Welcome back to When Wine Calls “The Winter Grape Tour” of the UK and Europe.
We arrived in London a day ahead of our daughter Portia arriving and unlike in the summer when we had booked into a hotel, we selected an apartment in Earls Court which had the advantage of two bedrooms and more importantly a washing machine so we could get back up to date with our washing after travelling through the north of the UK for the past 10 days.
That night we went to one of the local pubs for dinner but as we found in the summer the food in these pubs post Covid are simply not as good as they were prior. However, the benefit of staying at Earls Court is that it has several key lines running through it providing easy access to all parts of London most notably the Piccadilly Line that provides a direct link to Heathrow Airport.
Portia was arriving at Heathrow Airport after a 30+ hour flight via a transiting stop in San Francisco (based on the cheapest airfare available) so we knew she would be extremely tired on arrival. As we waited at Earls Court station, we checked each lift arriving at ground level from the underground and Portia was nowhere to be found. The next minute, to our surprise, Portia arrived fully laden with backpacks strapped front and back sucking in the oxygen after choosing to climb the stairs, it was a hilarious sight and one that did not miss the eye of the camera. We immediately headed across the road from the station to get her a much-needed coffee. It was so good to have her join us on this adventure.
We had five days locked in to see the sights of London at Christmas time and one of the items on my bucket list was to head for Abbey Road for a photo opportunity crossing the pedestrian crossing made famous by the Beatles as well as Abbey Road Studios so that was the first place we headed for. They now have a souvenir store adjacent to the studio which is well worth a look if you are after any memorabillia on all the famous musicians that have walked through the studios doors since it was opened back in 1931.
From Abbey Road it was back on the tube into central London for a walk along the River Thames near Westminster and up to Trafalgar Square where we located Christmas Markets set up in the square and onto the famous Covent Garden for lunch.
After lunch we had a walk around the markets before heading back to Earls Court so that Portia could rest up after the long journey from Australia. It was great being back in London and walking around the wonderful landmarks that the city offers all dressed up for Christmas
The next day we headed back into the city and although the weather was not the best, we headed for Regent Street to locate the OG footwear store to pick up some new walking shoes that we could not get back in Australia before we left. While we were unsuccessful (demand for this brand is high currently all around the world) it did provide the opportunity to head down the road to one of Pauline’s favourite places in London, Cakes & Bubbles on Regent Street for a glass of Veuve Clicquot and their famous Golden Egg for lunch. If you are travelling through London, you must drop in on this place (note it is connected to an upmarket hotel) for the experience alone.
In the afternoon, we headed for the famous department store nearby “Fortnum and Mason “which was certainly the best decorated department store for Christmas in central London. It is great that the old traditions of a department store remain here with interactive Christmas displays, unusual food and drink options for purchase and traditional Christmas wrapping on offer.
Since the rain was getting heavier after we left the department store Portia came up with the great idea of finding a local wine bar and located a book shop bar nearby that we scurried around to. We enjoyed a great afternoon warming ourselves in this intimate bar with numerous cocktails.
At night Portia was catching up with a girlfriend that was now living in London for dinner, so Pauline and I headed for Carnaby Street in Soho for a few wines and nibbles.
We then strolled along the beautifully lit streets of New Bond, Regent and Oxford Streets. We had been down these streets many times in our previous visits to London in summer but to see them at Christmas time was something completely different. Many building along these streets, specially housing the famous European fashion and cosmetic companies were simply spectacular with all their decorations and there appeared to be an unofficial competition happening as to who presented the best decorated shop front.
Not to sit around in our apartment for too long the next day we were off again back into the city and headed for the renowned Burrough Markets located on the opposite side of the Thames. These markets are all about fresh food produce from all parts of the world with magnificent cheeses that you can individually select the size of the pieces of each cheese type. If you lived in London, you would spend a large part of the week here choosing your meals for the week.
For us, we returned to a great little bar that we visited in the summer and had a large charcuterie board with wine as lunch for the day. If you visit London, make sure you head over to these markets to check them out.
After lunch we did a long walk along the banks of the Thames looking at more Christmas markets that lined the river and then across London Bridge which we could not remember doing previously when in London, although we had seen it many times given its location near the Tower of London.
At night we caught up with our very good friends, Tom and Lisa with their young adult children, Zoe and Nikos who had flown in from Dubai. They were staying at nearby Kensington so the ladies hunted around on-line for a local restaurant that would accommodate all of us at this busy time of year. After a lot of disappointment, they eventually located a truly authentic family run Italian restaurant, Bizzarro in Paddington that proved to be a real gem, and we had a fabulous night together. Interestingly, the restaurant had first opened way back in 1957.
The following day we decided to venture further afield from central London and caught the train out to Camden Town which has these quirky decorated buildings in the main street and well-known local markets. It was interesting to see but it is getting rundown and to be honest is not somewhere I would rush back to.
We then headed to Kings Cross Station where Portia was to catch up with another girlfriend and took the opportunity to visit the Harry Potter Platform 9 ¾ shop that’s located in the concourse area. While we didn’t buy any souvenirs it was interesting to see all the international tourists flocking to the shop for their insta photos.
At night Portia and I caught up again with Tom, Zoe and Nikos at London Stadium to watch a Europa League game with West Ham United playing SC Freiburg with a quick dinner at the Westfield Centre prior to the game.
Although it was a cold evening the stadium was packed with great atmosphere and more importantly West Ham won the game, so we all caught the train home very contented.
Pauline and Lisa chose instead to catch up for a girl’s night dinner at Covent Garden and had such a great night they didn’t get home until after us football fans. We will catch up again with our dear friends in Dubai on our way back to Australia in the New Year, but it was fantastic to spend this precious time with them in London.
Following a chilled-out recovery morning on our final day in London that night we caught the train out to Clapham Common to have dinner with Pauline’s cousin Sachaa with her husband Adam and children Jasper and Max. We had spent time with them when we were In Rovinj during “The Summer Vintage Tour” but it was nice to see them again and have dinner at one of their local restaurants.
The restaurant had an artist singing during the evening, so it was no surprise when the girls got to their feet and started dancing with a nearby table of Irish girls to a famous song “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues. A very amusing evening to finish off our wonderful week in London.
The next morning it was on to the tube for the train ride to Heathrow Airport where we would be travelling over to Europe with our first stop Berlin. It was a chaotic passage through the terminal with the baggage conveyor belt system breaking down at check in just as Pauline and I had checked our bags in and were sitting on the broken conveyor belt going nowhere. While Portia’s bag had already gone through, we had to wait at the counter for a lengthy period for the system to come back online as we could not leave our bags in limbo on the belt.
When we finally made it through security, we received a text from Portia saying she had found a bar for a drink, so we headed over with the bar turning out to be a champagne bar run by Fortnum and Mason. Unfortunately, we had lost a lot of time with the check in issue but managed to hurry down one drink at least before we had to board our flight. The important thing in the end was that our bags also made the flight so we were off for the next leg of our “The Winter Grape Tour” after another fabulous time in London.
Our next blog will be from the ever-changing but poignant city of Berlin so until then.
Bruce & Pauline
When Wine Calls 
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