Trip Favorites

My tradition for the last post on a trip is, typically, asking people for their trip favorites.  Apologies in advance to the funky formatting -- cutting and pasting from emails to this blog is always kinda messy.

Question 1:  What were you three favorite activities/sights/things we did and what was it about those activities that made it one of your top three.

Sandy: 

I liked all of it but my favorites were...

1.    The speed boat

2.    The changing of the guards

3.    The tea

4.    The night walk over the bridge & the sights 

(She's my sister-in-law.  If she wants to list four things, she gets to!)

Carol:

1.    Westminster Abbey - Always my favorite place to go

2.    RIB tour - love the sightseeing and going gast

3.    Changing of the guard tour - loved learning about St. James Palace and the    different guard groups

Rick:

1.     The Windsor Castle trip

2.     Kew Gardens

3.     The various pubs

Glen:

Whew, good question.  (Editor: You asked the questions!  Writer: That's my job in real life is to ask good questions!)

1.     Walking across Millennial Bridge, being blown away by the St. Paul Cathedral dome lit up at night, after seeing Romeo & Juliet at the brilliant Globe Theatre.

2.    Having dinner with two Brit friends I've known since 1983 and catching up on old times and new adventures.

3.    Finally going to the British Museum and being gobsmacked by the Assyrian Lion Hunt.

Question 2:  What surprised you most about London, and why did it surprise you?

Carol:  How easy it was to use the Underground system to get around

Rick:    The sheer number of people, the sprawl.  Although I've visited virtually every major US city, my personal frame of reference is NY which the island has fewer residents now than it did 100 years ago.  London just keeps going and going.  the only European "city" I'd been in before was Edinburgh, which population-wise is a city about the size of Raleigh NC or Colorado Springs CO so I've never seen the Euro cities that I've been warned about that just go on and on (Munich Paris London etc).  In NY you can find pockets neighborhoods etc with very few people.  seemed like every place we went in London had mobs of people everywhere.  Cities are definitely not my bag, but interesting to see.

Glen: Just how many neighborhoods in London I had not been to that we made it to this time, including Mayfair, Notting Hill/Portobello Road, Kew Gardens/Richmond, parts of the City of London (especially parts of the City where Slow Horses was filmed), Bankside, Bermondsey, -- and probably one other I'm thinking of at this point!  And I'm sure there's even more we didn't get to.

Sandy: The fact that there was a variety of things to do, it wasn't total cityish.  I knew I would enjoy the trip but it exceeded my expectations

Question 3: What was your favorite two restaurants of the trip, and what stood out to you about it?

Rick:  The tea place, because it was interesting to experience and educational to learn about the tea.   What stood out, Sandy wore a pretty yellow dress.  And then the Portobello road pub (The Eagle) because it was a nondescript neighborhood place we stumbled on that had a huge variety of taps and just the right pub menu.  What stood out was how fast they served it.

Glen:  It's a tie between El Pirata of Mayfair the first night and Alto by San Carlo (Selfridges rooftop -- nice job Mick!).  El Pirata is Spanish tapas, and since Spanish food is the best is the world, it's an easy choice.  Alto by San Carlo was a perfect rooftop setting for a dinner reunion of six friends where the conversation flowed easily (while we first met Lone that night, she jumper right into the conversation, so it's like she is an old friend.)

Sandy:  The Princess Louise pub, because it was fun and because of the name (actual Editor's note: One of their granddaughters is named "Louise."  The lunch near Windsor Castle, I think it was called the Ivy.  The shepherd's pie was very good, and I liked the decor, especially the ladies wash room. And in a close third I liked the tea, especially the pastries.

(Writer: "Don't make me tap the sign."  She's my SIL -- Sandy can choose three if she wants!)

Speaking of signs, here's

the Princess Louise pub.

Carol:  Selfridges rooftop - great food and great location.  Afternoon tea - loved the choice of two teas and the food

Question 4: Is there is one thing we didn’t do in London that you wish we had done?

Glen: I wish we had made it to more neighborhoods, like Soho.  I wish I had stopped by the flat the nine of us lived at for the winter-spring of 1984.

(Editor: Confusing double negative that is.  Writer: Okay Yoda.)

Sandy: Walk the stairs up the dome of St Paul's

Carol: Should have climbed up the dome of St. Paul's

Rick: Not "we" but "me":   There was a nice dock on the Thames that I could've sat on while my family went on a boat ride.  I wish I had done that.

Question 5: Of the things that happened while we were in London that aren’t site/activity related, what will you remember most years from now?

Sandy: Trying to buy the special cold medicine!  And how fast the tube always came (short waits).

Carol: The vibe of the city.  All the beautiful buildings, the history, the parks.

Rick: The number of people and the size of the city.  Also the London plane trees, which I thought were sycamores (which the English call "American plane trees").   Same genus, different species.  They do have a tree they call "sycamore", also in the same genus but slightly different species.  

Glen: How easy it is to get around London, even though it's a sprawling city.  How much we didn't get to do because of time.

A Right Proper Pub Crawl

After afternoon tea, we couldn't eat any more, but we could still drink.  Since it was our last night, we went on an old-fashioned pub crawl in our apartment's neighborhood.

When I was in London in 1984, in the city and during my travels on the British Isles, I went to 138 different pubs.  Back then, you could buy affordable lunches at pubs -- pasties, meat pies, bangers and mash, and so on.  So I would go to a city to explore on a Saturday, have lunch at a pub, dinner at a different pub, and then another lunch at a pub before training back to London for work on Monday (my Member of Parliament was a tough taskmaster!).

(Editor: Really, you've never mentioned that about Geoff before.  Writer: Well, it's more of a test to see if he's reading the blog.)

Our first stop was The Market Inn, built in 1808.  Being a drizzly Friday night (except when it rained), the place was packed.  We grabbed a couple of pints and a corner table.  The Mayfair website says it "oozes Victorian charm" but fortunately nothing oozed on us.

From there we went down the street to the Kings Arms.  Like The Market Inn, it's in the lively Shepherd's Market area of Mayfair.  We had the best of both words.  Our apartment was on a quiet street, while just a few short blocks away was a fun area with restaurants having tables outside and pubs where the clientele spilled out onto the street, with some talking about their jobs, others talking about sports, and everyone looking to either woo their date or find one, at least for the evening.

Our last stop was at Chesterfield Arms pub, which was our local -- we had been there early on in the week.  Rick chatted up a young American couple, and then after Rick, Sandy, and Carol headed back, I chatted with them as well.  Delightful folk.

Back at the apartment was our fourth pub, as Rick and I cracked the last two cans of beer in the fridge and listened to Beach Boys songs in honor of the recently late, always great, Brian Wilson.

Remember, if you are planning your own pub crawl, the rules are simple:

1.    Don't get in fights

2.    Go to the next one after pint/drink.

3.    Speaking of which, if nobody with you is having beer, then it's not really a pub           crawl, it's more going from bar to bar, innit?

4.    Take turn buying rounds (we didn't follow that rule, but we're brothers, so that           gets a pass.

5.    Talk often

6.    Listen more often

7.    Have fun. 

I Did Not Know The Proper Term Is "Afternoon Tea" And It's Different Than "High Tea."

So for years, I've occasionally mentioned that the British tradition of High Tea is pretty cool, even though I don't drink tea.  (Or coffee -- I've never liked the taste of either.  For hot drinks I limit myself to hot chocolate, as long as it is good.)

Well, I found out while at High Tea that we were actually participating in Afternoon Tea.  "High Tea" is what the working class called dinner/supper -- usually served at 5pm or so when shift work was over.  It features meat or fish, bread, tea, and maybe egg dishes and even vegetables.   

"Afternoon Tea" is the more celebrated of the teas by Americans.  EVERYONE should do it once when they go to England (Betty's Cafe/Tea House in Harrogate and York are classic tea rooms), and of course, there are plenty of places near you in London.

We went to The Beaumont, as I googled high tea near our address.  Of the ones I looked at, The Beaumont was farthest away at nearly a mile walk, but it looked like the classic description of a High Tea.  Except, and this escaped my notice while looking at their website, it's an Afternoon Tea.  

The Beaumont is in the heart of Mayfair, and it beats luxury and class, something the two older Bolger brothers (that's Rick and I) are allergic to.  But, I figured if you are going to do High Afternoon Tea right, let's do it at a place that might just kick us out because they know we won't belong.

Let's go with the proper phrase for the rest of this post -- Afternoon Tea.  At the art deco Beaumont, the Tea is held in the Gatsby Room (great! I thought).  The website says "The Gatsby Room is a symbol of timeless elegance, understated luxury and genuine British hospitality."  The website goes on to boast that it hosts their award-winning Afternoon Tea, so I immediately booked it!

(Editor: "Gatsby Room (great)" -- the sound you hear is F. Scott Fitzgerald rolling over in his grave.  Writer: I've misused many a literary phrase to get authors to roll over in their grave.  F. Scott is not the first, nor shall he be the last.)

Rick and Sandy demurred on the idea of Afternoon Tea, but little did they realize that I actually know what's best for them.  So I booked it anyhow.  At tea, I apologized, but they said they were looking forward to this after seeing a show about it recently, so they thought it would be cool to do.  So the hope that we would go through afternoon tea and they would grudgingly admit that it was pretty cool to do was snatched away from me like Lucy snatched the football away from Charlie Brown's foot.

Me at the Tea, briefly.

Maybe it would work

with a tee!

I'm kidding.  Mostly.  I'm glad they didn't feel they were there to humour my wishes.  (Carol is always pro-Afternoon Tea, even if she also thought it was High Tea!).

(Editor: You don't have to include the "u" in words just because the Brits do -- "humor" would do just fine.  Writer: I realise that, but I like to.)

Also from The Beaumont's website about their Afternoon Tea:

Indulge in an enticing selection of classic finger sandwiches, freshly-baked homemade scones and hand-crafted dainty cakes and pastries. Choose your own blend from our warming selection of JING Tea, or add a little more sparkle to the occasion with a glass of Champagne.

And we got all that.  Each of us got four finger sandwiches, including the classic cucumber sandwich, salmon sandwich, ham and cheese, and an egg sandwich.

(Editor: When you said "finger sandwich" I was picturing slices of fingers in-between in between slices of bread.  Writer: Jeffrey Dahmer did not put the menu together.)

Then there were two scones each with butter cream and different jam/honey options.

And four cakes and four sweets each.  And two choices of exotic teas.  I went with sparkling water and champagne (separate glasses, not mixed!).  The champagne was served in the wide mouth coupe glasses.  That's only the second time I've ever had champagne served in a coupe glass, and let me tell you, I know narrow glasses are the "proper" way to serve champagne, but the coupe glass is very cool.  Like the Grinch's heart, the sophistication part of my brain grew three times that day.

(Editor: I'm guessing it returned to normal size pretty quickly.  Writer: Oh, as soon as I stepped back on American soil.)

Part of our spread.  One type of each pastry

for each of us (there's another holder) with

the finger sandwiches underneath.  The

scones were on a separate serving plate.

We ended up skipping dinner because, with a 5:15 start, we were too full to eat anything more.  For the record, Carol's two teas were Darjeeling and a Rose Bud Infustion.  She loved them.  I don't remember what Sandy and Rick had, but they both liked it.

Now This Is A Proper Castle -- Our Day Trip To Windsor

When we spend a week in a city, we don't always do a day trip (for example, Rome), but often we do (for example, Barcelona, Paris).

So for London, we decided to go to Windsor Castle, less than an hour train ride from Vauxhall Station.  Carol had not been to Windsor Castle, Rick and Sandy liked the idea of getting out of London and seeing a bona fide castle, and I had not been since one day in 1984.

We definitely took the local, as there were many stops between London and the Windsor and Eton Riverside station.  But when there are no problems, trains are always a great way to get around Europe.  (I don't think there is an express -- and the train is pleasant.)

We walked up to the Castle through the quaint/touristic town of Windsor from the train station.  The way up includes many fine views of the outer castle walls.  The way up includes many fine views of the outer castle.  Our tickets were for 10:30 am and we got there a bit after 10:30.  Security allowed us to cut the line ahead of the 11:00 am ticketed people they were having queue up.

There was a ceremony going on in the Quadrangle.  The star attraction was someone named King Charles III, but we did not get to see him.  Now, it would have been neat to see him, but it wasn't a disappointment. 

William the Conqueror began having this motte (artificial mound)  and bailey (the fortified stockade surrounding the mound) around 1070, making it one of his first castles in England, and even older than the Tower of London.  Edward III added to it in the 1300s, Charles II in the 1660s, and George IV in the 1820s also added to the Castle.  

Mick advised us to take the extra time to wait in the slightly longer line for Queen Mary's Dolls' House before going to the State Apartments.  It was worth the wait -- the line for the Dolls' House entrance wasn't overly long, moved well, and, most importantly, was pretty cool.

I had never heard of it, but that's not shocking.  There's lots of I've never heard of, and a dollhouse is not something I would think important to check out.  But it was built in 1924 to 1:12 scale and is known as "the most famous dollhouse in the world."  It was a gift for an adult, Queen Mary (hence the name), who was grandmother to none other than QE II.  

The large dollhouse, modeled on the outside of the center part of Buckingham Palace.  Photos are not allowed, so MI5, the handful of photos here were NOT taken by me on my iPhone -- they just fell into my photo app.

Give a sense of the three

stories of the dollhouse.

The dining room.  The forks, knife,

and spoon are made of real silver.

The sitting room.

There's a lot more than the photos someone else, not me, took (in case the British guards are reading this!).  One side has a garage full of impressive sports cars.  All in all, if you are going to Windsor Castle and the line isn't overly long, Mick is right -- go check out Queen Mary's Dollhouse.  I would bet when she showed it off, she lived to her name of Proud Mary.

(Editor: "Proud Mary" has nothing to do with the Queen or the Dollhouse.  Instead it was a song from 1969 by "the best damn band in the whole damn land," Creedence Clearwater Revival, before Ike and Tina Turner covered it and had the bigger hit in 1970.  Writer: Oh.  By the way, in 1969 and 1970, CCR outsold the Beatles in the States, so they truly were "the best damn band in the whole damn land."  Editor: Oh I know.)

From there we went seamlessly into the State Apartments where, understandably this time, we are not allowed to take photos.  Henry VIII and Charles I once lived here, and Queen Elizabeth brought visiting dignitaries.  

The state apartments are pretty neat, with chandeliers, incredible furniture, and art curated for a long line of kings and queens, and a king once again.  One of my favorite rooms was St. George's Hall, decorated with coats of arms of knights of the Order of the Garter, including many names even I recognized.  

Then we passed through a series of bedrooms, dressing rooms, and drawing rooms of the kings and queens, who, by tradition, live in separate rooms.  There are paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Hobein.  We finished in the China Museum, which feature crystal and china that are regularly used during royal state dinners.

Whenever I leave these palace state apartments, whether it is Madrid, Versailles, etc., I'm a bit staggered by the amount of wealth represented by the furniture, art, chandeliers, china, and more.  So I always need a minute to gather myself.

After that we headed down to St. George's Chapel.  Well, actually we headed to the line that snaked down from the Chapel, did a "V" and went back up towards one of the multiple gift shops.  

The Chapel was closing by 1pm, likely for another event involving the King, so it was uncertain if we would make it.  But the line moved quickly.  Again, no photographs are allowed because you would not want terrorists to know that the church has a nave, a choir, and an altar like every other church.

It's interesting, but only moderately so because we had to walk in a strictly defined line with no chance to slow down, stop, or deviate from the path.  Preference for deviating from the path is one reason I didn't join the military.

The Chapel is quite pretty inside, but it felt more like a race to finish rather than a walk to savor (very un-British-esque).  Look to the left as you pass by a simple chapel to see the tombs of Queen Elizabeth II, her husband Prince Philips, and her parents, including the beloved Queen Mum.  The ashes of Princess Margaret are also behind a marble slab on the wall.  You can't tarry long, as I learned after being barked at by staff to "keep moving."  I suppose I get it, but I don't like it!

Further on are tombs of Edward IV, King George III, Henry VIII, and Jane Seymour (Henry VIII's favorite wife, which is impressive because oddsmakers gave her just a 1 in 6 chance of not being beheaded.

Yup, that's King George III.

Leaving, we got a look at the 13th century Prince Albert Memorial Chapel, dedicated to him in 1861 after his death as Queen Victoria's husband.  (The chapel existed long before him obviously, if you are trying to figure how a 13th century chapel is named after a 19th century prince.)

From there, we gawked at the guard posted at a pillbox, then shuffled off to town, where we had a fine British lunch at the Ivy.  We had time to kill before our 2:53 train back to London's Vauxhall Station, so we wandered past the Windsor & Eton lawn bowling club, a pretty fountain, and then walked along the Thames, where we disappointed a significant number of swans, geese, and ducks, because we didn't have anything to feed them with.

It was definitely a fine visit to a royal castle -- the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world.  William the Conqueror could also be called William the Builder, but he's not called that, is he?

Castles Are Cool. Pictures Of Castles Are Nearly As Cool.

 

Hanging around the Round Tower

A view up Thames Street.  Didn't realize

the camera had switched to black and

white mode, but I like the old-timey feel.

A Tudor house.  Research is sketchy, so

I'm going with this: It has been a Thai

restaurant since the original construction

High Street in b&w

Scroll to next picture.

"You shoulda seen it in color,"

by Jamey Johnson.

The outer castle walls as seen from High St.

The lower gate.

Carol, Sandy, and Rick heading

up to the Middle Ward.

The Round Tower above,

a water feature below.

We could grow flowers this beautiful too

if we had an estimated $28 billion net

worth.  And don't forget the separate

$380 million that King Charles III

inherited from his mother.  Chump change.

St. George's Chapel

We need more sundials in public buildings.

Like I said. . .

Tudor housing within the Horseshoe Cloister.

A different angle on St. George's Chapel.

A view from outside the Castle.

The Windsor & Eton Bowling Club

A fountain for the Queen.

Swans, geese, and ducks seem quite

tame on the Windsor side of the Thames.

How cool is this close-up of

duck feathers?  Pretty daffy, eh.

A Grand Reunion

After the Slow Horses tour, we went back to the apartment to change for dinner with Mick, Jane, Stephen, and Lone.  Mick and Jane live outside of London, so Mick just came back to our apartment whilst Jane commuted in.  (I don't know where Mick and Jane live -- I believe it is somewhere in the northern suburbs of London, but I could be totally wrong.

Anyhow, the three of us were flatmates from January till May of 1984.  Six Americans, three Brits, in our junior year of college on a new, short-lived program called the AU-Leeds Program (American University & Leeds University).  We spent the fall semester in DC working 4.5 days on internships in Congress (taking a class the other half day) and then went to London for the same schedule during the spring semester.

At AU, housing was easy -- the Brits were in the dorms, and Americans lived in whatever arrangements we had for the semester.  In London, we were put in a cheap Bayswater Hotel, but no one liked it, so the Brits organized effectively and got the nine of us into a flat (one American and two Brits had other places to live).

We've gotten together as a group once and as smaller groups other times.  But anytime I'm going to London, we've gotten together at least with one or two of the Brits.  Alas, two of the Americans have passed away a while back and way too young.  Anyhow, I've expressed on this blog before just how wonderful the experience was, and how it instilled the love of travel in me.

So there we were, going to be late for pre-dinner drinks, and Mick is leading us through the posh streets of Mayfair at double time like we were Gurkhas going to the Changing of the Guard the prior day.

When we arrived at the Burlock Cocktail Bar on Bond Street, we were greeted by Stephen Byfield and his partner Lone.  She is Danish and works at the embassy.  Mick's partner Jane was already there.  We had a lovely corner of this basement bar, and Steve kicked off a night of celebration by announcing that he and Lone are engaged and getting married later this year.

I did what old guys do and young guys couldn't afford (at least back in the day) -- I immediately bought the group a celebratory bottle of champagne -- Veuve Cliquot, to bring our travel for the year full circle.  Those who read the Paris blog may remember that on our day trip to Reims we went to the champagne house of Veuve Cliquot.  Carol appreciated the connection!  

After congratulating Steve and Lone, we chatted, catching up on our lives.  Carol fell instantly in conversation with Jane and Lone.  This year is the third straight year we've seen Mick and Jane -- dinner in 2023 in London, then they visited us for ten days last year in Alexandria with a weekend trip to Wintergreen for good measure, and now Slow Horses tour (sans Jane), drinks, and dinner.

For dinner, we went upstairs to Alto by San Carlo, the restaurant on the rooftop of Selfridges on Oxford Street.  So, drinks in the basement bar of Selfridges on Bond Street, then round the corner and up to the roof of Selfridges on Oxford Street.  As I often do when I enter a hip foreign spot, I worried I would be viewed an imposter and tossed, but my cool Brit friends gave me enough cover that I was not thrown out. 

Two handsome Brits and me.  Glen, Mick, 

Stephen.  It's a long way from 1983-84!

Front row l to r: Jane

Carol, Mick.  Back row l to r:

Lone, Stephen, Glen

Glen, Jane, Mick, Carol, Lone, Stephen.

The food was excellent at dinner, but the conversation was more fun.  Even if you haven't kept up with people you've know for 40+ years, the time can fly by.  There's no awkwardness with old friends (okay, I'm the old one, Mick and Stephen are still young!).

It was a special night.  Walking back to our apartment, we came upon two statues on Grosvernor Square that we missed our last time through Grosvernor Square (we cut through the park, not along the edge).  We had seen the FDR statue (shown in an earlier blog post).

President Dwight D.

Eisenhower, shown here as 

General DDE.  Note

the American eagle

on top of the building.

This hotel is was the long-time location

for the American embassy.  I believe

the eagle original to the embassy.

President Ronald Reagan.

Quite the timing for Carol

and I to find this, as he

was the larger than life

President while I was on

the AU-Leeds programme.

"Surrounded By Losers, Misfits, And Boozers" -- Mick Jagger

A year or more, a friend (or friends) recommended we watch "Slow Horses," a British spy series set in London and focused on MI5.  They gave us the same warning I'm giving you -- the first episode of the first season is weird and slow, but then it gets great.

I'm glad we were warned, because the first episode did not endear itself to us.  But with six episodes across four seasons, the scorecard is 1 terrible episode, 23 fabulous episodes.

I would equate Slow Horses to a great roller coaster.  The first episode is the slow and boring part as the roller coaster climbs up to the initial drop, but the second episode is when the fun and crazy ride really starts.

Slow Horses is based on a series of books about a fictional "Slough House" by Mick Herron.  I won't give away the premise, and I've not read the books (yet) but suffice it to say we are big fans of the show.  

Gary Oldman is fantastic as Jackson Lamb, who runs Slough House as a rude, disgusting, yet clever spymaster.  Young Jack Lowden, as River Cartwright, is the "hero" of the show, a youthful failed spy who can not be fired so he's consigned to the Slow Horses.  Kirsten Scott Thomas is brilliant as Diana Taverner, the deputy director general of MI5, who engages in battles of wits with terrorists and Jackson Lamb.

The rest of the ensemble cast are easily underestimated (except for Roddy Ho, who is brilliant in his egotistical portrayal of a selfish tech wizard with a high opinion of his skills with computers and with the ladies) and they are endearing (even the ones who die in the show).  

(Editor: What does the Mick Jagger quote have to do with this?  Writer: Mick sings the catchy theme song, and that line sums up the Slow Horses.  First time I heard it, I said, "that sounds like the Rolling Stones, and I was 20% correct -- but that Jagger fellow should count for more than 20% of the Stones.)  

Since COVID started, we've watched six shows set in Great Britain -- "Peaky Blinders," "Gangs of London," "Ted Lasso," "Clarkson's Farm," "Welcome to Wrexham," and "Slow Horses."  All have been fabulous.  Warning -- "Gangs of London" has extreme scenes of violence and isn't for everyone.  Carol would leave the room and then I'd call her back when the violence ended because the story is that good.  

If you haven't watched "Slow Horses" it's on Apple TV, and all four seasons thus far are available for streaming.

(Editor: That's a LOT of background, get to the point.  Writer: Fair enough, but everyone wants to write about TV or movies!)

So as I was planning this trip, I remembered that two years ago when we went to London for three days, we did a tour of James Bond scenes based in London.  It was a lot of fun.  So I thought for a minute and then looked up walking tours for Slow Horses.  And, lo and behold there is one (the link in the previous sentence, if interested).

After booked the touring, Brit friend since 1983, Mick Fisher, said he and partner Jane had taken our advice and loved Slow Horses.  So I invited them to join (Jane had to work, but Mick is retired) and he joined as well.

On our way to the Old Street Station to meet our guide, Susannah C, who I found on my favorite website for finding great tour guides, ToursbyLocals.com, I WhatsApp'd Mick to ask for a lunch suggestion, as we wisely abandoned my original plan to have lunch near the apartment.

Mick had used to commute to work in one of his various jobs via Old Street Station.  He suggested we go to Artillery Arms on Bunhill Row.  It's a right proper pub, and Carol and I enjoyed our toasties (toasted sandwiches) and me my pint of bitter (bitter is the mainstay of British beer, and is known for moderate bitterness -- kind of like an ex-girlfriend) before heading back to meet both Mick as well as Susannah C outside the Tube stop.

A stock photo of the inside front of the

Artillery Arms pub.  Carol and I sat

where the large man in red is sitting.  

(We did not sit there at the same time

or he would have squashed me.)

Susannah turned out to be a fantastic tour guide (nearly all we've hired on ToursbyLocals have been).  We started just outside of the one square mile of the City of London, but spent most of our time checking out filming locations in the City.

The weather was perfect for a walk.  After her intro, Susannah walked us over to Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, which is right across the street from the Artillery Arms pub.  It was used from 1665 to 1854 (the Burial Ground, not the pub) and also includes the graves of John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe, and Thomas Bayes.

From there she took us around the street purporting to be where Slough House, although the House is an amalgamation of shots -- the actual address isn't where they claim it is in the show, the stairs is not on the same street as Slough House, and more.  But it is pretty neat to see (go to the photos post below for more details).

Susannah once went to a book signing by author Mick Herron and asked why he made such a nice neighborhood seem so seedy.  Because, truth be told, the neighborhood seems pretty nice.  We were there on a sunny day, but there's a lot of rain/bad weather on the show -- primarily because they use rain machines to give off the dank and dark experience.

We talked about one of my favorite parts of TV shows, which is where they have characters running/walking/biking/driving etc. through one neighborhood and they come out in a neighborhood that are not connected (may be miles away), such as when characters based in DC metro to Georgetown (no Metro in Georgetown) or drive the hour to Norfolk (actually three and a half hours on a good day, and since a "good day" is illegal on I-95 and that part of I-64, it's usually four-five hours.)

And that happens on Slow Horses as well, such as foot chase scenes that went the alley ends, don't come out where the alley actually does end in real life.  

(Jack Lowden, who plays River Cartwright, did not run track, but he's trained for parts that involve running, so his running form is awesome and on par with Tom Cruise.)

It is funny to learn that in all the seedy scenes, they have to bring in trash for the day or two of shooting (if it's more than one day, they have someone there to guard the trash so no one steals it((!)) or takes it away.)

Then we went into the Barbican Estate because any number of scenes have been shot there.  Built after WWII because London housing stock was knocked low by the Blitz, the Barbican went from public housing to being sold in the 1980s during the Thatcher government's successful move to significantly increase home ownership.

The Barbican was built in the brutalist style, but I'd call it more "Brutalist with a human face" because there were design elements that were not just terrible.  And, it sure worked better than "Socialism with a human face" as New York City residents are bound to find out.

We wandered around the Barbican for a while, as Susannah pointed out various scenes, as well as interesting parts of the Barbican, such as ruins of the Roman walls and remainders of a medieval defensive tower.

We also wandered up and onto the Barbican Bridge, where a crucial scene in Season 3, episode 1 takes place.  It's a confrontation between River and his nemesis James "Spider" Webb, a seemingly golden boy who aced River out for a coveted spot in MI5 (no plot spoilers here, other than you will both be repulsed by Spider and yet admire his acting chops as well).  

There were more scenes, including the "spy church" where the best agents are buried when they die.  Susannah took us to the church, and we were lucky it was open.  She was thrilled because typically it is locked.  Well, in the Season 1, episode 6, Jackson Lamb (played brilliantly by Gary Oldman) remarks that he bribed the janitor to let him in.  I noted that anytime it is open, Susannah should take credit by saying she bribed the janitor to let the group in to see how many taking the tour will get the allusion.

By this point we were well into the City of London, as we went through a few more scenes.  

Carol, Mick and I really enjoyed the tour.  If you haven't seen the show, watch at least the first season of Slow Horses and let me know what you think!