Easter Monday

They got up early and since they'd run out of eggs and smoked salmon, had promised themselves that they'd walk to Covent Garden and have breakfast the "Le Pain Quotidien."  They took their newly discovered route, turning right down Greet Queen Street until it turned into Long Acre, then reaching the Covent Garden tube stop and turning left again, walking right straight through the covered galleries until they reached the bakery.  It was still sunny, but lots cooler, so they sat inside and had luscious creamy scrambled eggs--with big sliced Portabella mushrooms for Allie, and smoked salmon for LT.  Allie also had a croissant and LT a large fruit salad, which he shared with Allie.  They both remarked how much sliced mango they got.  It was wonderful.

Mathew Fox, from the hit TV series "Lost" is starring in a play at the Vaudeville Theatre on the Strand, quite close to Covent Garden, so they veered down in that direction, only to discover that the play "In a Forest Dark and Deep" was not playing on Easter Monday.  It was a disappointment.

Allie in front of Harrods

Since it was so cool, after breakfast, they returned to Citadenes, and Allie got an extra layer.  Allie saw from the weather forecast, that it was going to reach 74 degrees later in the day, but right then at 10:00, it was still quite cool.  Allie wanted to see Harrod's department store in Kensington, so they set out west on Holborn, took a slight left on Shaftsbury Avenue and walked right by the LSE (London School of Economics) where Allie had stayed when she had her first orientation to British university life back in September.  She even showed her father "Le Pain Quotidien" where she had spent 3 hours with her newly made London student friends before they could actually check into the LSE dorm.  They continued on Shaftsbury, past Leicester Square--where they tried to find a good play at a reasonable price, but they couldn't. 


They continued on Shaftsbury until they reached Picadilly Circus, then stayed on Picadilly past Fortnum and Mason's (where LT saw those fancy chocolates from everwhere in the world that are sometimes sold at Trader Joes) and kept on trudging until they reached Green Park.  Taking advantage of the lush lawns and laage trees of the park, they paralleled Picadilly until they reached Hyde Park, then did a bit of experimenting until they found Knightsbridge,which they followed until they reached the Brompton Road.  A few blocks down the Brompton Road, they at last entered Harrod's.  It was very crowded, and Allie and LT both marvelled at the numerous well-groomed and well dressed "staff" that stood at attention every couple of yards in order to offer assistance to potential shoppers.   Allie took LT up 4 escalators to the "Pet Shop" where she examined the various small dogs that were being cosseted and taken care of in a very indulgent fashion-- and being offered for sale.  They really take care of their animals at Harrods.

Eaton Square--home of "Upstairs, Downstairs."

LT insisted on walking a bit further to Sloan Square, in the hopes of locating "65 Eaton Square" site of all those "Upstairs, Downstairs" TV shows in the 70's and 80's.  It took a bit of work, and by now the sun was very hot, but after a few false stops and "divigations" they found Eaton Square--not to be confused with the nearby Eaton Gate, Eaton Terrace, or Eaton Street.  Pictures were duly taken.

Exhausted from so much walking, they walked back to the Sloan Square tube station, took the Circle line to Embankment, then took the Northern line to Leicester Square, then the Picadilly line to Holborn.  When they reached their apartment, LT microwaved some Ministrone soup and Allie had one of her Veg Pots, and then LT went horizontal for a nap and Allie began working on the computer.
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At about 5:00PM, they got up and walked north to revisit Russel Square.  LT then showed Allie where the Jenkins Hotel and Cartwright Gardens (home of the Mentone Hotel) are.  LT pointed out the pub near Cartwright gardens where uncle Ron held LT's bachelor night out-- not a very wild affair since it was attended by both Aunt Sheila and fiance Elizabeth.  Father explained how the neighborhood had changed to a dutiful but not very fascinated daughter and the pair finally turned back, walking behind the Russel Hotel, following Southampton Row, tucking into Cosmo Place, Boswell street (site of the Laudravista that was so helpful last Wednesday) and tack to Citadenes.