England. Days 2 and 3. What's The Story Morning Glory.
We had a few wake ups overnight.
I gave the kids melatonin though, and everyone did OK, all things considered. We hadn’t scheduled anything for Friday because we knew we’d never be able to get anywhere at a specific time. The only thing we knew was that breakfast closed at 11. We got up by 9:45 and headed to breakfast in the Holborn Dining Room, the main restaurant at the hotel. We walked through the gorgeous courtyard to get to the dining room, and I was right, in the light it’s even nicer. The dining room is very nice too. For breakfast we had an option of either taking a pre-set package or a la carte but you were allotted up to 32 pounds each. Today we opted for the Traditional English Breakfast – coffee, juice, eggs, tomatoes, baked beans, veggie sausage, avocado toast, waffles, and more.
After breakfast we headed back to the room before starting on our day of shopping. Somehow Madeleine had got it in her head that we were spending the day going to a lot of toy stores. Probably because Tzvi had told her we were going to a lot of toy stores. (Feel free to message us for parenting tips.) Anyway, I decided to try to do my hair before we went out. I should mention that a couple of weeks ago I called the hotel and asked if they had a voltage converter for my Dyson Airstrait. This tool is hefty, and makes the lights flicker at home so I didn’t want to burn down any hotels. They told me they would have a transformer in my room when we got there. Well, if I tell you it looked a bit like an amp at a concert I wouldn’t be lying. The only problem is I couldn’t figure out how to work it and ended up blowing the fuse in the hotel room. Serves me right for trying to bring a Dyson on vacation.
We got a black cab from the front of the hotel. These black cabs are great. They are so spacious and clean and there is even enough space for 6 people in a smaller car. I’m not sure why they can’t figure this out in NY and we have to be stuck with ugly yellow taxis. Our first stop was Leicester Square, which basically felt like Times Square. We first hit the Lego store and then the M & M store. When we were done with the M&M store Inbar met us! For those of you who don’t recall, Inbar, our au pair from two years ago, is studying in London for 3 years.
We walked through China Town, picked Hallie up a bagel with cream cheese because she was “starving,” and continued walking. We hit Picadilly Circus where we found the Hasbro store. They had this display of old toys, including a Bop-It Extreme that I used to have. I showed Hallie and she was so jealous, as she should be, because it was way better than the Bop-It they have now. We then made our way to the original Charles Thrywit store which was underwhelming and actually more expensive that in America. [Tzvi: I thought it would be like a big deal – I mean, every store you visit in America the sign actually says “Charles Thyrwhit, Jermyn Street, London” and here we were on Jermyn Street, and it was basically the same as the store at Roosevelt Field Mall.] We stopped at Waterstones flagship store, a bookstore, where the girls and Tzvi got books. Apparently the tote bags are famous here, but I didn’t buy one.
We kept walking down Regent Street, which is all expensive shopping and the same stores we have in New York. It felt like we walked from Times Square to Fifth Ave. For lunch we originally had planned to go to Dishoom at 130pm, but we were too full from breakfast so we cancelled that reservation. By 3pm we were starving though, so we found this poke bowl place that was pretty decent. I had a good tofu bowl.
Then we walked to Hamleys, the biggest Toy Store (in the world?), which was five floors and huge. They had a large collection of Barbies and Rainbow High Dolls. Madeleine got a Rainbow High Doll and Hallie got some weird ball and some doll. We kept walking and Shir and I went shopping at Stradivarius, which a Spanish brand that we don’t have in America, and one of my favorites that I usually shop at in Israel (there is one in Mamilla Mall). Then we hit Selfridges where we walked around and got a coffee in the food hall, and Hallie got a baguette. We went upstairs to the Jellycat Flagship area. You can book a Jellycat appointment there at the Jellycat diner where they cook you up Jellycat fish and chips. I didn’t realize you could book it, but the kids didn’t need to do that anyway. They each bought Jellycats. Madeleine got a pizza, and guess what, Hallie got a baguette.
We went back to the hotel and dropped our stuff, then went straight back out and walked to dinner. Given Shabbos was starting soon we opted to eat somewhere in the neighborhood, only about ten minutes away, so we could walk back. Dinner was at Faros, a small Italian restaurant. It was very nice but had no air. It wasn’t hot, but it was just so stuffy. I don’t know how people function like this. The food was good but the kids were losing it. We shared a Pornstar Martini, which was nice, Hallie had pizza, Tzvi had a creamy truffle pasta and I had pasta with tomato sauce.
We walked back to the hotel as Shabbat was starting. We said goodbye to Inbar for the night and went back to our room.
Good day!
Day 3
(Note: a number of the photos in this day were pulled from the internet or were taken after Shabbat.)
This morning we got up, went to breakfast—same deal as yesterday. I don’t know if there’s much worth mentioning except that I got the açaí bowl, which was fun, and a green smoothie that was weird but fine. We found out that the host was actually from Pico in Los Angeles, and had moved to London about 7 years ago. Small world. We also grabbed some newspapers, which turned out to be very conservative—probably appealing to the crowd that stays at this hotel.
After breakfast, we dropped our stuff and started our walk to the British Museum. It was about a 10–15 minute walk. We met Inbar outside and headed in. Tickets are free, but you have to book them online. The museum is beautiful and looks like a palace. Originally it had a huge courtyard in the middle of the building that housed a massive round domed-roof library. In the ‘90s they enclosed the courtyard with a modern roof. The effect is really incredible – it’s bright and mixes the two hundred year old building with the more modern buildings. Apparently the library is where a lot of famous authors used to come to write, but it’s no longer a working library. I was explaining to the girls that this was before the internet—you couldn’t just search for a book. If you wanted one, you had to ask the library staff, and it might take them an hour to find it. You couldn’t even take it home; you had to read it there and return it. Madeleine was shocked: “You couldn’t take the book?!”
We wandered through some exhibits—saw the Rosetta Stone [Tzvi: who knew it was more than an app??], some Egyptian pieces, and plenty of naked statues of men, which the girls found hilarious. The coolest part was an interactive section where you could actually touch things. We held a hand axe made of rock that was 350,000 years old. Then we touched a piece of stone with cuneiform on it, and even a little makeup pot from Egypt, about 4,000 years old, that had been used for eyeliner. Very cool.
There was also a section on mythical creatures, which the girls didn’t love. What I found fascinating was an art installation called Cradle to Grave. It was a long display of pills arranged in a net to represent the life cycle of a person. At the start, you see things like newborn vaccines and a vitamin K shot; then more and more medications as the timeline continues. The plaque said the average person will take 35,000 pills in their lifetime. Wild.
The kids did well, but eventually started to lose it, so we left. On the walk back we stopped at a park for a little while, but didn’t stay long since Madeleine had to pee.
Back at the hotel, we hung out until it was time for our 2:30 afternoon tea in the Mirror Room—another very beautiful room at the hotel. It’s called the “Art Tea,” inspired by Asian art. We started with savory bites. For the kids: cream cheese and egg salad sandwiches. Madeleine actually ate one of the cream cheese; Hallie tried and hated it. For the adults, they served a tofu tart (which I loved and ended up needing to order four more for Madeleine), smoked salmon, a mushroom spoon (basically a Chinese soup spoon with soy marinated shimeji mushrooms), an eggplant sandwich that tasted like pulled BBQ beef, and a fancy Japanese egg salad sandwich. Not much for me to eat other than the tofu, but I could still appreciate these were very good sandwiches. Tzvi loved them. Next came the scones: plain and raisin, served with cream, lemon curd, and jam. Absolutely superb. Alongside that was a matcha cheesecake encased in dark chocolate—I didn’t eat the matcha cheesecake part, but I ate the shell and it was great.
Then dessert: first, a gorgeous creation that was basically the famous painting of The Great Wave painted onto a piece of fondant and then rolled into a tube. Inside was cake, strawberries, vanilla cream, and tapioca pearls. Delicious and beautiful—an A+. There was also a chocolate mousse bomb with pistachio, caramel, and an almond crust, plus a cherry cake. All phenomenal—perfectly executed, gorgeous desserts. We stayed nearly two hours and could have lingered longer, but we had massages booked.
At 4:30 we left the girls with Inbar and Shir and checked into the spa. We’d opted for separate massages (the couples massage was like an extra 40 pounds, which is where Tzvi is drawing the line for this vacation). The massages were good—mine was ok, relaxing, but Tzvi thought his massage was fantastic. The spa itself was limited: just a sauna, no steam room or whirlpool. Still, a nice little experience.
Afterwards, Tzvi took the girls to walk Inbar to her bus stop, then strolled a bit before heading back. They found a park and walked through it but there was no playground. Then Tzvi stopped at the front desk and asked them to send up pizza and fries for Madeleine, which made her very happy. He took Hallie down to the restaurant for a piece of fish since she hasn’t been eating protein – it’s basically just been bread for every single meal. They had a nice meal time, except the fish came, Hallie took one bite and then said she hated it. Luckily they brought ketchup and fries and after dousing the fish in ketchup she actually enjoyed it.
By 8:50, Shabbat was over, and Tzvi and I got ready to go out. Tonight’s dinner was at The Dover, a 1970s New York–themed restaurant. Yes—we came to London and went to a New York–themed place. But it was great. We got a fantastic corner booth, which almost never happens at these fancy spots.
When we sat down, Tzvi noticed a table of two older men sitting across from us in the opposite corner. He handed me his phone and had pulled up a Wikipedia page of Stephen Fry (actually, Sir Stephen Fry, because he’s a knight) – a famous older British comedy actor who used to do a comedy series with Hugh Laurie (before he was Dr. House), and said, “do you think this guy is sitting at that table?” I was pretty sure it was the same person, but it was confirmed when the people at the table next to him told him what fans they were and then asked to take a picture. There’s our celebrity sighting for the trip.
Next to us, a table of three religious Muslim women sat down, and I had two observations. First, they can’t drink wine, but they can eat shrimp, which is like the garbage of the sea. I don’t really understand that. Second, one of them took a bite of a potato-and-caviar dish and then clearly hated it, but then she proceeded to pull over her friend’s plate so she could take pictures of it for Instagram. Just funny.
Anyway, dinner was very good. I started with a fruity martini that was amazing, and Tzvi had a more basic martini. For food, we shared fried zucchini and sweet potato that came in a tower like very thick matchsticks, minestrone soup, and a salad with beets and barley and pomegranate seeds. Then came the mains: Tzvi had a dish that was basically a cross between an eggplant parmesan and a lasagna (which he absolutely loved), and I had salmon (which was just okay). For dessert, we hesitated but finally ordered the salted caramel ice cream with brownie pieces, which turned out to be delicious—a perfect way to end the meal.
We finished dinner, headed back to the hotel, and called it a day. A really good day.
