Visitors!

Fell off a bit on the posting - we had lots of visitors in town this past week, which leaves little time for much else – including taking pictures it seems. But it was so fun to be true tourists and get wined and dined by our wonderful families (my grandparents and Nicholas' parents). A few of the highlights, all recommended for your next trip to London:

The Wallace Collection, a fantastic, often overlooked museum inside of a grand old home. The sumptuous, carefully planned decor, paintings, porcelain and armour are really fabulous.

Jersey Boys, so so good!

Breakfast at Tiffany's, slightly different than the original but really fun, and Anna Friel was marvelous. A bit of nudity which was a surprise, but which my grandparents handled very gamely.

Liberty of London - historically known for its lovely fabrics, it's also the best department store I've ever been to. Just beautiful top to bottom, I could have stayed for days (but I didn't buy a thing)!

Nicholas went to various gun shops with his parents - Purdey, Holland & Holland, William Evans - and reports that he has a few items to add to his 2045 Christmas list.

The Churchill War Museum - I saw this when my mom was here, and had been once before so I knew N. would enjoy it. He went with my grandfather, a Churchill buff, and they had a great time. My grandmother Annie and I headed to Kensington Palace instead and saw a wonderful exhibition called "The Last of the Debutantes" about the debs in the summer of 1958. Really interesting and fun.

We also ate some delicious dinners at Bumpkin (upscale English comfort food), Zafferano's (Italian fine dining and truly heavenly), Patara (yummy Thai, better than Titaya's!) and did brunch at Le Caprice one day too. Such a special treat, and it was so great to see everyone!

Incidentally, a few others I would recommend from my sweet Mom's trip here earlier this month were Billy Elliot, which I'm still raving about, Murano, a fantastic Gordon Ramsay restaurant (the maitre d' from Hell's Kitchen was our actual maitre d'!), and Tamarind, arguably the best Indian food in London. Oh, and if you are ever in London and Buckingham Palace is open to visitors - GO. It was really unbelievable. Thank you to both of our families for making our time here so much more memorable! We've loved sharing it with you guys!