2007 big vacation: Day 7 - Penzance to London 2007

Despite a combination of our usual morning sleepy reluctance to wake up & do anything at all and our regret at leaving such a lovely spot, we somehow managed to gather our stuff, dump the trash, and hustle ourselves out the door toward our 10am train in time for quick purchases of pasties for breakfast and newspapers.

The journey was, as before, beautiful. Relaxing to just glide along past the scenery. On the whole, now that I've tried both sides, I'd say when traveling between London and Penzance, you'll want to sit on the south side of the train for the prettiest views (that's the left side heading to Penzance, and the right side coming back).

We got back into London mid-afternoon, checked in again at Club Quarters in order to drop our bags and do a little online research about currently running shows, and then ventured out in search of theater tickets. After determining the odds of our getting tickets to Patrick Stewart in Macbeth were slim, we went just down the road and had no problem getting good tickets for Glengarry Glen Ross with Jonathan Pryce.

On the recommendation of the ticket agent, we went across the street for dinner at Chez Gerard, which was a nice little French restaurant. In keeping with the theme of the evening's entertainment, the waiter - courteously and emphasizing his French accent - attempted to upsell us multiple times as we ordered. We resisted and had a perfectly nice steak dinner, not the best food of the trip, but certainly nothing to sneeze at.

Glengarry Glen Ross was excellent. Mamet's brilliant dialogue, the wild pace, the intensity of the story, all were marvelously well-realized by this cast. Very interesting to contrast Pryce's performance against Lemmon's in the film; I think the former better represents the main character's moments of willful assholeness better. Really a very good show and especially so for Joe who'd never seen it and so got the full impact of its twists and turns.

After dinner we had a nice walk over to Mayfair for drinks at the bar at the Dorchester Hotel. Now if I tell you that they have their own bespoke bitters, you'll probably understand right away that they take their drinks seriously, but when I add that they've also had "Old Tom" gin recreated for them in order to fully convey the original flavors of some classic cocktails, you'll be ready to raise a toast to the money of Mayfair and the rich rewards it can sponsor for the rest of us.

The Bar at the Dorchester had been recommended not only by the New York Times article on the best bartending in London, but also by a bartender at one of those other bars: Alex at Artesian called it out first on his list of places we shouldn't miss and he was definitely right. I'll be doing a post soon to bring together all our London bar notes and this is one of the finalists for top place.

Our bartender was Paulo and he was very knowledgeable, skilled and friendly; the balance of temperament reflecting the balance of a good cocktail. In excellent surroundings of the bar's modern design and the music provided by a very good DJ, Tom Mannix, we had a delightful time and were extremely pleased with our drinks. The Bar at the Dorchester is known for its collection of vermouths and gins, so we were happy to find some old favorites on the menu along with new tastes to discover. We started with a Martinez (using their Old Tom gin, Punt e Mes, Maraschino liqueur and orange bitters, and perhaps the finest rendition of that drink I've ever had) and a Brooklyn (rye, dry vermouth, Amer Picon (a liquor very difficult to obtain in the U.S.) and Maraschino liqueur). These drinks really were phenomenal; perfectly made, perfectly served. Any fan of classic cocktails is advised to sit at the bar and enjoy Paulo at work.

As at the Lobby Bar at 1 Aldwych, the host (probably also the bar manager, though we didn't catch his name) came by to talk with us for a bit about San Francisco, the bar, and our interest in the more obscure liquors. He and Paulo introduced us to some of the amber vermouths they have and so added St Raphaël Ambre and Noilly Prat Ambre to our long-term shopping list of delicious apertifs.

Our second round was an Affinity (Chivas Regal, Lillet Blanc, Punt e Mes, and Angostura bitters) and a Harry's Cocktail (normally Plymouth Gin, Martini Rosso, Absinthe, and a sprig of fresh mint, but Paulo substituted a more robust vermouth for the Martini Rosso). These were lovely and it was nice to be in a country where a drink which traditionally calls for absinthe can be properly made.

Wishing Paulo well we headed back to our hotel with the weather turning more chilly. Good to come back in with pink cheeks and noses - not entirely from the drink, thank you very much! - to our warm room and so off to sleep, after the requisite bedtime next chapter from The Twenty-One Balloons, of course.

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Now it's time to pack up the last few things, check out and set out for the airport. It's been a fantastic trip and we're already talking about things we'll do on our next visit to the U.K.

A few more posts to come once we're back home - to our own ever so excellent bed which we've missed - and recovering from jetlag...