London, England, July 2, 2005
My sister and I woke early and headed down the street for a nice breakfast of eggs and toast with some very strong coffee. I was elated because in the little diner where we ate they were playing Virgin Radio and the DJ happened to be Martin Collins, who was the voice I listened to every day at work in America. Because I was in the right country, I was actually hearing their morning show in the morning!
We set out afterward to find a commemorative magazine with U2 on the cover. I can’t even remember what the magazine was called (and regretfully, I think I gave it to an undeserving ex-boyfriend), but I know there were probably a dozen different covers and the one that featured U2 was the only one I was interested in collecting.
We eventually found it and the fun began. You can read my play-by-play account of watching U2/Macca here in my original @U2 blog entry.
After Coldplay came on and we heard the beginnings of “Bittersweet Symphony,” we began walking to find lunch. I don’t remember if we actually ate lunch or not, but we did end up at Harrod’s where we visited at least half the store (and from the size of that place, that’s saying a lot), then landed in their chocolate restaurant, where everything on the menu is, well, chocolate. I remember ordering something that came in liquid form and after we tasted each other’s choices, I felt a little sick.
Well worth it, though!
After that we browsed the streets and shopped a bit, becoming especially fond of Whittard’s Tea. We tasted three or four versions of their instant type and went home with about that many containers of it.
We deposited our bags back at the hotel and asked for the concierge to make us reservations at a nearby seafood restaurant. After perhaps the most frightening cab ride of my life, we arrived at the lovely Bentley’s.
Smiling through exhaustion and giddy from the concert, we had baked fish, potatoes, bread, wine and the best raspberry créme brulée that I’ve ever tasted. It was the perfect meal.
Afterward, we headed back to Hyde Park in time to catch Pink Floyd and Paul McCartney. My re-cap of that is here.
I was sad that we only had a few days left of our trip.