An express visit to the old country…
Firstly thanks to Sandro Monetti for filling in for me last week while I was on my holidays. I was visiting the most amazing place – Morocco – but I’ll spare you the most amazing, nausea-inducing FOMO (fear of missing out) details, but you CAN follow my story in pictures on my instagram account: Craigyoung26.
Instead I’m going to look at 24 hours spent on London on the way back. I’ll preface this by saying it was Sunday on a bank holiday weekend. Upon arriving in Gatwick, the first thing to hit me was the heat – it was at least 10 degrees warmer than Marrakesh. The second thing was the price of cabs. £100 into central London! If I hadn’t had so much luggage I would have taken the very convenient (and much faster) Gatwick express train 25 minutes into Victoria station. Anyway during the 90-minute trip I noticed the many people in shorts and t-shirts mingling in the streets outside the pubs. We were staying at The Hospital Club hotel (24 Endell Street, Covent Garden), a sleek, gorgeous artistic space in the heart of London’s theatre district. The boutique bedrooms range from small overnight sleepers to large, comforrable spaces and each room has its own unique and individual identity with artists exhibiting their work. Rooms are all equipped with HD4K televisions, Roberts radios, and fabulous rainforest showers with REN clean skincare products.
After a quick wash and brush up, we met some friends for dinner a local Italian restaurant then moved on to the newly renovated Soho House on Greek Street. To say they have done a wonferful job is an understatement. The decor and artwork is stunning. A labyrinth of interconnecting rooms gave it a Moroccan and Italian feel while retaining echoes of the familiar old design. Given that it was a bank holiday it was PACKED – especially the rooftop terraces, with women in summer dresses and men in shorts quaffing expensive cocktails and glasses of prosecco. I was a little surprised to see the place close at 11pm, and finding a late-night drik proved almost impossible, which is surprising in Soho. Luckily we stumbled upon The Village, a gay bar complete with trashy go-go dancers in the windows which was an old haunt of mine. The locals were in high in spirits, laughing, dancing and joking around…there’s no doubt that good weather has a huge impact on the mood in London Town.
After a cozy night sleep we had breakfast in our room, then high tailed it to the one place that is a must-visit for me: Marks and Spencers of course to stock up on our favorite underwear and leisure wear, especially David Gandy’s Autograph line, which I adore. The staff in Marks and Sparks were super polite, helpful and chatty. “Hello darling, you having a nice time? Isn’t this weather gorgeous?” It gave such a sense of familiarity that is sorely missing in LA. Which reminded me without good friends in, LA can be one of the coldest places, even during a heatwave!
I stopped to ask people on the street what they thought about the upcoming wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. “Isn’t she lovely? She’s a breath of fresh air, “ Just the Gin and Tonic the royals need right now.” ” I love the fact he has found her… beautiful in and out. Exciting times for Crown and Country.” Which got me thinking about our upcoming Royal Watch Party at the Cat and Fiddle Pub in the wee hours of the morning on the 19th (remembering the UK being 8hrs ahead). Who better to get up so early (or keep you up late) than the Brits in LA crew? What a great memorable experience to say you remember where you where when Harry and Meghan wed. We have a bunch of TV crews recording us -so we can wave to our loved ones back home. And we can all enjoy in our unity with the United States as Meghan unites us with our motherland. The Pub has been doing a tremendous job along with Eileen in prepping for this wonderful occasion – and we hope you’ll join us. Ticket prices are only $25 in advance or $30 on the door which includes some grub plus door prizes, a limited edition commemorative mug and a chance to win a roundtrip ticket for two to London courtesy of Air New Zealand. Big thanks to Beltran Brito for sponsoring us and the event.
Finally: traveling back through Heathrow was a breeze and our Westbound flight on Air New Zealand was wonderful. Our flight attendant George shared stories of getting lost at the Angels stadium after a baseball game having drank too much champagne in a bottle she snuck in. I smiled and chuckled, reminded of our how personable and how great we British people can be.
Have a great week all…!
Craig Young
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