars were busy, so after Leandra’s aunt’s suggestion, we ended up at Colony Room Green. They had good prices for the Courvoisier and Famous Grouse, and a live piano player. Unfortunately talking wasn’t really possible as it was loud in a very small space but the service was fine and we would return.
Sunday, Sept 22
The weather was expected to turn wet in the later afternoon, so we started a little earlier today. Since there were several train issues we decided on a bus to the Tate Britain on a route through the south side of the Thames that was a new part of London for us.
Tate Britain has an interesting collection of British artists including Hockney and lots of Turner. It was quite fascinating to see how one region changed in style over 500 years! All of us were pleasantly surprised by the Turner watercolor vignettes too.
On our way back to our cousin’s apartment to watch Man City vs Arsenal (yikes!) we took selfies at the Top of the Tree installation.
We enjoyed dinner back at Leandra’s cousin’s flat with some football and wine.
Later that evening we said goodbye and took a bus to Clapham, then a train to Gatwick (which had a surprisingly small amount of space for luggage). Check-in for the the Hilton London Gatwick was quite fast, and surprisingly we were never asked for ID or a credit card, a first! The front desk was also able to print our boarding passes, which was nice. Room-wise, the bathroom was newish but the bed was not great, a bit springy, so we didn’t sleep well. The walk to the terminal is just a few minutes and completely covered, a nice bonus since it was pouring on Monday morning!